Page 112 of His Fated Luna

Aiden's POV

I breathed deeply, running my hands through the russet-colored fur in amazement. Her green eyes glowed yellow and seemed aquamarine in the dark of night, the torches around us illuminating her. We were in the clearing in front of the Temple of the Moon Goddess where we had the mating ceremony. Mom had taken Dylan’s reports to a magical healer at her sister's pack. I was the only person to stay with Rose for her turn tonight.

I’d never seen a more magnificent wolf. She wasn’t small or dainty. In fact, she was the perfect size to complement my own wolf.

I could feel the urge to turn. To let our wolves interact. I could also feel my wolf’s urge to mate with my luna. But I decided that I couldn’t take advantage of Rose like that. Rose would succumb to her wolf now but was it what she really wanted? It was the same reason I’d pulled away from her again and again. I had no right to enjoy her, not when I’d pushed her away so effectively in the past. She didn’t love me. So with a strength I didn’t know I possessed, I tamped down on my instincts, simply enjoying as Rose licked my face playfully and yipped at me. Pulling back, she bent down low, wagging her tail. I knew she wanted to play; she wanted me to change. But I couldn’t.

“Take your run,” I cajoled.

Rose growled playfully at me, beckoning for me to follow

I shook my head. “You can do this alone. Come on. Get to know your wolf.”

She looked a little sad, but seemed to understand my hesitance. Green turned to a full-on glowing yellow as Rose let her wolf take over completely. She ran out into the night. I knew she was going to explore her territory, leaving her mark. The land should know its luna was here.

I went into the temple, sitting down on the cold stone floor to wait for Rose to return.

After an hour, the graceful russet-colored wolf bounded into the temple lithely, coming to rest her head in my lap.

“Did you have fun?” I asked, patting her head, and enjoying the way her fur felt against my fingers.

My wolf was growling inside to be let out. I wanted my mate. Rose looked up at me a little forlornly, the sentence left unspoken but conveyed through the mind-link all werewolves had with pack members.

“I would have had more fun if you had been with me.”

I let out a silent breath of laughter, scratching behind her ears. So she had learned to mind-link already. That really wasn't a surprise. I already knew, Rose was smart and a quick learner.

“Alright, now here’s the hard part, Princess. You have to turn back.”

Rose lifted her head, taking a few steps back. I leaned forward, extending a hand to give her one final pat. I wished I could turn and nuzzle my nose against her fur. But my wolf would dominate her in an instant, mating with her whether she wanted it or not.

“Come on. I know you can do it. It won’t hurt as much as the first time. Just think about your human form,” I encouraged.

Rose looked back outside almost longingly.

“You can go for a run again later,” I promised. “We have to make sure you can change yourself back first.”

Rose cocked her head to the side, and I almost laughed at her skepticism.

“You can’t stay a wolf forever, Rose. Come on, Princess, come back to me.”

I heard the popping of joints and snapping of bones. Belatedly, I realized that I’d left her sheet outside so I wouldn’t be able to cover her when she changed back. I ran out quickly, grabbing the material and coming back, throwing it over her naked shivering form.

Rose grabbed my wrist as it brushed by her ear. Suddenly, with surprising strength, she pulled me down into her. I caught a whiff of her scent and growled. She was aroused and her scent was even more intoxicating now. After her turn.

Rose nuzzled the skin behind my ear, inhaling my scent and using her now heightened senses. She pushed her sheet clad form against me.

Of their own volition, my hands trailed up, slipping past the opening of her sheet and skimming up her bare arms. A deep rumble emitted from me as I became completely encased by the desire her scent and proximity sent surging through me. I cupped her breasts, caged them in my hands. They were soft and supple, perfect. Rose moaned, arching into me. I flicked a nipple experimentally and saw pleasure erupt across Rose’s face. She was enjoying this.

My luna. MINE.

My wolf instinct screamed it, the thought pounding into my brain, and something else very ugly reared my head. Jealousy. Jealousy that she would never be anyone else’s.

She will never be Jake’s. She’s mine. She can't be his. SHE BELONGS TO ME!

I had to see, I had to know the extent of her feelings for me. Did I have a chance or was she going to leave me for Jake? And the green-eyed monster took full control, the desire to claim her too great to resist any longer. Months of endless control snapped like a rubber band stretched too thin. I pulled her into my arms with a growl.

My teeth skimmed the base of her throat, and Rose let out a breathy groan, her small hands coming up to clutch the soft fabric of my shirt. My mouth clamped over her slender neck and the groan my nibbles tore from her lips spurred me on.