Another Half

June 2012

Azul Springs

The Luna Ceremony was always carried out on the following full moon after the Marking, and Rex thought it auspicious that he would be presenting his Luna during the Blood Moon, the most favored full moon in the Wolf Calendar.

Traditionally, a Luna was presented to the pack in a long white ball gown, but Rex encouraged Blade to wear whatever color she wanted in whatever style. He had given her several choices of dress color, including red, yellow, and even pink knowing well that she would choose the black evening gown that flattered her figure with the square neckline and a high slit.

She jumped into Rex’s arms and kissed him passionately when he provided her with two black thigh knife holsters. Each holster even had a pocket for one of her tiny envelopes.

“Are you encouraging your Luna to poison people?” she teased with a throaty voice, her arms still around his neck.

“I’m proud of my Luna,” he whispered back, “and I’m going to enjoy watching her use all of her talents.” Rex widened his eyes. “As long she doesn’t use them on me!”

Blade laughed, but quickly sobered when she looked into his eyes.

“I love you,” she whispered.

Rex felt blindsided. He hadn’t seen that thought coming from her, although he had felt her emotions quite clearly. He wanted to say it back.

“Say it, say it!” the voice in his head shouted. And he would have said it--if the rest of his brain hadn’t short-circuited.

You don’t have to say it, Blade whispered in his head. I can feel it and that’s enough.

I love you so much, he told her through their bond, once again grateful for their linked minds. And someday I will say it so that you can hear it, too.

She kissed him, but they parted when they heard someone clearing their throat.

“Uh, Rex, Luna–we need to get started,” Sergio said.

“Beta, please call me Blade,” she said. “Or I’ll ask Crys to give you a hard time until you do. I’m sure Ax would be happy to pitch in.”

You’re ruthless, Rex said, laughing.

Always. Blade winked at him.

Sergio nodded stiffly. “Thank you, uh, Blade. Please call me Sergio.”

Rex dressed in an all-black tuxedo, and he had somehow managed to procure an almost matching tux for Andy, who fidgeted in the arms of one of Sergio’s younger sisters.

Subtle make-up, black stilettos, and Blade’s long black hair flowing behind her completed what to Rex was the picture of Luna perfection, but he loved the edginess that the loaded knife holster peering from her gown’s slit added to her overall look.

Even Uncle Dylan was impressed. He kept staring at the dagger strapped to Blade’s thigh.

Fuck you got a better deal with this one, Dylan said. I bet she’s a tiger in the sack, too.

I’m not discussing that with you, Uncle.

Rex’s aunts and female cousins were a different matter.

“Rex! What’s with your mate carrying a knife?” his cousin Peggy Essa asked. “She’s making sure that Julia and the other bitches stay away from you, huh? Smart chick.”

He laughed, watching his mate from afar as she spoke to Crystal and Rachel. “She’s the Training Master, and she knows how to use that knife.”

“Damn. She’s going to keep you and everyone on the straight and narrow.”

Rex, darling, maybe your Luna shouldn’t go around wearing knives, Aunt Magda opined in private. It’s not a good look for a Luna. She’s supposed to be soft, sweet, and gentle.

Aunt Magda, Blade IS soft, sweet, and gentle—to ME, Rex winked suggestively at his aunt, and she blushed before glowering at him.

You’re such a bad boy.

Rex laughed. Not really, Auntie. But as long as she’s nice to me, Blade can be however she wants with everyone else. I’m not stupid enough to get in the way of her knives.

The Luna Ceremony took place in the pack’s enormous amphitheater, which was carved out high on the mountain and in full view of the rising red-tinted Blood Moon. The ceremony itself was fairly straightforward. All the betas and gammas and their mates from the Azul Valley Pack were present since Blade would have as much authority over them as Rex after tonight, and Blade greeted them with as much grace as she could.

They’re all Essa, Blade whispered in Rex’s mind. Even the gammas. Is that a coincidence?

Rex grinned at her. When it comes to my family, never.

Blade raised her eyebrows at him.

The members of the Essa family are taught to take care of each other and take pride in our family, more so than most families, I think. We do this to avoid strife and dissension. Except for Uncle Dylan, all of our betas are my cousins. Our gammas are either my father’s cousins or sons of his cousins, all of them with the Essa surname. I have set up the leadership system so that only the son of an Essa male can rise to key leadership positions.

Since the ceremony was about to begin, Rex offered his arm to Blade. She took it, and he led them toward the front as everyone else took their seats.

I have set up our pack so that our son and our descendants will have an easier time ruling over so many wolves living on such a vast landscape, and I’ve ensured that our name and rule never die out.

By the time they reached the front where the Moon Goddess’s priestess waited for them, the rest of the amphitheater was full of pack members.

The priestess used a special crystal dagger with a diamond-encrusted hilt to cut a wound on Rex’s and Blade’s right palms. They joined their bleeding hands together as they faced each other and together recited the encantation that bound them to each other and to the Pack as Alpha and Luna. By the time they finished reciting, their palms had healed, thus sealing the spell.

Once the ceremony was over, everyone was invited to strip and shift so as to let their wolves enjoy the one night a month in which they were not beholden to their human counterparts. The wolves would be free to roam, hunt, and mate as true wolves since their human consciousness would be dormant.

Rex woke up and, to his surprise, it was still dark and he was outside. He wasn’t in his bed where Nakon usually left him after a full moon. He lay naked next to a small pond surrounded by trees except for a small, stony hill from where a small cascade fell and fed the pond. The now-pink blood moon was still above in the clear dark sky, but it had already begun its descent. Blade lay curled up next to him, and she, too, was naked. The moon shone over her beautiful athletic body.

He sat up.

Nakon, where the hell are we?

Far, far away. No wolf for miles and miles.

Rex felt different. The loneliness was gone and he had a sense of completion he had never felt before. He was no longer a half looking for a missing something because he was now part of a whole.

Nakon! You fucking asshole! You mated with Talon. We promised Blade we would wait until they were ready!

A sense of dread overtook Rex. How was he going to explain this to Blade? And they were doing so well together! After Marking Blade without her consent, Mating with her until she agreed had been a promise he had fully intended to keep.

Nakon snorted. That was a ridiculous promise, plus you promised Blade that. I made no such promises. Besides, it was Talon’s idea. She was teasing me too much. Take it up with her. It’s been a deliciously long night, and I’m going to sleep.

Blade giggled next to him. “Why are you panicking?” She sat up and looked around and stared at the cascade. “This is beautiful. Where are we?”

Rex swallowed. “Would you believe me if I told you that I have no idea?”

Blade laughed. “I would, actually. Talon has left me in some pretty strange and faraway places after a full moon because she thinks it’s the funniest thing to watch me figure shit out while I’m naked in broad daylight.” She sighed. “I got a fucking clown for a wolf.”

Rex laughed nervously and looked away. “Well, something like that has happened, I guess. Nakon just up and left me here to figure stuff out.”

“Shit,” he heard her whisper. He didn’t respond to her realization of what had transpired. Rex wouldn’t have known what to say if he tried.

And to his even greater surprise and embarrassment, she laughed louder than he had ever heard her laugh.

He looked at her only to find her eyes glowing with violet glee, and he knew it was Talon who was laughing. And she was laughing at him.

Eventually, her eyes dimmed and Blade was left smiling at him with amusement.

“That bitch,” Blade said, shaking her head. “I’m sorry, Rex. I should have warned you about Talon. She loves to prank people, and it apparently didn’t take much to persuade Nakon to, uh, make him break your promise.”

Rex was stunned. “It really was her idea?”

She snorted and patted his thigh. “You’ll soon learn that Nakon’s bad ideas from now on are most likely not his but Talon’s. I just hope he soon learns to resist her because she thinks she’s irresistible.” She paused. “Hey, it’s okay. We weren’t going to be able to keep those two apart for much longer anyway.”

“You’re not—mad?”

Blade giggled. “Of course not. You’re my mate. I may not have much experience with—this, but I do know what to expect.”

Rex swallowed nervously. “You’re—you’ve never—? Not even with—?”

She shook her head. “My grandfather was very diligent about keeping me too busy to think about boys. I was homeschooled away from the rest of the pack, and then I was off to work as a spy. And with Nick, well, it hurt at the time that he had wanted nothing with me, but now I’m actually very glad.”

“Oh.”

Rex felt her staring at him, but he stared down at the mossy ground they sat on as sweat collected on his back and torso. He wished this moment would hurry up and go away.

“You’ve—No? Really?”

He shook his head.

“Why? And don’t tell it was because of lack of opportunity. Julia is not the only one that always looks like she wants to strip you and eat you alive.”

“You had a strict grandfather and I had a strict father,” he said, still looking down at the moss as if was the most fascinating thing he’d ever seen. “Our bloodline is very old, and it has remained solid for a reason. We always wait for our Fated Mates because, uh, indulging beforehand runs the risk of leading to, uh, having to accept as our Luna an impregnated she-wolf who is not our Fated Mate. A Fated Match is always the strongest and the best guarantee for our line to continue. So, I waited. Until now.” He finally gathered the courage to look at her. “For you.”

Rex had never explained this to anyone, not to Sergio, who had remained chaste until Crystal because no girl had wanted to sleep with someone so awkward and serious. And he had especially not shared this information with Ax, who was lucky to not have fathered several pups since he was fifteen. Rex knew that this was a big surprise to his mate, and not just because he felt her shock. As the Alpha of four packs, Rex knew people—men and women alike—expected his exploits to have reached far beyond the battlefield and into his bed. He let them all believe what they wanted, and he even let Julia spread rumors so as to not raise suspicion that he didn’t like women. As long as he didn’t actually touch her or any other female, he would be safe.

He made sure Blade gathered all of this information from his mind, and she just stared at him with awe and admiration. “And you weren’t even curious?”

Rex laughed softly. “Of course I was curious. I’m a male! I was very curious, but I wasn’t about to ruin my life and my pack for it—or for anyone.”

She put his arms around him, and he felt her inability to say anything more.

So, he lifted up her chin and pressed his lips to hers. And she kissed him back. They helped each other to not feel shy with each other even though they both were. And, by the light of the pink blood moon and to the music of the soft cascade, together they finished sealing the mating bond for which they had both waited for so long.