The Luna Trials by Marissa Gilbert

Chapter 72

Zara was sharpening her favourite daggers for two hours straight, listening to Lachlan giving orders to his people. She knew she had no right to distract him, and she had to live with it. In just a few hours, she will be in the sky, and they might never see each other again.

She knew her role in all of this. She knew his role. They would be on different sides of the battlefield, and it would be impossible for her to watch him even from above. She wouldn’t be able to reach him, yet here she was–preparing her knives in case she did notice that he was in trouble. However, Zara knew she would fly down and shift back to her human form if she had to without blinking. This was so new. She wouldn’t have done it for Castiel.

Two hands slowly wrapped themselves around her waist and pulled her closer. Lachlan’s scent filled the world around her, and Zara let herself close her eyes just for a moment and embrace their warm moment. As if there were no cold weapons in her hands, as if they were not going to a battle soon… As if they were two regular people who had no crucial tasks to perform.

“Mine,” Lachlan growled softly into her ear, and her toes curled from his voice alone.

His palms traced her curves, one cupping her breast and another grasping her neck gently.

“We shouldn’t-” she whispered but did not push him away. She couldn’t push him away.

“On the contrary,” he covered her neck with kisses, leaving a hot wet trail. “We should because it’s now or never.”

“Lachlan-”

“I am going to mark you now, Zara,” he said in a tone that brooked no objections, and she gasped, turning to see his face and check if he was serious. His eyes said it all, and her lips trembled. No one ever wanted to mark her before.

“Lam not your mate,” she reminded him and held her breath, not knowing if that fact would cool him down.

“I already had a mate, and what I feel for you is no less. I don’t know if Fenrir and the Moon Goddess planned for me to have a second–chance mate, but if she is not you, then I do not want her.” Lachlan gently bit on the soft spot on her neck, making her arch her back in delight. “Because I only want you. Will you let me mark you?”

“Yes,” she was happy that she had her back to him now and that he wouldn’t see the tears in her eyes. She liked to play it cool, but that lycan was making her emotional lately. “One thousand times yes,” she added and heard a snarl of approval.

Lachlan’s lingers removed her clothes, garment after garment, until she stood naked before him. He scooped her up and placed her on his desk, not letting her know that he had already carefully removed all the important papers from it because this was planned since his mind kept coming back to her while he worked. She did not waste time either, unbuckling his jeans and freeing his hardness, stroking it while he crashed his lips into hers. They knew they were short on time, but they were going to make the most out of it. He drove into her roughly, fingers digging into her flesh greedily as Zara locked her legs around his waist. She pressed herself tightly against him, and they broke their kisses only when they needed to gasp for air. The room suddenly got so hot that it was hard to breathe inside.

“Mine, mine, mine,” Lachlan repeated over and over with every thrust, and Zara moaned into his lips when her release rippled through her body.

Breathing ragged, she whispered, “Now- Do it now!”

“As you wish,” the Beta obeyed her wishes as he kept taking her and bringing her over the edge again. Zara tilted her head to give him better access, and his strong hands held her in place. He knew it would hurt her, and he had to be careful, so he made sure she was as close as possible to her next climax, and when he saw it in her eyes, he probed the place gently first, piercing the skin lightly. “I accept you as my mate, Zara O’Neer!”

He sunk his canines into her soft flesh, feeling her warm blood in his mouth, sharing his DNA with her and marking her for life. He could hear her heart racing in her chest, and a soft whimper left her chest as he kept thrusting into her. This tipped them both over the edge at the same time. The ecstasy of their newly forming bond was intoxicating and overpowering. He stilled, and his tiny bird froze, their bodies united in all of the ways, finally as one.

“I love you,” Zara whispered, and Lachlan slowly got his teeth out of her, licking the wound gently to help it heal. It was so big on her delicate neck. For the first time, it occurred to him that maybe it wasn’t such a good idea. It would take the mark a week or so to heal completely. What if it distracted her during her fight?

“I love you too,” he responded and met her gaze. “I am sorry I didn’t think of the wound you’d have to bear. How much does it hurt?”

“Enough to remember why I need to stay alive today,” she smiled and leaned forward to claim his lips. “I wish I could mark you too so that you would have the same predicament.”

“This now, was what I needed to want to stay alive,” Lachlan chuckled, but the smile turned out sadder than he had hoped. He placed his forehead on his chosen mate’s and closed his eyes. “When this is over-”

neck, “When this is over, we will

and the piercing noise of the alarm on his phone rang,

car, and he stopped in his tracks before he saw her. He felt her presence, and she knew it. It was still hard for her to decipher the meaning of their relationship. It wasn’t exactly a rejection on his part, but at the same time, he did not

existed. What could be better than a person supposed to love you unconditionally? Sadly, this was precisely what she did not have. She remembered their fingers lacing together just hours ago at Kai and Savannah’s ceremony, and that simple act made her believe that Ash

screamed and rushed his way, her pink hair whipped by

screamed to embrace her here and now. However, the Alpha knew that it was a bad

I am not what you wanted as a mate, and you don’t know what to do with me,” she

way, but maybe it was for the best. Ash had already lost a mate once, and today he was going to war, where he would

had. But if he deepened the bond, if he made her any kind of promises now, it would

you fight the white bears chasing us when we were getting Aspen out. You need more training, but you’re already a fighter. Even if you don’t realise it yet. And, Petra… you are smart. You

hitched hearing his words. What was the problem then?

terrible.

to

in one hand and made her look at him.

like this idea at

by surprise. “My pack is going, and so am I. And I don’t want to die thinking my mate did not want me. I don’t want to die not knowing how his lips

rest of her speech. She placed her fingers hesitantly on

deepening the kiss, and she got brave, digging her fingers into him. She wanted to feel, to experience as much as he

one, so after a while, he stopped the

something,” he breathed, “When it’s

something that gave her hope for their future together, something

dawn then,” she beamed at him, unable

the huge bear who managed to catch up with them, but she wouldn’t have lasted long against him if she had

into the castle, and Ash’s lips curled involuntarily. She was a

was pushing the wheels of his chair and swearing under his breath. The castle’s square bricks were not made for this. The castle wasn’t made for this. The life of

Gamma. Even

was able to fight in his second form. In his newfound situation, he regarded this as a blessing. He

at the main gate and this was where Aspen was headed. The wheels got stuck when he was already close to his goal, and there was nothing he

rushed to his side, willing to help. That only made Aspen angrier because he had never needed help before. He was always the strongest, the fastest, the most skilful. Only Kai and Lachlan were able to compete with

that the walls shook, and the warrior stopped instantly.

hand to stop him. The Gamma quickly looked

those,” he pointed there, and his subordinate obeyed,

to him. The way the bones grew together was awkward, and now he experienced excruciating pain when he moved. But anything was better than this chair. Even a staff he ended up with. At least that one

from the effort he had to make, and noticed that his soldiers had perplexed expressions on

them to keep them in check. The last

wants to see you,” one of

He would have slaughtered them for this