Filed to story: Confirming His Luna by Eyes Novel >>
“How is she?” I ask under my breath.
“Weak,” my father replies dryly. “Malnourished. Bruised in more places than I care to count. But she’ll recover.”
Tristan comes to stand a few steps behind me, and I sense rather than see the unease that washes over him.
“She almost looks like you did when we first brought you to the Villa,” he says, his voice husky as if the memory of the state he’d first found me in still pained him.
The sound of a soft groan stops me from considering his words long enough to formulate a reply, and my chest tightens as Vanessa stirs. Instinctively, I reach out for Tristan’s hand, and he squeezes mine reassuringly as my mother’s face crumples.
“Shhh, it is alright, my star,” Marco says soothingly, brushing a strand of hair with a tender touch. “I’m right here.”
She groans again, her eyes fluttering open to reveal an electric shade of blue. She blinks a few times as if clearing her blurry vision before taking in her surroundings. Her gaze is foggy, her movements lethargic as she tries to sit up.
“What happened? Where is he? What has he done?” she asks, her light voice sounding raspy and raw as if she’d been screaming.
“You’re safe,” Marco reassures her. “Viktor is gone. He can never hurt you again.
A painfully familiar mixture of relief and disbelief washes over her features as things seem to come into focus, and my father helps her sit and lean back against the pillows propped behind her.
“Marco?” she asks, tears filling her glacier-blue eyes as she looks upon the man she thought she’d never see again.
“Hello, my north star,” he replies with a smile I’ve never seen him don before. “Take a breath. There’s someone I want you to meet.”
My heart thunders against my ribcage, my hand clasped around Tristan so tightly I imagine it must border on painful, but he makes no move to pull away.
This doesn’t feel real.
Vanessa’s brow furrows in confusion, and then she turns slowly to face me. For what feels like an eternity, she just looks at me, taking in the color of my eyes, the round lips that resemble hers, and the slender nose that resembles my father’s. The frown melts away from her expression as more tears trickle down her cheek, and I’m not quite sure at what point I started crying too.
“Hi.” I choke out the word, not knowing what else to say.
“Oh, my baby girl,” she sobs and leans toward me. I have to let go of Tristan’s hand to step forward and help her as she reaches out to me, her slender fingers pulling me into her arms.
Something taut snaps within me, and I collapse into her embrace, letting my tears fall freely as I hug my mother for the very first time. She shakes from the shock and the emotions swirling between us, whispering the same words over and over again as if trying to convince herself that I’m real. “My baby, my baby, my baby.”
I whisper back the word that feels like a dream, tasting of long-forgotten hope on my lips.
“Mom.”
My father rests a hand on Vanessa’s shoulder and places the other on my own, creating a sense of connection among the three of us that I can’t put into words.
Still crying, she releases me to look back at Marco, taking his hand from her shoulder while still clutching my own. I mirror her actions, creating a chain between the three of us as we sit in a little circle on the bed.
“Look at her, Marco,” she gasps with something between a sob and a laugh. “Look at you; you’re so big. My baby is all grown up.”
Vanessa’s face cracks with heartache as she looks at me, shaking her head. “He took you from me. He stole my baby away, and I missed so much. So many years… He took so much from me… All that time, I didn’t know what he’d done to you…”
“Hey, it’s okay,” I insist, squeezing her hand tightly. “Viktor is gone for good, and I’m here now.”
There will be time to grieve what was lost. We will have years to mourn the ones that were stolen from us. But right now, I’ve had enough sorrow, and I am not willing to give that man a single second more of my happiness. Not when I finally have what I never dared to hope for.
Friends. A pack. A family. My parents. We’re together now, and that’s all that matters.
“There is so much I want to ask you, I don’t even know where to begin,” I tell her.
“Ditto,” she says, smiling at me through her tears. “I want to know everything. I don’t even know what to call you.”
I tense at her words, and Tristan senses the shift in me, taking a step closer to the bed. Vanessa’s eyes widen, darting up as she suddenly realizes the three of us aren’t alone in the room.
“It’s okay,” I say quickly, turning back to look at Tristan, whose eyes are trained firmly on me, his expression calm and reassuring. “This is Tristan Lyall, Alpha of the Rovers. He’s- he’s…”
“He’s your mate,” Vanessa says softly, startling me. I whirl my head back around to stare at her in surprise.
“How did you know?”
She gives me a knowing smile, but something woeful lingers behind her expression. “I may be a stranger to my own daughter, but a mother always knows. Just look at the way he watches you.”
I glance back to find Tristan still watching me, unflinching under my mother’s scrutiny as she looks back and forth between the two of us.
A few months ago, this man who didn’t believe in the mating bond would have been just as likely to avert his eyes and avoid my gaze as I was. But now, neither one of us looks away as we hold each other in the only way we can, considering the circumstances.
“You have no idea,” Vanessa says, finally drawing Tristan’s attention away from me, “How happy I am to meet you, Tristan Lyall. Thank you for watching over… I’m sorry, sweetheart, I still don’t know what to call you. What’s your name?”
I lower my eyes, shrinking slightly into myself. I still don’t have an answer.
“I-I don’t have one. No one ever, um… I’m not…” I stammer.
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?