Luna of Mine (10 page)

She took a step towards
him, and then another, and another until he could feel her breath
on the skin of his arms that were folded against his chest. Her
eyes did not waver as she kept her shoulders pulled back wearing
the confidence of a female twice her age. Her hand reached up and
she laid it softly on his arm as her eyes implored him. “Can we
step outside, please?”

He wanted to give her what
she wanted. He wanted to sweep her off of her feet and get her as
far from the room full of males as he could. Instead he shook his
head. “Explain this to me.” He held up the now crumpled
blouse.

“I gave it to him to give
to his sister. She had asked to borrow it.”

“
Where
was his sister at the time?”

“
She was
still at the pack gathering. Serghei….”

Vasile growled. He did not
like Serghei's name on her lips.

She paused pointedly as if
to say
are you finished
. He lifted a brow at her. “He walked me home to make sure I
got there alright.”

“You were alone with
him?”

“
Do we
have to do this here?” she asked as she rubbed her forehead and
pushed stray strands of hair away.

“We are not leaving this
home until I determine whether or not to kill this pup.”

Her eyes widened. “You
would kill him?”

“He kissed you.” Vasile’s
eyes narrowed dangerously. “Did he touch you?”

“
Unless
you can tell me a way to kiss without touching, then yes, he
touched me and kissed me.” She was getting irritated with him, and
under different circumstances he would have thought it
cute.

“
Did he
put his hands on your body?” he rephrased
bluntly.

“No.”

“Why did he kiss you if he
was not your mate?”

“
He was
convinced that because of how he felt for me, we had to be true
mates, and maybe the signs just were delayed.”

“
Did you
feel the same?” He was not real sure he wanted to know the answer
to that, and he was purposefully staying out of her mind because if
he got a glimpse of her memory of that kiss he would kill Serghei
right there, right then without so much as blinking.

“
No, I
told him that I thought of him as a brother. He was my
friend―nothing more.”

The next questions had
Vasile nearly phasing. He knew his eyes were glowing a blue by that
promised violence. “You have never been in his bed?”

“What!” Her head whipped
around to look at the kneeling male in question.

“
Do not
look at him,” Vasile rumbled.

“Why would you ask me if I
have been in his bed?” She was angry now. She looked fierce, and it
made his wolf want to pant at her feet.

“
Because
your blouse was in his bed.” Vasile spoke very deliberately and
watched as her face morphed into one of utter shock and
embarrassment. She had not known about the blouse; he could breathe
somewhat easier.

When she looked back up at
him, his gut clenched at the tears welling up in her steel grey
eyes. “Can we please go? I really need to go.” Her voice trembled
slightly with the need to cry.

He reached for her and to
his relief she came willingly into his arms. He looked at Ion and
Nicu. “Have him strip his bed and burn the sheets and burn the
blouse along with them.” Then he looked at Theris. “I will replace
them. But I cannot have another man rolling around in my mate’s
scent.”

“
Of
course not, Alpha.” Theris smiled but the simmering anger was just
below the surface.

Vasile looked down at
Serghei who still knelt with his head down. He forced the young
man’s head up simply with his will and held his stare. “It is
understood in our race that unmated males do not touch females
other than their family. If she is not your female, then she is
someone else’s, and what right do you have to disrespect his mate
in such a way? I am not going to kill you, though I have every
right to. For my mate’s sake, I will show mercy because I believe
it would hurt her if I ended your life. But if I hear of you
touching another female that is not yours, I will cut off your
hands.” He started towards the door with Alina tucked under his arm
but paused and glanced back over his shoulder. “Sain and Theris,
thank you for your hospitality. I appreciate it.” His voice was
cool and calm as if he had not just threatened to remove their
young wolf’s appendages.

Once he was outside, he
turned her and pressed his face into her neck. His. She was his and
only he should be allowed to bask in her intoxicating
scent.

“
Vasile,” she said his name tentatively. “Are you
alright?”

He shook his head and
answered honestly. “I am not sure at the moment.” They stood there
a few minutes longer before he released her and took her hand.
“Perhaps, we should talk.”

Alina could still feel the
tension in his hand as he held hers. She knew that his wolf was
very close to the surface, but at the moment she could do nothing
to soothe him. She was mortified. Her mate had found her clothing
in another man’s bed. She could understand his anger. Her stomach
rolled at the idea of Vasile’s clothes in another female’s bed. The
look on his face when he had asked her about the blouse was one of
not only anger but incredible hurt as well. She never wanted to see
that look on his face, and she especially did not want to be the
cause of it. She led him to the spot that Sisily and she had
claimed many years ago. Vasile sat down in front of a tree and
pulled her down so that she was sitting in front of him with her
back against his chest. His arms wrapped around her waist pulling
her tightly against him. It was terribly improper, but she did not
care. She needed to be held and not just by anyone. She needed to
be held by
him
.

She leaned her head back
on his shoulder so that his mouth was next to her ear. She
shuddered as his warm breath caressed her skin as he
spoke.

“
I
nearly killed him when I found your blouse in his bed,” he
confessed. “I have never wanted to rip a man to shreds more than I
ever had in that moment.”

“I am sorry,” she
started.

“
Not your
fault,” he interrupted her and pressed his hands flat against her
stomach squeezing her reassuringly. He kissed the side of her neck,
and when he pulled away quickly, she could tell that he was trying
to control himself, and she knew it was because of her age.
Why did he have to find me before I was of
age,
she thought.

“Can I ask you a question?”
Her voice came out more breathless than she expected.

“Anything,” he
whispered.

“How come you do not lose
control? You seem so calm even though I can see contained
anger.”

He chuckled. “I have a
feeling my control is going to be tested again and again when it
comes to you.” He let go of her and reached up to undo the braid
she had put in her hair. She bit down on her bottom lip to keep
from groaning as he began running his fingers through her hair, and
then he moved it out of the way over her shoulder. “If I do not
keep a tight grasp on my wolf, on his rage, it would be very bad,
for a lot of people. If I turned him lose, I do not think I could
ever regain control of him. And now with you, his rage has reached
a whole new level. He wants you, now. Wants to take you and make
you ours so you can never leave us.”

“And what about
you?”

“
I agree
with him, but I am a tad less barbaric. And I also understand that
your age is of consequence.”

She smiled at that, mainly
because he seemed quite barbaric to her.

“
What
about you?” His words came out hesitantly, as if he was unsure of
himself.

“Me?”

“How do you and your wolf
feel about us?”

“
Scared,
unsure, excited, inadequate, confused, hopeful, afraid…should I go
on?”

“
If it
will make you feel better to get it all out, then yes keep going. I
can feel all of those things in you through our bond, but sometimes
words are needed,” he paused and seemed to be thinking about
something. “Why are you scared and afraid?” he finally
asked.

She tried to close her
mind and tried to think of something―anything that would keep him
from seeing the answers to those questions. This was the topic she
had hoped would not come up right away. But then she knew that his
first thought would be to protect her, so if she was afraid he
wanted to know what caused her fear so he could kill it.
Unfortunately, the only thing that would eliminate this fear was
time.

“
Do not
do that, Mina. Do not shut me out.” His voice was low and hypnotic.
She wondered if he was putting any of his power in it to influence
her, but she really did not think he would ever take her free will
from her.

“
We are
taught about true mates from childhood all the way up until our
coming of age,” she finally began. “It is explained in a hundred
different ways, and yet even with all of that, it does not prepare
you for what it is really like when you finally meet your true
mate. My wolf recognizes you, feels that you are our other half.
The woman in me feels like I should not want you so desperately, so
quickly, as though I am losing myself to you.”

“
I do
not want you to feel that way,” he interrupted quickly. “It is
different for a male. My soul is shrouded in darkness. It eats away
inside of me and every day I wonder how much longer I can hold on
before I give into it. For us, finding our true mate is like the
first ray of sunshine that bursts through the blackness of night
promising a bright, hopeful day. There is no doubt and no hesitancy
and maybe that is because our wolves have more control over us than
your wolves do.”

He gently took hold of her
shoulders and turned her until she was sitting facing him. She
adjusted her dress and folded her hands in her lap. Alina knew she
could look him in the eyes, but regardless of her ability to do so,
it did not make it easy.

“
I hear
what you are saying, Alina, and it is important to me, but you
still have not told me why you are afraid.”

She felt his fingers under
her chin as he raised her face to look at him. She growled in
frustration at her cowardice behavior. All she was doing was
confirming what her father said to be true―she was not ready to be
mated to such a dominate male.

“
I know
that I cannot go with you when you leave our village to return to
you castle. I know that you cannot stay here because you are the
Alpha, and you have to oversee the entire pack. I understand the
reasons that I cannot go with you, and I know they are valid but it
does not make it any easier to deal with the reality of not being
with you. Regardless of my doubts, or confusion, I know we are true
mates. For the first time in my life, I am afraid of losing someone
I care about. I am afraid you will realize that I am not your
equal, and you will find yourself wanting one of the females who
have been raised in a class more similar to yours.” Once she had
the words out, she could breathe again. As she had been speaking,
the walls she had tried to put up in her mind slowly fell away. She
was bare before him, and it was terrifying.

He was not saying
anything, simply staring at her, and that was beginning to make her
worry. Had her insecurities once again just proven how childish she
still was? Had her words finally made him see that she could not
possibly be what he needed?

“
Stop.”
He spoke firmly but not unkindly. “I understand your fears and they
do not make you childish. Yes, Mina, you are young, but you are far
from a child. You are correct, however, I cannot claim you yet. You
are not of age and it would be selfish of me to expect you to take
on the responsibilities and the challenges of being mated not only
that but mated to an Alpha. You said you are turning sixteen very
soon, which means eighteen is only two years away. Two years is a
blink of the eye in our long lives.”

Alina’s eyes darted away
from his the second he said eighteen. He did not know that two
years was not all he would be waiting, but he was about
to.

V
asile’s eyes narrowed on his mate as he watched her shut down
once again. She looked anywhere but at him. It was not long until
he had his answer. It moved swiftly through her thoughts, and then
was gone as she attempted to conceal it. “He expects me to wait
until you are twenty to bond with you?” Once again he felt his ire
rising. It was beginning to get on his nerves how little control he
had around her. He could only imagine what it must be like for
her.

“
Yes,”
she said nothing more.
What
could she say,
he
thought. At this point it was not her decision. She was still under
the care of her parents, and she was not of age, essentially she
had no say in her future, not yet.