Luna of Mine (13 page)

A
lina lie on her bed staring up at the ceiling of the cottage
she had always called home. She found a certain comfort in the
familiar scents and sounds, comfort that she truly needed. Her life
had been turned upside down in a single day. She had found her true
mate, or rather, he had found her. And what should have been a
joyful, exciting time had turned into a frustrating, disappointing
mess. She had stayed in her parents’ room all afternoon and evening
until they had finally kicked her out but not before her mother
checked her back―no markings…yet. She had cried, then gotten angry
all over again, and then cried some more, but now she just felt
drained. Their bond had only been open for a matter of hours, and
yet now that she had closed it off it felt as though she had
removed her own heart. How could something that had only just begun
already have such a hold on her?

Once again the intensity
of the mate bond proved itself to be completely unexplainable. It
was something that only those who experienced it could understand,
which meant there was no way to prepare yourself for it. Her mother
had told her to just take it one day at a time. But looking out
over the expanse of four years separated from Vasile, one day at a
time was not doing anything to ease her pain. Instead she focused
on making it from one breath to the next. As she finally began to
fall asleep, she had almost managed to convince herself that the
day had just been a dream. She would wake up in the morning to find
that Vasile and his men had not even shown up yet. She would not
feel the gaping Vasile shaped hole, and there would be no wondering
of how she would make it through the next few years. It would just
be another regular day. And if she happened to be wrong, well, she
would just stay in her parents’ home forever, or until they finally
forced her out.

“
A
re you sure you are doing the right
thing?” Gerogeta asked him for what must have been the tenth
time.

Petre wrapped an arm
around his mate as they lie in their bed and pulled her tightly
against him. They had been sleeping this way since the first night
they had bonded, and no matter how upset she ever got with him, he
still would not allow there to be any space between
them.

“
No, I
honestly do not know,” he admitted into the dark room. “Part of me
thinks that I should leave the decision up to Alina and Vasile as
to when she goes with him, part of me thinks that maybe eighteen is
old enough to be bonded, and part of me thinks that they both have
a lot of growing to do before they should complete their
bond.”

“Do you think he will leave
her here?”

“
He is a
man of integrity,” he told her. “Just from what he said to us today
in regards to the changes that will be made and the help he will be
sending shows me his character. He will not go against my wishes,
but then he might be stubborn enough to move the pack headquarters
to our little village until he can claim her.”

“
One
thing I do know for certain, my love,” Georgeta said through a
yawn. “He will not leave her until she opens their bond back
up.”

Petre chuckled. “I do not
think I have ever seen our Alina so angry as she was today. She was
truly a sight to behold. If she had been holding a switch in her
hand, I do believe she would have tanned his hide with
it.”

“
From
what I understand, you
both
deserved tanned hides.”

“We might have been a tad
inconsiderate of her desires,” he started but was interrupted by
his mate.

“
A tad
inconsiderate? That is like saying when you phase to your wolf you
are a tad hairy. I would caution you, mate, not to use those words
when you apologize to your daughter for being a tad inconsiderate.
I have a sneaky suspicion that if you do then she will give you
a
tad
of
her own mind.”

“
We had
good intentions, Georgeta,” Petre argued.

“
Good
intentions are about as useful as teats on a bull. They are there
hanging out in all their glory without the ability to produce
anything useful.”

Romanian Proverb # 8

Ce naste din pisicã
soareci mãnâncã.

It must be a diamond that
cuts a diamond.

“
A
lpha, not to cause offense,” Ion
said from the seated position on the log, “but it has been three
days since your female closed the bond, and she still has not
spoken to you. Perhaps giving her some space should be
considered.”

Vasile bit back the retort
he wanted to fling at his third. He had no right to berate one of
his own for being honest with him. It was true. Alina refused to
speak to him not only that but she refused to even look at him.
That, of course, was when he could even find her. She was very good
at slipping past him when his attention was elsewhere. Ion was also
correct in encouraging him to go home. There was much that needed
to be dealt with now that he had spoken to the pack members, and he
could not put it off for much longer.

“
I am
sending you and Nicu back,” he told them. He made a motion with his
hand when they started to argue. “I need you to be my eyes and ears
while I am absent. Even though we have had a good response from the
pack, that does not mean that there are none who are unhappy. With
the changing of the guard, so to speak, there are always a few who
might attempt to take advantage of the upheaval that such a change
brings. I need to be able to squelch any possible uprisings before
they happen, and I cannot do that if I do not know about
them.”

“
How
long until you follow?” Nicu asked.

Vasile ran his hand over
his face and mentally noted that he needed to shave. He tried to
think then of the last time he had taken a dip in the river and
decided that the reason Alina was avoiding him was because of his
lack of hygiene as of late. That reason was more tolerable than the
truth. “A few more days and I will return,” he finally
answered.

He watched as the two
warriors phased and immediately headed off for home. Part of him
truly wished he was going with them but not without his mate. He
growled knowing that in a few days that is exactly what he would be
doing. He had to mend what he had broken before then.
Unfortunately, he did not have much, or any, experience in dealing
with upset females.

“She
still will not speak to you?” Petre asked as he walked over to the
edge of the forest where Vasile stood.

“
I do
not really blame her. I did not consider her feelings when I
started discussing her future with you. I was so concerned with you
hearing what I had to say and submitting to me that I did not
bother to hear what she had to say.”

Petre patted his back in a
fatherly gesture, and Vasile swallowed down the pain at the
reminder of the loss of his own father. “It will not be the first
time you forget to consider her when you want so badly to protect
her and keep her with you. The males of our race tend to have
tunnel vision when it comes to our mates.”

“
Do you
have any advice?” Vasile asked with a desperation that he normally
would not have shown to another male, but he could not hide it, not
at this point. The chuckle that came from the other male did not
incite a whole lot of confidence.

“
Honestly, all you can do is apologize. Make sure she knows
that you are sincere. They always know when you are just blowing
smoke up their skirts.”

“
Noted,”
Vasile said with a slight smile. As Alina’s father walked away
leaving him to his thoughts, he began to formulate a plan. It was a
complete act of desperation. And if ever asked by any of his pack
mates if it was true that he went crawling to his future
mother-in-law to ask for help to get back in his mate’s good
graces, he would deny it to his grave. It was probably a long shot
anyway. He had a feeling that Alina inherited her stubbornness not
just from her father.

A
lina was struggling to stay away from him. Every time she saw
him, even just out of the corner of her eye, she argued with her
wolf not to run to him and tell him she was sorry for closing their
bond. She had not done anything wrong, and yet she felt like she
was the one being punished. She tried to just continue to go about
her daily chores, though she did at times alter her route in order
to avoid seeing him. The day before, she had met Sisily at their
usual spot by the river and explained everything that had happened.
It had made her mad all over again until Sisily started laughing
over the lion-like roar that Vasile had let out. She told Alina
that they actually heard it at her own house, which in turn made
Alina laugh. It was much needed humor after several emotional
days.

That morning she had a
slight panic attack when she caught the two wolves that had been
with Vasile leaving in their wolf forms heading back towards the
main village and to the castle. From the side of the cottage, she
had searched frantically for a sign of Vasile with the pair but
then saw him standing with her father on the far edge of the
forest. It was then that she realized there was no way she could
let him leave without opening their bond back up. The separation
already was like a knife in her chest with every breath. She could
not continue on like this, and―even if she wanted to―her wolf was
not going to put up with it much longer. She wanted the connection
to their mate, and she was ready to make her human half submit to
get it. It was the first time Alina could ever remember her wolf
attempting to take control. Usually it was the other way
around.

“
How are
you doing?” her mother asked as she joined her pulling down the dry
clothes from the line.

She nearly laughed at the
timing of the question. Just as she was about to cave, her mother
comes to inquire of how she was holding out. Georgeta had actually
agreed with Alina and told her that she needed to set the precedent
now that she would not be dictated to and walked upon. Alphas were
notorious for being over protective, especially of their mates. Her
mom had explained that it was not that they meant to be
disrespectful or thoughtless, they genuinely thought that whatever
it was they were doing in order to protect their mate was the right
thing, regardless of how their female felt.

“Honestly?” Alina
asked.

“
No,
dear one, I would prefer you lie to me,” her mother
retorted.

Alina grinned. “Perhaps
you should spend time with Vasile so that he can see where I get my
nerve from.”

“Oh believe me, I think he
is well aware.”

“
Okay,
well if I am being honest then I am about two seconds from phasing
to my wolf and rubbing myself all over his legs.” Alina’s face
warmed with the heat of her blush as she spoke the words. They
sounded so much worse out loud than they did in her head. Georgeta
did not laugh, which helped lessen the
embarrassment.

“
Truthfully,” she stopped folding the shirt in her hand and
met Alina’s eyes, “if you did not feel that way, I would be worried
that something was wrong. True mates cannot stand separation of any
kind for very long, whether it is the mental bond or physical
separation. They are two halves of one soul and crave that
closeness.”