Page 49 of The Barren Luna

“Then I can never have pups.”

“Oh come on,” she raised both her eyebrows in anare you kidding meface. “Don’t all males want pups?”

“Imagine me assuming all females are dying to have a pup? It wouldn’t be fair, would it? Please don’t generalize, at least not when it comes to me,” I frowned slightly but she still seemed wary of my responses. “I’m serious. Don't you know there are probably thousands of pupless couples in the country right now? So what?!”

“But you’re the King, you need an heir!”

“Says who? If I die without a living heir, they can either have John or his pups take over, or they can simply choose one of the other Alphas to settle disputes at his pack and move the administrative capital there. It’s not like our family has magical powers that we need to pass on or something.”

“Would you stake your crown on that?”

“A crown I never asked for? The choice between my mate, who I prayed for fervently, and a position I could do without – the choice would be beyond easy.”

“So you truly wouldn’t mind?”

“I would be sad if my mate was sad about it. It would bother me if she – you – wanted pups, and I couldn’t give them to you. It would kill me not to be able to give you the world, but as for me personally? I’d go with the flow,” I said and leaned back in my chair, relaxed, letting her see I had no reason to lie.

“I just can’t go through that again,” she squeezed her eyes shut, and I could see how difficult the admission had been for her.

I got the sense she didn’t want to hurt me, but she had been burned before.

“Gina, do you think I’m telling the truth right now?“

She opened her eyes and observed me carefully before nodding, “I do.”

“But you think that the pressures of my office will change my mind?”

“I don’t think it, I fear it.”

“I understand. You don’t know me that well yet, and you have every reason to be wary, given your past experience. So for today, I am simply happy to hear that you believe me when I tell you that I don’t care either way as long as I have you. I would want your pups because they’d be yours.

I’m not going to address the fact that you keep referring to yourself as “barren” despite all the evidence that it was Henry who had the problem because I need you to be aware that I would want you even if you could never bear me a pup, and I want you to fully believe that before we go any further with our relationship.”

“I hate that I have all these fears and insecurities. I don’t want you to have to pay for someone else’s tab in this relationship, it’s not fair.”

“Gina,” I took hold of her cold hand. “Let me decide how deep my pockets are, okay? I will give you as much time and as many words and actions as you may need, okay?”

“Okay.”

“Now, let’s head back.”

18 - Regina

Iopened my eyes abruptly and the room was pitch black. It took me a moment to realize where I was. I must have left the curtains closed yesterday evening. Why was my heart beating so hard? I could hear the pounding in my ears. I could suddenly smell the sea, like when you stand on a cliff overlooking the ocean, and a breeze brings you the wonderful, soothing smell.

The last time I felt it this intensely was when Dorothy had taken me to visit her pack in my teens; those were some of my fondest memories with her. I closed my eyes and inhaled deeply, causing my wolf to go absolutely berserk.Mate! Mate!Oh, so that was what this was!

I looked at the white lump next to me –hello, David, you sneaky bastard. I touched his fur and it felt like touching a live wire. The new bond between us was strong, shiny, and electric in a way that took my breath away. I felt every cell in my body buzzing, wanting to be pressed against all the cells in his body. His scent was like a cool breeze on my skin, caressing me in all the right spots and

I felt like arching my back. I suddenly wanted him to moan things into my mouth. I felt like I wanted to lick the hollow of histhroat. Should I wake him up and make him shift? No! What the fuck? Had he felt this way while my wolf was dormant? Or was he going to start feeling this way now?

It was a consuming sort of tension that sat heavy on my chest. I hadn’t felt this in so long, years probably. I hadn’t even realized until now how frayed and damaged my bond with Henry had gotten towards the end, it had become a mere shadow of its former self. The thought of Henry was like a cold shower. I absentmindedly ran my hand through David’s wolf’s fur, and he cuddled further into me. I must have fallen asleep soon after that.

In the morning, I was alone again. My wolf was whining for us to go find our mate. Like I’d already said, things were simple for her. No questions about why the fuck she'd been out of commission for months, no mourning our last mate – no, the hussy was ready to jump back into another relationship already. I kind of envied her, to be honest. If I rationally looked at all the mated couples I knew, and I knew many, my mating was the only one that had taken such a terrifying and traumatizing turn; it was clear that we had been the outlier, the exception. I couldn’t always be rational, however, especially not when thrust into an even more high-profile mating than my last one had been.

I groaned, pulling the pillow over my face to stop myself from overthinking first thing in the morning. A colossal mistake since it smelled faintly of my mate. Whoa. So he was my mate now, huh? My wolf was back in full force, and it assuaged a fear that I hadn’t dared admit, even to myself. I had been so afraid that this whole experience, combined with the various drugs, had damaged her beyond repair. I’d worried that she either wouldn’t come back or that she’d come back volatile and violent. However, for now, she felt exactly right, the same as she always had – my better half.

Today would be a good day, I could feel it in my bones. Not only was my wolf back, but tonight I was cooking dinner for David and his friends.Feed mate, she approved. Oh, God.

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