The Fragility of Fate ✔️

17 | Queen

Gabriel

Pretending to be oblivious, I sat on a deck chair on the front balcony, inhaling her nervousness as she approached.

"How was training?"

Her brows furrowed, "Fine...."

Stubborn.

...She felt that.

"Actually, it was good... thank you. Listen, you know I haven't shifted for a very long time... Would you like to join me?"

Fuck me sideways, she didn't have to ask me twice.

I tried not to sound fazed either way despite my internal elation, "Are you sure?"

I felt her lower her inhibitions, but she was careful to ensure her voice maintained it's strength and composure. "It's a beautiful night for it. I'm doing it for her, she needs to see her mate."

My voice struggled. "Of course... I just need to finish some stuff up, and we can head out, is that alright?"

I couldn't even comprehend whether this conversation was real or not as I had romanticized it so often that I didn't even know how to react when it became reality. I headed inside briefly to compose myself, feigning calmness because I didn't want my eagerness to ruin this moment.

My hands gripped either side of the basin as I stared at my reflection in the bathroom mirror. I gave myself a silent reassurance before walking out, exhaling deeply as my anxiety gave way to the beauty before me...

~

I watched her intently as she gazed at the moon, her hair still in the messy braid from her training session as each strand illuminated under the filtered light.

I could tell that hesitance was rearing within her, a slight tremble in her voice accentuating her fragility, "I don't know if I can..."

"Of course you can. She can. That's why you've had to hold her back with Adrienne's tincture, but you are healed enough now. You are both more than capable."

We locked eyes. I held myself to her view, a silent promise. My jaw clenched as my own nerves made it difficult to swallow. It was an open offer for her to trust me, but only one that she could take. She had to want this. I knew how monumental this moment was to her... control was something that had been forcefully and brutally taken from her, and here she was offering to relinquish that to her wolf... and to me.

I felt how desperately her wolf wanted to reach out to her mate, but I also felt the trepidation roll off her every time the thought had previously entered her head. Despite being stoic and elusive in veiling her feelings, I was able to read her... Not yet through mind-linking of course because I wasn't going to mark her, but because I was her mate. I never eluded to my ability to read her, because I knew she was aware and I didn't think rubbing that in her face granted any show of the respect and admiration that I had for her.

The truth was I believed that if in a different time and place, had we not been mates, I still would have fallen in love with her anyway. It wasn't the pull of the moon. It wasn't coercion from the bond. I had refused to mark her, not only because I didn't believe it was within my right to destroy such an intimate act by her lack of consent, but because I wanted her to grow the same feelings for me without the influence of the moon. If she did not or could not, I had to give her the freedom of that choice, but tonight was a step in the right direction. I couldn't lose sight of how far we had come. Of how far she had come.

I made the decision to act first. Doing so showcased my own vulnerability that I would offer myself to her viewing and risk her rejection, but it was a chance I was willing to take.

Her eyes trailed me as I stepped onto the cool grass in front of her. I took off my shirt revealing my back to her, posturing as I did so. My wolf rumbled in satisfaction as we felt her eyes linger from behind, tracing every muscle with her vision as I exposed her to my view.

I tilted my head up to the sky, blinking as beads of rain began to dance onto my skin. I raised my arms wide open, my palms upwards in reverence like a sacrifice to my moon. My true moon. Miesha. Claws elongated from my fingertips as the cry of my wolf ripped from my chest, tumbling out into the mountainous landscape before us.

Almost rhythmically, my bones snapped, each movement hurling my body forward as it had done countless times before... My jaw and nose punched outward as I bent over, my claws burying into the dirt beneath me as I completed my transition. Turning slowly, my wolf cautiously stepped towards Miesha before laying on his stomach, and dropping his gaze in a sign of complete submission. We were hers and we were at her will.

Miesha stood tall on the front steps, taking one step down at a time before standing over us. A gasp escaped her lips as she reached forward, running her hands through our fur, bringing her face down until we were nose to nose. His whine quaked the ground, each leaf rippling in unison as he begged for her acceptance.

She gazed over every inch of him, her approval bolstering his pride. "You're beautiful... "

There we stayed... a blissful moment where she held our head in her hands, forehead to forehead, sharing a silent sonnet in the most intimate of ways.

Breaking the connection momentarily, my wolf watched as Miesha stood before us. Maintaining eye contact, she gently slipped off her clothing piece by piece, yielding to her instinct and desire as she ascended into the pure sovereignty that she was born to be. A Queen.

Thank you for reading.

Don't forget to vote and comment if you are enjoying my story.