The Luna Awakening

Aria’s POV

" You know exactly why I did that,'' I say, standing to my feet as I move past him, to the dining room, but Lucien follows suit.

" You can't blame me for what happened, my package was delayed. Okay," he says, but I ignore him, twisting off the cap of a bottle of water.

" Why don't we just put all this behind us? " My finger twitches, I let out a soft huff. Put all this behind us, like seriously.

" You humiliate me, Lucien, in front of the sales attendant and everyone else in the boutique. Are you kidding me?"

He comes closer, trying to explain further. " I was angry, okay. I didn't mean to.... Now please let's just drop it already. I still need your help for today.'' He blurts out.

Well, I don't blame him for that, he'll move mountains for Mara, but my feelings....none existence. And to think that I missed my lectures to be on this with him, says a lot about my feelings for him. Or else I would never lend a helping hand to him, to go about impressing his brat of a girlfriend.

I inhale, then exhale to release tension before uttering. "Help you say. I’m so done for today."

I try to walk away from our conversation, but he stops me right in time, grabbing me by my wrist, halting me from taking further steps.

I whirl around and can finally see his face. Our eyes lock in and no matter how many times this happens, it always gets me every time. My gaze drifts away from him, not wanting to stare longer than necessary... it falls on a frame in the background of the house.

"Aria.... Remember, our sibling’s code of conduct."

Just when he mentions the words code of conduct, a laugh catches in my throat. Sibling’s code of conduct, some lame concept we came up with in our much younger days. It never gets old… maybe it won’t. A good manipulative strategy that always gets us every time.

I flash him a stare before muttering, my tone low, uneven and unsure. "No matter what happens, we always have each other’s back." Lucien’s lips curl into a wide smile, while I suck in my lips in defeat. We can’t deny the other help, that’s what the conduct implies. And now, I have to follow through with helping Mr. lover boy win over his girlfriend. I feel so sick even thinking about it.

"Okay, just this time. Any case of Mara, I don’t want to get involved anymore." He nods in agreement, but I know all to well it wasn't possible. Lucien is smart, and he will always find a way to squeeze me into his love affair with Mara. Crazy.

He excitedly pulls me into a hug and we pull out. "Good Aria. We are making progress and all you have to do is write the speech I get to say during Mara’s party."

A speech? Are you kidding me? As if humiliating me isn’t enough, now I get to write a love letter for Mara in my own words.

He finds a sheet of paper and hands it over to me. I grab the paper from his hand and take a seat by the dinning table. I begin to scribble down the speech, raining praise on Mara, while knowing how much of a bitch she can be on a daily basis. It's either Lucien doesn’t know about this, or he just pretends not to. As I keep writing, Lucien walks over to the bar to help himself to a shot.

"Care for some?" He says, raising his glass to his lips as he sips from it.

"No, thanks. Not like I enjoy drinking anyway."

"Come on now. It’s just a drink, what can possibly go wrong?"

He closes in on me with two glasses of whiskey in hand.

"Here you go. Alcohol helps you think better," he teases, while he hands over a glass to me. I hesitate, but he doesn’t budge and presses it into my palm. I take a sip and place the glass on the table.

"You know you’re wrong about that. Alcohol doesn’t make you think better."

He drops into a seat beside me and snatches the paper I have the speech scribbled on. ‘‘You tell me. All I know is, when I have a rough day, a drink or two fixes me right up. " His eyes skim through the paper and a light smile tugs on his lips, showing his satisfaction.

"You know, you’re very good at this, Aria."

I let out a soft huff while he places the paper by my side.

"And at the next party, you get to write your speech yourself. Mr Alpha," I say while he chuckles at my words. My hands fold the paper into a smaller size, extending it towards him.

He takes in his whiskey in one swift gulp, collecting the paper. His index finger and middle finger intersecting the paper, sliding it away from my grip.

"Thanks," he says, leaning forward, tilting my head upward to plant a peck on it, as his lips pressed against my forehead. I close my eyes trying to ignore how good it feels when he does that.

He stands to his feet, sliding the paper into the right pocket of his trousers.

"See you at the party." He turns towards the door and begins making his way out of the pack house.

"And about the party." I say, causing him to halt at his step and whirl in my direction,

"What about it?''

"I'm sorry, Lucien… I don't think I'll be able to come," I blurt out before even thinking. If I am going to lie, I guess my mouth doesn’t get the memo.

Lucien lets out a very sarcastic laugh while he returns, closing in on the exit.

“No excuse, Aria. You’re coming. Mara needs to thank you for helping me out. No ifs or buts. ”

My fingers clench into a fist, his words cut razor sharp through the air, and they don’t leave any room for debate. As much as I don’t want to go, I just can’t help it either. Mara is still like a family to us and, of course, it would sound absurd that I'd miss out on the birthday celebration of the Beta’s daughter of the Silver Moon Pack.

I hate that my family will always have a tie to hers. This also makes it almost impossible to sit out this one.

Lucien halts midway and turns to glare at me, noticing my silence. “You should be happy for me, Aria. Who knows, maybe the moon goddess will make her my mate tonight.”

I sip from my glass of whiskey but cough immediately at his words, because… what the actual hell?