Crying to the Moon

Chapter 18: Wake up, love.

Hale's POV

I sat beside her on my bed, stroking her hair back away from her beautiful features. I kissed her temple, then her forehead, then her nose, and so on, attempting to send a mind link to her after each kiss. She's not yet a part of the pack, but I'm hoping that my bond with her is strong enough.

Wake up, love.

Come back to me.

Larken's POV

As I gave my best attempt to find one last piece of information, another voice entered my mind, but this wasn't a memory. It was a different pressence.

Wake up, love.

Come back to me.

Any urge to see another memory melted as soon as I heard Hale's voice. Oh Hale..

I felt small pecks against my face as I became nearer to reality.

Hale's POV

Finally, I pressed my lips to hers for one last small kiss, about to lean back until I felt her lips press further into mine. In shock, I pulled away, expecting to see her awake, but she still laid still. Maybe I only imagined it...

To calm my curiosity, I pressed my lips against hers once more and knew I felt her returning. With a smirk, I continued and soon enough, a small gasp left my mate. I chuckled and wrapped my arms around her waist, pulling her into me as she laced her fingers through my hair. I deepened our kiss, swiping my tongue across her lip and felt her grip in my hair tighten for a no. I chuckled and she pulled away, jade eyes gazing up into mine.

Her voice softly spoke through breaths, "I love you."

I fully grinned and brushed a stray hair out of her face, "Gods, I love you so much, Lark."

She giggled and pulled me down onto where she laid before as I propped myself above her on both hands, leaning down to kiss her once more. Her fingers trailed up my back, sliding my shirt with them. I sat up and yanked it off, sending it flying across the room. She squealed and giggled as I tackled her with my kisses once more, returning them with her own longing and passion.

By the way that she's finally showing me as much love as I show her, I know that she's missed me just as much. I know the bond hurt her as much as I was hurt. We feel each other's pain, sadness, fear, and also happiness, joy, and ecstasy. I can feel her love for me through each brush her fingers trailing up the muscles in my arms, through each desperate kiss that it takes for her to return to reality.

I began sliding my fingers up her shirt, trailing over every smooth bend and curve of her skin until I reached her shoulders. She broke away and quickly tossed the shirt to the side with only her lacy maroon bra to provide coverage. I took in every curve that I could see, letting out a low growl at the sight of lace as she giggled and pulled me into her once more.

Just as I nearly unhooked her scrap of lace, a door opened and a light voice sounded, "Hey, is she doing any b- Oh dear gods."

Larken gasped and yanked a blanket from the side to cover herself. I closed my eyes to compose myself for a moment before glaring at Lena as I spat, "Lena. Get. Out."

In a second, the door flew closed and I glanced down to see Larken desperately holding in a laugh. I rose a brow, "Oh so you think it's funny?"

She bit her lip and shook her head, "Then maybe this will be funny."

I began tickling her, playfully tracing my fingertips over her bare skin as she laughed and cried out, "Hale! Ahahah no! Hale! S-stopp!"

She burst with more laughter as she turned from side to side and I laughed along with her. When it seemed hard for her to catch her breath, I stopped and leaned back. She giggled between breaths and laid her arms over her stomach. A flash of her comatose state entered my mind of when I laid her hands perfectly crossed over her stomach, resembling her position now. I brushed my fingers back through my hair and she leaned forward, propping her arms around my neck.

"What's wrong? You didn't hurt me, Hale."

I shook my head, "I did, Lark. Not now, but your coma... I'm so, so sorry."

Pity flashed through her eyes as she stroked my hair just above my neck. "Hey, no it's not. I was upset and it was my own hurt that put me into the coma. I let myself get overwhelmed when I should've kept control."

I shook my head, "The reason you were upset was because of me. I shouldn't have rejected your touch and that lead to your hurt."

She paused, thinking over what I said for a moment before meeting my eyes once again, "Okay, but think of it this way. If you hadn't, then I wouldn't be the same. I have my memories back, Hale. All of them. Every one that lead up to meeting you, when you saved me. You can't forget that you saved my life. Heck, I wouldn't even be here if it wasn't for you. Everything that I am now, is because of who you've made me to be. Rhett and Vivian only played parts in the worst times of my life. They made me terrified, I suppressed my wolf, but you brought out a side of me that was always hidden. I'm happy with you, with the pack, and everyone here. I was never happy before and you saved me from all of that."

I simply gazed at my mate, absolutely mesmerized by her ability to turn a terrible situation into something good. She can turn my entire attitude and perspective around with one sentence. She's had a terrible past that I'm still unsure of and yet she still seems to find the bright side in every situation. I pulled her into my embrace and softly planted a peck on her lips.

"You are truly amazing in so many ways."

A small smile graced her features as she returned the small peck. Knocks sounded at the door and Larken giggled, "It's safe now, Lena."

The door slowly opened to reveal a cautious Lena, "Ha ha.. hey guys. Nice to see you up and alive."

Larken laughed and Lena rushed over, tackling my mate in a hug as she admitted, "Lark, I was so scared. I left the room for only a minute and.."

Larken pulled away, holding Lena's hands as she gave a reassuring smile, "Hey, don't go blaming yourself." She jerked her thumb towards me, "I just had to talk him out of blaming himself too and I am not ready for another pep talk."

Lena giggled, sniffling away her tears that threatened to show, "Okay let's get one thing straight. You are never allowed to do that again, especially on my watch! If I didn't die from a panic attack, I was sure as hell going to die from Hale killing me!"

They both burst into a fit of laughter while I rolled my eyes. No matter how much I love my mate, I could never kill one of my best friends.

Injure to a great extent?

Probably, but not kill.

Besides, Larken would never forgive me if I had. No one could deny that her and Lena hit it off the day they met. Even though Lena was a bit... overwhelming, they quickly became good friends. I couldn't take that away from Larken, no matter what the cause.

Lena let go of Larken's hands and backed up a step, "Okay, well I'm going to be downstairs. You guys are welcome to come down whenever you want. Just as a forewarning, you'll probably get ten times more hugs and shouts and such."

I chuckled, "That's pretty much expected from this pack. We'll be down soon."

She nodded, turning to walk out the door until she spun back around, "Oh! And one last thing. Lark honey, you may want to put a shirt on before you come down. Kay, bye!"

With that, she shut the door and she was gone. Larken and I exchanged glances and burst into uncontrollable laughter.