Chapter Twenty-Eight

Jasmine’s POV

I was unable to keep to my word to meet up with Lena later that night.

After crying my eyes out in Regan’s arms, I had fallen asleep in his arms and he had been the one to carry me to my room and tuck me into bed.

That night, I had a dream.

I dreamt about my parents again.

It was the same dream as always.

The one where both my parents died.

But this time, something about the dream was different.

Everything else was the same, but when it had gotten to the part where my mother placed me on my father’s wolf, she had whispered words in a strange language and had run her hand over my back where my birthmark was.

After my father’s wolf had taken off with me on his back and I looked back to watch my mother, something I had always wondered about suddenly stood out to me.

She had not shifted into her wolf.

How had she remained in her human form and fought off all those wolves for as long as she had, all alone?

Not for the first time, as I woke up from the dream to take in the brightness of the new day, I had that thought that my mother had not been an ordinary she-wolf.

The fact that the dream was the only memory I could remember of her while I could recall some memories I had with my father was something I also wondered about.

Why could I recall some memories of my father but none of my mother?

Before I could ponder further on that thought, there was a soft knock on my door before it was pushed open to reveal Lena.

She walked in, shutting the door behind her and taking in my expression before making her way over to the bed and sitting on it.

“Did you dream of your parents again?” She asked, taking one of my hand in both of hers.

I nodded, trying to force a smile in order to ease her worry.

“Yes, but I am fine”, I told her, bringing my other hand to pat one of hers. “Do not worry about me”, I said before remembering. “I am sorry I could not meet with you last night”.

“Oh do not mind that”, Lena said. “Regan came to tell me that you had grown tired from your stroll last night and had gone to bed”, she assured. “You did not keep me waiting”.

Hearing his name made me recall the events that had occurred the previous night.

Against my wish, my cheeks flushed with heat and I looked down to try to hide my face from Lena.

My effort was wasted since she noticed immediately.

“From the look on your face, I can tell that something must have happened on your stroll”, she said with a teasing smile on her face.

When I withdrew my hands from hers to cover my face, she dissolved into giggles.

“Tell me everything!” She insisted, climbing on the bed to lay beside me and wrapping her arms around me.

“There is nothing much to tell”, I tried to dissuade her.

“Oh I am sure that is not true”, she countered. “You wouldn’t be red as a tomato if nothing much had happened”, she teased. “So tell me everything”, she insisted.

I hesitated or a moment before speaking.

“He wants me to become his mate”, I finally said.

She froze before withdrawing her arms from around me.

Suddenly, the thought that she might not be pleased with her late sister’s mate wanting me as his mate suddenly crossed my mind.

What if she had only given her approval because she had thought whatever relationship Regan had wanted would be temporary?

I was suddenly nervous to hear her response.

She turned to me.

“And what did you tell him?” She asked.

I lifted my shoulder in a shrug.

“Nothing”, I said. “I just cried”, I said truthfully.

“Well, why would you do that?” She asked. “Would you not like to be his mate?”

I looked at her, seeing the earnestness in her eyes.

“I would”, I said, knowing it was how I truly felt.

“Then why did you not say so?” She asked.

Rather than answer her question, I asked her one of mine instead.

“Would you accept me as his mate?” I asked and continued before she could respond. “Your Luna?” I asked. “Knowing that it was meant for your sister? And knowing that I would never be strong enough?” I asked.

I refused to look away, or allow the tears that were already gathering in my eyes to fall.

She looked at me for a moment, studying every feature on my face before she finally responded.

“I would give anything to have my sister here again”, she said. “To have my family complete once again. But that cannot happen no matter how much I may wish it”, she said then continued. “I am grateful for the family I have now. For you”, she paused. “But if I could change one thing about you, it would be how you always see yourself as inferior”, she said.

I had not been expecting that.

“You believe you are weak and that is why you remain so”, she said and I let the tears fall, feeling my heart break. “A Luna cannot be weak”, she continued. “So I would advise, as your friend, that you stop seeing yourself as weak and inferior, and begin to see yourself as the future Luna of the Midnight Wolves pack, because that is who you will be”.

It took a moment for her words to finally sink in and for me to recognize them for the encouragement and acceptance that they were.

“Stop caring what others that do not know you or love you think”, she said. “Because to know you is to love you, so if they do not love you then they do not know you. You don’t need their acceptance, you need their respect. Once you have earned it, their loyalty will follow and that is worth more than their acceptance”, she advised.

“And you can be sure if my loyalty because it comes with my love which you already have”, she went on. “The way I see it, the only person in your way… is you”, she said and let that sink in before continuing.

“Will you at least try to believe In yourself?”, she asked. “Because it takes more than a wolf to make a werewolf”, she finished.

As she did so, I launched myself at her and tackled her into a hug as I once again broke down in tears.

I did not deserve her.

Neither did I deserve him.

Or Nana, or even Luke, or Mari, or anyone else who had showed me kindness since I had come into the pack.

But even if I did not deserve any of it, the Moon Goddess had taken pity on me and granted me all of it.

Lena was right.

It was time to stop feeling sorry for myself and to start appreciating the opportunity the Moon Goddess had granted me.

And that meant believing in myself.

I was more than a wolf less werewolf. And I was done believing otherwise.

“You would make a wonderful Luna”, I heard her whisper into my hair as her arms came around me. “And I will always be here whenever you need me”, she promised.

“Always”, she repeated.

“I do not deserve you”, I told her. “But I will thank the Moon Goddess every day for bringing you to me”, I said and pulled away slowly. “I need you. I cannot do this on my own”, I said, knowing she understood exactly what I meant.

“I will be there every step of the way”, she promised. “And we both know Nana will always be there for you too”.

I nodded, knowing it was true.

“I need to be stronger”, I told her.

“We can ask Luke to help train you”, she said. “He got his wolf quite late so he is great at combat in human form”, she said.

I paused to marvel at the thought that Luke, who was the best warrior besides Regan, had gotten his wolf late.

I saved that information to use in the future.

It would be nice to tease Luke about it someday.

I smiled at the thought before realizing something else.

“Regan will never let me train with anyone else”, I said, already knowing how possessive he was.

“Let me take care of that”, she said. “I can reason with Regan to let it happen”, she said confidently and added as an afterthought. “Rage might be a problem but I’m sure Regan will find something to keep him occupied while you train. He has to understand that it is important that you at least know how to defend yourself. Especially now”, she said and I completely agreed with every word that left her mouth.

I nodded.

“You are right”, I said.

She suddenly broke into a smile.

“What is it?” I asked, uncertain of what the smile could mean.

“A thought just crossed my mind”, she said, still smiling.

“Well, do not keep it to yourself”, I said. “Do tell”.

She let out a small laugh before she did so.

“Here we are making all these plans”, she said. “When Regan has not even been informed that you would like to become his mate”, she said and I realized that she was right, once again.

“He must be beside himself, wondering if you would refuse or not”, she said with a laugh. “Poor Regan”.

I gasped.

“My Goddess! You are right!” I exclaimed, climbing down from the bed and rushing to the chamber to clean myself.

As I hurried, the sound of Lena’s sweet laughter floated around my room from the bed where she laid waiting for me.

After I had finished getting dressed and cleaned, I and Lena made our way out of the house, well aware that we had missed the morning meal.

We made our way towards the pack house where I was sure Regan would be cooped up in his study.

However, when we got to the doors of his study, we were informed that he was not in. According to the warriors that stood guard at his study doors, he had gone to the fields to inspect the warriors and train with Luke as well.

So, arm in arm as always, we made our way towards the training grounds where the warriors trained daily.

We found him and Luke in the training grounds training and waited on the side watching until they were done.

When they caught sight of us, they made their way over to us.

Immediately he got closer to us, Regan immediately put his arms around my waist and pulled me to his chest to plant a kiss on my head.

“What are you doing here?” He asked as he released me and let me go but kept his arms wrapped around my waist.

“I came to give you an answer”, I told him, looking up into his grey eyes.

“Well?” He asked when all I did was continue to stare at him.

“If you would have me”, I began. “I would be honored to be your mate”, I said finally.

Immediately the words left my mouth, he swept me off my feet and spun me into his arms.

I shrieked in surprise, laughing as I wrap my arms around his next.

Lena and Luke cheered loudly as he rained kisses all over my face and held me tightly in his arms.

I did not care that everyone had stopped what they had been doing and were not openly staring at our display of affection.

Lena was right.

There was no point caring about the opinions of those that did not even know me.

I was going to live my life differently.

In a way I would never regret.