LUNA ASTERBELLE'S POV
The way that Jerome looks deeply into my eyes made me wonder how my life would've turned out if I wasn't cursed. There's a lot of possibility that we may have been such lovely mates, but there's also the chance that we really aren't meant to be together.
"Jerome..." I muttered the man's name while I slowly roamed my hands around his back. "Joseph's here." I saw from the corner of my eye how the doctor was getting kind of uncomfortable, thinking that he was disturbing us.
Jerome raised a brow. "So what about it?" He smirked before he stepped back.
I almost gave in when I saw how his grin turned into a playful one. I bet that he knew how I was beginning to feel hot inside, and he didn't want me to commit. I couldn't help but sigh. "What am I supposed to do now?" I asked, and neither of them bothered to give me an answer.
The moon would soon rise as nighttime came closer. My heart wouldn't stop thumping at its usual speed. My gut was telling me that I should prepare myself for the worst-case scenario that would occur tonight.
"Luna, are you not feeling well? You can stay the night, as well as Dr. Joseph, if you still don't have a place to go to," Jerome interrupted my anxious mind.
It made me wonder how he knew that I had no other place to stay when he already had a clue that I was in the care of the Dark Shadow Clan because of the symbol that he saw on my forearm before. It's as if he kept watch on me.
I shook my head. "Don't you sense something weird?" I inquired in hopes that they felt the same.
Dr. Joseph stood up with one of his hands raised. "You must be feeling the moon. If what Alpha Asterbelle said to me was right, then this would actually be your first time to witness a full moon."
A full moon?
Jerome scratched the back of his head. "You... Are you prepared to shift?" he asked, which made me confused, so I just stared at him, waiting for him to continue. "Other than your 18th birthday, the appearance of a full moon would grant you another opportunity to shift. This might be the right time for you to shine, Luna," he explained.
The way that Jerome informed me in detail somehow got me shivering. "Why are you being like this, Jerome? Are you just this desperate for me to forgive you and give you another chance?" The question automatically slipped out of my mouth.
My supposed-to-be mate didn't look like he was happy with what I asked him. That cheeky grin he had a few seconds ago instantly transitioned into a small frown. "I'm simply trying to be considerate here, Luna." He groaned while turning his back away from me, then walked out of his own house.
"Aren't the two of you mates?" Dr. Joseph finally had another chance to speak now that Jerome was out of sight.
"I'd rather be friends with any other person out there than with the man who ruined my life," I said, then rolled my eyes as if I really meant what I said. "And there's already a particular person who keeps on running inside my mind 24/7. If he ends up being my mate, I won't think twice about being with him." I couldn't stop myself from biting my lower lip as I recalled Eman's attractive face whenever he's laughing.
I wonder how he's doing right now. It's been months since I last saw him, and I can't even detect his aura anywhere in Grimstone.
"Is that so?" Dr. Joseph glanced through the window; perhaps he was trying to check if Jerome was just nearby. "Then, why were you so eager to reject me even if I kept on telling you how much I wanted you to be mine?"
"Your question is redundant, Dr. Joseph. The answer is too obvious—you’re Andrea's mate. I can't just go on and accept you as my mate if we weren't meant to be in the first place, and considering the fact that Andrea was still searching for you," I replied like it was not a big deal.
The muscles in my arms began to harden at the same time that my knuckles did. The repetitive gasps that I made were barely enough to keep me breathing. It felt like my entire conscience was about to fade away.
"Luna? Luna, are you alright?" I could hear the doctor, but I couldn't give him a response.
My vision was swirling like I was on a roller coaster. I couldn't even see the doctor's figure well.
I knew that my body was giving up on me when I realized that my knees were already touching the floor, as were my hands, which saved me from completely falling. "J-Jerome... W-where are you, Jerome..?" I desperately mumbled as I extended my right arm in the direction of the door, in hopes that he would come and grab my hand.
"Mr. Dawson! Mr. Dawson!" Dr. Joseph's voice pierced through my ears.
"What—" Jerome wanted to ask what was going on, but then I felt a pair of hands that gripped onto both sides of my waist. "Luna, what's the matter?" He flipped me over, my back on his thighs; his left hand assisted the back of my head while the other one was on my legs.
"Mate..." I whispered.
Even if I was barely surviving, I couldn't let this opportunity slip by to stare at Jerome's eyes that were slowly turning red, which was almost the same as the color of the moonlight.
Jerome attempted to lean his ears closer to me, but I took the initiative to force him to listen closely to what I was about to say.
"Jerome Dawson, you're my mate, aren't you?" I asked out of pure curiosity, despite the risk that I might be mistaken. "I can't stop thinking of you out of all the years that you've been away from our country. You were always on my mind even if the days we've spent together were all bitter due to the consistent abuse that I received from you. And even now that you've finally returned and now that you told me about our past..."
No matter how hard I try to throw away what I'm feeling for you because of what you've done... You're still the one that I yearn for to the depths of my soul, Jerome.
After everything that I’ve gone through in my eighteen years of existence, this was the first time that I felt too embarrassed, to the point that I want to get buried alive in the deepest part of this world.
"What are you saying?" Jerome asked. His eyebrows furrowed in utter confusion, though I’m not quite sure whether he was merely pretending not to understand what I really meant. "Mate..? There’s no way that we’re mates, Luna. I don’t feel any sort of affection towards you, and even if I did, I don’t think that my conscience alone would permit me to be with you," he said.
Those crimson eyes of his just can’t stay still. Every single time that I tried to maintain our eye contact, he just kept looking elsewhere.
As if he’s trying to hide something from me.
"Are you sure, J-Jerome?" I asked him with such a serious tone.
I tried my utmost to stand back up on my own two feet, even though my body continued to give me a hard time with its constant changes. I knew that in less than a few minutes, I'd shift into my wolf. But before that happens, I want to first confirm whether we’re really mates or not.
"I..." Jerome clenched his jaw, figuring out the right words to say. "I told you before, you make my blood boil whenever you're around. And that's the main reason why we can't be mates," he explained.
I sighed, which made both of my shoulders slightly move. I remembered how he tasted my blood back there, and up until now, it’s still a mystery to me how he’s not affected by it, not even a single bit.
"You were about to say something back in that dimension of the moon goddess. What was it?" I mustered up all of my remaining courage just to ask him about it, knowing that he didn’t want to further talk about it.
"I forgot it already," he coldly replied.
There was no use in getting him to say what I wanted, so I decided to go out of his house, where I didn’t expect to meet the man I least expected to see.