The Nameless Luna – Book Three: For Her, He Falls: Chapter 14

‘Hey, have you seen Tristan?’
Vanessa sits up from where she’d been resting on a chaise lounge by the fire in the castle library. She rubs her eyes as I close the door behind me and walk into the room.
‘Sorry, sweetheart, he’s not here,’ she says groggily.
‘Were you sleeping? I didn’t mean to wake you,’ I tell her, heading back for the door so she can get back to sleep.
‘No, no, it’s okay. It’s a good thing you woke me. It’s funny… when Viktor had me locked away, days and nights would often blend into each other, so you’d think I’d be used to such an erratic sleep schedule.’
Between the wolves that sleep during the night and nightwalkers that sleep during the day, no one in the keep is getting the proper rest as we all try to work together. Until the wolves return to their territories and both species can get back to their normal hours, everyone is struggling with a sort of supernatural jet lag.
‘It hasn’t even been a week since the battle, and everyone is working non-stop on regrouping and rebuilding. So much has happened in the past few days… I think we’ve all earned a few naps.’
She laughs at my words, patting the cushion beside her.
‘Come sit with me. I think one of the Rovers mentioned that Tristan was helping out on the bridge. I’m sure he’ll be back up soon, but perhaps in the meantime, you and I can talk a bit.’
I sit on the chaise beside her, and she scoffs at the distance between us, wrapping her arm around me and pulling me in close until I’m curled up beside her, resting my head on her shoulder. Marco has been getting better at hugs, but in less than three days, Vanessa has gotten perfectly comfortable cuddling and embracing everyone around the castle.
‘He’s very handsome, that Rogue Alpha of yours. He seems strong enough to pull the moon itself down from the heavens and offer it to you, and from the way he looks at you, I bet he’d be willing to do it if you just asked.’
I feel a flush rise to my cheeks, and I turn my face away from her so she won’t see. ‘I’m sure Selene would love that,’ I mumble sarcastically. As if the Moon Goddess needed further incentive to punish me.
‘I’m sorry,’ Vanessa says softly, the playfulness fading from her voice. ‘I cannot imagine how difficult it must be for the two of you to have found one another and not be able to be together. If there was anything I could do, Iris, if I could take the curse myself and spare you…’
‘Don’t say that. Even if it were possible, I wouldn’t want you to do that. No one deserves to be cursed for who they love. Besides, it doesn’t work that way. Gods don’t make trade-offs.’
I don’t know what I’m going to do about the curse exactly. I just know that whatever comes next, I want to face it with Tristan. Whatever this choice is, it isn’t one I want to make alone.
‘I’m sorry about you too,’ I tell my mother sadly. ‘Not just everything Viktor did. I’m sorry about you and Marco.’
She shifts beside me to look at my face with a furrowed brow.
‘What do you mean?’
‘Well, you might not be cursed, but you can’t exactly mate with the man you love either. So I guess neither one of us gets our happily ever after.’
Misery truly loves company.
‘What are you talking about? Iris, it breaks my heart to see you face the consequences of the love between your father and me,’ my mother says, shaking her head in disbelief. ‘It breaks my heart because it’s not fair, and the only reason I’m not living ‘happily ever after,’ as you say, is because my daughter is suffering a prejudiced punishment at the hands of the Goddess. But I have my mate. I am only sorry you cannot be with yours.’
I frown, looking up at my mom with a hesitant sense of curiosity.
‘But a nightwalker’s bite would be poisonous to a wolf.’
‘Sweetheart, do you think mating is defined by whether on not a male can mark the female?’ she asks.
‘No… it’s just… I didn’t know you thought of Marco as your mate.’
That isn’t exactly how the world works. But then again, the world is changing.
‘It does not matter if he marks me or not. I don’t need a mating ceremony to understand that he is the love of my life. How could it possibly be wrong if it created something as wonderful as you? The gods may be powerful, but they are not all-powerful, and they are certainly not all-knowing. It’s a messy universe we live in, and I think even the moon and stars can make mistakes. Selene made a mistake when she decided my relationship with your father was not natural. She was wrong to punish you, and if I could, I would tell her so myself, and in no uncertain terms!’
I’d love to see that. Maybe someday.
As if reading my thoughts, Vanessa adds, ‘Don’t give up home, sweetheart. Gods, curses, magic, and fate are all powerful things. But at the end of the day, mating bond or not, love is a choice, and there is no power stronger than love.’
I consider her words carefully as we sit in silence, a crazy plan beginning to formulate in the back of my mind. Well, more of a hope than a proper plan. Well, it’s really just a feeling.
But still. It grows within me like an ember, slowly sparking into a flame that burns through me, illuminating me with an unwavering sort of certainty. My hand goes up to my chest almost unconsciously, brushing against the skin on my chest and tracing the shape of the crescent moon.
Tristan would defy the moon itself for me, and I think that doing so might just be our only chance to be together.
I have everything I never thought I could have. Can I really give it all up for a chance?
‘My little flower,’ Tristan’s voice is a soft caress against my thoughts, almost like an answer to my unspoken question.
He seemed as happy as the rest of the Rovers that I finally have a name. But while the others have taken to calling me Iris, he continues to refer to me by the nickname. It feels more intimate now that it’s deliberate.
I know what I have to do, and I sit up suddenly, startling my mother.
‘What is it?’ Vanessa asks.
‘Tristan, he’s back in the castle,’ I tell her, shuffling off the chaise to my feet.
‘Lucy tells me you’re looking for me,’ Tristan says softly through the mindlink.
‘I was. I am. Can we talk?’ I reply telepathically while my mother shoots me a knowing look.
‘I need to go,’ I tell her as I head for the door. ‘I have an idea.’
‘Do you need any help?’ Vanessa asks, but I shake my head.
As much as I would love to watch my mother insult a god, this is between my mate and me. ‘No. But thank you.’
Tristan’s reply echoes in the back of my head. He’ll wait for me in my room, but I linger a moment longer with my hand on the door, turning to face Vanessa before I leave.
‘Mom?’ I say tentatively, the word still foreign on my lips. ‘If this doesn’t work…’
‘It’s okay. I didn’t know you when I picked your name, but I know you now, and I see that I chose it well. Go. Be brave and hopeful, and everything in between,’ she says, with an intensity in her expression that makes me believe she suspects what I intend to do.
‘I love you,’ I tell her.
My mother smiles sadly at me, her bright blue eyes filled with an almost unnatural sense of calm and understanding. ‘I love you too, Iris. Good luck.’
I return her smile before heading out, and I can’t help but think that I’m going to need all the help I can get.
When we charged into battle against impossible odds, it was not luck but faith and courage that pulled us through. But this time, as I make my way toward my mate for one last fight, things are different.
This time, I don’t intend to survive.