Moon Blessed Luna

Chapter 16 - Lena

I'm running through the forrest, naked once more, as branches scratch against my arms and sharp rocks pierce my feet. I keep running, hearing the footsteps behind me drawing closer.

"You thought you could escape from me, didn't you, little mate?" the Alpha's cruel voice echos all around me before a sharp pull of my hair yanks me to a halt. I shriek in fear as I fall to the ground from the force, my freshly washed hair forming a curtain in front of my eyes. Wait, freshly washed?

"You'll never escape me, little mate! You are mine! Marked forever! Nothing removes a mark once it's made!" his face appears close before me and I stare in his cold blue eyes. My neck begins to tingle, the mark itching at the proximity of its maker, but something else tugs on my mind. A faint scent of flowers and apples surround me and I place my hands on his chest.

"I am not your mate." I say, my voice betraying me and coming out as barely a whisper.

"Ofcourse you are, little mate, let me remind you." He whispers almost seductively, bringing his mouth to my mark to bite it again. I feel my claws extend into his chest as I try to push him away.

"I am not your mate!" I yell, and a bright white light emerges from my hands, as I push him away with so much force that he flies against a nearby tree. The brightness surrounds me and I scream, blinded by the light.

With a start I sit up in the large bed. It takes me a second to remember where I am, but Brianna's room slowly comes into focus as my eyes adjust to the darkness. The bed next to me is empty and I shiver, not from the cold but from an equally empty feeling inside my chest.

We have to find our mate. It's better to be close to her. Luna explains. I nod, still physically responding to her voice in my mind. I get out of the bed, my bare feet barely making sound on the wooden floor. When I reach the door I halt, my hand hovering over the knob, hesitation freezing me in place. What if it's locked?

Try it.

I twist the knob and it opens easily. I release the breath I didn't realise I was holding and I step into the hall. Finding the stairs turned out to be easy, getting down them was a different matter entirely. I'm breathing heavily by the time I get down one set of stairs and at that moment I realise I don't even know where Brianna is. Lost, I sink down on the bottom step and wrap my arms around my knees as I try to catch my breath.

You could try tracking her scent? You share my enhanced senses you know. Just trust your instincts.

How do I do that? I'm happy Luna is so friendly, I can only imagine how dumb I must seem to her.

Don't worry, I know you're not dumb. You just never learned. Breathe in through your nose and see if you can find Brianna's scent. That would be the mouth watering one. She adds the last part with a wink and I giggle softly. I do as she instructed, breathing in deeply, and I'm immediately hit with the scent that's quickly becoming my favorite smell in the world.

I did it!

Yes! Now just follow it to our mate. I nod again and start following the invisible string that will lead me to Brianna. The stairs are exhausting but knowing I will see her soon opens up a small reserve of energy I didn't know I had. I finally reach a large door in a long hallway full of them, and I'm sure my mate is behind it. Before I can open the door I'm hit with another smell, heavier and not nearly as good as Brianna's scent.

There's another person with her. Luna growls in my mind, and I feel it rumbling in my chest. I take a few steps back, nervous to disturb her, but a small flame of anger forms in my heart.

What do I do? I ask Luna as I take a few more steps away from the door. It felt wrong to be angry at her, after all the nice things she's done. I didn't even know why her being with someone else would make me angry, but it does, and Luna seems angry too.

She's ours! That's why we're angry! She's with someone else!

But she has so many people here, she's probably with someone else a lot right? So why don't we like that?

Because she's perfect! The others will want her and she's mine!

I thought you said she was ours? I point out, and Luna growls again. Before she can respond the door opens and I look up at the tall man. His sand colored hair is tousled and looks very soft. His blue eyes sparkle in his sun kissed skin and he smiles happily at me with his perfectly white teeth on full display. I smile back shyly as I decide to like this man, he must be a friend of Brianna's.

"Goodevening, Luna. It's nice to finally meet you." He nods his head, showing me his neck as he does. Luna seems very pleased with that display, calming down significantly, but I just stare at him in confusion. Why would he call me by my wolf's name? How did he know her name? I didn't tell Brianna that, did I?

"Please come inside, your mate is a bit upset and I'm sure your company will help her." he winks at me but I don't understand why. He seems very happy despite his words suggesting that Brianna wasn't, and I rethink my decision to like him. I look past him and see the most beautiful woman on earth sitting in a chair behind a large desk. The distant look in her eyes tug on my heart and I practically run over to her.

"Brianna?" I whisper, reaching out with my hand to touch her cheek. Her eyes refocus on me and with a relieved sigh she pulls me on her lap, burying her nose in my hair. The empty feeling in my chest fills with her scent and I feel myself relax.

"I didn't think you'd wake up so soon, I would have stayed." she kisses the top of my head before brushing my hair behind my ear and tilting my head to look at her.

"I had a nightmare." I whisper, shivering at the memory.

"When I woke up you weren't there, so I went to look for you. I didn't know if I was allowed to leave the room, but the door wasn't locked and I felt really lonely without you." she frowns at my words and cups both my cheeks with her hands.

"You can do whatever you want, as long as you don't hurt yourself. I would never lock the door on you. But I'm happy our bond is already so strong that you came to look for me. It will hopefully only get stronger as we get to know eachother better." she presses her lips against my forehead and keeps them there for a few seconds. I close my eyes as the sparks intensify around her lips and for a split second I wonder what kissing her on the lips would feel like. My cheeks get warm and I look at the man, who still stood next to the door, grinning like crazy.

"Don't mind me, Luna. Just enjoying the show." a soft growl rumbles in both my and Brianna's chests at his tone.

"My name is Lena, not Luna. Luna is my wolf." the man's eyebrows shoot up and he shares a look with Brianna.

"Did you say your wolf is named Luna?" Brianna asks, turning me around so I'm straddling her to make it easier to look at eachother.

"Yes? That's what she told me, is it wrong?" I glance between her and the man, afraid to have screwed up something.

"No, sweetheart! Nothing you do is ever wrong." Brianna says, making me look back at her and smiling sweetly at me. The urge to kiss her lips bubbles up again.

"It's just that Luna is the respectful title for the mate of an Alpha. So your wolf being called Luna, is just a sign of how perfect you are for me." Her smile widens, and I notice a small chip missing from the corner of one of her teeth. Somehow the little imperfection makes her even more beautiful to me.

"Your Luna is literally called Luna. And you worried your mate wouldn't be perfect for you." the man laughs loudly.

"Shut up, Ethan, or I'll kick your butt to the floor again." Brianna growls back but I barely hear her. I stare at a large board behind her that I only just noticed. There are quite a few pictures pinned to it, with pieces of string connecting them to a large question mark in the middle. All the pictures are of young girls I notice, but the only one that seems to matter is the picture of a young girl with bright red curls and green eyes, smiling happily at the camera.

I slip off of Brianna's lap and almost trance like take the picture from the board. She's much younger, about the age she was when I first met her, but it's unmistakable that the girl in the picture is my best friend Cait.