The True Luna's Kiss

Chapter 19

Home. Such a simple word. A word with so much meaning to Sirona. She looked up at the castle and breathed in the sweet mountain air. Could this really be her home?

Alice gripped her hand again as they ascended the stairs to the front door. A solid, warm strength at her side. The light danced off the stone, making it glitter beneath her feet. Even with the sunlight all around her, Sirona felt as if she was walking on starlight. Ethereal and beautiful.

The beauty continued inside. The interior was simple and elegant, grand and plain. It was everything and nothing. It took Sirona's breath away as she looked around. Clean straight lines, the walls a pale green, and the floor hard wood. Light streamed in through the numerous windows that adorned the front of the room, with open spacious rooms off of each entrance. There were pack members milling around in each of the rooms. Some clearly working, others relaxing with friends. Everything about the home screamed welcome. And Sirona, to her surprise, even found herself relaxing.

The entire atmosphere oozed a sense of calm that Sirona had never felt before. Her eyes felt heavy, and she leaned on Alice for support as her body went limp.

"You need to eat and then rest." Alice said, stroking a lock of Sirona's hair.

Gabriel, who had been watching Sirona's reaction to his home, simply nodded.

When he saw her shoulders relax and her eyelids flutter, his heart warmed.

"Mate needs rest," Shadow said, preening himself at how lovely his mate was. He knew her wolf would be just as beautiful. "We should take her to bed."

Gabriel stiffened. He wanted nothing more than to hold her to his chest, but he couldn't. He knew he would literally have to keep her at arms length.

"Well, at least feed her then," Shadow said, disgruntled. He was definitely not happy with his human's decision. Gabriel's past decisions were not his fault. But he was now definitely paying the price for it! And he certainly wasn't about to let Gabriel screw everything up!

Gabriel turned to Sirona. "Shall we eat? And then I will show you to your room, so you can rest?"

Sirona's chest tightened at his words but she nodded. He had said your room. Not their room. He clearly had no plans to share a bed with her. Why would he when he wouldn't even touch her? He would barely look at her. Briar had tried to reassure her it was nothing to worry about, but even her words had sounded unconvinced.

Sirona blinked as tears swelled in her eyes once more, but she followed Gabriel into a small dining room on the first floor of the house.

Decorated in the same way as the rest of the house, the dining room was intimate and warm. Platters of food laid on the table, so many things that Sirona hadn't eaten in a long time. Or maybe she had never eaten them before, it had been so long. Her mouth watered as the mix of delectable scents hit her. Her eyes jumped from plate to plate before a small cough made her look at her mate. He had pulled a chair out from the table and gestured for her to sit down in it. Sirona did so and for a brief moment their skin touched as he pushed the chair in, his fingers stroking her shoulder. The tingles shot down her arm and danced on her finger tips. She looked up through her eyelashes and caught his dark stare, gazing down at her. Sirona felt her cheeks heating, and she quickly looked away.

The meal was incredible. Fresh bread, meats and salads. Sirona made sure to take it slow, unsure of how much her stomach could handle after so many years of starvation. Alice, Max and Marco were chatting away, seeming to talk about everything and nothing. Gabriel was silent, eating slowly and not taking his eyes of Sirona. He watched every bite she took, every flicker of her eyes. Shadow was ranting and whining about wanting to touch his mate, hold her. Gabriel was ignoring him, despite his wolf asking some very valid questions.

"How are you going to claim her if you don't touch her? Do you think she will even want you to after the massive d**k you have been?" "How are you planning to mark her? Throw your canines at her from across the room? I don't think they have a gloryhole for marking people." Shadow was certainly not going to stop. Gabriel also couldn't think of any valid responses to give him, he had no idea of what he was going to do. He just knew he couldn't leave her there, but now. Now she was here.... what on earth was he going to do now?

"Would you like me to find you a pop-up book that explains it?" Shadow said, rather unhelpfully. "Or would you like me to tell you."

Gabriel didn't respond, so Shadow went on. "You see, what you need to do is put your peni...."

"I GET IT!" Gabriel chastised his wolf. "I know. I didn't think this through. I never thought that touching my mate would cause this. I don't know what to do, Shadow. And you are NOT being helpful."

"You took the burden on, not me," Shadow continued being unhelpful. "It's not my fault you took on the family's debt. You need to figure this out and soon, or we are going to lose her."

Gabriel couldn't argue. He knew his wolf was right. But staring at Sirona now, he didn't know how strong he would be able to be.

As the meal was ending, Gabriel noted that Sirona didn't eat all that much. He didn't like that, she definitely needed to be eating more. But he watched her eyelids flicker, the light in those beautiful eyes dull, and he knew he needed to get her to bed.

"YES!" Shadow cried out, prancing around Gabriel's mind.

"Not like that," Gabriel replied. "She is exhausted and she needs to rest." Shadow grumbled, but relented.

Gabriel showed Sirona to her room, her rightful room. The Luna's bedroom. Right next to his. Goddess, it was going to be hard to keep away from her. She stood in the doorway, the fading light from the windows making her black hair look almost blue. Her eyes sparkled with unshed tears as she took in the bedroom. Soft creams and silver, the entire room screamed luxury.

Sirona couldn't believe her eyes. Last night she had slept in a dismal cell, tonight she was in a palace. Floor to ceiling windows covered one wall, that opened out to a balcony. A four poster bed dominated the room, with flower garlands that wound their way up the posts and covered the ceiling. Lights twinkled amidst the blooms, making the whole room ethereal. Sirona swallowed. Even if she had been able to speak, she would have had no words. She just stared, shaking her head softly. A warm palm pressed against the small of her back, inching her forward into the room. She barely heard the door close, but when she turned, she saw Gabriel's hungry stare on her. His eyes swept the length of her body and back to her face. Sirona swallowed.

She was alone. In a bedroom. With her mate!

And he was looking at her like that!