Page 81 of Lunar's Ruined Alpha
It’s been a long, seemingly endless week of waking to the soft cadence of Alina’s breathing as she dozes in the chair beside my bed. A week of whispered conversations, half-smiles, and her warm fingers brushing mine when she thinks I’m asleep. A week of strength returning to my bones like roots burrowing deep into the earth, all thanks to the Mating bond being strengthened to the highest level by the ancient Greenbriar ceremony.
Alina didn’t just risk her life to avenge me after the Blackburn shot me down. She has offered me a piece of her soul, has bravely andlovingly twined her life with mine so that we will always have each other for strength.
She’s barely left my side.
Technically, though I can now hold myself upright and walk on my own, I’m still supposed to be resting. That’s what Nora keeps barking at me, usually while shaking her head and muttering something about stubborn Alpha blood.
But I can’t lie down any longer. It’s not in my nature. I’ve done enough lying still. I need to move. I need to feel the earth under my feet again.
And I also have something extremely important to do this evening.
Alina isn’t happy about it, though. She’s perched on the edge of the bed, arms crossed, brow furrowed in that way that makes her look like the world’s most beautiful storm cloud.
“You’re pushing it,” she says for the third time.
“Just a walk.”
“You’re not fully healed.”
“I’m not fully dead either,” I counter with a half-grin.
She rolls her eyes. “You’re not funny.”
“I’m not trying to be funny,” I tell her, reaching for her hand. “I just need to breathe for a minute. Outside. With you.”
That softens her. She sighs, letting me lace my fingers with hers. “Fine. But the second you look like you’re about to pass out—”
“I’ll lean on you.”
Her mouth twitches. “All right.”
In any event, the river isn’t far, just a gentle slope down from my property. We used to come here as kids—me, Cal, and the rest of the boys our age—splashing in the shallows until someone skinned a knee or got scolded for soaking their clothes.
Now, in the first breaths of spring, it’s quiet. The only sound is the gurgle of water tumbling over smooth stones and the wind rustling in the tall grass. We haven’t had rain in a while, so the water level remains low and the ground is dry.
The most important detail, however, is that the bluebells are already in full bloom. It’s a small miracle, and one that makes mewonder if the very earth beneath our feet has conspired to help me with what I hope to accomplish this evening.
After all, bluebells are Alina’s favorite flower. At least, they were in seventh grade when I once overheard her saying to the teacher that her favorite time of year is when the pretty blue flowers blossom to life and carpet the forest floor for as far as the eye can see. I have kept that detail tucked away safely ever since then, even before I had any inkling that she was my Mate.
The fireflies are also out in full force, pulling their weight in adding to the ambience of the pleasant evening. They twinkle and flash like stars, darting lazily between the leaves.
Alina walks beside me, close enough that her shoulder brushes mine every few steps. Her braid swings gently behind her, loose and golden in the late afternoon sun. She’s let herself relax a little out here. I can tell from the way her fingers aren’t clenched, and when I notice that the delicate creases at the corners of her eyes have softened.
“I didn’t know the bluebells started blooming,” Alina whispers, almost to herself. “They’re my favorite.”
Instead of murmuring I know, I pull her close and press a kiss to the top of her head.
I stop walking when we reach the bend where the river curls around a small outcrop of mossy boulders. This used to be the place I’d always come to when I need clarity. Or courage.
It’s the place where our Mating bond first snapped into place, all those years ago.
“Let’s sit,” I say.
She arches a brow. “You sure you don’t want me to carry you?”
I smirk and lower myself onto the ground anyway. “I’d rather die with dignity.”
She laughs. The sound of it is like sunlight. I could live off it like a yearning plant.
