The Luna’s Second Chance Mate

Larissa’s POV

The look of disappointment expressly written on his face still lingered like some bitter aftertaste in my mouth, even after two weeks. He looked pained when I stopped us from crossing that line. What was I even saying? Somehow, we already crossed that line a long time ago. We both just didn’t realize it. Maybe I did, but it was clear he did not.

I still did not understand his actions. We’d almost slept together, but he pushed me away after I stopped us albeit non-verbally. His body language said it all. He hasn’t even spoken to me since then, if he was ever in the mansion at all.

I picked up myself from the bed and took small strides to the single window in the room, deliberately ignoring the small whines of the toddler in my bed.

Pushing the curtains open, I stared at the clouds that had formed some pretty shapes in the sky. They appeared heavy and were effectively blocking out the sun from showering the earth with light. Instead, what remained was the familiar gloom that came with the cloudy weather; one that plunged my thoughts into shallow confusion.

It was hurtful, I told myself, relishing in the feel of soft wind rustling my hair that I’d tied back up in a ponytail.

His scowls the next day, his complete avoidance, and the thoughts that somehow, I had let myself go with this man whose voice said a different thing from his body. I found myself wondering what exactly it was. Perhaps it was because of his mate? Fortunately, that was the same reason I had stopped that day. He may not have gotten over her supposed death, or whatever wrong she did to him and Declan.

I didn’t want to give myself yet to a man who could never love me like I hoped for. At the same time, I wished he would let me into his personal bubble. It was eve more hurtful that he was refusing to be direct with how he felt towards me. Was it simply lust or because I took care of his son?

I pushed back the curtains even further, resting my hands on the window sill. My thoughts subconsciously drifted to that night again, the same night my life had been ruined. I didn’t like the thought of it, I hated that somehow, he still had a chokehold over me as much as I hated him.

I shook my head as if that would dispel my thoughts and spun around to see the toddler jumping on the bed. It wasn’t even a spring bed, so watching him reach only a few centimeters before falling onto the bed again made me chuckle.

Smiling lightly to myself again, I walked back to the bed and scooped him up, earning soft giggles from him after tickling the skin behind his neck. I fell back onto the bed and placed a kiss on his forehead, closing my eyes as I did and loving the feeling of the child in my hands.

“Issa. Issa!” His light voice rang across the room, pulling me out of my trance like state. I whipped my eyes open and propped myself to a sitting position.

He was kicking now, struggling to wring himself free from my embrace. I let him go and run around, finding myself slowly slipping back to worry for his father. Did he still hate me? Was he doing well? Was he stressed? I found myself worrying still for his well being. It was going to hurt me still, why I still let myself care was what I couldn’t understand.

“Do you want more toys, Declan?” I cooed in his ears, reaching out to hold him close after he had scooted far enough from where I had been sitting on the bed.

His eyes lit up at that and he nodded, practically jumping out of the bed and forcing me to follow suit almost immediately. I caught him before he would travel further, scooping him up before I pushed the door open and the oddity of the environment caught me immediately.

There were guards in front of my door. A whole dozen of them dressed in black cargo pants and combat boots were littered upstairs, and I could see another good number by the French doors where I had seen the alpha that day.

I felt the hairs on my body raise in surprise at the sight, staring at the ones who made eye contact with me in confusion. Did the mansion ever have so many guards?

“What’s going on?” I asked quietly, tightening my grip on Declan who appeared the least bit bothered. I could feel him tense up, but there was no visible response from him. One guard whose face I was unfamiliar with walked up to where I stood, towering over me with his hands behind his back.

“Orders from the alpha to protect the mansion at all costs.” He answered stiffly. His expression was blank as well, causing me to want to snort. Instead I kept eye contact, well aware that I probably looked mortified as hell.

“Is something going on?”Ccontent © exclusive by Nô/vel(D)ra/ma.Org.

“The alpha has taken his best men out for a mission. So in the meantime, everybody is encouraged to stay put until he returns. Which means no one is allowed to leave the mansion.”

“Excuse me?”

“If you need anything, you can reach out to the guards. We’ll take your requests.” He replied even stiffer than the first time, sending me a small glare before walking back to his position. I smiled awkwardly watching him leave, even if a part of me wanted to snicker back.

I still didn’t understand what was going on. Mission? Was the pack in trouble? “Er, wait… I –”

“Larissa! Larissa!” Gwen’s high-pitched yell was startling, I could recognize her voice as soon as I heard it.

I shifted my attention to the stairs where Gwen was running, halting in her tracks right in front of me. Her breathing was unsteady, she had her hands on her knees while struggling to catch her breath.

I backed up two steps in surprise, watching her wave her hands frantically before straightening up. “Larissa, did you hear?”

My expression relaxed at that. She was hitting her chest now as if that would help her breathing before waving at the toddler who’d nearly jumped out of my arms at her startling screams.

“I think I just did. I mean, there are a bunch of guards everywhere who say that they have orders not to let anyone leave the mansion.”

She nodded like a human child who was seeing candy for the first time before closing the distance between us so she could whisper in my ears.

“It makes me wonder if we’re under siege.”

“Shush!” I tapped at her shoulders a little harsher than I wanted, but it was enough for her to roll her eyes at me and go back to looking around with her arms folded.

I found myself wondering if everything was okay. He just disappeared overnight? To a mission? He had to be okay in the end. Not for me, I told myself. For his son. Everything was for Declan.

I sighed one last time, passing Declan over to Gwen and silently pleading that she would take him to is room.

I started down the stairs only to see yet another crowd in the living room. Except that this time, it wasn’t only the guards present in the living room. There were a bunch of unfamiliar faces, a few who were sitting on the couch and a number of people who were standing and appeared agitated. Confused, their heads turned when they sensed me on the stairs.

There was a woman who sat on the cathedra whose head whipped around faster than the others. She appeared pleasant faced, yet there was a demeaning air of authority that oozed from her being. Her hair was a deep brown and was now staring at my soul. I shifted uncomfortably, grateful that her back was still turned away from me.

“Can we have some water, please?” One on the men in the room asked, staring at me with plea in his eyes. Still startled, it took me a full minute to process what was going on. Who were all these people and why were they here?

As in he could read my thoughts, he chuckled awkwardly. “The alpha asked us to come to his mansion for the period he’ll be away. We…don’t have homes, you see.”

He sounded broken, smiling through his statement before looking away. He turned to look back at me, flashing me another pitiful smile.

I nodded swiftly, walking straight to the kitchen to set up several trays of water. At this point, I wished Gwen would join me in the kitchen. The maids in the mansion were always nowhere in sight, I always thought he refused to et them work just to spite me.

I walked back to the living room carefully, steadying the tray in my hands before placing it on the coffee table. Never in a thousand years would I have imagined that serving people with water and hearing their gratitude would be so exhilarating.

I found myself smiling without thinking. The regular people of the pack were the sweetest, making me wonder even more what exactly had gone wrong with their alpha.

The brown haired woman kept her gaze transfixed on me, making me gulp many times no matter how much I wanted to ignore it. I would rather she spoke up than looking at me like that.

Forcing another smile, I glanced back at her before walking up to where she sat with her legs crossed. Up close, I had to admit that she was one beautiful woman. Her appearance vastly differed from that of the other people in the room, donned in a simple black dress and an intensely red lipstick. Even her poise screamed grace. Except for the blankness in her eyes, she reminded me of my mother.

“Miss, would you like a glass of water?” I asked softly, mustering a kind smile in her direction. She seemed surprised, judging from how her pupils dilated ever so slightly. She nodded afterwards, smiling tightly in return.

“A glass of water and three cubes of ice would be enough.”

Her voice was like velvet. I hadn’t met her before, but something about it was oddly familiar. The voice wasn’t, the tone was. I nodded at her response and walked back to the kitchen to bring her her glass of water.

She looked amused when I returned, taking the glass from my hands with the most graceful movements. Her eyes travelled to mine, and I finally saw her smile back genuinely.

“Oh you’re so kind!” One woman called out dramatically, catching me by surprise. I wanted to laugh back and ask her what she meant, but another wail caught my attention.

“Right?! She’s so different from the one who shall not be named!”

I saw the woman who sat on the cathedra raise a brow ever so slightly while the people chattered. “She agreed to give us a glass of water. If the one who should not be named were still here, she would have driven us out!”

“She wouldn’t even spare us some water. She was so brutal.”

“For fuck’s sake, call her name! She’s dead, isn’t she?” Yet another spoke up with a snicker, glancing around before continuing. “We all know the former Luna is dead. And she was –”

“Enough!”

I turned around, startled by the sudden yell. It was the brown haired woman standing now with a frown on her face. “Do not speak of the dead like that! No matter what she did, she was still your Luna!”

The entire living room fell near silent at that. But there was another question lingering in my head. Amaya…who was she? What kind of person was she for her subjects to dislike her so much? I felt someone tap at my shoulders and I turned around to see that first man that had spoken to me. He was smiling again, but lighter than before.

“They’re telling the truth, my dear. You’re not like her. She hated us, and frankly we didn’t like her either. The alpha’s mother is just upset to her daughter-in-law.”

“Excuse me, who?”

And my eyes followed his finger that pointed towards the once intimidating aura in the room whose eyes darted around as though she was blinking back tears.