Richard’s POV:It’s going to be alright, I wanted to tell my mate as she brushed past me to walk forward, stepping up to the podium. She looked calm, for someone who was being summoned to come to her own defense.Or at least, that was what an outsider with no trained eyes would say.I could tell by the way that she was taking slow steps forward that she was trembling, and her knees looked like they were about to buckle under her any moment. And the way that she clenched her hands into fists stiffly by her side, made me want to end all of this and take her back to our home.But I had faith that Arielle wasn’t my mate for nothing. She was stronger, way stronger, than anyone would ever know. She was even stronger than she herself knew.I would need to remember that, as the inquisition began.“Arielle Grey, your witnesses have told us the story. However, it would be better if we could hear it from you directly. What exactly happened between you and the Rogue, Leon Walker?”And so it began
Arielle’s POV:I knew that I had said the wrong thing, and it was going to bite me in the butt if I didn’t do anything to fix it.The very sight of my mate, who looked to be fuming, silently and dangerously, made me rethink every wrong word I have said.I knew that I had been upset, anxious to be standing in the presence of the entire Pack Elders and being looked at like I was a fly stuck in a glass cage. I couldn’t take the heat and I left.“Say that again, love,” he said, which brought me back to reality. “Say that it was a mistake just one more time.”I opened my mouth, only to find my throat dry, and I, the chronic mute unable to say anything in my defense, the same way I had been the first time Richard introduced be as his mate to the pack Elders. Now, it was my turn to defend myself before him.However, he didn’t even give me the time to do so, and he looked away from me, his jaw visibly taut with the way that he was clenching it.“Richard, I-““Save it, Arielle,” his tone made m
Richard’s POV I looked up at the wall clock, silently praying that she was okay. The ticking clock in my study told me that it was 7pm. The festival of the night of the full moon was already starting, yet she wasn’t back yet.I hadn’t meant to do what I did. I simply wanted us both to take some time apart to think. I wanted to calm the argument before I got too angry.I don’t know whether she saw it that way, or…“Damn it Richard,” I cursed to myself, feeling all the more like a heel. I had pushed her away in her anxiousness. And though she had said things that were hurtful to me, my pride and status as her mate and as an Alpha, I knew that I had made a mistake.She had been scared and I had only made things worse. She could be out there right then thinking that I was chasing her away, I knew as I stared out through the window at the environment darkened by the setting sun.A knock on the door brought me right out of my morose thoughts and as I turned my head, expecting to find Ariel
Arielle’s POV:What in the name of the moon goddess was going on?!I looked down upon myself, feeling frantic, my panic rising so to each passing second.Why the hell was I glowing?And not just that, but Richard too?I felt like my life as spinning out of control again. Just when Richard and I had ended up getting some leave once and for all, something like this had to happen.The hush around us seemed to make the tension within me rise even more.Okay calm down, I tried to tell myself as I noticed just how everyone who came out for the festival - which in turn meant every single bloody person in the pack - was staring at us.I knew that they would at least recognize the wolf of their Alpha, Richard. He stood taller than most other wolves and was at least twice as large.But who was the person next to him, I knew some were asking amongst themselves.I couldn’t take this.‘I’m sorry, Richard,’ I barely managed to say through the mind link as I turned tail and ran, but for the first ti
Richard’s POVThe storm had passed, and I was glad for it.The cheers from my pack members was enough. Finally, I thought, feeling satisfaction run through my body as the dancing and music resumed with fervor.Finally this battle with the Pack Elders was over, at least for the time being.Regardless of whether they liked it or not, Arielle being found to be acceptable in their eyes was only a good thing to me.Tonight’s festival would be a momentous one, for finally, there was something to celebrate.The members of the Redding Pack were celebrating their Alpha finally having a Luna.Arielle and I silently watched the proceedings of the festival, our hands linked together side by side.Several times in those few minutes, many people had come over to congratulate us.Many of those times, I could tell through the mind link I shared with Arielle,just how confused yet otherwise glad that she was.It had been a lot. And her emotions felt like a rollercoaster ride.Pulling her away from the
Arielle’s POVI woke up to an empty room, feeling content like I hadn’t been in a long time.My brows furrowed as I saw the ceiling of the bedroom; I wasn’t familiar with it much. Yet, as my mind came back to reality, k recalled that I was in fact in Richard’s room. Or, what would now be called our bedroom.The events of last night flitted through my mind, and I couldn’t help but curve my lips up into a smile.I hadn’t been that happy in a while, and I felt like I could just get up and start dancing.I was finally being accepted as the Pack’s Luna.Luna.I was a Luna now.Before now, before I ever came to this pack, and before I ever met Richard… I had never, at any point in my life, been able to ever envision that for my life.I had never thought that I would be capable of such responsibility, nor be able to be seen as a figure of leadership in the pack.But yesterday, I had been seen as one, and It was a responsibility I would carry out with the grave responsibility that was require
Richard’s POV:That was by far the best breakfast I had ever had. Already the sun was high up, and by the clock ticking on the wall, it was already 10am.Yet it felt like the best day had already been had.I felt full, both of food and contentment.I turned my head slightly, glancing at my mate over the book that I was reading.Arielle looked positively ethereal in her sky blue dress - which she called a shirt dress when I had commented on how it looked like a dress shirt - and she was laying down on our bed. I had not left the room yet, not since I had breakfast with her.I wanted to savory this peaceful moment. I knew there would me much more to come for us, but I also knew that the duties of Alpha and Luna of the Redding Pack could come over and take away all the time we had to enjoy ourselves as a couple.I knew however, that things would end up being alright.For now, I would enjoy the peaceful time with her, both of us engrossed in our thoughts. I was even reading a book I had
Richard’s POV:I blinked once, twice.Was this a dream?I stepped back, and heard a crunch. I looked down and was stunned to find the brown leaves that were littered all around.It wasn’t even autumn yet.What was this?‘Your mind, Richard Wells,’ came an answer, and I whipped around to find… nothing.My eyes widened. This was definitely not somewhere that I had been in before.The entire place was…It could be called a mansion of sorts, with high ceilings, and large stained glass windows. But even more prminent was the array of foliage everywhere. Vines entwined with the large pillars, growing around them like they were meant to be there. The overgrown grass in several places, and the large rose bush by the corner…Yet with all of that, the place didn’t look like an abandoned place.If anything, there was a glow around it, that made the place look entirely ethereal.And now the question on my mind was - who had spoken from before?‘I had, ‘ I heard, and turned around to find a woman.