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RIEKA He loves me. I heard him say that he actually loves me. I knew that he was attracted to me and wanted to be with me, but in the back of my mind, I think I was still blaming the mate bond, even if I had accepted it. But this was different. The mate bond doesn’t force you to love. There was absolutely nothing holding me back now. I fell into his arms kissing him like he was the oxygen I needed to breath. He responded with an equal amount of passion and need, but I noticed his hands gently moved from my waist up to my neck and then softly cupped my cheeks as he returned my affections. I realized he was probably being careful not to mess up my hair that Drea had worked so hard on. I felt the warmth in my chest growing and the butterflies under my skin everywhere he touched me. I knew that I felt the same, but for some reason I was still scared to say it out loud. Instead, I put all of my love into this kiss, praying that he could feel it and understand my emotions throug
RIEKA The walk back to Aleksandr’s house was difficult for me. I had so many things I wanted to ask him and talk to him about, but I knew that the silent walk back was still a part of the tradition, so I held my tongue and tried my best to remember the things I wanted to discuss with him later. He had already explained to me that the Memorial would last for several days as the pack members had been split into groups and assigned days and times to visit the pack house to pay their respects to the family The first group would be waiting at the house when we returned tonight, and everyone would be gone by 10:00 pm so we could get some rest before the groups resumed their schedule at 9:00 am tomorrow. Emmitt was in charge of the schedule and apparently everyone was very punctual in order to respect the time of the alpha family and provide ample time for resting and grieving privately as well. Vasilisa would be staying at the house with us until the memorial ended and then she could d
ALEKSANDR Rieka recoiled away from me as the fire in her eyes grew by the second. If it were possible, I would have expected to see steam pouring from her ears, but I still had no idea what I’d said that flipped her mood so quickly. “What’s wrong, sweetheart?” Apparently, that added fuel to the fire, and she quickly rose to her feet and put some distance between us. My wolf began to whimper at the distance and the fact that our mate was so furious with us. I began to reach for her but could see that she wanted space and my efforts just kept making everything worse. “Please just tell me why you’re upset.” I pleaded. She threw her hands up in the air and spun around as she tried to calm herself enough to form words, but my wolf was loving the view as she spun around. I had to shove him back down so we didn’t make things worse. Now was not the time to get turned on, even if seeing her angry was extremely sexy. Maybe some other time when her anger is not directed at me. “What g
ALEKSANDR “Rieka? Are you awake?” She slowly sits up and arches her back as she simultaneously rubs the sleep from her eyes. She squints her eyes to focus on me across the room that is dimly lit from the light seeping in around the edges of the curtains. A soft smile begins to spread across her face, and I’m filled with that familiar warmth that only she can give me. I smile back at her, but her expression quickly shifts to one of recollection and uncertainty. My heart drops with my smile as I begin to rush forward. “Rieka, I’m so sorry. Can we please talk about last night?” She holds up a finger as a yawn escapes from her perfect mouth and her back arches again in another stretch. “I need a minute to wake up. Let me take a shower and I’ll meet you downstairs in about 15 minutes.” Thrilled that she didn’t just shut me down, I agree and exit the room so she can get ready. I was too anxious to eat breakfast. My mom, with the help of Drea and Dustin, managed to get the kids
ALEKSANDR Watching Rieka all morning, it was obvious that she was warring with her emotions. Everyone could see it and we all gave her space, but I couldn’t focus much. My eyes kept seeking her out, but each time I looked at her my heart cracked open a little more. For the first time in my life all I wanted to do was neglect all my responsibilities as Alpha and whisk her away to try and fix everything. Why does everything have to be so complicated for us? Will we ever catch a break and just have time to be happy together? The morning drug on for what felt like an eternity, but finally the house cleared out and we had a moment to breath and take a real break for lunch. Lucy knew that we would be too busy talking to eat most of the hors d’oeuvres she had prepared, so for lunch she made some amazing comfort foods including gourmet burgers, fried chicken, mashed potatoes, waffle fries, brownies, and chocolate chip cookies. The kids joined us for lunch and Rieka seemed to brighten
ALEKSANDR Leaving Rieka alone was the last thing I wanted to do right now, but I could tell from the expressions on their faces that this was going to be intense. Rieka has been through enough drama today. As if on cue, my mother walks into the living room with a soft smile. “I can stay with Rieka while you go.” I pull Rieka in for a deep kiss. “I’m not sure how long I’ll be, but if you’re tired, you don’t have to wait up for me.” Rieka nods and I thank my mom for keeping her company while I’m busy with Alpha duties. Then, I follow Ian, Brock, and Adrianna out of the pack house. We shift and run into the forest to one of our many holding cell blocks for prisoners. When we arrive, I’m greeted by Emmitt and his team who were in charge of interrogating the prisoners. We’ve never had this many wolves in our custody all at once, and our cells are at max capacity. We even had to utilize older cells that haven’t been used in years. Some of the prisoners were shipped off to be hel
RIEKA When I woke up the next morning, I felt so warm, and I swear it was the best sleep I have had in about a year! As my mind slowly became cognizant, I realized that I was not in bed with my kids. Then I felt heavy arms around me, and a realization hit me. I slowly opened my eyes to confirm that I was laying on Aleksandr’s chest. We fell asleep on the sofa last night. Without moving my head, I glanced at the window and saw the sun just peeking up over the horizon as warm sunlight began to stream in through the open windows of the living room. Aleksandr startled me when he moved his hand to push the hair back from my face. “Good morning beautiful.” His rough voice proved that he had just recently woken up as well. “Looks like we both fell asleep here.” I giggled nervously. “I hope you don’t have a sore back or anything from laying like this all night.” Aleksandr hummed to himself as his fingers grazed up and down my arm. “On the contrary, this was the best sleep I’ve had
ALEKSANDR I’m not sure what I expected to learn from this meeting with Jericho and Gina, but I got WAY more than I bargained for. Although Gina didn’t know much about Alastor and his connection to Silas, she gave us some ideas about which prisoners would be most likely to have the information we need. I thought about asking Gina why she didn’t come forward with any of this information sooner, but then I stopped myself. She has been through a lot, and she’s still obviously struggling. We had just finished up the meeting and Jericho and Gina were getting ready to leave. “Thank you for your time and all the information you provided.” I clapped Jericho on the back and then sent him a mindlink asking him to hang back for just a minute. Jericho wrapped his arm around Gina kissing her on the cheek, “I’ll join you in the living room in just a minute darling.” Gina looked a bit surprised and confused, but she gave another small smile and nodded before turning and walking out the door.