ONYX✔️

Chapter 27

MAKE SURE YOU'VE READ THE LAST THREE CHAPTERS BEFORE THIS ONE. OTHERWISE YOU'LL BE HIGHLY CONFUSED LMAO (you know who you are;))

"Are you ready to stop being a coward and confront your mate?" Lucas finally asks after we've spent hours basking in the sun.

I sigh, never wanting this moment to end. I feel perfectly content surrounded by nature, letting the sun warm the coldest parts of my soul. "I guess so."

Lucas gets up from where he was laying on the ground, extending a hand for me to take, which I accept. He uses too much strength, and I collide with his chest. "Sorry," He mutters, stepping back and yanking his hand away from me like I had electrocuted him.

"You destroyed the flowers," I point to an area of the field with smushed poppies, showing an outline of his body.

Lucas laughs, and with a wave of his hand, the poppies are upright, leaning towards the sun. A phototropism, he had called it. When flowers lean towards the sun, leaving the darkness behind them.

"So sensitive about your poppies," Lucas teased me, and I scoffed.

"You kill enough plants in your lifetime, and you'll start feeling guilty too," I say, in reference to my Gift. But for the first time, I feel... optimistic that I'll be okay without it. Like Lucas says about the flowers, leaning towards the happiness and away from the sadness.

We walked in silence back to the pack house, and halfway back, I asked quietly, "Do you think it would be better if werewolves didn't have mates? You know... Like humans. They just fall in love with whoever they want, and it's their choice."

Lucas sighed. "I don't know how to answer that, Onyx. Part of me says no, I don't think that would be better. I think... If I had gotten a fair chance with my mate, I would be the happiest man alive. Having your other half... who wouldn't want that? But other times, when I can't sleep at night, feeling so lonely... so haunted by my dead mate's face... I wish I would be able to move on, forget the past, as easily as humans do. Don't... Don't take your mate for granted, Onyx. If I just had one more day with mine..." Lucas swallows loudly, and I can see tears blinked back.

"You deserve more than just surviving, Lucas," I whisper as I grab his hand tightly. "Your mate would have wanted you to be happy, to move on."

Lucas gives me a half-smile. "I know she would have. She was the most kind person on Earth. Never had any ill-will towards anyone. She would have made for an excellent Luna, had her life not been stolen from her."

"I'm so sorry, Lucas," I say hoarsely, and I don't know what else to say besides that. To have your mate, your family taken from you so young...

"Luke," he said, and I cocked my head to the side. "At Wind Walker... They called me Luke. I thought I wouldn't ever want to hear that name again but... you remind me a lot of the people there."

I grin as we approach the pack house. "Well Luke, how good are you at cooking? I'm starving."

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"This is the best mac n cheese ever," I groan as I eat my second bowl.

"It's Kraft mac n cheese from the box, Nyx," Luke rolled his eyes.

"Yeah, but after eating your failed attempt at a grilled cheese sandwich, this tastes like the finest cuisine in Blue Moon," I bring my hand to my mouth, giving a chefs kiss.

"Hey, I tried," Lucas said defensively. "I didn't see you in the kitchen trying to make anything either, Gordon Ramsey."

"Fine, Fine. Next lunch... prepare for your mind to be blown," I say, making an explosion sound as I push my hands out from my head.