Page 74 of Luna Rising

I stared at him, horrified. “So it’s never going to go away?”

Ewan hesitated. “I don’t know. My guess is no.”

I understood why ending my own life would have been preferable to these horrible feelings of inadequacy and failure. “Where’s that dagger I stick in my chest?”

He didn’t laugh. “You are everything to me, Zara. You are my sun and my moon and my heart. Without you, I am nothing. Don’t even joke about ending your immortal life.” He ran his palms up and down my arms and then threaded his fingers with mine. “Brooke is a loophole. Any child she has is our blood and continues our line. I want to name her firstborn as my heir, with Kiernan as a backup since he is my cousin and now in my mother’s care.”

I blew out an unnecessary breath as a fresh wave of tears rolled down my cheeks.

“I thought this would make you happy.”

“It does. I don’t know why I’m crying.” I tried to pull free, but Ewan’s grip was ironclad, so I wiped my face with our joined hands. “Have you talked to Zach about this?”

“No. I wanted to talk to you first, give you the chance to say no if this isn’t what you want.”

Love swelled in my chest and I cried harder, only slightly embarrassed that I was a blubbering, rambling mess. “You’re okay with it if I say no?”

Ewan’s handsome face shimmered in my watery gaze. “You’re my mate, Zara. My Luna. Whatever you want, I want. However you feel, I feel. To everyone else, the decisions are mine. To me, they’re ours. Got it?”

I nodded and swallowed a sob. “Have someone bring her up to the house. We’ll have privacy here.”

He rubbed my palms with his thumbs. “I love you.”

I sniffled. “Are you going to bite me now?”

“What?” He looked confused at my abrupt topic change.

“You said you were going to have me for lunch. I was looking forward to it.”

He laughed softly. “Where do you want it?”

I tilted my head to the side and pointed to my neck. He released my hands and ran a fingertip along the vein beneath my skin as he grabbed a fistful of my hair and tugged to expose more of my throat. My stomach fluttered with anticipation.

In some ways, I liked when he drank from me even more than sex. Maybe it was the sire-progeny bond. Or maybe I was just weird. I felt more connected with him and strangely powerful when he drank my blood. Like I gave him life. Like he needed me as much as I needed him.

Ewan crawled on top of him, one knee on either side of my hips. He hovered over me, refusing to put his weight on my thighs, as if worried he might hurt me. As if I wasn’t virtually indestructible. His fangs grazed up and down my neck. I bit my lip and slid my hands up his shirt, needing to feel his skin beneath my fingertips. When he finally sank his teeth in, I moaned and melted into the couch cushions.

He pressed his wrist to my lips. The dark, decadent taste of his blood on my tongue made me dizzy with desire. It was like this weird circle of life that couldn’t be explained, only experienced. Our love felt… invincible. I dared to hope that our happily ever after was on the horizon.

Ewan stopped when my eyelids grew heavy. When he kissed me, the smoky flavor of my own blood invigorated my senses and gave me the strength to face a conversation that I hoped to avoid a little longer.

Of course, when he actually left to go to his super special alpha meeting, he took my bravery with him. Why was I so nervous? I really didn’t know. Brooke was my best friend. We’d known each other for years and told each other everything. Telling her that she was part of an ancient line that dated back to the original wolves, well, it was a little more serious than saying I got my period.

Despite a belly full of Ewan’s blood, I drank a bottle from the fridge while I waited for her to arrive. Essie’s magic calmed me some, though not enough to sit still. My agitation was so intense that Birch poked his head through the door to make sure everything was okay.

“Yeah. I’m good. Let me know when Brooke arrives?”

He nodded. “They’re coming up the hill now.” While his expression didn’t change, I got the distinct impression that he really didn’t want to be the bearer of bad news. “Your mother is with her.”

Oh, how lovely, I thought sardonically. Because that was what this discussion needed—Mom’s opinions. Then, I immediately felt bad. My mother probably knew more about my descendants than I did, since she was one and all. So, really, this was a good thing. Plus, she had just lost her mate and needed to keep busy.

Birch offered to stay outside while the three of us talked, but it felt like a ridiculous formality when he could definitely hear through the door if he wanted.

I offered Mom and Brooke something to drink like a good little hostess, and Birch actually made the coffees and served them, which was way outside his job description. Brooke seemed nervous, clearly sensing this wasn’t a social visit. Naively, I had hoped that if my mother did know about the descendants she had read my mind and understood the reason for my invitation to Brooke and therefore prepared my best friend.

Yes, I was aware that was ridiculous.

“Please, just say it,” Brooke said after a few moments of awkward conversation about the amount of snow falling outside the window.

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