The Perfect Luna

Riannon couldn’t believe her own happiness when she opened her eyes and saw him lying in front of her and watching her.

Amate. She had a mate. A real one. Not a chosen one. A smile curled onto his lips and she reciprocated it. There were no regrets. Whatsoever.

This was very different from what she had with Brayden back in the day. Now that she thought about it, if this was what Brayden felt when he met his own mate, she could understand why he couldn’t reject Roxanne.

She would never reject Gideon if she knew.

This did not cancel all the horrible things that Roxy did to her and to others in their power struggle. But she could understand now.

Partially.

This was not changing her plan. But it gave her some understanding. “Onyx,” she called her wolf, “Are you there?” At first, all she heard was silence. But then the familiar voice sounded in her head.

“I will be soon…”

She tried calling her again, asking what was going on. But Onyx spoke no more.

However, this was better than nothing. This was a promise. And just knowing that her wolf didn’t abandon her made Riannon smile wider.

The motion did not go unnoticed. Gideon pulled her closer. So that her head was now tucked into his chest, and he was able to dig his face into her hair and breathe in her scent that he loved so much was able to enjoy for the first time.

“I can’t believe this is real,” he muttered, “From the moment I saw you… I dreamt of this. of holding you like this, of having you as mine.”

She looked up at his handsome face and slid her hand to brush his cheek with a short stubble that prickled her fingers slightly.

“Why didn’t you tell me?” She asked. “Would you believe me if I simply told you?” He arched his brow at her.

“I guess not,” she admitted honestly. She had too much on her plate to simply believe some lycan who approached her out of the blue insisting that she was his mate: Even if he was a king. Not to mention that Onyx, the little hyena, never told her that they were mates on the rare moments she spoke to her. She couldn’t believe her wolf would waste her strength to tell everything

On the other hand, Onyx was smarter than regular wolves. Ria always knew that. She proved it to her many times. And to be honest, maybe it was for the best that she did not throw them into a situation where Riannon knew that he was her mate from the very beginning yet did not feel the connection. In that way, Gideon had to work for it and earn her trust.

Yes, that wolf of hers wasn’t simple at all. She took a bet and look at where it got them…

“Yesterday,” he traced his fingers over her bare hand, “You said the word. You called me Mate. How did you know?”

“Onyx called you that,” Ria decided to confess. Now that they were together, she did not want secrets from him. It was hard starting to trust the new man in her life but what they had was so much different from what she experienced before.

It was bigger. And better. And so special. Everything one could wish for.

“Is Onyx back?” Gideon asked with hope in his voice. They were already together but he would still feel much better if he knew that the wolf was there.

“Partially,” Ria gave him a vague smile, “I feel her presence somewhere there inside of my soul but she is not at full strength yet. I think she is trying to restore after.”

She stopped talking and he suddenly got serious. This was not a joke to him at all. He knew about a few people who had lost their wolves. He started reading about them when he found out about Onyx’s absence. This was rare. But it did happen several times in shifter’s common history.

When the beast was lost, the host was becoming just an empty shell as half of their soul was gone. That did not happen to Ria yet. But a mostly missing wolf was a bad sign. This wasn’t a destiny that he wanted for his mate.

But there was another thing that bothered him. Those people he read about were all warriors who fought in battles. Sometimes against forces much stronger than them. In the

death, the wolves, foxes, bears or other creatures sacrificed

than death. of yourself.

same as losing hearing, sight, and ability to move properly at once for humans. Probably even worse because something inside was missing as well. Everything was lessened, everything was different… Less vibrant. It was the same as sucking the joy out of life. That most vital part of

not everyone could

to

kind of

took a part in. As far as his research on her showed, and his spies were among the best, her life

behind the closed

trust me. All that I do from the day I met you is for your protection. You are my

though she knew that she wasn’t going to like the question that was

tried not to show it, but she felt

that happened to her and expect him

you physically?” the

at once to calm him down. Luckily, it was

her look at him, “Something that made you want not only divorce but fight for your pack. Something that broke you so much that your wolf almost died.” did sound weak every time she spoke. She tried to convince herself that it was just a temporary weakness due to their rebirth and their chosen mate bond breaking. But what if it was everything?

sat up, wrapping the Egyptian cotton sheets around herself, Gideon following her motion not to miss any trace of emotion on her beautiful face.”

that no matter what

to scare off, Riannon,” he gave her a soft smile. “Let’s hope so,” she gave

of one of the wolves from my own pack. It was horrible. But then I somehow came back to the very moment it all started. Gideon, I literally opened my eyes when the door opened and the two of them walked in into our packhouse. This was when I lost Onyx. And since that day I had to live again during the most horrible days of my life. Only that I didn’t want for everything to repeat. I wanted to change what happened. And I started tweaking things one by one. Big and little. I changed them and they were changing the reality. Yet main events are still the same. For example, when I tried to fight Roxy joining the pack,

it? Was it

He thought that she was joking at first, but she was too serious and nervous about that.

some of the things did. Their very first conversation. She was already sure that bad things would

to see. Anyone would be crushed by that. But

spoke to him. No one was that bold. Unless… they were on the

she called his name, biting her lip. He could see how worried she was about everything and wanted to tell

the next moment, he grabbed her and pulled her into the tightest

knew that he believed

to go through this,” he said, kissing her hair as

Embracing the feeling of safety that he gave her. And for the first time

could finally afford to let it all out. The pain, the loneliness, the fight, all her

felt so

hurting

beautiful Luna never ceased to amaze him. She

puffy eyes, embarrassed by her little

tear away with his thumb, “Tell me

next day in his room.

went on to their previous life. Then they were discussing

Gideon. And not at all what she expected. They weren’t finishing each other’s sentences.

own ideas. Often much bolder than hers. And much more

she couldn’t agree with. So, the plan was changing and

this with… an equal.

this was what they were.

still wearing nothing but sheets when

on the door.

“Give me a sec. I’ll get rid of him and then