Makara Ch. 07

My ears echoed with the sound of the front door, and I turned my attention back to the small device in my hand, focusing on the time in the corner of the screen. Morning already. I had spent all night with my wolf, most of it just enjoying our new relationship, but for the last hour, I was thinking about Rodan.

What was I supposed to say to him? A part of me wanted to see him, probably the same part that had kissed him despite everything. But the rest of me knew better. I lost control, and if Atlar hadn't have come in, I didn't know what would have happened. Aside from my temporary insanity, Rodan took liberties he wasn't owed, and I knew I couldn't trust him.

"I don't think it's a good idea. Go home, Rodan. I'm fine, I promise."

It was easier to deny him when he wasn't right in front of me. But I still had to fight the inner pull to give in. I wondered if this would wreck any chance of salvaging our relationship. Did I even want that anymore? I dropped my phone to my bed, not wanting to see his reply.

I heard a door slam from the hallway. Immediately guessing it was Rodan's, I rushed to the front door, hoping I could confirm its locked status before he made the short trek from his room. He obviously didn't have a problem coming in uninvited, and I thought my message might have angered him.

He got there before I did, but to my surprise, didn't even try the handle, instead knocking loudly on the door.

"Makara! I know you can hear me. I'll leave, like you asked. But when you're done playing house, come home. Whatever the old man does to fuck this up, I'll fix it."

He must have heard Silas leave as well. There was no way he would risk that statement if he thought there was a chance Silas could hear him. What did he mean by that anyway? Why would he assume I was playing some game that could be ruined? I brushed it off as jealousy and anger.

I flopped onto the couch, hoping to lounge away the stress of the situation. It didn't work and I was quickly on my feet again. My wolf was restless too, pacing back and forth in my head.

I decided I needed to burn off some energy, and I knew just how to do it.

Waiting what I thought was enough time for Rodan to be clear of the hallways, I cracked open the door, listening for any signs of him. It was completely silent.

I scurried down the hall and into the elevator, excited to train for the first time since my shift. There was bound to be some improvement in my skills and I couldn't wait to see the extent of the change.

Ignoring the looks I got as I burst through the training room door, I searched for Cade's familiar face. I looked at the time on the wall, he should already be here, but I couldn't spot him. Leaving, I headed over to check the outdoor sparring area, thinking he might be there instead. No luck. My wolf gave an impatient snort, just as anxious to train as I was.

I reached for my phone, but my fingers brushed over smooth fabric. I had forgotten my phone on my bed. Begrudgingly, I turned around, heading back to the suite to retrieve it. Sending Cade a message to find out where he was seemed like a better idea than wasting my time looking for him.

"Makara!"

Before I could register who I had nearly run into when rounding the corner, I was enveloped in a large pair of arms and lifted off the ground. My own arms were pinned to my side, and I could barely breathe within the grip.

"Hi, Bash," I huffed out, giggling, when he finally set me down.

"You're not dead! I thought for sure the shift would kill you with how long it was taking."

"Nope, not dead! But there were a few times I wished for it just to get some relief. I've never felt pain like that before."

"Awww, but you're one tough cookie." He ruffled my hair. "And obviously your wolf is too." He reached for his ringing phone as I flattened out my hair.

"Hey, man," he spoke into the device.

"Is that Cade?" I asked, guessing based on Bash's greeting. His eyes widened, but I didn't wait for him to answer. "Where is he? Can I talk to him?" I hoped to avoid getting my own phone if I could.

"Ummm...why?"

"What do you mean, why? Because I want to train, and I'm excited to show Cade my new skills. I thought he would be as well, but I couldn't find him."

"Oh, well, uh, I'm sure he is too. Did you check the, uh, basement? Or you know, maybe he's still sleeping or something." His face contorted as if it physically hurt him to speak.

"You're on the phone with him right now," I pointed out.

"Yeah, right, well, I shouldn't have answered that." He hung up the phone. "That was rude, I better go apologize, I'll catch you later, Makara."

He left me standing in the hallway, alone and confused. I shook my head and headed upstairs, intent on talking to Cade myself. I stopped in at his suite, but he didn't answer the door, and I couldn't hear anything inside. Rolling my eyes, I continued up another floor, my annoyance melting away when I stepped into the suite I shared with Silas.

Flowers. I didn't know what kind, but I could smell them right away. I found the large arrangement on the table and inhaled their scent deeply. I looked for a card, but there was none.

"They're all local," Silas' voice startled me as he walked out from his office. "You could find any of them in the wooded area outside, and they all have strong scents. Just a little something to celebrate your new strength."

"They're amazing, Silas. Thank you."

I sniffed each flower individually, noticing how they differed from each other. Silas walked over and his powerful sent mingled with that of the flowers.

"They're hand picked, you know." He spoke softly, and a moment later that same softness was mirrored by his fingers tracing light lines on my neck as he shifted my hair off of one shoulder and onto the other. The action sent shivers through my body, at first following his fingers, then rippling out from the source when he lifted them.

"They remind me of you. This one," he reached over me with one hand, taking one of the petals between his fingers and pressing himself against my back to do so. "Is small. It looks delicate, but it has the strongest scent, just like you have the strongest spirit."

I stared at the honey yellow flower in his grasp. It was almost half the size of the others, but I was easily able to differentiate its scent. The thought made me smile, even as Silas' position behind me raised tingling goosebumps on my flesh.

"This one," he moved his attention to the next flower, leaning in close to whisper the words against my skin. "Is sweet. Like your lips when you are gracious enough to allow me a taste." He punctuated his words with a flick of his tongue, lighting the skin of my neck aflame underneath it. I gasped at the suddenness of it. It felt nice, but it was gone as quickly as it had appeared, leaving me wanting, my frustration subdued only by his free hand that had made its way to my waist.

"The curves on this petal are so beautiful," he followed an unknown pattern on my flesh with his tongue and my eyes fell closed as every inch he touched came alive. "I can't help but stare."

It seemed almost impossible to breathe, my chest heavy with the pounding of my heart.

"This one has a heat that draws me to it," he spoke slowly between feather light kisses along my neck and shoulder. His hand found the hem of my shirt and slipped quickly underneath it, his fingertips teasing me as easily as his lips.

He pulled me tighter and I could feel his hardness against my ass and the small of my back. My body blazed, as if to match the heat of the flower that Silas had referenced.

"And this one," I couldn't see the flower he was pointing at with my eyes closed, but I didn't care. It was difficult to concentrate on anything but his hypnotic ministrations. "Connects them all, ties them together and makes them a perfect fit."

His pointing hand joined the other around my waist, and a small whimpering moan escaped me as he nipped at my shoulder.

"Kind of like us, Makara. A perfect fit."

I heard him, but I barely registered what he said, my body too focused on his closeness. Although I was too dazed to say exactly where his hands had roamed, I was hyper aware of the teasing pleasure they gave me.

"It's been a long time since I've felt this way about anyone." His voice was soothing, comforting. It felt safe, and I wanted to melt into him, completely consumed by the sensations. At that moment, it seemed like the perfect way to live, or to die.

"Be my Luna."

That word, hot with implications, cut through the distractions like they were butter.

"Wait," I finally found my voice, surprised that I could speak through the dryness of my mouth.

Silas stopped his movements, but didn't remove his hands and as the delightful haze cleared from my mind I became more and more aware of where they actually were. One of them was wrapped firmly around my breast, my nipple pinched between two of his fingers. His other hand dipped shallowly into the top of my shorts, as if it had just begun its journey when it was interrupted.

We both stood, unmoving and unsure of our next step. I laid my hand over his, taking a deep breath before gently tugging his fingers out of my shorts. My mind was clear now, but my body still burned with need, and my wolf's displeasure in my choice, made clear by her bared teeth and rippling growl, made it even more difficult to fight against it.

He took the hint, untangling himself from me, but leaving his hands on my hips. Timidly, I stepped out of his grasp and turned to face him. My wolf snapped her jaws in protest, but I ignored her easily, focused as I was on the man in front of me.

I didn't know exactly when, but I knew we had crossed some sort of line, a line that separated physical desire from the other, more complicated, feelings. I wondered briefly if he even realized what he had said. Only the Alpha's true mate had ever held the title of Luna. It was such an important role, for him to offer it to me showed an extreme level of trust, and intimacy that no Alpha had ever offered their second mate before. It took one look at him to know he knew exactly what he was doing, his emotions and vulnerability tangled together in a way that was both easy to see and hard to identify.

"What did you say?" I asked him, hoping that I had heard him incorrectly. I cared for him, loved him even, in some ways, but not in the way Silas needed. Not in the way I knew he loved me.

"Be my Luna," he repeated confidently.

My stomach clenched and twisted as he said the word again.

"Silas, for that...," I trailed off, attempting to swallow past the lump in my throat before I realized it was futile and spoke around it instead. "For that, we'd need to be-"

"Mates, yes."

"But we're not."

"We could be, if you wanted."

I opened my mouth to speak, thankful when he cut me off as I didn't even know what I was about to say.

"You can choose, Makara. We have a connection, I know you feel it." His hand came up to cup my face, his thumb grazing gently over my cheek. I resisted the urge to lean into his hand, despite my wolf's insistence otherwise.

"I know, but the Moon Goddess will have given me a mate, someone I'm fated to be with."

"Fuck fate." He moved both hands to my hips, pulling me tightly against him. "Fuck the Moon Goddess and her plans. I need you, Makara. Be my Luna."

He rested his forehead against mine, waiting for me to answer. I could tell his breathing was as heavy as mine, the hot air mingling in front of us.

"Silas, to...I...," I stuttered, struggling to find the right words. I didn't want to hurt his feelings, and his fragility was clear in his tensed muscles. "Luna. It's too much," I finally managed. "It's too fast. I'm not ready."

"Very well." He lifted his head from mine and gently ran his fingers through my hair. "I'll give you time."

He placed an urgent, closed mouth kiss against my lips. If his words hadn't already made it clear, his kiss demonstrated the intensity and depth of his feelings for me. As he stepped away, I almost pulled him back for the passion of it.

He turned and walked away without another word, and I watched him until he closed himself behind his bedroom door.

"Idiot," I thought to myself. I hadn't lied, exactly. But there was definitely more I could have told him, including the fact that I had no intention of being his mate. I wanted my Goddess given mate, the one who would send electric tingles through every inch of me the moment we touched. I just needed to find them, and now that I was shifted, I could.

I caught a whiff of the flowers again and Silas' words from the night before came back to me. I needed something to relax me, to calm me down. I needed peace, so I went to find it.

It didn't take me long to make it outside, and the second I stepped through the door I took a deep breath, instantly feeling my stress disappear with my exhale. There was no rain to coax the scent from the earth, but I could still sense its muted fragrance. It was beautiful.

I was halfway to the wooded area before I even realized my feet were moving. The sun beat down, warming my skin and the wind tussled my hair with soft caresses. The scent of the earth grew stronger with each step, my heavy foot falls stirring it up as I started to run. If I had to describe freedom, it would be this. No stress, no problems or burdens, mine or anyone else's, to think about. Just me. Just nature.

Finally, my wolf agreed with one of my choices, excited to be running through the woods, as was her instinct. She wagged her tail enthusiastically, beaming as she poured her energy and happiness into me.

I ran faster than I ever had before, thinking nothing of the smile plastered on my face and paying no heed to the signs I passed warning of danger. The trees quickly became scattered on the now rocky terrain, until there was almost no plants at all.

A loose flower petal, black as the night itself, caught my eye and I slowed my pace. It was out of place, sitting alone on the rock and there was no indication of where it came from. I tried to identify its scent, frowning when I couldn't pick it out. I wondered how it got there before the wind picked it up and carried it away.

It brought with it an unfamiliar and unpleasant scent that invaded my nostrils, forcing me to cover my nose and mouth. It seemed to surround me, overpowering everything else. Hesitantly, I found the direction the scent was coming from and decided to investigate, wondering what could possibly smell so bad.

Cautiously, I inched towards the edge of a small rock cliff, peering over the side. The second my head made it over the shelf, I heaved, the odor hitting me like a simultaneous punch to the face and stomach. Retreating back to safety, I buried my nose in the crook of my arm, before looking over the edge again, this time a bit more successful in my investigation.

I was standing on top of a small cave opening, but I couldn't lean over far enough to see what was inside. Walking along the edge, I noticed the rocks descended in a gentle slope along the side of the cave's mouth, and quickly made the decision to climb down. I kept a hand over my nose, mildly successful in reducing the pungent scent. It seemed to be coming from a pile of rocks just inside the cave, and I walked over to it slowly, inspecting it for anything unusual.

The first thing I saw was the long strands of hair that laid upon the ground, then a pair of dark, bruised lips, until finally settling on the cold, lifeless eyes of Emery looking back at me.