The rightful Luna

Chapter 36. Unconditional trust

She flinched once again, hearing his declaration. As the king, his confidence was supposed to be high, considering no other werewolf was above him, but his audacity to declare her as his, still shook her. Although, she would never admit perhaps even in death ... she quite liked this part of his personality, a side of him only known to her.

"That is..." She try to say, when he was still looking at her cheekily.

"What? Are you going to deny that you are mine?" Salas asked a bit playful, but a fleeting bit of anxiousness could be sensed in his look. She had tried to reject and keep her distance from him before, she had even ran away from him in the garden previously. So though he knew she was his mate, he still needed confirmation from her.

He wanted to hear from her own pretty lips that he had just kissed, her willing answer, not a conditioned response that was spoken regardless of a person's will, each time one had found their half. Only then could he finally believe it to be true.

It seemed he had grown quite greedy, Salas thought. Finding his mate was no longer enough, he wanted her to want him for who he was, just as much as he desired her.

Without thinking too deeply, Celia wanted to deny, that was her first thought. She was not used to having someone she would call her own, so how could she be someone's as well. Not to mention, she knew he wanted to tease her again and she did not want to be caught up in his trick, but she detected a flash of uneasiness in his eyes.

"I am not..." She slowly said, as her voice gradually got more lower, until it resembled a whisper.

It made Salas's heart pang, as he clenched his jaws and fingers because of the nervousness. Did she want to reject him? Did she want to say she was not his?

He had been a bit more confident moments earlier, but now it felt like his very life's fate was rested on those rose colored lips.

"... going to deny!" Celia whispered the last part, but his werewolf ears heard it loud and clear.

The answer that came willingly from her, was even more precious to his ears than when she said the word "mate". It made his heart hurt from joy, even though a second earlier, it suffered from pain.

She did not even manage to see his reaction, as she was engulfed by his strong arms in a tight embrace. She was so tightly held that even if she wanted to, there was no space for her to separate herself, not that she had such intention.

In all honesty, she had never wanted a mate, she had never felt someone would want to be so close to her, she had never thought of herself like someone worthy to become someone's one and only. But he made the desire she did not even know she had, the deepest secret held unknowingly in the deepest parts of her heart, fulfilled, and he had done so with just his presence.

Awkwardly, she put some strength in the hands that were loosely dangling before, and slowly raised them up.

Feeling his hug returned, Salas hugged her even tighter, without much concern to the wounds he had which had not yet healed completely.

He was afraid it was just a dream and he would wake up to find himself alone on the hospital bed and Celia nowhere in sight. But it could not be a dream, her petite frame with her head resting on his chest, her small hands on his back warming him. The feeling of her lips that still lingered on his, and her strawberry scent ever present all around him... these were too vivid for it to only be a dream.

"Is it a bad time? Should I come back later?" Gabriel asked, scratching with his hand the back of his head.

She hurriedly let go of the embrace at the sound of his voice, embarrassed of her actions.