Chapter 132


    Book Two – Ch.#24 “What are you doing back here?” Kieran asked. “Did you get lost?” I took a small


    breath and tried to think on my words, but there wasn’t really any way around this. It was pretty obvious


    what I was doing.


    “Your uh… Your uncle asked for a drink,” I said, holding it up a little to show him. “I was looking for the


    kitchen.” “And he asked you to get it for him?” “…Yes.”


    Silence.


    I tapped my nails against the ss in my hand as I awkwardly stood there, unsure if I was about to get


    another lecture about something I was never told about. A reurring situation that was bing


    more frustrating.


    “Raven… that’s not your job. Especially not as my… guest. We have attendants to help with that which


    he should already know.”


    “Ok… but *I* didn’t know that and you weren’t there,” I snapped back. “I was trying to be polite. In a


    human city, it’s not that umon for someone to ask this. Especially for people who are important.”


    Countless times in my life had I fetched influential men drinks in order to gain favour. Some people just


    expected it. How was I meant to know it would be met with this much pushback here? It was just a


    freaking drink.


    “I’m sorry. I’ll try and stay by your side more,” he said. “And don’t worry about the drink or about


    Sterling. I’ll speak to him about pulling that sort of thing again.” He went to walk past me to the hallway


    door, but it was then that my frustration finally came to a boil.


    …I’d had enough.


    “That’s not the issue here, Kieran,” I said, stopping him. “You can’t be with me twenty-four seven.


    That’s just… unrealistic. The problem is that I don’t understand.”


    He turned back to look at me and his eyes quickly softened.


    “…You’re right. That’s my bad. I should exin the culture here to you more,” he said. “Thest thing I


    want is for you to feel ufortable. We can do lessons or—.”


    “No,”


    1 ced the ss down on a side-table and took a step towards him.


    “No, what I don’t understand is… me. Where I fit into all of this. Where I fit into your life and this town.


    You say that I’m here as a guest and yet that seems to have unspoken social rules I‘ve never heard of.”


    “It’s…plicated,” was all he said,


    “Complicated in the same way this thing between us is?” I asked, thinking back to what he’d


    once told me. “Because you never exined that to me either. Just left it as ‘aplicated question’.


    But these sparks… these abrupt feelings… the connection… It’s all so intense. I need to know if this is


    just a part of my sickness or… if this is real.”


    At that, he instantly moved back over to my side, his hands grabbing mine. I could feel the warmth and


    sparks spread through the contact, trying to calm me, but my uncertainty inside prevailed.


    “It’s real,” he said quietly. “Of course it’s real.”


    “Then why won’t you tell me what this is? Or tell anyone else for that matter? Are you hiding it from


    people because you think this is temporary? Or casual? I’m confused about what you want from me.”


    “You’ve got it wrong,” he said quickly, seemingly shocked by what I was saying: “I’m not hiding


    anything. I don’t need to tell people anything… because everyone already knows, Raven. Everyone


    knows because you’re my….” “…Guest?” I offered when his words trailed off, raising a brow at him. But


    he then took a deep breath, rubbing a hand against his eyes. Almost as if he was having an argument


    with himself inside. One he seemed to leave feeling defeated. “Because you’re my… mate,” he said


    reluctantly. I stared at him nkly, not understanding what that meant. Clearly, this was something he’d


    been hesitant to tell me and yet his answer provided no new insight into my concerns. “..’Mate? I


    don’t… I don’t know what that is,” I said, a crease forming between my brows.


    “It’s-.” But before Kieran could borate further, an attendant then walked through the hallway with a


    tray full of sses in hand. He spared us a quick curious nce as he passed by but didn’t pause,


    promptly continuing through to the dining area. “Come on,” Kieran said, tugging on my hand to follow.


    “We should talk in private.”


    I allowed him to lead me for a minute until we came upon a room. It looked to be a small, contained


    suite;plete with both a bedroom and lounge area.


    He took several feet inside but I quickly crossed my arms, growing impatient. “Tell me,” I said.


    And he looked at me with conflicted eyes, as though he really didn’t want to have the conversation. But


    it was now past the point of hiding this. I needed to know. I needed answers.


    Only, I could have never anticipated the way the conversation started.


    “Do you believe in Gods?” he asked randomly. The question took me by surprise but I answered it


    honestly. “No more than the average guy on the street, I guess. It’s not like someone can prove their


    existence.” It was difficult to believe in a divine power after experiencing the things I had, after seeing


    the things I’d seen


    “What if I was to tell you that there lived a Goddess who created and oversaw our kind? A Great


    Mother who we refer to as the Moon Goddess, Selene?”


    “...Am I being indoctrinated into a cult right now?”


    Whilst I’d been warned of his sister’s strong faith, I hadn’t expected Kieran to bring it up like this now of


    all times. Especially since faith was something personal, not something to be shoved upon another by


    force.


    But heughed at my response and shook his head. “No, I’m not. I’m just exining our kind’s history.


    Unlike humans, we actually have reasonable evidence to support our deity’s existence. One of those


    things being… destined mates.” “Destined mates?”


    “A destined mate is… someone chosen by the Goddess to be your other half. A soul mate,” he


    exined. “The Moon Goddess saw to it that our kind never had to suffer alone. So she created two


    halves of our souls. Upon finding the other half, we are instantly connected to them. It’s why you feel


    and experience all the things you do around me. I feel them too.” I’d already thought werewolves were


    something out of a fantasy book, but now there were soul mates? Someone who was apparently


    irrefutably connected to you? But if his deity had decreed this… thing… between us, why pretend like it


    didn’t exist?


    “Why would you want to hide this from me?” I asked, my head still whirling with information.


    “…Because I wanted you to have a choice,” he said.


    And it was then that I started to understand his actions.


    Kieran slowly walked over to me then and brushed a stray strand of hair away from my face. His eyes


    studied my features before finally meeting my gaze. “Without any added pressure, I wanted you to


    have the freedom to decide if you didn’t want this,” he said. “If… you didn’t want me.” My chest ached


    in pain over hearing him say that. Even in the short time we’d spent together, it was clear just how


    attached to him I already was. I was lying to myself in thinking that I could ever return to my normal life


    the same now. That I could return to my father happily without any regrets. Kieran had a hold over me


    that was intoxicating, a light I’d craved for as long as I could remember. Being near him made it feel like


    I was able to breathe for the first time.


    So if what he was saying was true, if he really was my ‘mate’, then did that mean he really would stay


    by me?…Could I dare to hope that this was maybe permanent? I reached my hands up and gently


    touched his face, his eyes immediately rxing under my touch


    “Kieran… you saved me from a world of pain and abuse, one where I was blind to just how bad it really


    was,” I said, trying to keep my voice steady despite the overwhelming emotions churning inside. “How


    could you possibly think I wouldn’t want you?”


    He averted his gaze then, looking across the room. “Because it’s not that simple. There are…


    responsibilities with being involved with me. My role within this pack basically dictates the future of


    whoever I be mated with.” “What do you mean?” “An Alpha’s mate is referred to as a Luna and


    they’re seen as a mother figure. A symbol of kindness to everyone who resides here. Where an Alpha


    typically rules with strength, his Luna


    is meant to bnce that.”


    There was that term again. ‘Luna’. Doctor Chambers had expressed guilt when referring to it. So she


    had been referring to… me. To what she had inadvertently done to me.


    “So it’s like a… queen?” I asked, trying to understand.


    “Simr, yeah.”


    That was… a lot to take in.


    I wasn’t by any means a good person. I wasn’t a symbol of kindness nor a leader. In fact, I was so


    incredibly far from those things. I’d done… terrible things in my life, controlled by a father I still couldn’t


    help but feel love for despite everything he’d done. Just what part of that said I was capable of being a


    ‘Luna’? Of having any sort of responsibility for other people?


    It had to be some sort of mistake. This… Goddess, or whatever she was, had to have made an error. If


    she was even real.


    After all, who would want a criminal as a queen? “Hey… don’t stress,” he said, pulling me from my


    thoughts. “If you don’t want it then… I don’t know, maybe we can think of another option. Right now, all


    I care about is making sure you get better… and, though it may be wishful thinking, I’d like to not


    jeopardise what we have over something stupid like future titles.”


    He was always so aware of me, so adept at reading me. I guess it made sense now why he was the


    only person I’d met who could do that.


    He was my… other half. No, my *better* half.


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    It seemed almost too good to be true. But that didn’t mean I could be what he wanted me to be one


    day. All I could offer was myself. Myself and nothing more. So was it okay for me to exploit this mistake,


    to want to be with him even though I didn’t want the additional responsibilities? Because I knew for a


    fact that I wasn’t fit for the role expected. I could never be….


    And as I continued to think on it, my eyes then trailed from his, slowly moving down until I was staring


    at his lips; a small shudder coursing through me as I began to crave his touch once more. Like an


    addict needing their fix. Well… I mean… surely it would be okay to reap the benefits a little? We could


    come to another solution, just as he had said.


    And it was with that thought that I then made up my mind.


    I wanted to stay here. I didn’t want to go home yet.


    And as I looked back up to him, my next words held only conviction.


    I want to be with you too,” I said, finishing the thought in my head.


    It was with thosest words of eptance that he then moved in closer, leaning down towards


    1. A new drive igniting within his actions as he reached out, almost as if he were now unable to stop


    himself, and the colour of his eyes quickly darkened.


    And though I wasn’t an expert by any means, I was beginning to think that maybe I’d worked out just


    what that darkening meant. …And a shiver of anticipation swept through me.