Page 2 of Marked By Moonlight
I blush bright red, my entire body on fire as I quickly pull away.
He puts his hands on my shoulders, and I can feel the power beneath his hands begging to break free. There’s a caged wolf inside of him that can’t escape, thanks to the curse our pack triggered.
His broad hands stay on my shoulders. He doesn’t break the connection. But his lips don’t come crashing down on mine either.
My breath catches in my throat as I wait with unbridled anticipation. Kael is close, but it appears he needs more convincing.
“I know you find me attractive. I can see it in the way you look at me when you think I’m not looking. Your body is hard, and your breath is heavy with need,” I say.
He doesn’t deny any of my words, but they still aren’t enough.
“We’re perfect for each other. You’re my growly beast-man, and I’m your clumsy silver beauty. We know everything there is to know about each other—the good and the bad.” I take my hand in his, marveling at how our hands seem to fit together. Idon’t need wolf super hearing to notice our heartbeats matching at a rapid pace.
His other hand reaches up, tucking a strand of my long silvery-white locks behind my ear. He stares into my crystal blue eyes.
I smile and lick my lips.We’re so close, so close to breaking the curse; I can feel it.
For twenty-one years our pack has been blamed for the curse that descended on all the wolves after our female alpha, my aunt Elara, rejected her true mate—the alpha from the Moonlight pack, the strongest of us all. No one had ever rejected a mate before, and it cost each of them their life. They couldn’t survive without the other, dying soon after.
From that moment on, the packs were cursed for rejecting what the gods had offered us. The mating bond that had served us so well for centuries shattered. No wolf could feel the pull to their mate. The magic that held it together disintegrated into nothing.
Mates lost their ability to communicate with each other. Fights broke out between couples that had loved each other for decades. All love, connection, and trust was lost. Replaced by hate and rage.
Slowly, one by one, at least one of the mating pairs would die. Oftentimes at the hands of their former mate.
Those who hadn’t found their mates yet became incapable of finding them. No wolf pups were born to replace the quickly dying population. Only mated couples are able to bear children.
The Wintermoon pack we belong to is the weakest of all—punishment from the shifter gods for rejecting the mating bond they gifted us, after the curse they created wasn’t enough punishment in their eyes. I’m the youngest in our pack—born just before the curse swept through the packs. Kael is the nextyoungest. With only seven of us left in the entire pack, there hasn’t been enough power for Kael and me to get our wolf forms.
As outcasts, we don’t know how the other wolf packs are fairing. Hopefully, better than we are.
But things are about to turn around. There’s a prophecy that Thalia, the most powerful seer of all the witches, has told. According to her, when a wolf finds their true mate, the curse will be broken for every wolf. Then, we will be able to have pups again and regain our natural powers as wolves.
Tonight is the night we break the curse. Even if Kael isn’t so sure, I am.
“You’re my mate, Kael. I can feel it all the way to my bones.” In the dream I had last night, it felt like the gods were speaking directly to me, telling me I’m going to be the one to break the curse.
He wets his lips. “I’m going to try, Lumi, but nothing changes between us if this doesn’t work. We remain friends.”
“Yes, friends. But this will work. It’s you. It has to be you.”
He nods.
“Kiss me,” I demand.
He lowers his lips, and this time, our lips meet.
As his lips press against mine, I close my eyes, letting me lose myself in the moment. His lips part, and his tongue gently coaxes my lips open and slips into my mouth.
Oh.
His tongue skims over mine in a hesitant kiss. My toes curl and flex as if waiting for the butterflies floating in my stomach feeling to turn into flaming hot desire. And then suddenly, he’s not so hesitant anymore. His kiss is aggressive as he captures me, filling my mouth with his tongue.
Kael pushes me back, his hands gripping my arm and waist as he lays me onto the soft moss.
My heart thuds to a stop. Vibrations rumble through my body at his intrusive touch. A brush of his hand against my bare stomach has my skin crawling. I was wrong. This isn’t right.
Kael doesn’t seem to notice any of it. Either he feels something I don’t, or he’s forcing himself to push through it to find out the truth. We have to see if, once and for all, I’m his mate or not—even if that means ruining our friendship in the process.
