Filed to story: The Perfect Luna by Marissa Gilbert
He was standing there and watching his mate with his mouth opened.
No, it couldn’t be! It was some kind of a joke!
Yet that was her… a Luna that belonged to another Alpha… At first, Gideon felt as if his heart was broken. She did not wait for him. His mate, the one and only woman chosen for him by the Moon goddess, did not wait for him…
She got married, became someone else in Luna and even let this man put a mark on her neck.
He had many flings, but he never even considered marking a woman other than his mate. He was ready to never meet her, but he always knew one thing – if he would ever place his mark on someone, it would be his mate.
Pain washed over him quickly and although Reid next to him was constantly telling him something, all his attention was on Riannon Thorn.
He repeated her name and it brought him to his senses. He remembered their phone conversation. She wanted to divorce her husband. Their marriage was over.
This brought a little smile to his lips, yet it wasn’t making him particularly happy.
“Gideon,” his Beta had to smack his arm to get him out of his daze, “What the hell, man?”
“What?” the lycan king didn’t even spare his friend a glance.
“Should I call the Luna? You came here to speak to her, right?” Reid looked at him with his eyebrows knitted.
“I want to watch her a bit first,” Gideon couldn’t take his eyes off his beautiful mate. But he did not like what he saw. She was surrounded by men, men with hungry lustful eyes. And he could sense that each of them wanted to claim her now that they had a chance again. Everybody knew that her marriage was in ruins. And no one wanted to miss that chance.
“Who is her husband?” a spark of interest appeared inside his mind against his will.
“That guy over there,” Reid did not have any problem locating the jerk whose mark his mate was wearing, meaning that he did his own research already. That guy never showed that he cared but Gideon knew that he never forgot the ‘favour’ Riannon did for him. He wanted to pay her back properly in one way or the other.
The guy he pointed at was good looking. And Gideon did not like to admit it. The prick looked like a true Alpha, tall and handsome. When he was saying something, people around him were laughing or nodding at once. Meaning that he had some weight.
But a tiny redhead was glued to his hand. She leaned towards him all the time and he so-called mate. The one he brought into Riannon’s house.
It was good and bad. Good, because he was doing Gideon a favour. And bad, because he was hurting the Luna.
He looked back where he left her, but his mate was not there. It didn’t take him long to find her though as all the men that were surrounding her before looked in one direction – the dancefloor. The girl was dancing with another handsome guy who had his hands on her and was pressing her way too close for Gideon’s liking.
He didn’t even notice how another feral growl escaped him.
“What is wrong with you today?” Reid looked at his Alpha in shock.
“Bring her in,” the lycan king commanded, “Now!”
His Beta left and suddenly he felt uncomfortable. His wolf was howling inside and he tried to shut him up as fast as he could because he needed to think straight.
He sat in the chair that was provided for him. But immediately felt stupid and stood up. He felt her getting closer and closer and in the end decided to have another drink, walking to the table with beverages. But then it occurred to him that it might not look good in her eyes and he discarded the idea.
“My king,” Reid cleared his throat and he turned to face him and the woman who was haunting his dreams for the past few days. She was beautiful, there was no denying it. Her piercing blue eyes were studying him with interest. And she had good taste, looking regal in her wine red dress. There was a huge diamond ring on her finger. But the worst thing of all was the mark that was poking out right next to the expensive diamond necklace.
What was he to do now?
Riannon tried really hard to control herself. She was still shocked that lycans arrived and still couldn’t believe that the arrogant Lycan King summoned her.
Suddenly she was regretting the things she said when they spoke last. What if he wanted to punish her? Make an example out of her?
“My king,” she forced a smile, bowing politely.
“Luna Thorn,” he acknowledged her, realising one very important thing. She was still giving him no reaction. While all he wanted to do was to grab her in his arms and growl “MINE”, letting everyone here know who she belonged to. How the hell did that happen? Why didn’t he feel it? Was it the mark on her neck? But her husband didn’t have any trouble sensing his mate.
So why couldn’t Riannon do the same? What happened?
“Please, take a seat,” he motioned for her to choose any and she walked to one of the chairs with her back straight and head held high. He loved the way she moved.
Ria was sitting elegantly under the heavy gaze of the king and felt… awkward.
His heavy gaze was at her at all times, and she felt as if he expected something from her. Was it an apology for shouting at him over the phone? Her cheeks flushed slightly at the memory, but she was not going to say sorry. She meant every word she said and she was too tired to look for excuses.
“I am not going to apologise,” she warned him at once and his lips parted in shock. Maybe it was the wrong move after all.
“I am not asking you to,” he said after a pause and now she was the one gaping.
“Then to what do lowe the pleasure?” she tried to sound as formal as possible, her hands on her knees.
For a second there Gideon contemplated simply telling her everything and getting to the bottom of things. She was his and he needed her to know that.
Then again, he did not want her scared. She was already in a horrible situation, and he did not want to cause her any distress. But he desperately needed to get closer to her, to get some answers.
“Your fiery speech made an impression on me,” he smirked, making her swallow nervously, “I have to say that some of the things you said were correct.”
After these words, he received a curious gaze from her. Now wary, not scared, not pretend. This was something.
“Just some?” she arched her brow and he chuckled at that. She was also funny.
“Let’s not get carried away,” he walked to the armchair opposite of her and sat down, “This is your chance to change everything, Riannon. Tell me everything from the very beginning…”
Riannon tried to stay calm. It wasn’t easy in the Lycan king’s presence, but she did try her best. It did not help that he was incredibly good looking. Neither did it help that she remembered very well how he brushed her off and humiliated her over the phone. The memory was still fresh in her mind, and it bugged her. He bugged her. He made emotions raise inside of her and she did not like it. She was trained well enough to conceive them at all times. Although werewolves were beasts and had animalistic instincts, it was considered bad manners for a
Luna to show them. A perfect Luna couldn’t growl, couldn’t get angry, couldn’t display what she felt for everyone to see. A perfect Luna had to be… well, perfect. At all times.
And Ria was always considered one of the best in that regard.
Yet with the Lycan king, she wanted nothing more than to come up and slap his incredibly handsome face. Hard.
She did not even want to do that to Brayden. Although the rational part of her knew that he deserved it more.
But that man in front of her, who did not take his eyes off her…irked her. To the point that she wanted to do something about it. And his scent of coffee and sandalwood, which was the mixture of the two things she loved the most, bothered her too.
Ria wished Onyx was there with her. Her wolf had better instincts and could help her to figure out what to do. She had her all her life and now it was hard to be on her own.
Yet she had no choice. “What exactly do you want to know, Your Majesty?” she tried not to show her irritation, but a little smirk still touched his lips.
“Everything, Riannon,” he addressed her by her name only, which was way too intimate for their first meeting face to face. But he was a lycan. And they were arrogant and considered themselves the higher class of wolf species. Everyone else was below them. So, Ria had to swallow that.
“Should I start with my childhood then?” she couldn’t help making the snarky remark and bit her lip as soon as she said that, making an internal growl leave his body immediately.
Okay, no more jokes then.
“You asked for my help,” he reminded her. “And you refused to help me, Your
Majesty,” she pointed out in turn. “Gideon,” he practically gritted through his teeth. “Excuse me?” she darted him a surprised gaze. was gaping, trying to figure out if he was joking.
“I can’t…” she tried to protest but noticed how his eyes got darker at once.
“It’s an order,” he said coldly, making her gulp.
She wasn’t his biggest fan at the moment but she definitely did not want to make him her enemy.
“Very well,” she clenched her fingers together on her knees, holding her back straight,“ Gideon.”
He relaxed in front of her, hearing his name coming out from her lips. It sounded nice. He wanted her to repeat it over and over, but, of course, couldn’t tell her that. At least not now. Something was very wrong and she did not feel that he was her mate. Although, the longer they were this close to each other, the more he knew that she was the one for him. This was frustrating and agonising.
All he wanted was to grab her and take her back to his lands, to make her feel what he felt, to love her and make her forget all the other men in her life.
New Book: Veiled Desires of the Alpha King Novel
Dayson was the alpha of the largest pack in North America. Powerful figures from other packs sought to offer gorgeous girls as potential mates for Dayson. He steadfastly rejected these advances, he was not a pawn to be manipulated. But eventually there came a mysterious girl he could hardly say No. Who was she?