The Luna's Fated Choice

Chapter Seven

Chapter Seven: New Beginnings (Part 2)

Kiadaria sits on the edge of the bed, lost in her thoughts and searching the revelation that's hit her.

As she plays with the new idea, a long-forgotten memory comes to mind.

Joshua is by the river with his future beta and omega. A delta wolf also joins as they all train. They are 16, and Kiadaria knows that Joshua has begun to have big thoughts for the pack. He's itching to become Alpha before his time, and feels he needs to push himself to become a more powerful and ruthless warrior. He seems to compete with his father, the Alpha Alexander. Kiadaria doesn't know what that means for the future, but she knows when Joshua wants something, he goes after it, and she's been wondering about the seriousness of his 'joking' about her being the unofficial Luna.

This is the day of her true sexual awakening.

Joshua wielded his sword with a paranormal efficiency. Even the other wolves are amazed at how he can move his sword and the tricks he can do on the battlefield. With every fluid move and carefully controlled stance of power, the sunlight bounces its light off the shimmery water and glows on his sweat-glazed skin.

His muscles are on full display and ripple like a fantasy with each flick of his sword.

Joshua's chest moves with his controlled breaths as he shows no sign of fatigue or breathlessness, but the determination and focus that etch his features make him appear more wise and practiced than his years. His blue eyes shine with his authority and confidence.

Kiadaria has been helpless to the reactions of her body as she noticed the shift in Joshua. He's always trained, but now, when he spars, it's as though a force greater than himself takes over Joshua, with new life. She watches his moves with an aching longing between her thighs to be closer to him; she wonders what his breathing would sound like in her ears in the quiet night.

It was this memory that first posed the possibility that her feelings were more than duty and loyalty for Joshua.

However, the realization made her afraid that if she felt more for Joshua, then the possibility of the same consuming passion that drove him would spark within her. Kiadaria doesn't want to lose herself that way. So she pushes the feeling deep inside, she tells herself that Joshua's behavior has confused and influenced her. She tells herself she's too young to know the feelings she feels, but intimately, she's just afraid.

The memory continues to haunt the sight of her mind as she remembers the way Joshua looked at her that day.

Their eyes locked, and she could see the burning passion and adoration he expressed often, over her, burning in the pits of his blue orbs. Her heart had sped up, racing like a rabbit caught in a trap.

Now Kiadaria wonders if she has made a mistake.

"Had I given in to fear? Have I been allowing fear to paint the portrait of my truth?" She thinks to herself.

When Kiadaria looks up, she sees Darius standing in the doorway. A look of concern paints his features. His long brown hair is half in a bun at the back of his head.

"Hey, is everything alright?" His voice is soft. "I saw your light on, I peeked in on you and seem so deep in thought."

Kiadaria hesitates to answer her mate. Ultimately, the mate bond means they should be able to share everything. "I was remembering my childhood. It was only thoughts of the past; I guess we do that when facing unknown futures."

His eyes are searching her as he walks over to sit beside her. "About Joshua?"

Kiadaria feels guilty as soon as the words leave his mouth, and it causes her to flush. "It was just something I forgot about, something from so long ago."

She feels Joshua sent the comfort effect of the mate bond as he puts her hand in his. "It's okay, my Luna, you can tell me anything. What was the memory?"

Kiadaria nods and takes a deep breath that doesn't stop her from stuttering, although Darius is calm and the mate bond makes her feel at ease. "I was remembering a time when I really admired Joshua. When we were young, he trained by the river a lot, and I'm telling you, he was truly meant to be an Alpha. You could see the determination and focus in every pore of his body. He was always intense, but the Alpha shift was immaculate. I guess t-that...I mean, I may have r-realized that I could have ignored feelings I had for him way back then."

Darius is silent for a moment before he asks softly.

"And now?" The need for reassurance is only hinted at in his tone. "Do you have feelings for him now?"

It makes her heart tug when she looks into his dark chocolate eyes and sees the vulnerability and doubt. Kiadaria wants to stick to her decision to choose her mate and reassure Darius of the beginning of their future together. She wants him to understand that she does feel and accept the depth of their mate bond. So she grabs his hand and squeezes, bringing him a touch closer.

"Darius, you are my mate. The moment we met, I knew that things would never be the same. I couldn't ignore it, you were right. I don't want to ignore it." She feels exposed trying to express these thoughts to him, but that is what love is supposed to be...becoming naked in your soul with another. "I will not lie, my feelings for Joshua are very complicated, and I'm only realizing how complex, but my feelings for you are different from how I've felt for him. You make me feel safe, and you listen to me. I've never had someone care about what I want to the same degree that you do, although I am still learning that about you."

His face softens, and Darius listens, holding onto every word. Kiadaria feels her admiration and desire for Darius grow stronger. So, she continues, and the conviction in her voice is real.

"I want to embrace this connection with you. I want to see where fate, love, and life will take us. I want this. So I am here to commit to our mate bond and you."

Darius appears to be at peace with her words.

He pulls her with almost no strength, leaving room for her resistance. She doesn't resist as the blood pounds in her ears, she wants his lips. His lips brush against her own with the weight of a feather but with the intensity of a hurricane. The tender kiss makes her heart swell with passion. Warmth floods her body.

But as their hearts beat as one, the shadow cast by the past looms with an ignored uncertainty.