Moon On The Lake

The man in front of me just wished me a happy birthday. Does he know me? What kind of trial was he talking about? All he did was kiss me. I didn't know what to do or what to say so I stayed silent and watched as he smiled and showed his perfect teeth.

"You could say thank you Amelia, or are you still in shock?" He looked at me with amusement and waited for my response.

"Thank you." I choked out in a small voice.

He looked at me now frowning with worry and took my face into his hands and again I was consumed with that familiar fire.

"What's wrong, did I hurt you?" His eyes were searching mine for the answer and then as if a mother checks her child for wounds, he started searching my body for any trace of one. Satisfied that I had none he fixed his gaze back to me.

" Please do not be afraid and do not try to run. I will not hurt you but if you should run, I cannot promise you that I will be kind." He said calmly.

I nodded in understanding and he reached for the lock. Releasing me from the chains I was finally able to move freely. Moving away from the tree I almost tripped, but the man caught me and picked me up into his arms carrying me bridal style and started walking towards the woods. He felt warm, inviting and safe. Walking on my body relaxed and my eyes grew heavy. It was late and I was exhausted. As I started to doze off the man spoke to me.

"My name is Liam Gannon, you are my mate. Your trial was simple, all you had to was feel the pull of the mate's bond and not fight it, and you passed." He grew quiet again and kept trudging through the trees and snow with ease and feeling extremely warm and tired, I fell into a peaceful sleep giving all of my trust to a stranger I met in the forest.

I woke up to the sun beaming into my eyes and an arm wrapped tightly around my waist. My cheeks flushed at the memories of recent events that played in my head. Liam, the man I met last night and carried me away kissed me and called me his...mate? As I pondered what happened, I listened and heard him breathing and felt his breath fan my hair. I wanted to turn around and face the man that now laid behind me. I was tucked too tightly against him and his arm around my waist was like a vise grip. Fire and warmth engulfed my body like a blanket only it was starting to sting in some places somehow.

Trying to take my mind off of it I looked around the only side of the room that I could see. There was a nightstand on my side by the bed. It was made of wood but painted over with black paint and the carpet appeared to be a dark grey color and very soft. The walls were made of a warm colored wood and behind the headboard was a window that went from the floor all the way up over the bed as part of the ceiling. You could see the beautiful snow-covered forest. On either side of the window was stone wall, it was beautifully designed. The bed consisted of black, well everything. This guy really likes his dark colors. The door to the rest of the house or at least I could only assume it was, was painted black. Not far from that door on the same wall was what looked like a large closet with double doors but that was as far as I would see.

"I know you're awake." His deep husky voice sounded sleepy but aware and it startled me when he spoke so suddenly my body jolted a little. Chuckling he pulled at my waist to turn me around to look at him. Finally, I would see that this was not a dream. He was still just as beautiful as he was before if not more so in the daylight. He smiled at me sleepily and pulled me into his chest.

"I know you must have a million questions, and you're confused about certain things pertaining to what happened last night but allow me to at least explain everything after breakfast." He said with his chin propped up on top of my head. I nodded still feeling uneasy. Suddenly he was out of bed and pulling me on to my feet and it dawned on me that I had been dressed in sweatpants and a t-shirt that were extremely baggy on me, I could only assume they were his and they smelled like him too. My cheeks burned red when I realized that he must have changed my clothes when I passed out. He gave me a small wink that almost made me melt and led me out the door. I was right about this door leading to the rest of the house and boy was it big. The house had three floors, and we were on the top floor. We wove our way through halls and finally to the stairs walking down two flights to reach the first floor. He led me through a grand living room that hat had a cottage hotel feel and then into the most amazing kitchen I had ever seen. He walked to a wall and with the flick of his finger he pushed up on a switch and light flooded the kitchen. I had only heard about modern technology from my father and other villagers, but we never used it. It was new to me and I hoped I could learn to use some of the things that were in this kitchen. Liam motioned for me to sit at a counter in the middle of the kitchen and had six stools in front of it. As I sat down he started shifting through cabinets and drawers pulling out various things like bowls and ingredients. When he was done, he placed a plate in front of me and dished out eggs, sausage, toast, and some sort of stringy potato and cheese mixture he calls hash. He poured me something called coffee and I dug in. It was all so delicious! Okay now I had to be dreaming, there sat this gorgeous man with perfect manners and knew how to cook. I'm definitely in heaven I thought. When I finished, he took my plate and placed it into the sink and asked me to follow him into the living room. I picked up my delicious cup of coffee and did as he asked. I sat on the large couch that was, of course, black and waited. Liam paced back and forth as if trying to figure out where to begin.

"As I told you last night Amelia I am Liam Gannon and you are my mate. Allow me to finish before you ask your questions." Nodding he continued.

"As you may know my village signed a treaty with yours in order to keep the peace and allow them to continue living there. The condition was that the daughters of your village must face a trial of sorts on the day they turn eighteen. You have passed this trial. My village is not what you may think. We are people yes, but we are also creatures so terrifying that this trial is the only way we can find our soulmates. Otherwise, we would be extinct. Last night sealed your fate to me. I would have either killed you or decided to keep you by my side. When I saw you, it was honestly very difficult to decide." I gulped in fear and began to tremble. Lifting my chin up to face him he continued.

"But when you showed no fear, I knew that I had to have you in my life forever. When I kissed you, you responded so well and didn't fight against the pull of the mate bond. You are my mate now and with it comes responsibility and honor. I can only hope that you will forgive me for taking you so far away from your family and grow to love me one day." Kissing my cheek softly he searched my eyes waiting for me to speak.

"What kind of creature are you speaking of exactly and what do you mean by...mate?" I asked tilting my head slightly.

"I'm a werewolf Amelia, but not like the ones in your books. I don't turn into a wolf but rather half man, half beast. I'm much scarier. You are my mate, the one person I am meant to spend my life with. To love and have children with. Your were chosen by the moon goddess for me. My wild decides whether to keep you or not. I am the alpha of a pack, meaning I am their leader and protector. You are to be their Luna. You will meet the rest of the pack this evening." Swallowing hard as I dipped my coffee I found the courage to asked one more question for now.

" Why do I feel like I'm on fire when you touch me." Smiling his cheeks flushed a light pink.

"Because we are mates we need to complete the mate bond. If we do not complete it by me marking you here." He said pointing to a spot on my neck.

"We could both die. The heat you feel will only intensify and eventually will be too painful for either one of us to bare. But if one dies so will the other. It is important that we not fight the pull and complete our bonds to one another." He explained. I nodded in understanding but on the inside I was frightened. I was supposed to spend the rest of my life with a man I didn't know and probably sleep with him? What if he was no longer kind to me after the bond is completed?

"Am I safe here with you?" I asked so unsure of what the answer might be.

" You are my life now, of course your safe here. Is that why you have been so silent, afraid that I would hurt you? Amelia I will never bring harm to you. I only want to show you love and protect you." He said taking my hands into his. The fire lit up my body again causing me to shiver in response.

"We will have to seal our bond soon, maybe in a weeks time." He said sitting down next to me.

"So does your village, I mean pack, have a name?" I wondered what the name must be.

"We are the midnight moon pack. We are one of many packs throughout the land. Which is why you must become Luna soon. There is but one pack that demands our land and we find ourselves battling them too frequently. The alpha of that pack has made claim on his Luna recently which has made them much stronger than we are now. Think of it like the missing link to a chain. Without it, it is weak. When you become this packs Luna our power will greatly increase as the moon goddess will bless us with her light. We will be able to defend our territory, like your village for example." I jumped at his mention of my village and instantly began to panic. My parents live in that village along with my friends. The thought of some other pack destroying the one place I love most in this world scared me to bits. Liam seen the worried expression on my face and despite the burning we both felt through our touch he still embraced me and held me tight. This helped me to calm down very quickly due to the mate bond.

"They are safe for now do do not worry so much." He said lifting my chin to him. Lightly he brushed his lips over mine and Sparks ignited in my belly filling me with warmth. This man is going to be the death of me. "The room you woke up in is our now and my sister will be bringing you some clothes and thing you may need. I will show you how to use the tub and the shower later on before meeting the pack. Your sizes were given to me by your mother and we had everything ordered for you last night night." He said while we walked into the bedroom. I walked over to the closet and opened the door slightly. How on earth was I supposed not fill all of that empty space? I could fit my entire old bedroom in there! Closing the door I walked over and opened another door, it was a breathtaking bathroom. One wall was nothing but window with a long counter and two sinks. And on the window sat two oval mirrors. At the end of the counter sat the toilet. Across from the counter was a giant walk in shower with black tile and next to it was I large round tub. I felt strong arms wrap around my waist and Liam led me back out into the bedroom and back down stairs.

"We will have plenty of time this week to go over how to use everything and get to know each other but for right now try to endure my sister's smothering and persistent presence." After that there was a loud yet angelic "HELLO!" We walked into the living room and thenfron door flew open and in walked Liam's sister. She was gorgeous and she had long dark curly hair to match her bothers. She was tall and lean and legs for days. Her eyes, however, were green like mine. As green as an emerald. He skin was tan like Liam's too. She looked a lot like him the only difference bwas that she was a girl. She stopped right in front of me and beamed a glorious smile. Immediately she pulled me into a tight hug and right away I knew what Liam meant by smothering. "Amelia, I am so happy that you are finally here. My name is Dinah Gannon, I'm Liam's twin sister!" I look at Liam with shock on my face. Twins? That explained a lot of the likeness. Soon the living room was slap full with bags and bags of clothes and shoes. Toiletries and make up too. Everything a girl could possible need and more.

"I did a little shopping, even though we ordered most of it I still felt like making sure you had every possible comfort." Dinah said rummaging through the bags. I was beyond shocked and stunned that anyone would do this much for me and without thinking I pulled Dinah into a big hug. I pulled away and Dinah looked puzzled. "Thank you for all of this, your so kind and I really hope we can be great friends." Tears formed in her eyes, she hugged me again.

"Your going to be the greatest Luna this pack has ever seen. I love you already Amelia."