The Hidden Luna

Chapter 25: Devotion

"I specifically told you to come home at twelve sharp. Where the hell have you been? It's thirty minutes past and you're half naked in front of half the pack! If you hadn't been so insistent that you can walk I would've carried you here myself to make sure you even knew where the house is." I almost shout at my mate while she showers and changes in my bathroom.

I pace in front of the door as she replies, "I've already told you where I was. The guys wanted to go to the waterfall and I'm not allowed to own a phone so how was I even supposed to keep track of time?"

I growl angrily before Annabel pushes open the white door and glares at me, her hands sassily on her hips, "Annabel you scared me."

My anger quickly disappears as I look down into Annabel's eyes, the rage no longer radiating from my chest and filling the room, "I-I scared you?"

I nod and flick a wet strand of brown hair away from her beautiful face, "you scared me, love. I was worried something had happened to you."

"But I'm in the pack territory what could possibly happen to me?" She asks, confusion covering her face as she peers up at me, unaware of the rogue who made it into the pack territory carrying unwelcomed news only a few hours ago.

I hate lying to her, it's against my nature but I have to protect her. I can't let her die like my father or be taken like my mother. The idea of my mate suffering the sexual abuse my mother clearly suffered for years makes my wolf and I beyond enraged, but I push those thoughts away. I can't tell her, not yet. I look away from her face, unable to lie while looking her in the eyes.

"Thomas?"

"You're untrained right now, so you're more at risk like the pups and pregnant females. I'll be less worried once you train some, okay?" I reply, still unable to look her in the eyes.

I can feel the confusion bubbling off her body but I turn around and open the door, heading downstairs to start making lunch. I realize that despite how little time I've really spent with her, I think I love Annabel. I can't seem to decide for myself if this is true because the mate bond between us is so strong now that we sleep in the same house, only a wall separating us. I spend my days taking care of my pack and wondering about the decision she will make at the end of the week; I want to give her the space she needs.

I flip the grilled cheese sandwich I mindlessly prepared and threw it onto my skillet, still deep in my thoughts as I can feel Annabel's eyes burning holes in my back. I don't mind if she is mad at me, I don't mind if she can tell I'm blatantly lying to her face, all I care about is her safety and happiness. Even if these feelings are to be blamed onto the mate bond, I can't deny how much I care about her. If I told her about the rogue she might get scared and try to save the pack by leaving on her own, I grin to myself, she's quite selfless for someone who once lived a human life.

I set a plate in front of her at the island where she stands quietly, and I sit at the table with my plate, "I had a feeling you were the grilled cheese type of gal, was I right?"

Annabel sits down across the smaller, wooden table from me and she looks down at the sandwich, "I am, actually. My mom used to make them for me when I was sick. Then when I got older I started making them for her when she got sick."

She sighs sadly and I wonder if I should ask more about this woman, "what is she like?"

After taking a bite of her sandwich and quickly pulling the stringy cheese off her face she replies, "she was great, most of the time. When I was younger we used to go on trips a lot for weeks at a time and I did my school work on the go. One time we went to Phoenix," she smiles and laughs to herself a little, "and I wanted to go swim at the pool at our hotel but my mother was tired from driving so she let me go swim alone. Well, I swam for hours and hours and I made some friends with the other kids staying at the hotel. When my mom found me carrying a sandcastle mold full of water over to the flowers next to the pool area with my new friends she laughed so hard."

I stare at her smile while she talks and I eat some of my sandwich, "what was so funny about that?"

Annabel laughs to herself before explaining, "well first of all, that water had so much chlorine in it. Secondly, the plants there don't get much water that time of year so we were drowning them in chlorinated water! After laughing at me and my friends she explained we weren't helping the plants we were killing them. I felt so bad that she took me out for ice cream after."

I smile brightly at her as she laughs and looks up at me, making eye contact, "yeah I guess she had a good point. Most plants wouldn't survive a large dose of chlorine."

I finish my sandwich and get up for a glass of water, "yeah. She was great. But I grew up and she slowly moved away from me emotionally. Maybe she thought she was just giving me space or maybe I just wasn't enough anymore- I don't know."

I look over at Annabel to see her looking down at her half eaten sandwich with a sad expression and her hair falling to hide her pain behind a curtain of brown, "I'm sorry to hear that. I'm sure she still loves you. Maybe she was just busy."

A small tear slips down her cheek and she doesn't bother to flick it away as I move to her side with the glass of water, "no. I don't think she does. Here I am talking about her like she's dead because she didn't even look for me. I've been missing for weeks and no one came to get me. She didn't even look. I bet she's glad I'm gone and she can finally support herself without me to keep her down."

Her pain slowly rips a hole in my heart and I push back her silky soft hair from her sad face before whispering, "Annabel she's your mother. I doubt you were a burden to her. How do you know she didn't come looking for you? How could you know if she is still looking for you somewhere?"

Her brown eyes meet mine, her pain residing evidently in those chocolate brown orbs, "because of she had looked I would be at home right now. Not sitting here with someone who keeps lying to me," a sharp pang echoes inside my chest, "I mean she poisoned me for years, putting wolfsbane into my food and drinks, without ever telling me I'm a freaking werewolf. All I knew was when I was younger I got sick a lot but, that slowly stopped and became less frequent. I thought there was something wrong with me when I was in middle school because I got sick so often."

"That's because you should've shifted somewhere between the ages of twelve and seventeen" I murmur quietly.

"Well I didn't know that. She lied to me. She poisoned me. Clearly she didn't love me. Yet here I am, missing her so much, and feeling so alone in this world without her." tears fall like a soft rain, down her cheeks and off her pointed chin.

I wrap my arms around my mate, pulling her head to my chest allowing her to cry against me, "you'll never be alone in this world, love. I will always be here for you, if you still want me."

"I do."

I feel my heart rate quicken at those two words, "what?"

"I want you, Thomas. I want to stay here, with you. I was going to wait until the end of the week but, I can't keep it inside anymore. I want to stay here."

My heart soars at her proclamation and I lift her out of the wooden chair and into my arms excitedly, "thank you Annabel. I promise you won't regret it. No one will hurt you ever again."

My mate wraps her legs around my waist and her arms around my neck as she smiles at me, "I better not, handsome. Once I learn to fight you won't want to get onto my bad side."

I laugh and a radiant smile spreads across her face, "I don't want onto your bad side now, unless it's in the bedroom, of course."

I wink at her and her face turns a dark shade of pink as she slaps my arm, "there will be none of that!"

I look into my mate's eyes, silently pledging myself and my soul to her. I will always protect her, she will be the queen, the ruler, of my life from now on. I will be the most devoted mate to her and the best of friends with her. When I look into those, now sparkling, eyes I see my future right next to her until the day I die.