Luna of Mine (18 page)

“
If you
are just going to stand there and snarl like a mangy mutt, please
take it outside. Otherwise, make yourself useful and heat some
water over the fire to make a broth for your ill daughter.”

Alina listened to her
father mutter under his breath as he went about his mate’s orders.
She looked up at her mother who was tucking her in as if she were a
child and truly ill. “I do not want to cause strife between you two
as well. I have damaged enough bonds for one week.”

Her mother waved her words
away as if they dirtied the air around her. “You are not
responsible for any discord, Alina. That lies squarely on your
father’s shoulders.”

Alina shook her head at
her mother’s stubbornness. “And you play no part in this
disagreement?”

Georgeta’s eyes narrowed.
“Rule number one about your mate: he is completely wrong until you
decide he is not.”

“And when do you suddenly
decide he is not?”

“When I finally decide to
swallow my pride,” she says matter-of-factly.

“That easy huh?” Alina
smiled tiredly.

“
Nothing
about being mated is easy, love; and both of you will make
mistakes. Unfortunately, no matter how badly you might want to
force your mate to see things your way, you can only be responsible
for your own actions. You can only control what you do.” She leaned
down and kissed Alina on the head and patted her cheek as she had
done when she was young. “He cannot live without you, Alina.
Eventually, he will have to answer you.”

She did not know what to
say to that. She wanted to believe her mother, but she could not.
Her soul continually cried out for its mate, her wolf howled in
despair for him to answer her, and still he did not. His silence
spoke much louder than her mother, and it told her that he
could
live without her,
that he would live without her.

Romanian Proverb #1
0

Nu întinde ata cã se
rupe.

A bow too tightly strung
will break.

“
S
he should have come,” Petre
grumbled neither for the first nor the last time. Georgeta kept
close to her mate as they joined the rest of the pack in the great
hall of the castle to honor the dead Alpha pair. She kept pushing
him forward, wanting to get as close to the front as possible. “You
are not going to talk to him,” her mate muttered under his breath.
“Our village knows not to say anything regarding Alina, and you
heard what Ion said as we arrived―they want to protect Alina until
any unrest is settled in the pack. They do not want anyone near the
castle to know he has a mate.”

“
Why
does that mean I cannot talk to my Alpha?” she asked innocently. “I
simply want to give him my condolences for his
loss.”

Petre snorted. “Is that
all you wish to give him, mate?”

“Petre, I cannot believe
you would doubt my sincerity.”

He stopped and turned to
look at her. “Believe me, Georgeta, I do not doubt your sincerity.
But I do not think it is the loss of his parents you are speaking
of. You are a she-wolf whose pup has been scorned by the man she
loves. He will be lucky if there is anything left when you are done
chewing on him.”

“
I
always knew you were a wise male.” She smiled up at him but the
anger that had been in her eyes for five days had not abated in the
least.

“
Try to
remember that your daughter loves him,” he urged her as he took her
hand and continued to get closer to the front of the
room.

“
I will
not forget, my love. That is the only reason that I am not going to
skin him.”

V
asile looked out over the full room. The entire Eastern
Romania pack was together―all to honor his dead parents. There were
many with tears in their eyes as they remembered the centuries that
his mother and father had led the pack. It was obvious that his
parents were loved and that they would be missed. He should be
mourning them as well. He should be hurting, and he was, but the
pain that ruled in his heart was not for the loss of his parents.
He had accepted that their time was over. Everyone dies, though it
might take death longer to find those of his race. As his eyes
roamed restlessly over the faces and the eyes that met his only to
drop instantly, he wondered what they thought of him. Did he look
sad? Did his face convey the loss that they were all experiencing
or was the anger that nearly matched the hurt revealed in his
expression? He should care, but all he could think about was
her.
He told himself he
would not look for her, and his wolf had made it clear that he
would not tolerate that decision. He had never been at odds for so
long with his wolf, and it was leaving him unbalanced and short
tempered. He knew that the beast did not understand why the man was
so angry. His wolf only understood that their mate was not with
them, physically or emotionally, and that was not acceptable. He
was not angry with her like the man. He simply wanted her; he
wanted to know she was safe, healthy, and with him where she
belonged.

His eyes finally landed on
Alina’s parents, and his heart sped up as he looked around them,
expecting to see her. She was not with them. He felt a growl
rumbling up in his chest as he continued to search in the general
area of her family because he knew that her father would not let
her stray far from them. No matter how hard he searched he could
not find her. The idea of her not being there hurt more than seeing
her and not being able to go to her. To know that she must have
chosen to stay away only made the darkness gain more ground.
See how she does not miss you as you do
her,
it whispered to his soul. Some part
of him knew it was a lie, but he was not listening to reason at the
moment.

He stood with his top four
wolves at the front of the room on a raised platform. To his right,
Anghel and his mate stood and, like so many others, grief filled
their eyes. He wanted this over. He silently asked his father for
forgiveness for his haste as he stepped forward drawing the
attention of the crowd. The torches on the walls that lit the large
hall flickered, causing shadows to dance across the faces now
looking up at him. He took a deep breath and drew on the control
that he was so well known for, but which he felt none of
inside.

“
Thank
you, all of you, for coming to honor and to wish your Alpha pair
farewell as they travel on to the other side. I had the privilege
of being the son of a man who loved, with his whole heart, any who
were considered his pack. I was blessed to be born of a woman who
would sacrifice for any in need and did so frequently. This pack,
all of us, are better because they led, cared, loved, disciplined,
sacrificed, and served. They will be missed but not forgotten.” His
voiced carried to the very furthest corner of the room, and as it
died out he threw back his head and let his wolf out enough to
release a mournful howl. The air filled with the howls of the pack
as they bid their former Alpha’s farewell.

After the formalities were
complete Vasile released the pack to go on the first full pack hunt
in many years. He waited as people gradually left the room. Once
there were only a few left milling about, he noticed Georgeta and
Petre still standing in the same spot they had occupied while he
had addressed the crowd. He could see the frustration in Petre’s
face and the anger in Georgeta’s and knew a confrontation was
unavoidable. He stepped off the platform and walked towards them,
his shoulders pulled back and his head held high. He would not act
ashamed. He was Alpha and he had only done what his mate had asked
of him; how could they be upset with him?

“
Alpha.”
Petre bared his neck as he addressed him and Georgeta did the same
although she did not address him verbally. She did, however,
continue to glare at him, being careful not to meet his
eyes.

“
I
appreciate you coming all this way to honor my father and mother,”
Vasile told them cordially. The lack of emotion in his voice did
not go un-noticed by his mate’s fuming mother.

“Are you
not even going to ask about her?” She finally spoke to him.

Vasile’s jaw clenched at
the accusation in her voice. “How is Alina?”

“
She is
unwell. She has not eaten in five days; I can barely get water in
her. She has nightmares when she sleeps,
if
she sleeps. She is a shell of the
woman she was only a week ago,” she finished, short of breath from
her tirade. Describing his mate’s condition did nothing to calm her
down.

“
Is it
an illness?” he asked again with the monotone
voice.

This time, to his
surprise, Petre let out a low growl. Vasile did not take his eyes
off the bigger threat―the woman who was on the verge of killing
him.

“
Are you
truly that dense or are you just acting like a spoiled brat?” she
snapped at him. “You know what the distance, the separation without
the bond to connect you, is doing to her.
You
who are
supposed to be her protector. . . .” Her words dripped with
accusation as her sharp gaze bore into him. “What kind of male
allows his mate to suffer when he can do something about
it?”

“She chose this,” Vasile
snarled, his careful control cracking ever so slightly.

“
She
made a mistake,” Georgetta argued. “She is young no matter how
mature she acts. The emotions that come with a true mate are
overwhelming to those who are centuries old, and she is a mere
sixteen summers. Can you not understand how it might scare her to
feel so much so quickly? Did you stop to think that maybe she was
worried that you would not be able to do what you must if you were
dealing with her pain? We do not agree with her request to put
space, as she called it, between you but we understand why she did
it. I would think that a man of your character would not be so
quick to judge.” She paused and rubbed her face. The evidence of
the strain of seeing her daughter in such turmoil was written
across her brow. “Have you never made a mistake and hurt someone
you cared about?” This time her eyes did meet his, and to his
surprise she held his stare though he could tell by the shaking of
her body that it took great effort. “If this is how you are going
to treat her when she falters, then you do not deserve her.”

Vasile was left standing
speechless as he watched the mother of his mate storm from the
room. Petre gave him one last look that made it very clear that he
agreed with his mate and then turned to follow her.

“
Do I
want to know what that was about?” Anghel asked from a few feet
behind him. Vasile had forgotten the Western Romania Alpha and his
mate were still there. He had been too focused on the irate female
that had been thoroughly putting him in his
place.

“
It is
not something I want to discuss right now.” He looked over his
shoulder at the pair and gave them as convincing a smile as he
could. “I need to run with the pack. You are welcome to join us,
but I will not be offended if you do not.”

“
We
should be getting back,” Anghel said though his steady gaze made it
clear that he would not let the scene he had just witnessed go. “I
will not pretend that I know what is going on. However, because I
dearly loved your father and I do not want to see you endure what
he did, I will share some advice that you may choose to heed or
not. It is not wise to ignore your fate. You have seen firsthand
how easily our supposedly long lives can be taken. Why waste any
moment away from the one who makes you whole? Do not let pride feed
the darkness in you. There
is
a point of no return. There is a
place that even
she
cannot help.”