SHADOW
Grimacing, I got up from bed with a terrible headache, as if I had just gotten drunk and vaguely remembered what happened after that. Then I realized the room was familiar, and my neck hurt.
“Califf!” Groaning, I screamed his name. He was the only one capable of doing something like this. No one would dare. Then I remember sitting on the couch, and he apologized for something that confused me before things went hazy.
When no one responded, I narrowed at the mirror and pointed at the door. “Open that door. Now!” I sat back to bed. My headache was killing me.
The door unlocked, but Califf wasn’t the one who walked in.
“Hey. How’s the baby?” I hugged Kindra. “I mean babies.”
“They’re fine.” She chuckled with a bottle of painkillers. “Take two tabs of this and drink a lot of water. You will be fine.”
I did as I was told. “Where’s that asshole?”
“Will you two please stop fighting?”
“I-” When I couldn’t find words to explain, I shut my mouth.
“Exactly. You were the perfect couple everyone resented and gushed about. Go back to those moments. You were inseparable. You were invincible together. You were the hope of every pack. Do you remember what you did to win against Keane? No one could ever do what you did, and it wasn’t about who you were. It’s about this.” She poked my chest.
“Do you realize I’m still your Luna?”
“Then act like a Luna. Your humility and the ability to make people come together was inspiring. Imagine, you were a rogue, but your willpower brought us, the Lycans and witches, together. It wasn’t about you being powerful. It was your heart that makes you our amazing Luna.” She turned her back and headed towards the door.
“You’re leaving?”
“I can’t stay here. I just came to see you and cure your headache, and I have to go to work.”
“Thanks.”
She stopped and turned her head to smile. “I want you to be the godmother of my children, Shadow. Nothing has changed between us. You’re still my best girlfriend.”
“Just call your Alpha that I want to talk to him.”
“Sure. See you later.”
I drew a deep breath and lay back. I was so tired of running, proving myself to be the perfect Luna without realizing the damage I had done to our relationship when there was no ideal Luna and a perfect relationship. It was getting exhausting.
The door unlocked. The first thing I saw was his shoes. It reminded me of how we first met after he locked me up for three days.
“Hey.” He stopped before me. His voice was calm, the opposite of what I felt inside, filled with turmoil of anger and rage.
I lifted my gaze. He almost caught me off guard. He looked hauntingly handsome in his Italian suit and cleaned up pretty well. He trimmed his five o’clock shadow and even wore a perfect smile that could resolve conflicts.
“Hey.” I got up from bed, fisted my hand, and punched directly into his perfectly straight nose. He healed fast anyway. Unlike me, I still had bruises all over my body.
“What the fuck?” He grunted, pinching the nose I just punched. “Agh!”
I heard the snap as he fixed it. I grinned in satisfaction.
“Shit. Fuck. That hurt.” He glared at me.
I positioned my stance. “Come on. Just do it. I’d been meaning to punch your obnoxiously beautiful face, asshole!”
“Wait. I’m beautiful?” His smile was sweet, making me more angry. He thought he was cute and funny.
“Fuck you, Califf. You kidnapped me once and locked me up here, which wasn’t nostalgic and the last memory lane I want to visit, dickhead. When you couldn’t get what you wanted from me, you did it again?”
“Fine. I’m sorry.” He just stood there. “Punch me however you want. Just get that anger out of your chest. Do whatever makes you feel better, baby. Don’t hold back.”
“Don’t call me baby!” I kneed him on his balls. He fell on his knees, whining in pain. When he balled on the floor, seemed to stop breathing, and his face turned red and purple, I suddenly regretted what I had done.
“Shit.” I blinked off and knelt before. “Oh, God. I’m sorry.”
“Get off of me,” he said between grunts. His jaw clenched. “Fuck, Shadow. I didn’t know you hated me so much.”
“You drugged me, asshole.” I wiped the beads of sweat on his forehead. “Why did you do that? Are you really willing to hurt me just to get what you want?”
“Goddess, why does my mate have to be so violent? Fuck.” He tried to get up, but his balls might still hurt.
I grimaced. “Deep breath. You heal fast. Don’t be so dramatic, but if you punch me, people will see it for days.”
“Are you trying to blackmail me right now?” His face was still red in anger. “Who taught you to hit someone in a forbidden area?”
“Well, it’s called self-defense against bad guys. Krav Maga. You can strike them on their weak points like a throat, jaw, and-” I gazed down at his groin. “And their groin.”
He blew a breath in frustration. “Zack is right. You’re deadly like a Nightshade.”
“That’s a pretty cool code name.” I grinned at him. I finally calmed down. Maybe that was all I needed.
“You think you’re funny?”
“That’s a bit tad dramatic, even for you, Alpha. You kidnapped me, remember? You started this, and I know your balls are fine.”
“If I get prostate cancer, it’s your fault, and if I would be the last successor, it’s also your fault.”
“Jeez. You’re taking it too far.” I rolled my eyes. “It wasn’t that strong.”
“Oh, yeah? You want me to get naked before you and see your artwork.” He finally sat down before me, wiping off the sweat on his forehead.
“Tempting, but no. I already gave you two blue balls in a row. I think that’s enough.” I tried to hide my smile, but he saw it, and his face was serious, but his eyes didn’t lie- they were twinkling.”
“How’s your head?”
“Better than your balls, I guess.”
“Quit talking about balls.” He grunted.
“I’m sure they were all listening.” I stole a glance at the mirror. “You should tell them to start a podcast.”
“No one is there.”
“Can I go out?”
His gaze was intense, and I knew I missed that chance. “After your stunt? No.”
“Bummer. Then what is your plan for me exactly, Califf? To tame me until I follow you like a puppy? You tried that before. It didn’t work.”
He blew a deep breath and looked at me. “If I let you get out of here, will you escape?”
“Listen to my heartbeat if I lie. The answer is no if I’m free to do what I want.” I met him in the eye.
“You stay with me.”
“What else?”
“I want us to like the way we were.”
“I’ll try my best. Should we do a blood pact?” I smiled and waggled my brows.
He wasn’t impressed. His expression remained unhinged. “I will mark you because that’s our choice.”
“Maybe later.”
“Deal.” He got up and offered his hand.
I grabbed it and got on my feet. “I wanna go to Italy.”
“Why? I brought your things with me.”
My eyes lit up like a Christmas tree. “Really?”
“Yes. They’re in our room.”
“Let’s go. I need a shower.” I checked his outfit. “Where did you go?”
“I had a business meeting.”
“How did it go?”
“Productive.”
“Father wants me to help him run his businesses, but I don’t think I’m interested in boring meetings and parties.” We arrived at the pack house, and many members there froze me in my place.
“Whatever you want, I will support you.”
“Welcome back, Luna,” they said in unison.
“Wow. Did you plan all this?”
“No. I have no idea either.”
“Well, I went back to bring the deer, and they’re cooking it at this moment.” Zack came.
“You what?” I asked Zack in surprise.
“Good to see you, Luna.”
“Good to see you, too.” I looked around and smiled. “Thanks, guys.”
Califf and I went upstairs to our room, and I instantly saw my cases.
“Did you open them?”
“And hide the silver bullets? No. I didn’t touch them since Zack put them there.”
“I’m gonna hit the shower.” Before he could open his mouth, I raised a finger. “You won’t join me.”
“Bummer.” There, he smiled.
“Call Zarah to portal me to Italy. I have a plan.” I stripped off my clothes and stood naked before him, but he never checked me out.
“May I know what it is?”
“Do you trust me?”
“Yes,” he answered without hesitation.
“Then I’ll tell you when it’s in motion.”