Esmeralda
The moment he asked for my name the second time, I knew he was referring to the name my mum gave me. But I wanted to be sure, so as not to anger my mate as he was a man of impatience.
Esmeralda.
Meant Emerald in Spanish and Portuguese. A rare precious gemstone signifying truth and love as my mum always explained to me.
Esmeralda. I loved the beautiful sound of the name and I bore it with pride.
A tear welled up in my eye and ran down my cheek as a memory of the past flooded me.
I remembered a five-year-old me, running out of the school bus, caring less that I could fall and sprain my knees, ignoring the shouts from the school bus driver as my mind was centred on one person.
My mother.
I couldn’t wait to be wrapped in her ever-loving arms while I rest my small head on the swells of her firm breasts, allowing my tiny fingers to playfully comb her soft, silky hair.
I slowed my pace when I got to the doorpost, jumping and stretching to open the door as my height was below the door knob. After one last jump, I turned the doorknob and opened the door.
The delicious scent of pastries filled my nostrils, causing me to salivate shamelessly. I flung my schoolbag on the floor, sniffing the air, letting the aroma take me to its source and in no time, I found myself in the kitchen.
My small mouth watered at the sight of freshly baked sausage rolls that greeted my eyes, beckoning unto me to have a taste of them. My eyes wandered in search of my mum but she was nowhere to be found in the kitchen.
Where could she be?
I strode toward the oven, carefully opening it to avoid burns on my fingers. Expecting to see more sausage rolls, but meat pies greeted my sight.
I was going to have a lovely lunch!
I closed the lid carefully and walked to the centre table where the sausage rolls were displayed and for the first time in my life, I almost lost it.
I was torn between two options. Eat it. Don’t eat it.
I badly wanted a taste of those mouth watering pastries, but my mum’s words ran in my ears, making me stare at the sausage rolls helplessly.
“If you want anything, tell me. Don’t take things when you are not given permission,”
I won’t take it as I didn’t want to disobey her. I wanted to be on Santa’s good list.
“You can take one if you want,” I heard a familiar voice behind me, followed by a chuckle. I slowly turned to be sure that I was not dreaming, but my gaze met my mum’s.
I furrowed my brows, giving her a knowing look, “Are you serious?” I asked in almost a whisper.
“Sure. I have been watching you and I am marvelled at your self-control,”
I watched her slim figure leave the door frame and walked towards the oven, turning it off and removing the freshly baked meat pies, placing them on the centre table, and grabbing one meat pie and one sausage roll.
She stopped in front of me and placed the pastries in my tiny hands, “Here, that’s what you get for being a good girl,” She planted a kiss on my forehead and walked out of the kitchen.
“Thanks, mum,” I mouthed to her and wasted no time in devouring the delicious snacks, savouring the taste before a thought flashed in my mind, making me lose my appetite.
“Mum, can I change my name?” I asked, making her stop what she was doing and walked to where I sat.
Her large hands found my small ones and gave them a gentle squeeze, “What made you say that?” A concerned look washed upon her face as her amber-coloured eyes didn’t leave mine.
“Because it doesn’t suit me,” I looked away, closing my eyes as the event flashed across my memory.
A soft gasp escaped her mouth as she snuggled closer to me, “Who told you that?”
“Some girls at school,” I let my gaze meet my feet, blinking hard as tears threatened to fall past my eyes.
“What did they tell you?”
I took a deep breath, before releasing it calmly, “She asked for my name and I told her it was Esmeralda, then she laughed at me and said It doesn’t make sense because there was nothing green in me. Not my hair, not my eyes, nothing,”
I had expected my mum to flare up and demand to see the girl the next day for making her daughter feel inferior, but she cupped my chubby cheeks and gave me a reassuring smile.
“She is wrong,”
“What?”
“Yeah. She is wrong. There is a trace of green in you,” She touched my nose bridge with the tip of her finger.
“But I can’t see it,”
“Of course, you can’t, but I saw it,” She cleared her throat, “When you were born, your beautiful eyes were amber-coloured, just like mine and your hair was blonde, just like mine and your dad’s,” She paused and closed her eyes for a while. I knew it was because of my dad. She was always like that each time my dad was mentioned.
I recognized the feeling.
The feeling of hurt.
Like a flash of light, the feeling vanished from her eyes and was replaced with happiness.
“I thought you named me Esmeralda because of the fictional character in Disney. Her name was Esmeralda and she was a heroine,”
“Nah. I don’t do cartoons,” She smiled, revealing her perfect white set of teeth.
“Three days after you were born, your eyes strangely turned green. The brightest and the most beautiful shade of green I have ever seen. Your hair on the other hand turned strawberry. Strange right?” She asked while I nodded impatiently, deeply engrossed in the story.
“But after some days, your hair turned to its former blonde colour… and your Emerald green eyes slowly faded to amber. That was the reason I named you Esmeralda, because of your strange green eyes. The truth is, I hadn’t figured out a name for you when you were born, but the moment I saw those lovely Emerald green eyes, I knew it had to be Esmeralda,”
“Wow,”
“Yeah. That was the first word I said when your eyes changed to green,” She stared into my eyes, lost in their mysteries.
“Esmeralda is a Spanish word for Emerald, a rare precious gem-stone that signifies truth and love and as your name implies, you are precious to me. As precious as a rare gemstone and you are not only precious, you are powerful. Don’t forget that,” She kissed my forehead and engulfed me in a bear hug.
“Do you still want to change your name?” She asked while I shook my head. My name was perfect.
“I love you, Esmeralda,” I heard her sniff as she fought the urge to spill tears.
“I love you too, mum,”
I let the tears flow freely down my cheeks, tearing myself away from the claws of the past.
“Esmeralda, Esmeralda is my name,” My voice quivered as I bowed my head, submitting to him.
“Esmeralda,” His baritone repeated my name as if tasting it on his tongue which I found sexy.
No one had called my name in that manner.
“Follow me, Esmeralda!” His sexy voice turned dangerous and possessive at once as he removed his boot from my grip and turned his back to me, walking away.
What was wrong with him?
One minute, he effortlessly made me fall for him and the next minute, he makes me feel stupid for falling for him.
At least, he didn’t reject me, that was all that mattered.
“Please, wait,” I called, rising to my feet as I dust the sand off my dress, running to catch up with him.
“What?” He yelled angrily, making me jump in fear.
“Where are you taking me?” I innocently asked, wanting to know his intentions towards me. I won’t follow a person that I had just met, even if he was my mate.
I wanted to know if he had truly accepted me or if he wanted to save me from shame and embarrassment.
Maybe he wanted to reject me privately.
He sighed, “You are my mate and I am taking you home,” He stated and continued walking away.
Home!
He had truly accepted me! And he was taking me to his house, to his pack.
To Blood Moon Pack!
I knew he wasn’t happy about it, but he had no choice, I was his mate.
A small smile played on my lips as I was filled with happiness.
Happiness.
Finally, I was going to experience that word to the fullest.
But the smile disappeared the moment I remembered Selene.
Where the hell was she? It’s been hours that she was out of sight and I couldn’t leave without her.
I was torn between two options. Leave with her. Leave without her.
But the thought of leaving without her made my stomach twist into knots. I couldn’t leave without my best friend. She was my family, my whole world and we live for each other.
I would rather stick to the former. But how do I tell Alpha Kade that I had company?
How do I tell him that if he wanted to take me home, he had to take Selene home too?
How do I tell him that Selene and I were inseparable?
How would he react to that?
Help me Moon goddess.