Aliana led her away from the party, and they walked together to a side garden where they could no longer hear the voices or music. This was the garden of the cargo house, so no one would go there. The creature needed an open space to breathe and calm down; she didn't want to go back to the suffocating interior of her room.
"You'll be safe here. No one else comes to my mother's garden, and you must remember that everyone is focused on the celebration."
Luz looked at Aliana and then around her. She saw about twenty lights that she thought were small lanterns, but when she looked closer, she realized that they were the flowers glowing with bioluminescence. Her shattered nerves began to calm down.
"Leave me alone for a while, I'll be fine," Luz said to Aliana, knowing that the girl was eager to see if couples were forming and if the leaders of the pack were among the lucky ones.
"I can't leave you alone in this state, you look upset."
In a sweet tone, Luz said, "Go to the party and come back for me later. This is a special moment for you that doesn't happen often, and it's not that important to me. I'd feel terrible if you missed it because of me. Besides, I'm fascinated by the glow of the flowers. I've never seen anything like this on my planet. I'll relax and see what else I can find."
Aliana appreciated the gesture, as she was eager to participate and gossip.
"This garden is very safe and no one visits it. I'll come back for you later, I promise." With those words, Aliana left, leaving the human in the garden.
Luz began to walk, marveling at the different species of plants and flowers. With curiosity and amazement, she observed how some of them glowed with their own light. It was only a handful of the total, but they gave the garden a wonderful touch along with the light of the immense moon that rested above everything.
She tried to look for insects as she used to do with her parents, but humans don't have good eyesight at night, and no matter how hard she tried, she was unsuccessful.
When midnight struck, Luz was about to turn eighteen years old since her birth on planet Earth. Her parents always reminded her that her exact time of birth was at 12:05 a.m. and that her mother had been in labor all day. She was the most eagerly awaited child by everyone, including the doctor and the midwife.
Luz smiled wistfully, wishing she could be with her parents, and remained focused on looking for insects and examining each of the bioluminescent flowers.
Far away, Caspian, who was in the central square, was alerted. He felt a strong urge to leave the place, motivated by an intense and intoxicating aroma. At that moment, he was certain that his mate was near.
Every female wolf over the age of eighteen could be chosen by the goddess Selene to be the Alpha's mate.
Caspian's heart raced, a mixture of emotions coursing through his mind and body. He had waited six long years for this moment. Guided by his instincts and keen sense of smell, he made his way to the garden where Luz was looking at the moon, lost in her thoughts, her back turned to Caspian.
The young Alpha swallowed hard. His heart raced even faster, his breathing became short, and he felt the urge to see who his mate was.
As Luz looked up at the huge blue moon high in the sky, she felt a presence watching her. When she turned, she saw a man standing ten meters away from her. He was at least six feet tall, with white skin and blue eyes. His straight hair was short and black with small white strands falling over his eyes, and his masculine features revealed the face of a handsome man. He was wearing a black suit with a tight-fitting white shirt that highlighted his toned physique, every inch of which was filled with harmonious muscles.
Luz felt no fear, she stared at him in awe as her heart raced and her cheeks flushed.
When he saw those huge green eyes, Caspian knew who she was. He was finally seeing the creature. He was amazed by her beauty, but even more so by the fact that the Goddess of the Moon had chosen her to unite them. After all, she was not a wolf.
Despite his amazement and thoughts, he didn't hesitate for a single minute to claim her as his own. The urge to have her was too strong.
He moved toward the girl, intensifying the seductive scent of honey mixed with pheromones that were only noticeable in front of your destined mate, which whetted his appetite and desire.
Standing in front of her, their eyes met, causing Luz to blush and lower her gaze. Because of their closeness, she could smell his intoxicating scent, which almost put her into a trance.
Cas carefully held her chin, lifting her head, and their eyes met again.
His thumb gently caressed her full lips, then tenderly stroked her face.
Luz didn't understand what was happening to her. She felt butterflies, her heart was racing and beating fast, and her cheeks were burning with embarrassment. This would be her first kiss, given to a complete stranger, but for some reason she needed it desperately.
Cas leaned in with the intention of kissing her, gently taking Luz's face and bringing it closer to him, brushing his lips against hers and smiling when he saw this beauty close her eyes and stretch her lips forward to respond. The kiss was tender, a strange but sweet sensation as his lips tasted hers. They separated for a moment, then shared a second kiss that was very different from the first, this one progressing from a warm kiss to one that grew deeper and more intense. The man, hungry with desire, licked her lips deliciously. Luz felt breathless from her lack of experience and was surprised by the new sensations in her body.
Cas stopped, wrapped her in a possessive embrace, and rested his nose in the hollow of her neck, breathing in her scent deeply and whispering in her ear, "I've finally found you after so many years."
Immediately after speaking, Cas saw Luz's skin bristle and felt her body stiffen as she leaned back slightly. The girl's heart raced, this time filled with anguish, and the Alpha could smell the fear emanating from her. He watched her pale face as tears rolled down her cheeks.
"Please don't hurt me," Luz said in a voice choked with fear.
Cas opened his blue eyes wide, disturbed by his Moon's reaction.
"Please don't hurt me," Luz said again, her beautiful voice trembling.
Cas took a step back and looked her in the eyes and said, "I won't hurt you."
The Alpha was devastated. His Luna was afraid of him, and he didn't want to be rejected. His heart ached, and he cursed himself for mistreating the young woman.
"I won't hurt you," he repeated, turning away and striding out of the garden, leaving Luz alone.
The young Alpha needed to think clearly, but it was difficult with her nearby. His chest ached with hundreds of stabs in his heart, his breath was ragged and gasping, and it was even worse. The connection with a mate is so strong that he felt the urgent need to be with her and claim her as his Moon, but he was aware that if he insisted at this moment, he could be rejected, cutting off any possibility of pairing up forever.
Although the party was in full swing, the Alpha retired to his quarters to take a cold shower and think, cursing a thousand times the first encounter with the human in the dungeon, regretting everything he had done, mortified that he had almost killed her, even more devastated by the idea that his mate feared him.
As Aliana made her way to the garden in search of Luz, she saw her brother in the distance, walking quickly toward the west wing.
Upon entering the garden, Aliana found the girl in shock, but Luz did not want to talk about what had happened.
"Did you see my brother? Did he do something to you?" Aliana asked bluntly.
Luz shook her head. "I'm just tired and want to go home. Please help me."
"It was a promise. Tomorrow morning I'll talk to Cristian to ask him to help us. It seems he didn't find a mate tonight, so he won't be able to refuse my request."
Aliana didn't want to bother her brother or the Beta, as everyone knew they were extremely busy with the safety of the pack, which is why she preferred to ask Cristian for help.
The two young women retired to their rooms. Before entering, Aliana gave Luz a big hug, wishing her a happy birthday and giving her a piece of Ulcum, which was the first cake she had ever tasted in this world of wolves. The girl smiled and thanked her for the nice gesture, then went into her room.
She placed the cake on the table next to her bed, closed her eyes, and was overcome by a mixture of feelings: love, hate, desire, joy, and sadness. Her heart was burning. She didn't understand what had happened in the garden, but she knew she wanted to return home and immerse herself in the trivialities of her world.
She ate the Ulcum with tears in her eyes and threw herself onto the bed, falling into a deep sleep with her clothes on. As usual, she began to dream about her parents.
In the west wing of the cargo house, Cas still couldn't calm down. No one knew that the human girl was his Luna. As a great strategist, he devised plans for different circumstances where his pack might be at risk or to forge alliances for the sake of peace, but in the face of this, he simply couldn't think of a solution. He needed her, but he couldn't force her.
He left his quarters at dawn and walked to Luz's room, where he stood in front of her for an hour with his mind blank, not knowing how to get out of this problem. Dejected and without a solution, he retired to his room again, where he took another cold shower, as the scent of his female agitated him to the core. He threw himself on the bed and tried to sleep, but to no avail. That's how he made it through the night, mentally and physically exhausted, with pain in his heart. He stayed locked in his room because he didn't have the guts to leave without instinctively heading for Luz's place.