Chapter 8 - Jace #2
“I guess we all feel the same a bit out of place. Like the world went on without us, but also… we’ve changed in ways that are hard to describe,” I say quietly.
My tone captivates her, and she reaches out to touch my leg, but instantly changes her mind with static shoots between us.
She licks her lips, and my cock stirs as I watch her.
Mira smiles, “Changing isn’t always a bad thing, Jace. I mean… from who you were… to who you are now.”
I know what she’s referring to, and while I have run over this exact conversation in my head a thousand times, I can’t bring myself to go down this path now. I can’t bring myself to explain how sorry I am and why I was such a fucking asshole.
“True. I look at myself now, and I’m grateful for the man it turned me into. But Black Ops was brutal,” I sigh.
Mira laughs softly. “You know, I am your Luna. It’s not something either of us is used to yet, but as your Luna, I’m… I’m here for you, you know?” she shrugs. “I’m a pretty good listener, and nothing you tell me would find its way into the gossip threads around the compound,” she giggles.
“Oh, I wouldn’t ever think that of you, Mira. I know you’re a deeply honorable and loyal person. I’ve seen you with your friends.”
Her eyes soften, and it tugs at my heart. Her cheeks flush pink with embarrassment at my compliment.
“Oh, that’s only because I have no friends. It’s hard to spill secrets when you have no one to tell,” she jokes to cover up her reaction.
I scoff, laughing loudly.
In the silent moment that follows, I think about her and how she is finally opening up to me a little for the first time since I came home. My opening up first was the key to getting her to connect with me. And I need my Luna to connect with me.
For the sake of the pack.
“We hunted down rogues,” I say quietly. My heart races as memories flood my thoughts.
“Captured them?” She whispers.
“No,” I shake my head. “That isn’t how it works.
” She watches me for a moment before I talk again.
“Some of them looked like normal people, you know. Just living their lives, not hurting anyone. Others… they were feral. I’d never seen a feral shifter before Black Ops.
It still haunts me to this day. Over time, you go numb to it.
To all of it. You go cold and you build walls until you’re safe behind them and the things you’re doing don’t even feel real. ”
Her head drifts onto my thigh again, pulling me from those memories.
“I’m sorry you had to experience that,” she whispers.
I smile, “But that’s what made me strong. That’s what changed me from a pathetic, immature boy into an Alpha. The Alpha my pack needs.”
“There must have been fun moments too?” she asks, her brows raised.
I laugh, a loud burst of amusement when I think about Dexter and the other guys.
“Plenty. Training was fun. Fuck, it wasn’t fun, it was literally hell, but having a pack of guys there going through the same thing… I’ve never felt so part of something before. It taught me the value of a pack. The value of working together and never underestimating any member of your team.”
She smiles, her eyes shining, “Is that why you started offering the Omegas opportunities they never had before?” She asks.
“Exactly. They all deserve this. Why shouldn’t they be whatever they want to be?” I shrug.
“I was impressed,” she muses, glancing at me shyly.
A smile spreads over my cheeks.
“What about you, Mira?” I ask.
“What about me?” she replies, confused.
“Since I’ve been gone. What have you been up to? You’ve changed a lot, too, you know,” I say, my eyes roaming her beautiful face.
Her cheeks turn red and she looks away, smiling softly.
“I focused on my career. I discovered that I had a knack for some pretty technical stuff, and when I started exploring my curiosity, it basically turned into a rabbit hole, which I fell down and never came out of,” she grins at her analogy.
“A rabbit hole,” I laugh. “I don’t think I’d call it that.
I’ve seen the things you’ve created. I can’t even fathom the type of creativity and skill it takes to make those things.
The pack… the pack has no idea how lucky they are to have you on their team.
They should be bowing at your feet in gratitude,” I say sternly.
Mira grins, her eyes shining brighter. “I don’t really mind if they show gratitude or not.
Honestly, no one knows I’m the one who makes these things.
But it doesn’t matter. I don’t do it for that.
I do it because I have these ideas that swarm around in my head.
A thousand of them. And then one idea will latch on and I can’t stop thinking about it until I pull it from my thoughts and build it or design it…
or whatever I have to do with it. It’s like an impulse.
A crazy one I can’t let go of,” she speaks excitedly, her whole face lighting up and her arms moving quickly through the air as she explains herself.
She looks alive and happy and enthralled.
Suddenly, it all makes sense. This is how she managed to survive the harshness of her childhood. This is how she escaped the cruelty of those who bullied her and hid away from everything that happened. This is how she built herself up after I broke her down.
She got lost inside her own brilliance.
She didn’t need anyone. She didn’t have to rely on anyone. She finds a way to shine despite being an outcast.
That takes incredible strength and resilience. The type of strength and resilience that the Moon Goddess would take note of.
Her smile when speaking about her work strikes a chord deep inside me.
I want her to find that passion in everything.
I want her to show the world how brilliant she is and share that strength with others.
She truly is an inspiration, and if we worked together, we could be the best Alpha and Luna any pack has ever seen.
We talk late into the night, and my mind is already filling with ideas of how I can make her life easier. With the goal of working better together, of course.
Seeing her smile will make it all worth it.
Jux pushes against my thoughts, and I push back. This is for the pack, Jux.
But as I steal a glance at her, my heart constricts, and I have an overwhelming desire to make her happy.