The Castle Under The Moon

Chapter Twenty-Six

"You want me to participate in these challenges?" Shadow was pacing while Luna sat in a chair, watching him.

"Obviously." Luna squints, her right fist under her chin, holding her head up as she leans forwards, her elbow resting on her knee.

Shadow's beast is wagging his tale, which was strange because that has never happened before.

The beast wants Shadow to say yes, to agree to everything that his mate was asking so that he could prove that he was a strong mate, that he was indeed worthy of her.

"If I say yes?" Shadow sighs, still pacing.

"Then you will be one of the ten men that will be competing to be the Alpha of the Lycans." Luna mumbles, not moving from her spot in the chair, her head still resting on her fist.

"You really want me in that position?" Shadow faces Luna, surprise clear on his face.

The beast lets out a growl, not wanting any of the other man to win and be close to her, that was his position. It pleased them both to know that she wanted him in such a huge position, knowing how big this one pack was.

"Mhm." Luna yawns, unaware of what was going on with Shadow internally.

Shadow just watches her as her eyes droop, thinking of his answer.

His beasts mind was already made up, he would always want to tell her yes, always make her happy, he didn't really need to think about it too much.

With him pressing Shadow to agree, he finally caves.

"Okay."

A large smile takes over Luna's face, causing Shadow's heart to skip a few beats as well as the beast's tail to wag again..

"Great! Asher and Gabriel are picking  the other men." Luna claps her small hands together and leans back in the chair.

Shadow tries not to growl at the mention of the other men, though he was happy that he seemed to be the only one that mattered to her because she didn't bother picking the others.

After a few minutes of Shadow and his beast conversing Luna speaks up, her voice thicker, showing Shadow that she was tired.

"Why didn't you tell me who you were?"

Shadow sighs and sits on the edge of the bed and wipes over his entire face with his large hands.

"It wouldn't have changed anything." He keeps his eyes trained on the floor, afraid to look her in the eyes, hoping that his voice sounded more confident than he felt about that statement.

"No, but it would have been nice to know your name." Luna's voice cracks, for some reason her heart was hurting in a way she had never felt before.

The beast lets out a whimper while Shadow mentally smacked himself.

"I'm sorry." Was all Shadow could say.

"Well that is all over now." Luna yawns, her eyes completely closing now that she has talked about everything that she has wanted to talk about.

Shadow forces his head to face her when he hears her yawn and wasn't able to stop the smile that showed up on his face when he sees Luna curled up in the chair, hardly awake.

"Does that mean you forgive me?" Shadow wonders as he slowly stands.

"Yep." Luna smiles

"You look like a little bear." Shadow murmurs as he nears her.

Luna didn't make a sound, her breathing even and slow, showing Shadow that she was already asleep.

Shadow takes a few moments to look over Luna's sleeping form. Luna had a small smile on her lips and she had pulled her legs up onto the chair so that she was curled into a small ball.

With a small sigh, Shadow bent down and began to pick her up.

Using his left hand to hold her back, he used his right to go under her knees as he picked her up, freezing when she made a few noises.

Shadow swears that his heart grew a bit when Luna gave a satisfied sigh as she turned into Shadow's warm body, happy to be touching the man.

Walking to his bedroom door, Shadow used his right knee to support the bottom half of Luna's body while he used his right hand to open the door.

Shadows eyes widen when he sees Asher standing in front of him with his hand raised, fisted and ready to knock on the door that Shadow had just opened.

Swiftly and smoothly Shadow replaced his knee with his hand, not liking the vulnerable position that he was caught in.

"Oh, hey." Asher mumbles as he pulls his hand down and around to his back meeting his other hand.

Shadow just nods and stands stiffly, his jaw was set and he looked completely dangerous.

"Here, let me help you." Asher slides over to the door that was behind him and opens it, allowing Shadow to walk through it, both him and the beast on guard.

Asher stayed in the doorway, his eyes never leaving Shadow's stiff form as he gently put Luna onto her bed and slipped her shoes off of her feet.

With a sigh Asher looks down, feeling like he was imposing on a private moment.

Shadow makes sure that Luna is tucked into her covers before he turns and makes his way out of her room, using his body to back Asher out of her doorway so that he could close her door.

Once the door was closed Asher looks up at the giant man, feeling extremely awkward and unwanted as he wiped his clammy hands on his thighs.

After a few minutes of the two men looking at one another Shadow rolls his eyes, knowing that the lion that was standing in front of him wasn't going to start the conversation.

"Why were you standing in front of my door?" Shadow crosses his large arms over his huge chest, which causes Asher to gulp.

"Well, Valda wanted to know if you wanted bathing water and food." Asher states, keeping his eyes trained on the other mans, hoping that he would make it out in one piece.

"Sure." Shadow shrugs, his arms falling to his sides.

"Alright, also, Gabriel wants to meet with you in the morning." By the time that Asher had finished his sentence he was halfway down the hallway, walking backwards, finger guns pointed at Shadow.

Once the lion was out of eyesight Shadow rolls his eyes and shakes his head as he opens his bedroom door.

Walking in and using his left foot to shut said door, Shadow closes his eyes and begins to stretch his tired body.

The sound of water sloshing interrupted his glorious stretching and when he opened his eyes Shadow was surprised to see a pile of food that sat in the middle of a tray was in the center of his bed.

Heading into the bathing room a grin instantly appeared on his face when he sees the steaming water in the copper tub.