The Blood Moon Twins
Chapter 155

LUNA ADIRA

The battle was over, but we were far from done. With our enemies gone, we rushed the injured to the medical tent. I stayed by Ginger's side, unable to tear myself away. She had already lost too much blood, and her body shook, fighting to stay alive. "I've got you," I said as the sorcerer who shifted Ginger into the tent laid her on a bed. I pressed my hands on her torso, covering as many wounds as I possibly could, but there were too many injuries. I started sending healing magic to her, but I could tell it was working too slowly. Ginger's hand twitched, and then it was grabbing my hands. She was unconscious, but I could feel her emotions through her grip. I could practically hear her say, "Don't waste your tears on an old lady like me," but she wasn't just an old lady. She was my family, and I saw her risk her life to protect Caulder.

Her life was waning, I knew she didn't have long. I knew I should have stopped trying to heal her, but if there was any chance she would live longer because I could heal her wounds, I had to take it. I would regret it for the rest of my life if I didn't give it everything I had. Ginger squeezed my hand, and her breathing became labored. She was still bleeding too much, and something stirred inside of me. I knew she wasn't going to survive. I could feel her pain as her body writhed and guilt flushed over me. I was only prolonging her suffering by continuing to heal her.

Ginger had been prepared for something like this. Part of me wondered if she knew this was how she was going to die. She always had a mysterious way of knowing things before they happened. She insisted she wasn't clairvoyant, saying she was good at reading people enough to predict their future actions, but she seemed to know it was going to happen.

I didn't want to believe her, but she had been trying to warn me of this moment. I had refused to believe her and now I was spending my time trying to heal her when others needed my help. It was selfish, and I knew it.

I grabbed Ginger's hand and squeezed it back. "It's okay," I whispered. My throat tightened, and I knew i should be crying, but the tears refused to come.

She squeezed my hand one last time before her body went limp. I couldn't breathe. I knew she was gone, but it still didn't feel real. She was still too warm.

"Mom?" Caulder said from behind me, his voice barely above a whisper.

I glanced back, and he and Remy stood there, watching me closely. Remy was already crying, clinging to Blade for support, but Caulder stared at me with wide eyes. I shook my head slowly, not trusting myself to speak. "She saved me," Caulder said, his voice cracking.

"I know." It was all I could manage to choke out.

Caulder moved towards me, wrapping me in his arms, and Remy joined a moment after. I could feel the grief washing over all of us and the camp. We won the battle, but it wasn't without cost. We couldn't bring ourselves to celebrate, knowing we would be going home to a smaller pack and a smaller home.

-

REMY

Several days later, I found myself walking through the front door to the pack house with Blade's hand in mine. Harper, Caulder, and Rido followed behind us. The air in the pack house felt stiff as we walked through it. We were the first ones to return from the battle, and most of the pack that had stayed behind was already back at their homes.

My mom and dad stayed behind to work things out with Cain and stay with any werewolves who were still healing from the battle. They wanted us to return home with some of the warriors to take care of the pack until they came back. We were fairly certain there were no more threats to our pack, but the last thing they wanted to do was leave the pack open for someone to take advantage of us in our weakened state.

Rido was the only one who seemed happy to be back at the pack house, while everyone else just seemed relieved. Rido had explained everything to us once the chaos of the post-battle was over. He heard the voice of a sorcerer in his head when he was at the pack house-likely Winslow from the description-and the voice had threatened the pack members Rido had been staying with. The child had been told that if he didn't go willingly, the voice would kill everyone in the pack house and said it would be Rido's fault. Rido snuck out of the house as soon as he could after hearing that. He hadn't wanted to be the reason his new family was hurt. He felt guilty for listening to the voice, but he had been a hero. I was sure Winslow would have killed all of the defenseless werewolves here just to get to Rido.

"It feels good to be home," Rido said, skipping through the hallway. He brought life into the house again, and I felt a smile tugging at my lips.

Even though we had won, it had been hard to smile for the past few days. On top of losing at least a quarter of our warriors, I struggled with my new identity. I didn't feel like myself anymore. There was a constant power coursing through my veins, even as I slept, and it made me feel clumsier in my own body.

"Do you mind if I go shower?" I asked, looking at Caulder. I didn't want to just ditch him with Rido, since we had all been through hell.

"Go for it. We'll be fine here," Caulder said. He hadn't smiled either. I knew he felt guilty that Ginger had given her life for him, and even though many people told him that she wanted him to live and that it was her choice to sacrifice herself for the future alpha, it didn't dull the pain and guilt he felt. Only time would help with that. This pack would be healing for a while after everything we had been through.

"Thanks." I headed towards the stairs with Blade's hand still in mine. When I made it to my room, I let go of his hand and went to the bathroom. I was excited for a proper shower, since we had been camping for a week now.

I let the hot water run over my body, and the stress and uncomfortable sleeping conditions started to melt from my body. I started to feel just a little bit like myself again, and I found myself lingering in the water longer than I originally planned. When my fingers started to prune, I forced myself to get out, wrapping a towel around my body.

I stood in front of the fogged mirror and hesitated. I hadn't looked at myself since Blade had marked me. I could feel my body had changed in various ways, and the stares I received reminded me I was different. I was too afraid to look at the differences, scared I wouldn't like what I saw in the mirror, but it had been long enough.

I wiped away the steam from the mirror, and the first thing I saw were two glowing red eyes staring back at me.

"You're more like me now," Rido had said when he had first seen me after the transformation. Now I understood exactly why he had said that.

There was a stirring hunger in my stomach I didn't fully understand. I still ate normal food, but there was something else I found myself craving. I was part vampire now, and no one understood what that meant exactly.

I didn't like the red eyes. They were too striking, and it made me feel like a completely different person.

"They'll fade," Blade said, leaning against the door. I had been too absorbed in the person I saw in the mirror to hear him enter.

"Will they turn yellow like yours?" I forced myself to stop looking, knowing the reflection wouldn't change any time soon.

"No clue. All I know is that vampires' eyes fade from red the longer they haven't eaten human blood. Not all of them have yellow eyes, but in your case, I have no idea what will happen." Blade's eyes lingered on my body, and I could feel a hunger stirring in him from our mate bond.

My face flushed at the thought. We hadn't had any alone time since the battle, and my mind had been so preoccupied by everything that had happened that I tried not to think about being intimate with Blade. However, at night when we slept next to each other, my body burned for him in a way I never thought possible. The mark on my neck made my desires more intense, and it was like my body was protesting the fact that we hadn't mated yet. Even now, just the thought of Blade touching me made my body tingle. It hadn't been the right time before. Now, there was nothing stopping us.

if reading my mind, his arms were wrapped around my body from behind. One hand rested on the top of my towel, threatening to pull it free, while the other hand slid up my thigh, moving dangerously close to my core.

"You're stunning," he whispered in my ear. He started placing kisses down my neck, and every part of my body tingled.

We were alone with no immediate obligations. We had time to take our time and do this the way I had imagined. I reached up and wrapped my hand around the back of his neck, letting my head lean against him. "I've been imagining this for a long time," I whispered.

His hand slid higher, and my breath hitched. "Me too. It's given me time to think about exactly how I could treasure your body."

I spun in his arms and lifted onto my toes to kiss him deeply. He lifted me up, carrying me out of the bathroom and placing me gently onto the bed. He pulled the towel off of me before removing his own clothes. Then he took his time, kissing every part of my body, making me yearn for him even more.

"This is for all of the nights we couldn't be together the way we wanted," he said, kissing down my jaw line.

"And this is for every smile that made me realize this was the life I wanted and deserved." He peppered my collarbones with his lips, making me giggle with delight.

"And this-" He paused to trace my breasts with his fingers before following the lines with his mouth. "Is for every day I want to spend waking up to your beautiful face."

He kissed down my torso, pausing to look up at me from my table. "And this is my promise to you that I will do whatever I can to make you continue smiling every day of your life."

"Blade," I whispered as he moved down my body, touching me in all of the right places.

He moved up and kissed my lips softly. "I love you."

I cupped his face, looking into the beautiful eyes that made me happier than I ever could have imagined. He made the past few months bearable through the hell we had to wade through. "You were worth the wait," I whispered, kissing him again. "I love you, too." The moments blurred after that as we spent countless minutes exploring each other's bodies. It was better than I ever could have imagined. It felt like Blade and I belonged in the bed together as one, and I never wanted the moment to end. Read more free novels at Ebookex.com

We had a future together after all of the horrors we had been through. We fought, and we won, and a life with him felt like my gift for stopping a war from happening. There was still more work to be done, but all of that could wait until another day. Today, Blade was all mine.