Riannon couldn’t believe her own happiness when she opened her eyes and sawhim lying in front of her and watching her.Amate. She had a mate. A real one. Not a chosen one. A smile curled onto hislips and she reciprocated it. There were no regrets. Whatsoever.This was very different from what she had with Brayden back in the day. Now thatshe thought about it, if this was what Brayden felt when he met his own mate,she could understand why he couldn’t reject Roxanne.She would never reject Gideon if she knew.This did not cancel all the horrible things that Roxy did to her and to others intheir power struggle. But she could understand now.Partially.This was not changing her plan. But it gave her some understanding. “Onyx,” shecalled her wolf, “Are you there?” At first, all she heard was silence. But then thefamiliar voice sounded in her head.“I will be soon...”She tried calling her again, asking what was going on. But Onyx spoke no more.However, this was better than nothing. This was a promise. And just knowing thather wolf didn’t abandon her made Riannon smile wider.The motion did not go unnoticed. Gideon pulled her closer. So that her head wasnow tucked into his chest, and he was able to dig his face into her hair andbreathe in her scent that he loved so much was able to enjoy for the first time.“I can’t believe this is real,” he muttered, “From the moment I saw you... I dreamtof this. of holding you like this, of having you as mine.”

She looked up at his handsome face and slid her hand to brush his cheek with ashort stubble that prickled her fingers slightly.“Why didn’t you tell me?” She asked. “Would you believe me if I simply told you?”He arched his brow at her.“I guess not,” she admitted honestly. She had too much on her plate to simplybelieve some lycan who approached her out of the blue insisting that she was hismate: Even if he was a king. Not to mention that Onyx, the little hyena, never toldher that they were mates on the rare moments she spoke to her. She couldn’tbelieve her wolf would waste her strength to tell everythingOn the other hand, Onyx was smarter than regular wolves. Ria always knew that.She proved it to her many times. And to be honest, maybe it was for the best thatshe did not throw them into a situation where Riannon knew that he was hermate from the very beginning yet did not feel the connection. In that way, Gideonhad to work for it and earn her trust.Yes, that wolf of hers wasn’t simple at all. She took a bet and look at where it gotthem...“Yesterday,” he traced his fingers over her bare hand, “You said the word. Youcalled me Mate. How did you know?”“Onyx called you that,” Ria decided to confess. Now that they were together, shedid not want secrets from him. It was hard starting to trust the new man in her lifebut what they had was so much different from what she experienced before.It was bigger. And better. And so special. Everything one could wish for.“Is Onyx back?” Gideon asked with hope in his voice. They were already togetherbut he would still feel much better if he knew that the wolf was there.“Partially,” Ria gave him a vague smile, “I feel her presence somewhere thereinside of my soul but she is not at full strength yet. I think she is trying to restoreafter.”

She stopped talking and he suddenly got serious. This was not a joke to him atall. He knew about a few people who had lost their wolves. He started readingabout them when he found out about Onyx’s absence. This was rare. But it didhappen several times in shifter’s common history.When the beast was lost, the host was becoming just an empty shell as half oftheir soul was gone. That did not happen to Ria yet. But a mostly missing wolfwas a bad sign. This wasn’t a destiny that he wanted for his mate.But there was another thing that bothered him. Those people he read about wereall warriors who fought in battles. Sometimes against forces much stronger thanthem. In thevery few cases known in history, it was always the same. When on the brink ofdeath, the wolves, foxes, bears or other creatures sacrificed themselves toprotect their hosts. The hosts survived but at the same time were deadlywounded and hardly ever lived longer afterwards.And when the beast died, the owner was slowly becoming just a mere human. Afate worse than death. of yourself. To stop seeing through your beast’s eyes, tostop sensing what he or she could sense...It was the same as losing hearing, sight, and ability to move properly at once forhumans. Probably even worse because something inside was missing as well.Everything was lessened, everything was different... Less vibrant. It was thesame as sucking the joy out of life. That most vital part of a person was goneforever.And not everyone could cope with that.He could tell that Riannon was one of those who would be able to cope, though.She was strong. In some sense maybe even stronger than him.But he did not wish for her to have that kind of fate. For her, he was ready to doeverything

Then again, there was another thing. He didn’t know of any recent battles shetook a part in. As far as his research on her showed, and his spies were amongthe best, her life was a typical Luna life. She had her hardships but nothing toomajor happened.Just what was done to her in that pack behind the closed curtains that made heralmost lose her wolf?“Ria,” he said, “I am going to ask you this again. Regardless of me asking youthis earlier. But this time I want you to be absolutely honest. You can trust me. Allthat I do from the day I met you is for your protection. You are my Luna even inspite of being another man’s wife. You are mine.”Riannon smiled at the words even though she knew that she wasn’t going to likethe question that was about to follow.“Did he hurt you? That husband of yours?” Gideon tried not to show it, but shefelt his inner rage by the way his grasp on her tightened.“Yes and no,” she sighed. How could she tell him everything that happened to herand expect him to be okay about it?“Did he hurt you physically?” the Lycan king asked through clenched teeth.“No,” she said at once to calm him down. Luckily, it was the truth.“But something happened to you,” he took her chin into his large palm and madeher look at him, “Something that made you want not only divorce but fight foryour pack. Something that broke you so much that your wolf almost died.” didsound weak every time she spoke. She tried to convince herself that it was just atemporary weakness due to their rebirth and their chosen mate bond breaking.But what if it was everything? And more...“I don’t even know how to say it,” she sat up, wrapping the Egyptian cottonsheets around herself, Gideon following her motion not to miss any trace ofmagic

emotion on her beautiful face.” You will probably think I was crazy,” she muttered,covering her face with her both hands.He took them away so that she could see him. He hoped that she wouldunderstand that no matter what was happening, he was going to be by her side.Whatever she was going to tell himi..“I am hard to scare off, Riannon,” he gave her a soft smile. “Let’s hope so,” shegave him a nervous one.And then, taking a very deep breath, she pronounced everything in one go asshe was letting it out, “I already lived this part of my life. With Brayden and hismate Roxy in my pack. He never rejected her as he promised, and she tookeverything away from me. She killed the people I cared about, made Braydenreject and humiliate me, taking my title. And even then, after I already losteverything, she still killed me with the help of one of the wolves from my ownpack. It was horrible. But then I somehow came back to the very moment it allstarted. Gideon, I literally opened my eyes when the door opened and the two ofthem walked in into our packhouse. This was when I lost Onyx. And since thatday I had to live again during the most horrible days of my life. Only that I didn’twant for everything to repeat. I wanted to change what happened. And I startedtweaking things one by one. Big and little. I changed them and they werechanging the reality. Yet main events are still the same. For example, when I triedto fight Roxy joining the pack, I still lost. But when I called you earlier this life thanI did before it resulted in this... And then the Alpha Ball...”She stopped when she noticed the frozen expression on his face. Did she overdoit? Was it too much for him? Should she have stopped after the rebirth part?Gideon tried to process it. He thought that she was joking at first, but she was tooserious and nervous about that. And now that he was thinking, it all made senseto him.All right, not all. But some of the things did. Their very first conversation. She wasalready sure that bad things would happen.

And then her appearance at the ball. Her husband brought out his mate andmistress for everyone to see. Anyone would be crushed by that. But not Riannon.She held her head so high exactly the opposite.Not to mention the way she spoke to him. No one was that bold. Unless... theywere on the brink of death and had nothing to lose.“Gideon?” she called his name, biting her lip. He could see how worried she wasabout everything and wanted to tell him to forget about all that.But in the next moment, he grabbed her and pulled her into the tightest of hugs.He didn’t say anything, but she knew that he believed her. And it did not changeanything for him.“I am so sorry you had to go through this,” he said, kissing her hair as he couldn’treach anything else from this position but didn’t want to let her go yet.Slowly, she wrapped her arms around him too, embracing his warmth and hiswonderful scent. Embracing the feeling of safety that he gave her. And for thefirst time ever she cried...She rarely did. Almost never. But right now at this moment, she could finallyafford to let it all out. The pain, the loneliness, the fight, all her raw emotions wereout finally.And it felt so much better.Gideon was holding her in his arms as long as she needed, hurting together withher. Even Mars was howling inside feeling their mate’s pain.She was done way faster than he expected. But his beautiful Luna never ceasedto amaze him. She was perfect. His perfect Luna...Riannon looked at him with puffy eyes, embarrassed by her little outburst.

“Now,” he said as he wiped the last tear away with his thumb, “Tell me everythingfrom the very beginning.”They spent the whole next day in his room. Only ordering food in and talkingabouteverything. They talked so much but still, none of them felt like they were done. Itseemed that there was always more. It started with the rebirth and then went onto their previous life. Then they were discussing their possible theories of whateverything that had happened to her could mean. But later they started to simplyplan what they would do next.Ria knew well how to work in a team. She was doing it with Brayden for years.But it was so different with Gideon. And not at all what she expected. Theyweren’t finishing each other’s sentences. He wasn’t agreeing with everything thatshe told him the way Brayden did.The Lycan king had his own ideas. Often much bolder than hers. And much moreviolent.the brown wolves in her pack. Something that she couldn’t agree with. So, theplan was changing and evolving, and they were both tired by the next night. Yet itfelt so satisfying to dothis with... an equal.Because this was what they were. Equals. Partners.They were finishing their dinner, still wearing nothing but sheets when someoneknockedon the door.“It’s Reid,” Gideon tolled her with an eye roll, “Give me a sec. I’ll get rid of himand then maybe... we could take a bath?”

“We already took a shower together, remember?” she teased him.“I do,” a smirk stretched on his face as he winked at her. He opened the door butstood there, obstructing the Beta’s vision.“So, this is how it is now?” Reid said in a fake spiteful tone, “You have secretsfrom me? After everything we’ve been through?”“Ha-ha,” Gideon said emotionlessly, “You are welcome to come in, of course. Butif you see something that you are not supposed to see, then I just have to killyou. Your choice.”“Here is fine!” the Beta chuckled, but then added in a serious tone, “The report isready. And you are not going to like it.”“That bad, huh?” the king asked, taking the papers. He spent a few minutesreading and then Riannon heard a grunt.“Shall I?” Reid asked bluntly.“No, I think this is something I have to do personally,” Gideon cut him off, “Youwill lookafter Riannon. She is...”“No need to explain it,” the Beta replied, “I get it. I will protect her with my life.”She cleared her throat and came up closer to them.“Excuse me,” she said calmly, “But while we are at it I want you both toremember that I still have my own obligations... to my old pack. I can take care ofmyself.”“Ria,” her mate looked at her with a mixture of begging and warning.“I will act on my own if I have to,” she insisted folding her arms on her chest.

“But you will use lycan protection at all times and let Reid know everything,” hesaid.“Fine!” she had to agree. Not that lycan protection was a bad thing.“Okey-dokey,” the Beta said awkwardly, “So... I think I am going to go for now...”the door.“You have to go,” she said. “I have to,” he admitted.“For how long?” she asked as he removed the sheet that was covering her andlifted her up, entering her in one swift move. It already felt so natural to the two ofthem... Yet the crazy attraction wasn’t fading away.“A day or two,” he grunted into her neck, showering her with kisses. “Do we reallyhave time for this,” she panted, digging her nails into his back and shoulder.“No,” he chuckled, speeding up his thrusts, “But I don’t care. If I am not going tosee you for this long, I am going to make it a goodbye to remember...”She came back into her room after he was gone. She even watched him leavethrough the window. Like some pathetic wife-wannabe...She chose this room as the Alpha suit smelled of him too much. And she neededa clear head to think of everything.Only after a quick shower, she go to check her phone, discovering that thebattery was off. She put it on the charger and soon it was on again, showcasingto her all the missing calls from her husband... There were so many of them. Sheknew very well why.And she didn’t want to deal with any of it. There were messages too. She did notopenthem so that he wouldn’t get the notification.

But then she saw one from Ash. And she couldn’t ignore that one.“Maya is in big trouble,” was all that he texted her.