Chapter 33
Natalia
POV
I was lost in the bliss of having Helios' weight on me. I didn't want to move from this moment. After everything it took to get us here, I just wanted to bask in this moment with my mate. My mate. The one that wouldn't leave. I was combing my hand through his hair and thought he might be falling asleep when he asked, "So is that a yes?"
My hand stilled and I looked down at him. He turned his head to look up at me, placing his chin between the valley of my breasts, a lazy lopsided smile on his face. "Yes to what?" I asked. "You said you were asking yourself if you were ready to be a Luna," he said.
I laughed, "I forgot about that." I heaved a deep sigh and he planted a soft sweet kiss on the side of my b****t. "I don't know if I'll be any good at being a Luna, Helios, but I know I can't stay away from you anymore. So, all I can say is I'll give it my best shot, for you." Helios pulled himself up until he was hovering over me. He looked into my eyes with so much love and adoration that it made my eyes water. I hadn't felt that kind of love in a long time. He finally bent down and kissed me. It was slow and sensual and said so much more than words could have. He stood up after and held his hand out to me.
I took his hand, wondering what he wanted. He pulled me up and my legs were still shaky. He noticed he grinned. "Mission accomplished," He teased before picking me up and carrying me into the bathroom. He turned on the bath and we enjoyed a hot bath together. We talked until the water got cold. He told me we were staying at Crescent Moon while we found a place to build our pack grounds and so he could learn from Markus. I thought it was a good plan and thought maybe I could also learn from Celeste about being a Luna.
After the bath, we went to sleep. We woke up to knocking on the door a few hours later. Helios was a mess of limbs. His leg was tangled with mine and his arm was across my chest, just under my breasts. His head was using my breast as a pillow. He rubbed a hand down his face as he sat up.
There was another knock on the door. I sat up and pulled my shirt down from where it had ridden up. Helios got up and went to his phone on a desk I don't remember having in here before we left to rescue him. He pulled his shirt over his head as I put my legs over the side of the bed. "Come in," I said.
Markus opened the door. He was holding one of his pups in his arms and walked in like he did this every day. Celeste followed behind him with a pup on her hip and a plate on the other.
"Nat! I'm so glad you're awake! Here, you eat this. I'll have someone bring an extra plate up for Helios," she said as she went over to the seat on the couch next to Markus. I walked over and grabbed the plate from her. I'm munching on a sausage as I sit on the love seat and take a good look around at what's happening.
"Why are you eating in here?" I asked Helios. Markus smirked as Helios' face went red, "and why does it look like a studio apartment in here?" Helios looked really uncomfortable now. I looked at Markus and Celeste for an answer. Markus is still smirking while Celeste is trying to hide her smile.
"I - I was worried about you," Helios answered.
"So you moved in?" I asked, pretending to be confused when really my heart was soaring. Hestia was purring in my head at the thought that our mate wouldn't leave our side while we recovered from the drain the healing caused to our body. "I-" Helios stuttered.
"It is normal for an Alpha to be more concerned over his mate. Our instincts are more primal than a normal wolf," Markus bailed him out.
"You had us all worried, Nat. You slept a long time. I know you said you couldn't die, but it doesn't mean we aren't allowed to worry." Celeste also defended him. "But you lived out of a room with a sleeping person for almost a week? That's a little creepy, Helios." I teased.
"Nat, you're going to make his face explode." Celeste chides, and I can't keep it in any longer and I start chuckling. Markus starts laughing with me and little Bellarose starts wiggling in his lap, asking to be let down. The little girl grabbed hold of the couch and walked to the end near the desk. She let go of the couch and wobbled for a few moments as she steadied herself. She took a couple of tentative steps and then stumbled the last few steps to Helios who was already waiting for her. Just as he picked her up, she grabbed his face with her little hands and gave his cheek a slobbery, intense open-mouth kiss on his cheek. Well, it was either a kiss or she was trying to eat his face.
Hestia was purring non stop in the back of my head and I could feel my ovaries twitch. I tamped down the feelings. We haven't even talked about marking each other, let alone having children and how that would work with two immortals. Thankfully, Theo showed up with a plate of food for Helios and then grabbed little Cory from Celeste.
"Camila is looking for you. Something about a contractor," he said. Celeste jumped up and ran off with a quick good bye.
"I passed by the conference room. Evergreen thinks he'll have cracked the security encryption soon," he told Helios and Markus, who nodded. He went over and sat on Celeste's now empty seat and began playing with little Cory.
"It's about time. He's been working on that thing for days. I was beginning to think he was losing his edge with Valeria being so close to delivering," Markus said.
I finished eating breakfast and looked around the room. It felt crowded with the desk in here and the couch in the wrong place. If we were staying here for a few months, I was going to have to have a talk with Helios.
"We'll let you two get ready. Nat, the shifters in the basement want to see you. They are still fairly wary of the fact that you saved them, healed them and then disappeared. It would go a long way to get them to trust us, if they see you're not dead." Markus said as he got up and took Bellarose from Helios, who was happily chewing on a piece of pancake, syrup smeared all over her little cheeks and hands. He chuckled as she fed him the piece of pancake. "Theo, can you bring Cory? She'll get both of us sticky by the time we get to my room." Theo nodded and followed him out the door.
When the door clicked shut, I turned to Helios. He was looking at me with his arms crossed. He looked grumpy and adorable. I made my way towards him and I saw his frown soften slightly. I stepped between his legs and wrapped my arms around his neck. "What's wrong?" I asked him.
"I wasn't trying to be creepy," he pouted.
I leaned down and kissed him, doing my best not to laugh. "If it makes you feel better, Hestia and I think it is really sweet," I said, and I could feel Hestia's approval at conveying her opinion to her mate.
His arms finally unfolded and he put his hands on my hips and pressed his head on my stomach. He was silent for a moment, "I spent every day wondering if you would reject me the moment you woke up. Ezequiel wouldn't stop howling. He wanted to spend as long as we could near you before you sent us away. I - I couldn't even fight him. I've done a lot of bad things in my life. I would deserve it if you rejected me. I just wanted to memorize your face and scent before we went back to being alone. f**k, even that sounds creepy to me." He buried his face into my stomach and gripped me closer to him.
Hestia howled in my head as my heart clenched, knowing he spent days waiting for me to wake up to reject him. I'd really f****d with his head. I would just have to show him how much I loved him slowly. I would have to convince him that I had been ready to face the biggest heart break just to spend one lifetime with him, before I'd even realized he was my forever. I would have to show him that he was more than I deserved.
We remained in each other's arms for a few minutes in silence, then he pulled his head up. "We should go see the shifters. The council is going to be here in a few weeks and it would help if they were more at ease."
"OK. I'll get changed. You should bring the rest of your clothes in here, but we should get the couch back in place and the desk out of here. It will get cramped quickly otherw-" I didn't get a chance to finish. Helios' face lit up with happiness and he crushed his lips to mine.
After we came up for air, he pressed his forehead to mine and said, "I'll put everything back the way it was, amor. Thank you."
I smiled, "Go change. We have responsibilities Alpha."
He chuckled and squeezed my a*s as he headed towards the door. I shook my head and went into the closet to grab a change of clothes.NôvelDrama.Org (C) content.
I wasn't sure if I was ready for everything that being his mate meant, but I was willing to learn if it meant spending my life with a man like him.
I want to meet Ezequiel - Hestia said.
You will. We'll ask him about going for a run later. We have an eternity with our mates. - I said, feeling happier than I've felt in decades.