Chapter 7 Tour #2
Your destiny is to unite all people no matter how different and to bring to fruition a world of love and harmony. This task should not be taken lightly and there is a dark presence looming. The only person who can save our people is you. You must find and use your powers for good,
and accept help from others, just because people look different or have different views, doesn't mean they are not to be trusted.”
She has told me this before and I hope with the full moon tonight I will be able to shift and fully embrace my inner identity.
Inside my mind, Capella stood tall and majestic, her white fur glowing with a vibrant, regal clarity that perfectly mirrored the Goddess's blessing.
“Tonight,” her voice resonated deeply within our shared consciousness, “the full moon rises. We will finally be whole.”
The deep-seated anxiety I had carried about mating, my virginity, and my changing life was dissolving, utterly burning away by a fierce, driving determination. I was the savior of a broken race, and I need to fully embrace who I was born to be.
The absolute weight of her words hung in the beautiful, shimmering silence of the dreamscape.
As the Moon Goddess faded back into the starlight, a sudden, gasp-inducing warmth rushed through my chest.
My voice finally returned, but she was already gone, leaving behind a penetrating stillness that vibrated with ancient, cosmic importance.
When I woke up, I found Aylin staring at me, “wow”, he said, “Your hair has streaks of white. It’s very beautiful. I have never seen anything like that before.”
He raises his hand, and I cower into the pillow.
I close my eyes tight as my body begins to shake.
“How dare you, Celest! When we are at functions you are to never speak with anyone” My mother yells at me as she drags me by my hair down the hall. “You are a nobody Celest! Nobody important, nobody of value!”
I am tossed on my bedroom floor. I know what’s coming, it’s not the first time and I’m sure it won't be the last.
“Kneel Celest!” I do as I am told, as my mother raises her hand above her head and slaps me across my face.
I can feel my cheek burning and my jaw is pounding in pain.
She doesn’t stop at just one, she slaps me again and again until my body collapses to the floor.
“I am not done with you,” she yells and pulls me back up so I am kneeling in front of her.
The copper taste of blood is present, as blood slowly seeps from my mouth and tears run down my cheeks like rivers.
She walks over to my dresser and unlocks the top drawer with a tiny key she keeps in her room hidden from me.
She must have planned to beat me since she already had it with her.
“Please mom, no. I won’t do it again!” I cry out as she pulls out a long belt covered in small spikes that dig into my skin just far enough to make me bleed. “Please mom, please,” I am sobbing now, but that only seems to make her smile.
“Count with me Celest, I have decided five is a good number today, and I will increase it by one every time you cry out” “Yes, ma’am,” I choke out.
She grabs the belt, folds it in half and pushes her hands together shaping the belt into a circle and then snaps it flat again, making me jump.
Letting one end go, the belt slides open and she lifts it above her head and slaps the belt onto the skin of my bare thighs.
“One,” I say as I watch her pull it from my skin and beads of blood form on the surface.
“Two,” the belt slaps into the backs of my arms, then “Three,” across my shoulders, “Four,” the bottoms of my feet, and finally “five,” as she slams the belt again into my bleeding thighs.
I did not make a sound besides counting, not even the smallest whimper.
I just counted and let the tears flow. “Never speak to anyone when we go out again, or it will be worse next time!”
she yells at me. I look as my blood drips not only down my legs but from the belt as well.
She smiles, walks into the hall leaving the door open, “don’t move,” she spat.
I hear water running from the bathroom for a few minutes and then she returns places the belt back in the drawer, looks at her handiwork then smiles at me and says, “Goodnight,” she laughs as she walks out of my room, “No one will ever want you, I’ll make sure of it,” and she closes the door.
I was only ten years old.
I snap out of it when I hear Aylin “Celest, Celest, baby can you hear me? Are you okay? What’s wrong, Celest? I would never hurt you, please don't cry,” he says frantically and reaches over and runs his hands through my hair.
“I’m sorry, I just had a memory flash before my eyes, like I told you, I have a very painful past.”
I turned away from him and slid my shawl down my back a little bit exposing the lashings I had been receiving since I was a little girl.
Aylin’s eyes went wide and he ran his fingers over my scars.
I wince a little as he slides over the freshest ones.
“Who did this to you? How could anyone do this to another person?”
With tears running down my face I answer, “My family did this, they took turns. Not all on the same day, but they all have marked me in one way or another. The raised ones are from my birthday, Zion whipped me 18 times,
” Aylin grabs my arms and pulls me down into his chest and we lay there while I cry.
He slowly kisses the bare skin of my shoulder.
“I will never hurt you. You are my entire world. I hope one day I can help you recover from this trauma, pain, and fear. I want you to learn to love and trust me.”
“Aylin, I can feel it through our bond that you would never hurt me. You must understand that this has been happening to me for years and I am used to the pain and rejection. My family has never cared for me,
and I feel like I have been lied to about so many things that I don’t even know what to believe anymore. Please be patient with me, I don’t want to push you away. When I left my old life, I was celebrating my 18thbirthday, and since coming here, I have been told that not only am I 21,
but that I had been poisoned for quite some time. I didn’t know about any of the other races Aylin. I am learning about all of this with Archer, and I must come to terms with the fact that I am lycan, and will be able to shift. I am supposed to be a Luna,
and the rightful ruler of the lands and people. I am so overwhelmed. Plus, my body is reacting to you in ways I don’t understand. I don’t know anything about you, yet all I want to do is lie in your arms.”
I confess to him and my face flushes. The heat in his gaze could incinerate me.
The desire he felt emanated from him. His eyes told me all.
“I don’t know you either Celest, but the mating bond makes me feel like I have known you my whole life. I know it will take time, and we can move at your pace. I know I gave you a ring this morning, and I meant every word of what I said to you. The ring is a symbol of my love and commitment,
so the pack knows you’re mine. Werewolves and lycan would normally mark each other upon meeting, but we are going to take our time and figure things out. This ring will just let the unmated males know that you are spoken for, and they should leave you alone, at least until your heat comes.
You have every right to leave and not trust me or my people; our people. But I truly hope that you will consider staying here with me and become the luna you are destined to be.”
He leans in and kisses up and down my neck, making me shiver and I push my body into him.
“I really do love you Celest, and tonight being the full moon, you should be able to shift completely for the first time. I just want to let you know that once my wolf sees yours, I won’t be able to control him, he is beyond irritable since meeting you. I know it’s due to the bond,
but you and your wolf are separate souls, so we have no say in what they get into.”
I giggle “yes I know, Capella has been letting me know that she is very excited to meet Sterling, I’m assuming that’s your wolf?” I turn my head to look at him.
“Yes his name is Sterling and he is a massive onyx black wolf. His eyes are blue like mine and he has been very excited that you and Capella are finally here.”
He answers me with a smile on his face, and he reaches up and cups my cheek.
I stare up into his eyes, and he leans his face down and kisses me so softly that I almost don’t feel it.
When he pulls away, I reach up and slide my hands into his hair and pull him back down to my mouth and kiss him back.
The want spreading over my body is hot and heavy and I’m not sure if I am ready to go all the way but right now, his mouth on mine is divine.
His lips are so full and warm against mine, he reaches down with his free hand and pulls my hips toward him, I turn over, so we are facing each other forgetting that I am in a shorter dress and shawl.
He groans, as his hand slides across my stomach and down to my hip, where my dress has risen, and my panties are showing.
Aylin trails his hands down to my bare leg and I moan into his mouth.
He wraps his hand down around my ass and squeezes as he continues the kiss.
His tongue requests access to my mouth, and I happily abide.
His tongue explores my mouth, and I too explore him.
I truly can’t believe I am so lucky to have this man, I never thought I would find love.
Aylin slows the kiss down after a couple minutes and looks into my eyes.
His hands slide up my sides and under my dress.
“Can I look at your body?” He asks, “I know you’re not ready for more and that’s okay I just want to see you before tonight.
I want to see what you have been through fully so I don't react in front of everyone."
I nod, “only if you help me take it off.” I blush and look away from him. Aylin smiles and rolls off the bed and strides over to me.
He reaches out to me, and I take his hand, and he pulls me to my feet, “come here,” He takes his hands and slides them over my shoulders under my shawl and pushes it down and off my arms and it falls and pools at my feet. I look away and blush. “We can stop if you want?”
“I’m okay, Aylin, this is just new territory for me.”