Luna of Mine (30 page)

They nodded in
acknowledgment and he could see the understanding in their eyes,
though he also could see that they would miss him if he died. That
was not something he had expected.

“What should we do now?”
Alin asked.

“
Ion and
Alin, I need you gather any males willing to fight. Emilian will
know that we are here very soon if he does not already. He will not
challenge me because he knows he cannot win.”

“He will fight dirty,” Ion
agreed.

“
Nicu, I
want you to go to the castle and scout it out. Bring back any
information that will help us. We need to know if he has a plan or
if he is scurrying around trying to get prepared because he never
thought I would return. If he is not prepared we need to strike
now. If he is battle ready, then we will find a way to gain the
upper hand. Alina is healing but it is not her physical wounds that
concern me.”

“
You
take care of your mate, Vasile,” Ion told him. “We will get
everything ready.”

“
I trust
that you will. Thank you,” he told them as they turned to go. He
watched them be swallowed up by the night. Knowing he could trust
his warriors to do what needed to be done, he started to breathe
just a little easier until a shrill scream pierced the darkness and
straight into his soul.

He turned and ran for
Alina’s room. Auriel was banging on the door attempting to open it
but it would not budge. He could hear his mate’s cries of pain, and
it was making him frantic, but it was the smell of burning flesh
that cost him his control. He rammed his shoulder into the door as
he roared, “ALINA, OPEN THE DOOR!” He was afraid to use his power
and basically blow the door open because he did not know where in
the room she was. If she was close to the door, she could be hurt,
so he relied on the strength of his wolf. She screamed again and he
hit the door as hard as he could. He saw a tiny sliver of a crack
as it began to give way under his strength. Bolstered by the
progress he hit it again and again and again while over and over
she whimpered and snarled and cried out in pain. Finally he shoved
as hard as he could and the door, and the dresser that had been
holding it closed, gave way. He was in the room a split second
later, and his heart crashed into his ribs as he looked at his
mate.

She was on the floor, her
night gown and shift torn so that they fell away from her neck and
shoulder. Her hand was wrapped around the candle he had left
burning on the night stand, and the skin where Serghei’s bite had
been was burned beyond recognition. He realized as he hurried to
her side, his eyes locked on the wound, that she had been burning
herself for a lot longer than she had been screaming.

“
Mina,
why?” His words were a whispered plea as he took the candle from
her shaking hand.

She
looked up at him and the look of utter despair tore at his soul.
Everything inside of him begged for violence, to maim and kill and
destroy the one who had put that look on her beautiful face.

“
I felt
dirty and soiled. I just wanted it off,” she told him through the
tears that streamed down her face. “I would rather my skin be
scarred and disfigured than bare another’s mark.” Her shoulders
shook as she sobbed.

He pulled her onto his
lap, wrapping his arms around her and holding her tight against
him. “I do not want you to endure any more pain. To hear your
screams and not be able to take it away is complete agony. If I
could take away every terrible memory, every scar that reminds you
of the nightmare you endured, then I would.” After sitting there in
silence for several moments, Vasile stood with her in his arms and
laid her back in the bed. Auriel was there without him having even
asked with a cloth to clean the wound. It would heal but there
would be a scar.

Vasile cleaned the wound
as gently as he could. She never made a sound, just simply sat
looking up at him. “I am not going anywhere, Mina,” he tried to
reassure her. To his surprise and complete relief she reached up
and grabbed his arm. She pulled until he sat on the bed next to
her. One small hand reached up and cupped his face, and he
naturally leaned into her palm as if he had done it a thousand
times.

“
I love
you, Vasile Lupei,” she whispered to him never taking her grey eyes
from his.

“Say it again,” he
pleaded.

“I. Love. You. My Alpha, my
mate.”

Her words and the passion
with which she said them had him wanting to kneel before her,
honoring her in a way that he would never bestow on anyone else.
“As soon as you are ready I want to complete the bond. I need to
know you are mine in every way. I need,” he choked up on his words
as he tried to express to her just how urgently he wanted
her.

“I know, and I understand.
I just wish you did not have to bind yourself to someone so
broken,” she admitted.

“
Time
and love heal all things. Let my love heal you―body and soul. Let
me cover you in my adoration. You are everything that I need. Just
as I am everything you need so we will get through this. I believe
that down to the marrow of my bones, but I cannot do it without
you.”

She dropped her hand from
his face and took his hand in hers. “I am not going anywhere.” She
repeated his words back to him. She took a deep breath and bit her
bottom lip to keep it from trembling. Finally she asked, “Vasile,
where are my parents?”

A
lina attempted to brace herself for what he would say, but no
matter how she tried to prepare for the news, it was still as if
someone had punched her in the gut.

“
I am so
sorry that I did not get there faster.” His voice was tight with
anger. “They have gone on to the other side. I would have told you
sooner but I did not want to cause you more distress. Their bodies
have been cared for and are ready for burial. I did not want you to
have to deal with that after all that has
happened.”

“
It was
Serghei.” She was not asking. She knew who had done it but she
needed to hear it.

“Yes,” he
answered anyway.

Alina squeezed her mate’s
hand that she still held. She clutched it like a lifeline as the
sea of turmoil and despair threatened to pull her under. She wanted
to mourn for her parents, but she knew that for now she would have
to put her pain aside. They had a pack to reclaim, a tyrant to
remove, and a murderer to bring to justice. For now she had to be
Vasile’s mate, the female Alpha of their pack, and when all was
done, then she could be the mourning daughter.

“
Please
do not feel responsible, Vasile. I shut the bond because I did not
want you to expose yourself. I did not think Serghei would go so
far. Thank you for coming for me. Thank you for caring for my
parents when I could not.”

“
It is
my honor to care for you. Tonight we will rest. I will be
completely inappropriate and lie in the same bed with you holding
you in my arms because any distance between us is not something I
can endure right now.” His honesty and boldness did not surprise
her, not anymore. She knew her mate. When he wanted something, when
he had made up his mind, there would be no swaying him. And if she
were to be completely honest, she did not care how improper it was,
she wanted to be in his arms.

She watched as he removed
his shirt but left his breeches on. His muscles flexed with every
movement and she was enraptured by the sheer beauty and perfection
of his form. The remaining light from the gas light flickered and
cast a soft glow over him, making his skin appear smooth as silk.
She ached to touch him, to feel the warmth of his flesh against
hers. He left the light burning and climbed into the small bed
beneath the covers with her. She had to nearly lie on top of him
for them to both fit because of how large he was.

Vasile pulled her tight
against him and her cheek was pressed to his bare chest. He smelled
incredible, masculine, and musky like the forest. Alina pressed a
soft kiss just above his heart and heard his breath catch. She
liked knowing that she affected him just as much as he did
her.

“
Never
again will we sleep apart,” he whispered into her hair and then
pressed a kiss there.
“I love the
way you feel against me, the way your scent covers me. Never in a
thousand years could I have imagined the joy of having a true mate
not just anyone but you, my precious Alina.”
He used their bond and she knew it was because it was an
intimate form of communication. It was completely theirs alone.
Their bond exposed them to one another, revealing all of the
emotions and the depth they contained for each other.

“
Skin on skin, Vasile,”
she whispered boldly. She knew he wanted
her to be honest with him about what she needed and so she would.
In that moment she needed the healing power of touch that only her
mate could give. She felt him unbutton the back of her night gown
and then slip his hand beneath it. Her breath caught in her throat
as his large palm spread across her back. He rubbed her gently,
sending shivers throughout her body, and when she felt his touch
change to his fingertips tracing the markings that ran up her
spine, she could not hold back the soft moan.

“
Your
markings are beautiful.” His warm breath blew across her hair and
face as he spoke. “I saw them when you were leaning over the bed,
and I wish I could say that I gave you your modesty and looked
away, but I will not lie to you. They captured my attention the
second I saw them, and had you not been sick I would have touched
you then.”

She felt the heat of her
blush, and only the curiosity she had about his markings had her
not burying her head in his chest to avoid looking at his face.
Instead she pushed back and up on her elbow to look at him. Alina
gently tilted his head to the side baring his neck, something he
would have never allowed for anyone else, and stared at the
beautiful markings that now traveled up his neck, down his right
arm, and across the right side of his chest all the way down to his
waist. It was truly incredible. When she looked back up at his
neck, she felt her wolf perk up, and Alina knew her eyes had begun
to glow. Her wolf wanted to bite him, taste him, and mark him.
Though the bite would fade, just knowing it had been there was
enough.

“
You
drank my blood,” Vasile suddenly told her. “You were lying there so
still and I knew the only thing that would help was my blood and so
I gave it to you. But as I held you, unsure of whether or not you
would survive, I knew I could not live without you. I should
apologize but I cannot because I would do it all over
again.”

“
You
completed the bond?” she asked, though she was pretty sure she had
known before now. She had felt how strong their connection had
become, something only the sharing of blood or bodies would
cause.

He nodded as the hand that
was not on her back reached up and traced something on her neck. “I
bit you here,” he said as he gently tapped her neck. “I only took a
little blood because you had lost so much already, but it was
enough.” He paused and then added silently,
“You taste incredible.”

That time Alina did bury
her face in his chest and he chuckled at her modesty. “Sleep, my
love,” he told her. “When this is all done there will be time
enough to savor each other. Your wolf will have to be patient a
little longer,” he teased.

She pinched his side which
only made him laugh more. She tucked herself in as close as she
could without actually crawling into his skin. There, protected in
the haven of his arms, she slipped quickly into sleep.

T
he dark shadows of night concealed Nicu’s presence as he
moved silently around the exterior of the castle. His ears were
pricked, drawing on the hearing of his wolf, listening for any
sound of conversation. As he came around the corner just below
where he knew the library to be, he heard voices. He stopped and
looked up at the small balcony that extended out from the room. The
drapes were drawn closed so he could not see in, which meant they
could not see out. Nicu leapt effortlessly to the ledge and pulled
himself up and over, never making so much as a whisper of
sound.