MOONLIGHT: ORIGINAL EDITION

When they arrived at the pack house, they entered through the back door with a ramp installed to make it easier for the elderly pack members to get in and out the back door. Luca wheeled her inside towards the lounge room, then placed her on the couch as he shouted, “Emma, are you here?” A female voice answers his coming from the kitchen. “Yes, Alpha, what can l do for you?” Luca replies, “I was wondering if you could lend Rosa some of your clothes to change into for dinner, as she will be sitting at the table with us,” he asks her. Emma comes out of the kitchen, smiles at them, and says, “It will be my honour to help the Luna Alpha.” As she introduced herself to Rosa, “Hello Luna Rosa, my name is Emma Moretti. It’s a pleasure to meet you finally”, she said to Luna Rosa, who replied to her, “Hello Emma, it is nice to meet you too,” she said to her as they shook hands. Luca asks Emma, “Can you help Rosa into the bathroom down the hall and change for dinner, please?” Emma replies, “Yes, of course, l will grab some clothes from the spare closet in the laundry room and be right back”, as Rosa and Luca nod in acknowledgement. Emma then rushes away to retrieve the clothes, and Luca returns Rosa to the chair. Emma was back in a few minutes with the clothes in her hands. She then placed the clothes on Rosa’s lap and wheeled her down to the spare bathroom down the hallway.

While Emma helps Rosa, Luca heads to his room to shower and change clothes. As he finishes dressing, Emma says they are both ready for dinner and waiting for him in the lounge room. Luca then replies, “Okay, l am coming”, as they hear him coming down the stairs. Luca bobs down to be level with her then and asks, “How are you feeling? Not too tired for dinner?” Rosa replies, “No, l am feeling great, especially after having a nice warm shower and washing my hair. Now l smell like roses all over”, she said to him with a smile. Luca and Emma smile back at her as Emma says, “Luna, if you need me, just get the Alpha to link me, and l will be right there”, she tells her. Luca and Rosa thanked her for the offer and said they would let her know when they needed her. Emma said, “No worries, Alpha Luna. It will be my honour and pleasure to help Luna with whatever she needs help with.” She replies and then turns to leave them to head off to dinner. Luca then takes charge of her wheelchair and heads towards the dining room to have dinner with the pack for the first time. Rosa was trying not to be nervous, but she was slightly anxious. However, she was more excited than anything to meet some pack members. She couldn’t wait to meet them.

They both arrive in the dining room and enter, heading towards the end of the table. Stefano removed the chair that was usually sitting there as soon as he saw them entering the room and said to them, “Here you go, Alpha Luna.” They both thanked him for his help, and he replied, “No worries, and you’re welcome, Alpha Luna”, he said to them both. As Luca wheels Rosa to the end of the dining table, the other pack members stand up in respect for the Alpha pair. When Luca took his seat, the others sat back down and welcomed Luna Rosa, who thanked them as the food and drinks were brought to the table. Rosa thanked the kitchen staff for providing and preparing a wonderful-looking meal for them. The others offered their thanks, and the kitchen staff nodded in acknowledgement as they returned the thanks and introduced themselves to Rosa.

Everyone then started to eat their meal. Rosa was especially eager to start eating because she was so hungry. As she ate, Gabriel asked her, “How are you feeling, my dear?” Rosa replied, “I am feeling good, and it was great to get out and about instead of being stuck in bed all day. Gabriel smiles at Rosa as he agrees with her. Gabriel then asks her about her day and what she and Luca have been doing. Rosa replied not much, just talking and watching them while they were training this afternoon and talking to Giovanni about some light exercises she could do as they were training. They were waiting to see what he had come up with for her to start. Gabriel told her that was a good idea and that Arianna and Cristian would agree. Rosa nodded in agreement with the Elder as they continued to eat their delicious meal while the other pack members whispered so as not to disturb everyone else eating. When Rosa had finished her meal, she waited for everyone else to finish eating. Nearly everyone had. There were only a few more people to finish, including Luca and Gabriel, who were just about finished eating. After a few minutes, everyone had finished eating. Luca dismissed them from the table once they were done. They said goodbye to the Alpha and the Luna, who returned the greeting as the pack members walked out of the dining room to return to their respective duties until it was time to retire for the night. Luca and Rosa then say their goodnights to the other pack members, including Stefano, Constantino and Gabriel, who return the greeting to them as they head off in different directions. In contrast, Luca and Rosa head back to the hospital.

They return to the hospital and head towards her room. Luca then helps Rosa back into the bed and puts the covers over her. He then puts the wheelchair in the corner of the room and out of the way but close enough if they need it again. Luca then sits in the chair beside her bed and asks, “Is there anything you need or want before we retire for the night?” Rosa answers and says, “No, not for the moment.” Luca then tells her, “I am just going to go and change for bed. It won’t be long, okay?” Rosa replies, “Okay,” she says as he heads towards the bathroom.

Rosa was quietly sitting in bed, waiting for Luca to finish changing, when there was a knock on the door. Arianna walks into the room and asks, “Is it alright for me to enter Luna?” Rosa replies, “Yes, please, Arianna. There is something that l would like to ask you as you are doing your examination. Is that alright with you?” Arianna replies, “Yes, of course you can. Where’s Alpha Luca?” Rosa said to the doctor, pointing to the bathroom, “He is in the bathroom changing to go to bed.” As Arianna started the examination, she informed the doctor, asking her, “Firstly, how are you feeling after today and secondly, what would you like to ask me?”

Rosa looked at Arianna and answered, “I am feeling great. I had a wonderful time with Luca and meeting the pack members today?” Rosa informed the doctor while she checked her over and found her well after today’s outing.

Rosa continued, “I was just wondering if l am well enough if l could move into the packhouse and if marking me would help Mia and l get better too, as well as being able to link with the pack?” Arianna looks at Rosa’s hopeful expression and says, “Well, if you are sure, it hasn’t even been a whole day, yet you only woke up this morning,” she explained. Rosa replies, “I know, but I would feel more comfortable at the packhouse for some reason, and Luca would most probably like to sleep back in his bed by now,” she said the doctor, who then said, after thinking about it, “Alright it’s okay with me as long as it’s okay with the Alpha and yes marking would help you both in healing more, but it’s up to you and Luca when that happens” the doctor informed her. Rosa thanked Arianna just as Luca exited the bathroom and dressed for bed. He looked up and saw Arianna checking on Rosa and asked her, “How is she?” Arianna looks at Rosa, then at Luca and says, “Rosa is doing great,” she said to him after completing her examination, “but Rosa would like to talk to you about something l have already said that it’s okay by me, but both you and her need to talk about it first before you both make the decision alright?” Luca and Rosa as Luca look puzzled, but both nod their heads in agreement with the doctor while she is writing her notes into Rosa’s chart. Before she leaves the room, she says to them both, “Let me know what you have decided to do, okay?” Rosa replied, “We will, and thanks”, to the doctor, who responded as she walked towards the door. “No worries, Alpha Luna,” she said to them and left the room.

Luca looks at his mate and asks her curiously, “What did you want to talk about?” Rosa was suddenly nervous about asking him but went ahead with her questions, “I was asking Arianna if l was well enough to move into the packhouse and if marking me would help me to heal more,” she said, then continued, “Arianna said that it was okay with her but l need to discuss it further with you so what do you think?” Luca’s eyes widened at what Rosa was saying to him, and then he asked her, “Yes, l can agree to move back to the packhouse. But are you sure about marking? I mean this, l can wait until you are ready,” he said. Rosa looks at her mate and says, “Yes, l am sure. besides, l really would like to sleep in a proper bed, not this one and l am sure that you would like to sleep in your bed too, wouldn’t you?” Luca smiles at his mate as he replies, “Um, about that,” he says as his cheeks go red. Rosa waited for him to continue with what he was trying to tell her when he finally said, “If it’s alright with you, but l will understand that if you don’t want to,” he paused before he continued, “To share my room and bed or you can have the room next to mine if it will make you feel more comfortable” he informed her of his idea and waited patiently for her reply. He was shocked at her reply when she said, “Yes to the first one,” she told him as his eyes widened to what she had said. Luca smiled as he asked her again, “Are you sure, Rosa? This is a big step for you, us, and the pack,” he said. Rosa just nodded and said, “Yes Luca, l am sure we are mates. Can we do this in the morning,” she said, yawning. Luca replies to her, “Of course we can. Do you need help getting changed for bed?”

Rosa answers him by saying, “No, l am okay,” as she gets out of bed. “I won’t be long,” she tells him. Luca replies, “That’s okay. Take your time. There’s no rush,” he answers her back. Rosa giggles as she gets her nightclothes from where someone left them and enters the bathroom to change them for bed. As she changed, Rosa thought about her decision and knew she had made the right one. Rosa exited the bathroom when she noticed Luca had put the two beds together. When he looked up and saw that she was out of the bathroom, he said to her, “I hope that you don’t mind?” Rosa replied, “No, not at all.” she said to him and smiled. Luca then helped her back into the bed and covered her up before joining her. They snuggled into each other’s arms and slowly drifted off to sleep.