For the first time in my life, I was awaken by the shots of a thousand sparks as they traveled down the right side of my body, by the warmth that engulfed my senses and the addictive aroma that I knew only one person to carry.
My eyelids fluttered open and I blinked against the morning sun. It took my mind a few seconds to fully comprehend my position on the bed, where I lay half on top of a rising and falling chest. My left arm was draped over Xavier's torso as he lay asleep on his back, his own arm around my waist.
My heart nearly leapt out of my chest.
I jumped out of my seat, in the process accidentally nudging Xavier roughly, which earned me an annoyed groan. I backed a couple steps away, unaware of the sheets tangled around my ankles, and let out a squeak as I tumbled over the edge of the bed and collided with the floor.
Xavier shot out of his place, his eyes wide open as he studied the room, then fell on my awkward position on the floor.
I groaned distastefully, both in pain and embarrassment.
Xavier let out a slight chuckle, his hand coming up to rub the sleep out of his eyes. "What in the world are you doing?"
I shuffled on the floor, trying to untangle my legs from the sheets but failing miserably, and instead looking like a struggling fish flapping out on land. Xavier studied my failed attempts, and just continued chuckling at me.
"Help. Me." I frowned at him, hissing through clenched teeth.
Bearing an amused grin, he ran his hand through his tangled hair and moved to the side of the bed to stand up. "Yes, ma'am."
I watched helplessly as he grabbed the end of the sheets and loosened them, twisting them around my ankles to free me. My legs fell with a thump to the floor, and I wasted no more second in jumping out of my seat.
I mumbled a quick thanks and rushed to the bathroom where I locked myself in.
Leaning against the closed door, I let out a deep sigh, tightening my eyes shut as I tried to erase the first ten minutes of our morning encounter. How embarrassing it was that this was the first thing he had to witness, on our first morning waking up together.
I face-palmed myself in shame.
Suddenly, the memories of the night before rushed to the front of my mind. I remembered the surreal story Xavier narrated to me about the history of his family, about his... superpowers.
I shook my head. That's ridiculous. People don't have superpowers, this is real life we're talking about.
I moved towards the marbled sink and turned on the faucet, splashing my face with ice-cold water. I gasped as I came to stand up straight, droplets of water rolling and falling onto the top of my shirt.
I looked at my reflection, and the most sparkling brown eyes stared back at me.
There were stars shimmering in the dullness of my eyes. I stared bewilderingly.
Last night, after the talk Xavier and I had, he excused himself to take a bath before bed. I tried to wait up for him but ended up falling into a deep slumber, I don't even remember hearing him leave the bathroom. I must've been way too deep in my sleep, given that I'd spent a whole night asleep next to him and never once realized.
It wasn't like this was the first time I'd woken up in the arms of a person I had feelings for; but never before was it in Xavier's, the man who'd made me feel things I never thought were humanely possible.
Your soulmate.
I jumped once the word was spoken in my mind, hushing the inner voice in my head.
Suddenly, there was a knock at the door.
"Nora, are you alright?" Xavier's voice came through.
Why wouldn't I be? I frowned at my reflection, and only then came to the discovery of how fast my heart was beating within the confines of my chest. My palm came to fall flat on my chest, feeling the erratic beating.
Am I on the verge of a panic-attack?
"Nora?" Xavier's voice sounded more urgent this time.
They could hear the noises of approaching men from all the way across the village... My eyes widened as I recalled his words from last night. He could hear my heartbeat?
The door handle started coming down. "I-I'm fine!" I finally replied, and it stopped halfway. Xavier removed his grip from the handle.
"I'm waiting for you to be done so we could go down together for breakfast." He informed me.
I nodded while staring at my reflection, only to then realize he couldn't see me. "Okay," I answered.
Or could he? The inner voice questioned my earlier statement, but I shook my head.
Stop being ridiculous.
I rid of the thoughts running through my mind and backed from the sink, physically shaking the uneasiness away. I inhaled deeply, regaining my composure, and reached for the door. When I unlocked and pulled it open, I came face-to-face with an anxious Xavier. His posture took me by surprise; he was fumbling with his fingers with a slight, worried frown creasing the skin between his eyebrows. When his eyes met mine, they widened.
His nervousness warmed my heart, and I gave him a small smile. "Ready?" I asked casually, breaking the ice.
He nodded, stepping away from the door-frame to let me pass.
We left the bedroom and slowly made our way down the hall and towards the staircase. I was about to take the first step down when Xavier's voice stopped me.
"I just want you to know," he started, and I turned to watch him expectantly. "Everyone in the house already considers you their Luna. But I realize that I hadn't given you enough time to fully comprehend all of this, so if it ever gets too much, just let me know and I'll inform them to take it slow."
I was very appreciative of his concern and consideration for my comfort, so I smiled and nodded once.
We continued our way down the stairs and took the turn to the dining room. When we walked in, we found that a group of people were already occupying the space. Around the long table sat Ariel, Bella and Noah, while Vincent and Scarlett stood by the end of the table. Their eyes suddenly turned to our direction.
Yesterday's memories were still fresh in my mind, and I fought hard against frowning at Noah and making it clear to everyone in the room that there was a growing tension between us - so I avoided his eyes at all cost.
Vincent moved forward, passing us by while bearing a grin. "Alpha," he nodded at Xavier then turned to me, "Luna."
I felt a slight blush rising to my face because of his cheekiness, while Xavier simply rolled his eyes.
"Nora!" Ariel exclaimed, jumping from her seat and embracing me. "Did you hear?" Her eyes were lit up with excitement.
"Hear what?" I frowned as I took a seat on one of the remaining chairs, reaching out for a piece of buttered toast from off Ariel's plate.
"Of course she heard, Ariel. She's literally surrounded by the heroes." Noah rolled his eyes, sipping from a white mug.
I clenched my teeth, biting back my words.
Ariel hushed him then turned back to me. "Everything's finally back to normal," she beamed with excitement.
Her words pulled at my heart-strings, and for a second I was overtaken by the same feelings of guilt that I fought so hard to bury. Things should have always remained normal in my friends' lives. This was the second time I had put their lives at risk and I didn't think I could ever forgive myself for it.
I gulped down the growing lump in my throat, forcing on a tight smile. "Y-yeah."
"Oh! And also I'm moving here, to Indiana." She grinned.
My eyes widened, and I nearly choked on the piece of toast in my mouth. "What?"
She nodded excitedly. "Seth is helping me find a place close to the city. I think it's time for a fresh start, and Indiana's starting to grow on me."
I didn't fail to notice her eyes moving to Xavier as she offered him a knowing smile. I frowned, turning to glance at Xavier who was bearing a soft smile of his own.
"What is going on?" I questioned, suspicious of their odd behavior.
Xavier glanced down at me and shrugged innocently, turning away from me and reaching to pour himself some coffee.
"Aren't you happy?" Ariel asked me nervously. Frankly, I didn't know how I felt.
"Of course I stand by whatever choice makes you the happiest. I'll just miss you, is all." I whispered the last part.
Ariel sighed, "I would miss you, too. Horribly." She turned towards her plate and picked up a slice of bacon, biting into it with a faint smile playing on her lips. "But you could always move here with me."
My eyes widened, realization suddenly hitting me. My head snapped towards Xavier, who was halfway through raising his cup of coffee to take a sip while staring at me expectantly. My gaze froze his actions midway.
"You...?" I was at loss for words. I knew for sure he had something to do with it; he probably talked Ariel into moving here so I could follow in her steps, knowing how close of a relationship my best friend and I have.
But before I could finish my sentence, Xavier put his mug down and raised his hands in innocence. "I have nothing to do with it."
"I highly doubt that." I glared at him accusingly.
"It's true. Don't give him credit for my brilliant ideas." Ariel complained.
I frowned at her, eyeing her skeptically. "What are you planning?"
"Nothing! I'm just craving a fresh start after everything we went through." She shrugged, biting into her bacon.
"And it would probably do you good too, Luna." Vincent spoke up.
"Why the Hell do you keep referring to her as Luna?" Noah frowned, his annoyance very clear on his face.
Vincent glanced at him, then motioned with his head towards Xavier. "He's our Alpha." Then he looked over at me and winked, "which makes her our Luna."
Noah scoffed. "How does that make any sense?"
"It's just a nickname." I tried to change the subject without raising suspicion. "And where's Elliot?"
Bella looked up from her plate to answer. "He's packing our bags."
"Which reminds me, I should get to it as well." Noah hopped off his chair and started making his way towards the door.
Now that it was all safe and back to normal, I forgot that we had to return home.
But where exactly is home? An inner voice questioned me.
"When are you leaving?" I asked Bella, as this time I reached for Xavier's mug and snapped it out of his reach, taking a sip from his coffee. Xavier frowned, and Vincent chuckled at his reaction.
"Around noon."
"Today?" I gasped, to which Bella nodded.
"Elliot needs to get back for an important meeting, and I have a work submission that's already a week late," she informed me.
Ariel got up from her seat and grabbed my hand, yanking me off mine. "While they pack up, let's go check out this place Seth found close to the city. It's a small cozy apartment with the coolest view-"
"But we need to pack, too, Ariel."
Ariel frowned. "Pack what? We'll be returning anyway, we'll just need our passports to go."
I shook my head; things were moving way too fast. I wasn't even sure I wanted to move to Indiana, and here was Ariel already hunting for a new place to stay.
"We can drop you guys off, we're headed to the city to run some errands anyway," Vincent offered, referring to him and Scarlett who offered me a wide smile and nodded her head.
"Awesome!" Ariel agreed. I frowned as I turned to study her expression.
Suddenly, Ariel yanked me by the hand and pulled me towards the door. I stopped her by the living-room before she'd get too far.
"Ariel, wait."
She halted in her tracks and turned to look at me expectantly. I glanced behind my shoulder, not sure we were far enough from earshot, and guided her further into the living-room.
"I'm not sure I'm ready to do this," I admitted, voicing out my inner doubts and fears.
Ariel studied my nervousness, then reached out to hold both my hands and gently guided us to sit down on one of the couches. She shifted in her seat to fully face me.
"Listen, babe. I understand your hesitation, believe me I do. But if I didn't know it, deep within my heart, that this is the best thing that could happen to you and that it would make you immeasurably happy, I wouldn't be encouraging you to do it." I pondered over her words. "We have all witnessed first-hand this unrealistic bond that you two have formed, and it's not something that comes twice in life. Xavier has very deep feelings for you, it's clear in his eyes, and he has proven time and time that he would go to great lengths to keep you happy and safe; you shouldn't let that go."
Her words pulled at my heart-strings because I knew them to be true. But taking this step of moving to another state was a huge leap of faith and I wasn't sure how it would play out.
"And you won't be alone in bringing yourself to move past the past and start fresh; Seth and I will be beside you through it all." Ariel promised, a gentle small playing on her lips. "It's time for a fresh start, and God knows you need it more than any of us."
I chuckled lightly; she was right, I was in desperate need of a fresh start. And having my best friend beside me will make it a whole lot easier.
With the wings of a thousand butterflies flapping within the confines of my stomach in excitement, and a smile so wide gracing my lips, I nodded in approval to Ariel's plan.
I had decided all at once: this was a leap of faith I was willing to take.