Ridian’s POV
Getting away from the pack was a big relief, something I hadn’t known I needed. Being away from work and Jane felt like a big chip had been lifted off my shoulder. I was still not sure how I felt about Jane. I resented her, but there was no real hate. I didn’t hate her enough to send her packing, but my actions were clear enough. I was not interested in her as a woman anymore. It seemed she had chosen to be stubborn and stay. As long as she stayed out of my way, it was okay. After all I was the one who had accepted her into the pack. I couldn’t just get rid of her because she hurt my feelings. It was a minor issue. There were issues that warranted being banished but this was not one of them.
I was happy where I was, with Cilla and her family. I had grown to like Cilla very much. What drew me in was her simplicity, genuineness and honesty. She was also very beautiful. Cilla did not complicate things and never tried too hard. She had learnt to accept life the way it came and that made her very flexible.
The way she cared for her siblings as if they were her own children was impressive. She was very intuitive, and used that to understand their needs and figure out how to provide for them. You could tell that she knew how different the twins were and could take care of them basing on that. Both had different emotional and physical needs which she met without being asked. She could also figure me out quite well and that drew me to her.
Day by day, the little things she did proved to me that she was capable of being a great luna. When I had first met her, I’d scoffed to myself, thinking that she couldn’t possibly be a good fit for the position. Back when I had Jane and thought she would be the perfect luna. Now I was beginning to realise that Jane would have made a terrible luna. She could be loud and very bossy. Those had seemed like great leadership qualities at first but now that I was reasoning without the blindness of love, things were clearer to me.
My pack needed an approachable luna, someone they could interact with, one who could listen to them and find ways of solving their issues. They needed someone they could connect with. A luna needed to be capable of standing up for herself and Cilla had proved her ability to do that.
By the time I took her to the city, I had made up my mind. I was going to marry her. I wanted her, and needed her. Other than that, I loved being around her.
“This is beautiful,” Cilla said, holding up a small pink dress. She smiled at her little sister. “I think you’d look very good in this one. Go and try it.”
“Okay,” Rose said and took the dress.
“Nice one,” I said, hugging her from the back. She sighed and smiled.
“Thank you so much for doing this for us. It’s been long since we have bought our own clothes.”
“No need to thank me, babe.” I told her. I enjoyed making her happy. The smile on her face made it all worthwhile.
After our shopping spree, we hopped on to a tour bus that took us around the city. We saw many things and listened to their history as narrated by our charming tour guide. The kids were ecstatic and loved the ride more than us.
We were like a little family travelling together. When people kept mistaking us for husband and wife, it made me surer that I was planning to do the right thing.
After the tour of the city, we went to a five star restaurant and had lunch. The food was delicious and everyone enjoyed it. We returned to the hotel for a short fiesta and ended up sleeping until evening. We spent the evening at a theatre watching an interesting musical.
The next day was the D-day for me. Having bought the ring a while back, I was ready to propose to Cilla Markle. I had been observing her and thinking about it far too long. I was ready to pop the question.
Before proposing to Jane, I had been hyper-stressed and anxious. I thought this time would be easier but it was the same. It was not something you got used to easily. I had planned out everything to the dot but I couldn’t stop worrying that it could all go wrong.
After breakfast the next morning, we went to a resort in the outskirts of the city. The resort was near a small beautiful lake and offered a lot of nature based relaxation. It was ideal for people who worked in the city, surrounded by noise and all other kinds of pollution. Palmetto’s Resort was the best place to unwind during the weekend. Since we went there on a week day, we found a small population which was great.
Cilla looked amazing in swimwear. Her body, which she usually kept hidden under long uniforms, was gorgeous. She was small, with great curves in all the right places. I could stare at those amazingly shaped hips all day. I watched her as she walked almost shyly towards the pool like she didn’t know that she was perfect.
She dived into the water while I slid into a bench to watch. She transformed immediately she got into the water. It was as if she had just been tossed into her element. Gone was the shy woman I had just washed. In the water she turned into a sexy and confident woman who acted like she knew what she was doing. Now that was a part of her I wanted to see more of. I knew she had in her, but slavery had stripped it all off. I wanted her to return to her old self, the one she was before her life became a mess. I was pretty sure she had not always been so insecure.
This was making me starting to rethink slavery in my pack. Was it really necessary for me to have slaves? Sure, everyone had them but why couldn’t we just employ people to do the work. Why did we have to buy humans?
Having seen what it did to Cilla and her siblings, I realised that slavery was not that much a necessary evil like I had always thought. Something needed to be done.
But that was for another day. Now I had ring that was burning a hole in my pocket. It needed to be in the finger of my mate before the end of the day. Proposing is not as easy as it looks. One needs to find the perfect ring, words, and the perfect moment. Finding the ring is the easy part. Finding the perfect moment is an extreme sport. Just when you think you’ve found it, something interrupts and you have to wait again.
I watched Cilla swim so naturally. It seemed swimming gave her a chance to forget all about the world and only focus on herself. She looked ethereal as she emerged from the water. I could feel my heated blood circulating fast. I watched as she walked towards me, water dripping from her body, the body I desperately wanted to grab and bury myself deep within. The spot between her beautiful legs was engorged and inviting. I had to shake my head to get rid of all the dirty thoughts in my head.
As Cilla wrapped a towel around her lithe body, the twins came running towards us. They told us about all the exciting things they’d been up to with other children at the resort.
Later, I invited everyone for dinner at the beachfront. The romantic setup had already been put in place. The table was laid under a beautiful tree with bright bulbs all over it. There were candles on the table and some on the sand near it. Two chairs were set by the table and there was a smaller table at a distance with equally small chairs. Both tables overlooked the lake. The place was cool, and the breeze from the lake was refreshing.
“Wow, nice set up.” Cilla said as the twins ran to the small table and sat on the bright red chairs. A teenage server was standing by that table and started attending to them. On our side, there was a middle aged man with a gentle smile.
We took our seats, and waited for the food which I’d already ordered for. We were served our drinks while the kids were given some starter snacks.
The first course was brought to us.
“What did you order?” Cilla asked.
“Open it and see for yourself.”
On removing the bowl, a diamond ring shone in the light. Cilla gasped, then looked up at me with wide eyes. Before she could say a thing, I got up and went on my knees.
“Cilla Markle, will you marry me?”