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ASH

The last few days had been wonderful. Luna was healed, settled in the house, and work was going well.

It was an easy routine: waking together, eating breakfast, dropping her off at work, and meeting her again at the end of the day.

Like now, we were taking her to dinner at the local diner.

It felt like we'd been wrapped up in isolation. It was time to try normal.

She stepped out of Maureen's office and smiled when she saw me. That smile lit a bonfire in me. My wolf's pull to complete the mate bond was riding me.

“Hey!” she greeted me as she threw herself into my arms. Connor had stayed back at the gym and would meet us in a bit.

“How was your day?” I asked as she pulled back and took my hand. We started down the sidewalk. Moonglen comprised one main street for the regular businesses, residential streets spiraling off, and the commercial district back near the entrance. The forest stretched away for miles.

“Regular. How was yours?”

“Wow, I’m overwhelmed by the vivid narrative,” I teased. “Truly, I was there with you.”

She glanced at me and laughed. “You really want details?”

I looked at her like “duh”.

“It was good. I find it interesting in that she has few systems set up, and I like that—creating efficient systems. But it’s kind of boring. I’ve been doing admin for so long that there’s little to learn.”

“And moving a lot doesn’t help you move up in your career.”

“Correct. How was your day?”

We were walking past stores that were already closed for the day: a florist, a pet store, a butcher, a fruit and vegetable shop, etc.

“Good, thanks. There isn't much to do now, aside from paperwork, as everything is established, and our team is great. I mostly go to work to socialise and sign cheques.”

I stopped at the diner. It was the kind with red awnings over the expansive windows, a bell that tinkled as you opened the glass door, and was filled with tables of varying sizes with red booth seats and stools.

Luna stopped in the doorway, eyes wide, face lighting up. “This is the cutest place I’ve ever been.” Her delight was contagious.

“Hi Ash, take a seat where you like. I’ll grab your menus in a second.” Audrey Lim, the owner, saw me and called from another table where she was taking orders.

“Thanks. No rush,” I called and led Luna to a table along the back wall, facing the door.

“So, is admin what you saw yourself doing when you graduated from university?” I asked as we settled. She sat in the booth seat, and I slid in next to her. She turned and faced me, seating herself in the corner.

“Obviously not. But it was an easy start and provided a good way to move around the country as needed.”

“What do you want to do?”

She pursed her lips like she'd never thought about it. “I really don’t know. Run my own business? Run a bookstore with a cafe? Something where I could build something of my own.”

I liked that. That's what we'd done with the gym.

Audrey delivered a hot chocolate for Luna and two beers when Connor arrived, bringing the cool air with him.

“Hey, I wondered where you were,” Luna said, smiling warmly at him.

There was a soft affection between them that didn’t burn like the mate bond, but was grounded like roots.

Sometimes I envied how easy they were with each other.

I couldn't help comparing, but there was an affection growing there, a different feeling from the, at times, near feral need of the bond we had.

“Just helping with the after-work rush.” He brushed it off. He'd been giving us space.

The evening went exactly as I'd hoped. Luna loved the diner and the food, and we'd gotten to know each other better in a low-stress environment.

We were presented with a bright, nearly full moon when we stepped back into the cool night air.

The sky was navy blue, with the twinkling lights of the stars studded across it like someone had thrown a bucket of stars across a canvas.

“Pretty,” Luna mainly murmured to herself. She pressed herself into my side in the cold air. “I keep thinking I’ll wake up and this will all be gone,” she whispered. “Like it’s too good to be true.”

I couldn’t dispute it; I felt the same way.

The walk to the truck wasn't long; I'd parked halfway between her work and the diner. But her steps were much shorter than ours, so we tried to match our pace to hers.

Back at home, she left us to go shower and change. I turned to Connor.

“That was the best night I've had in so long.”

He was smiling softly. “I could see.”

I started the fire and built it to maximize the heat. Connor sat on the couch with his book, the book Luna had lent him.

Luna came out, freshly showered, in warm pyjamas and the white robe. She sank into the couch.

“Are you loving it?”

“It's addictive, for sure.”

“I've just finished the second book, so that you can have it straight away.”

“Phew, I’m sensing a cliffhanger and I can’t bear those.”

The fire crackled, Luna’s laughter mingling with Connor’s. For the first time in years, I felt like I was exactly where I was meant to be.