Page 75 of In the Light of the Moon

Pride for my mate swelled in my chest. I was sure my mother, though she’d told Sylvie to stay, would like my focus to be solely on whatever she came here for. Ramona probably couldn’t care less, which was fine with me. “You are my family. Stay, please.”

Though her face was still pulled down in that slight frown, her scent became deeper, sweeter. It made me want to cover us both in blankets and hold her close. To shut the world out and just be with each other. I enjoyed my solitude immensely, but now, I wanted Sylvie included in that.

I was about to tell Meredith and Ramona to leave, right then and there, but my sister’s dry voice broke the silence, “Yes, please. You’re already way more interesting than him.”

I kissed Sylvie’s brow then cut my eyes toward my little sister. Or, not so little anymore, it seemed. She’d grown since I’d last seen her, and she smelled… more settled? Like her being had begun to solidify with adulthood drawing nearer. As if she could feel my gaze on her, Ramona lifted her head from her phone, and I parsed through her features. We shared some from our mother, but our noses and eyes we clearly got from our fathers. Her honey brown eyes and wider nose looked just like Sean’s.

“So, are we going back inside or continuing to stand out here for no reason?” She bent back down to whatever she was scrolling through.

“You’re sitting,” I said.

She just huffed and stood, walking toward the door. The rest of us followed, and I stiffened at the cacophony of scents that hit me. Meredith and my sister had been here for a few hours, at least, and it was aggravating how much their scents were already tainting the mix of mine and Sylvie’s.

Ramona plopped down onto the couch, putting her feet up on the coffee table, and Meredith perched on the arm of one of the chairs near the fireplace. I felt heat rise on my face, anger flaring again. Though I’d made renovations and added to the cabin, this was the home Da and I built together. Where he’d lived until the day he died. It felt like a betrayal to have her within its walls. The urge to tell her just that was throbbing in my mind, but the reassuring rubbing of Sylvie’s hand on my lower back calmed me and let me swallow the words.

“I need to speak with Sylvie,” I said while I was already grabbing her hand and pulling her toward our bedroom down the hall. Meredith would surely be able to hear what we were talking about, but at this point, I didn’t give a fuck.

I tried my best to not zero in on thesuitcasespropped against the doorways of the spare bedrooms and closed Sylvie and I in the room, our room. She flipped on the switch that turned on the lamps, and at least in here, it just smelled of us.

Immediately, she reached her hands up to my chest, rubbing again in calming circles and intentionally pressing on the mark above my left pectoral. I leaned in until my nose was pressing against her scalp. I inhaled past all of the aromas of herbs and fragrances that were still clinging from her work earlier today and felther.My mate.

“Rion, are you okay?”

I exhaled through my nose, “No.”

She chuckled, but continued to rub, continued to soothe. “You sure you want me to stay? I don’t want to add to your stress.”

My arms circled around her and pulled her even closer. “Yes. If you’re alright with that. I’m sorry that this is happening.”

Sylvie rested her cheek on my chest, “No need to be sorry. It’s just unexpected, is all. But I’m excited to meet them.”

I pulled back to see her face, even though I could sense that she was being sincere. “Really.”

“Wow, yes, really. I can already see the resemblance.” When I surely showed my confusion, she rolled her eyes and poked at my sternum, “You and your mom look so much alike. I can’tbelieveI thought you were cheating on?—”

Another involuntary growl left my chest. Wasthatwhy she sounded so upset on the phone? I raised my palms to her cheeks, meeting her eyes and holding them. “Sylvie. You are my mate. There is no one else. There will be no one else, ever. I am yours for as long as you’ll have me.” The last bit of lingering tension in her shoulders released, and her lips pulled back in a bright, glorious grin.

I searched her face and blurted what had been simmering in my mind. “Does that scare you? Does all of this—everything—frighten you?”

Her grin softened to a smaller smile, and I internally cursed myself for saying anything at all. “No, Orion. You couldn’t scare me. Do you annoy me sometimes with your smart-alecky bullshit? Yes. But I also love that about you, so it’s okay.” She rose on her toes to kiss me, and when she made to pull away, I just followed, deepening the kiss. For a moment, she was surprised, but then she sank into it, into me. I prodded her lips open with my tongue, and she welcomed me in immediately.

There was nothing better than this. To have Sylvie’s love and understanding and to hold her in my arms. After Da died, I’d felt without true family and mistakenly sought it out in a pack only to find that they were worse than my mother could ever be.

And then my little witch came in to save me. To offer me the magic of her kindness. Though I was sure she knew this already, I would die for her.

Our kiss quickly turned from affection to heat, and I was about to lift up her dress and bend her over the bed, my mother and sister in the other room be damned, when she gentled her lips against mine with a frustrated moan and pulled back.

“Rion, we can’t have sex with your mom and sister right down the hall.”

“Why not?”

Sylvie scoffed, and I nuzzled my nose against hers. She did the same back. “Because I’m trying to make a good impression, you animal.”

I gently captured her lip with my teeth, nibbling and swiping it with my tongue before dropping my hands. Sylvie’s lust spiked before turning to frustration, and I snorted. I dropped down to sit at the foot of my bed. Now, much closer to Sylvie’s breasts, I couldn’t help but pull her back to me.

She was like a fucking magnet.

My hands rubbed over the silky fabric of her dress, first over her full hips, then up to her nipples that were pebbling under the thin fabric. She rested her hands, tipped in long, dark red nails, on my shoulders. I pinched her nipples at the same time, and her gasp made me smirk.

---