Moonless

Chapter 5

AN; Wow! 161 reads and 29 votes. The OG readers are amazing. I hope all of you are enjoying this story! I know I am!
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I jumped out of my bed and stared down at him. He was still radiating the same golden light, but it had dimmed slightly.

"Why are you here!?" I whispered. "My eyes flew over to Beatrice on the other side of the room. She was fast asleep, snuggled under her bedsheets, and every once and a while a little snore would escape through her lips.

"Where even am I?"
I could feel his confusion radiating off him while his eyes danced around my room.

"My bedroom."

"But it's so small... and why is there another person sleeping in here too?" he gestured towards Beatrice's bed.

"One of the many perks of being a Lunera, you never have to sleep alone. Did..did you follow me here?"

Grayson gazed up at me, " No, I'm not sure how I ended up here. But at the risk of sounding crazy, I don't think I am actually here."

"You do sound crazy, what do you mean?"

"My spirit is here but my mind is somewhere else. The last thing I remember..." he trailed off

"The Alpha was whipping you, why did you lie to him? He probably wouldn't have punished  you if he knew what happened."

"You and I both know the answer to why?"

"Because you didn't want the Alpha to be ashamed that you had a Lunera mate?"

"I'm not sure that I do understand," I said instead.

"I was worried that he would kill you?"

"How did he...oh."

"Stop reading my mind and stop lying! It would be so much easier for you if you could just find another mate! That way you could  avoid the shame."

"I don't want to avoid anything, especially if that thing is you. Shame and honor be damned!"

"Shame and honor be dammed," I repeated and let out a small laugh, which earned me a stern like from Grayson. I could feel his growing annoyance. "I'm sorry, but you didn't even know I existed until I made the mistake of helping you with your tie! And now you are trying to tell me, you would sacrifice your honor to be with me? You don't even know my name yet!"

"It's Aurelia. I looked it up under your number, 23."

I took a step back from the bed. "Wow, you looked my name up under the number your father assigned to me! Am I supposed to be flattered!?"

"You didn't tell me it!? So how are you supposed to know?"

"Because you were supposed to leave me alone or kill me quickly! You don't need to know my name to do any of those options!?"

"Those aren't options for me, because you are my mate!" he roared and stood from the bed. His eyes blazed yellow.

A wave of intense anger suddenly rolled over me. And I gasped, I stumbled back. My feet tangled under me, and I fell backward only to be caught before I could hit the ground. I found myself face to face with Grayson. His muscular arm cradled my back and kept me from tumbling backward onto the hard wooden floor.