Chapter 55

Dominic

I don’t know how long I had been waiting.

It had been long enough that now I felt that I was waiting for her, like she was late to meet me.

This was not true, but the mind will contrive whatever story it wants to justify it’s own manifestations.

Mira was spending much of the day at the library, and I had confirmed with my team that she had checked in with her stack of books.

No message had come in saying she had gone elsewhere, so I could only assume that she was still there.

When I arrived home first, I didn’t expect it would be long until she would also wander home to have dinner. While we had not discussed plans to dine together, it seemed only natural that we would join each other at the home that we shared.

“Where are you?”

I finally texted her as I watched the sun start to dip between the tree tops. I didn’t doubt her safety after dark, but found that my wolf was restless within me as the day made its way into night.

“Still at the library,” she had written back after a few minutes.

“Are you coming home soon?” I asked.

“Yeah, I am about to pack up.”

It was almost eight in the evening, and I felt irritated that she didn’t say anything about it being late or her losing track of time or forgetting to communicate with me.

Then I realized I might be looking to far into this. She hadn’t done anything wrong, and I shouldn’t assume that she was deliberately leaving me in the dark.

“Great, see you soon.”

I took the positive approach in my response, blaming my hunger for making me worry about her motives. Mira was fiercely independent, even if she was getting better at asking for help when she needed it.

And still, I could not control her. I could demand that she be somewhere just because I want her to be there. There was no way for her to predict my thoughts and plan accordingly.

It was actually a great quality for a Luna to have, and one of the reasons I loved her.

I love her.

I shook my head and rubbed my hand across my brow. Did I really just think that? And did my wolf agree?

Groaning at the idea of introspection, I surveyed my feelings for Mira.

I cared for her so deeply, wanted to protect her and make her happy and support her in career. Put that way, it sounded like she was my sister.

I brought up a mental image of Mira, and felt the heat in my chest. I had never had that reaction to someone I cared for like a sister.

I quickly stood from my chair and paced around the room. My body was suddenly bursting with energy and I needed to shake it off.

I distracted myself by tidying the several rooms we shared. We were both neat, overall, but Mira was not quite as meticulous as I was about keeping order in a home.

I straightened books, moved an old tea cup from a side table, and arranged shoes on their shelves by the door. My military training was ingrained in me, and it always calmed me to see a space made clean again.

The distraction only lasted so long, of course, because my occupation forced me to clean up after Mira.

There was a pencil holding a place in a book, the eraser picked apart when she was frustrated. The tea cup from yesterday, a small print of her lips on around the edge.

She was everywhere, and each new item made me long for her to return just so I could share the same air as her again.

I caught my reflection in the mirror, hardly recognizing the gleeful face I saw before me. It seemed I was becoming a new version of myself, and it was off-putting.

In the past, even in my relationship with Celeste, I had never felt this way. I loved Celeste, and was ready to spend my life with her, but looking back on it now, I could not remember how she took her coffee or her favorite pair of sneakers or which side of the bed she slept on.

Before my eyes was a vision of my future, and in it Mira was the brightest thing in sight. She glowed with power as she became Luna of the Pack, her eyes sparkling as they met mine.

A vision of her in my arms, or our bodies uniting. I ached at the thought of exploring every soft fold of her flesh.

And further down the road: Mira with a baby in her arms.

She came towards me, floating on air, and offered up the tiny bundle to show me. Thick dark curls played across the baby’s head. A small hand reached up from the blankets, as if offering a peaceful greeting to the father.

It felt like my head was going to float off of my neck. I didn’t even realise that I had crossed my arms in front of my chest, as if I could embrace the fantasy version of Mira and our child.

I had never felt so clearly that my purpose was ahead of me. My lifetime had been spent preparing to become a strong Alpha for my Pack, and the whole time the universe had worked to bring me my destiny.

And my destiny was Mira.

There was noise in the hallway, and I recognized Mira’s light laughter. She was speaking to someone, I assumed she was talking on the phone.

I paused in my activity, tossing a pillow onto the couch and walking to open the door for her.

As the heavy piece of wood swung on its hinges, I saw Mira standing in the hallway. She wasn’t alone.

She was with Lucian.