The Rarest Two in Blood Moon (Part I)

The Rarest Two in Blood Moon (Part I)
Later

The castle stilled as the noise of the day turned into the quiet of the night. Exhaustion getting the better of her, Essence eventually had to cut the visits short. Not wanting to let on how tired she truly was, she tried to push through, until Kano gave her one of his silent glares. She grumbled, and started to stalk to her room, but stopped mid-stride and gave him a smile of appreciation. Returning her smile, he nudged his head forward, and she left to get some rest.

Helping Kanon into her PJs, Kano pulled the covers tight over her. “Goodnight, princess,” he said.

Leaning forward, she wrapped her arms around him. “Goodnight, dad.” She paused for a moment. “Are you gonna whistle with mommy now?”

His eyes flexed, unsure of what exactly she meant. “Why do you ask that?”

“Cause mommy said you’re only supposed to whistle with someone special, and that her someone special is you.”

Kano whispered, “Yourmothertoldyouthatwewhistled?”

She laughed. “No, silly! Mommy said she would love to whistle with you one day.”

Horror plastered itself on Kano’s face as he tried to process why Essence would tell their daughter that. He leaned her back down. “Go to bed,” he said, giving her a quick kiss on the cheek before darting from the room. Exiting, he bumped into Ericka. “Sorry about that,” he muttered.

Noticing he was completely flustered, she tilted her head. “Why are you as red as a stop sign?”

Before he could process it, his own form of word vomit occurred. “Essence told Kanon that she would love to whistle with me one day! Who tells a child that?! Of all the inappropriate —”

Ericka doubled over in laughter, causing his words to stop. “Oh my God, you have no idea what she was talking about, do you?!” she said.

He rubbed the back of his neck. “Well, the way it sounded was a bit off-putting.”

Ericka shook her head. “I think it has something to do with Essence and your past. She said that she was terrified of staying here because she would wind up whistling, but then she fell in love with you, and realized the prospect of ‘spending a lifetime with the song that made her want to whistle’ made her not afraid anymore.” She opened her eyes wide, beckoning him to understand.

Kano stared at her, finally catching on. His thoughts traveled to the night they first talked about her turning. Where Essence rambled about the fact that she thought whistling with him would be more than nice. Putting two and two together, he stood for a moment, stunned. “She was talking about marriage,” he whispered.

“Ding, ding, ding! Tell the alpha what he’s won, Bob!” Ericka shouted, clapping her hands dramatically.

He backed into the wall. “She wanted to marry me even before she was a wolf or affected by our imprinting.”

Ericka gave him a genuine smile. “You really have no clue how much she loves you, do you? Essence’s brain may have told her she would never return, but her heart truly never left. Alpha, as much as you’ve been out of sync, so has she—so much so her MS took a toll on her body a lot worse than it should have.”

“B-because of me?”

She teetered her head back and forth. “Yes, and no. Your wolves are linked in a serious way. It’s quite incredible, and terrifying the way they need one another, but then again, I think you know that, too.” Reaching into her back pocket, she placed an item in his hand.

He stared at it. “Where did you get this from?”

“I took it from Essence’s dresser.”

“You stole her engagement ring?!”

Ericka cocked her head back. “Whyareyouyellinglikeacrazyman?” Folding her arms to her chest, she scowled. “Two things. First, stealing implies I had no intention of giving it back, which obviously I did because I gave it to you. Second, that’s not her engagement ring. It’s some bullshit you slammed into her hand when you were mad.” His eyes widened, and she cut hers. “Yeah, I know that shit you pulled,” she said.

Letting out a loud huff, he looked around. “You know, I’m really growing concerned about what type of alpha I’m portraying, because none of you seem to care about the said title.”

Ericka laughed at his pout and he chuckled. “Alpha Kano, we all respect you so much that we desire a genuine friendship. A part of that genuine friendship is accountability on both sides. Luna literally thought you hated her, and still she spoke nothing but good about you. She poured so much love about you into others, it never became a question to us whether we would be honored to have you as alpha and Cayden as beta. I think you should consider that in juxtaposition to the proposal you laid out in front of her as a response.”

Kano looked down at the ring, and his stomach turned. Though expensive, it wasn’t his mother’s, and it wasn’t the one that he knew belonged to his luna. More than that, he also knew they both owed one another an honest conversation. He patted Ericka on the shoulder and then rubbed the back of his neck.

She smirked. “It’s on your nightstand.”

“What?”

“You were about to ask me if I could give you information on Essence’s MS. There’s a cataloged journal on your table. Everything you need to know is in there.”

Eyes the size of the moon, he watched Ericka as she seemed to float silently towards the kitchen. He heard his wolf.

“She and the other one scare the hell out of me, but I also like them very much.”

He chuckled. “Funny, I was just thinking the same thing.”


Kano entered his bedroom and quickly grabbed the journal that sat on his nightstand. Leaning back on the headboard of his bed, he read the in-depth notes and information about Essence’s progression over the years. His heart ached learning about her symptoms, and Kanon’s complicated birth. He rubbed his face, feeling slightly defeated. “Belle, I’m so sorry,” he murmured.

“I-I’m sorry, too.” He looked up and saw Essence standing at his door with her arms wrapped around her waist. She bit the side of her lip. “I should have communicated better. I should have worked with you to find a way out of everything. The more I think about it, the more I realize so much of me never really believed you wrote that letter. It was just easier to think you hated me than to think that you could have any shred of love for me left after I hurt you how I did. It was cruel of me to let my fear stop me from trying to reach you again. I’m so sorry for the pain I caused you, and what I took away. I was just really scared that night, Adam, and I couldn’t let”—she wiped her eyes—“I couldn’t let you die.”

Standing, he hurried to her and grabbed her in his arms. He kissed the top of her head. “I understand. It may still hurt, but I promise I understand,” he whispered.

Holding onto him, her eyes shifted to the book on the bed. She pulled away, walked over, and picked it up. Her fingers thumbed through the pages, and as she read its contents, she turned to find Kano staring intensely at her. On the sides of Ericka’s notes were some of his own. Scribbles of things he needed clarification on, notations of schedules to ease stress. She covered her mouth, seeing one notation written bigger than the others. “Request per wolf: Luna is to be told every day that we love her. It makes her feel better,” she read out loud.

Kano gave her a small smile. “Admittedly, I would have done that anyway, but he was very adamant that he would kick me from the inside out if I didn’t.”

Essence heard her own wolf give a low growl of content that made her eyes turn blue. Upon sensing the change in its mate, Kano’s wolf reacted immediately. As he reached for her again, the clock of the castle gave a loud ring, and both their faces paled, realizing it had been exactly six hours and thirty minutes since breakfast. She cleared her throat. “M-Maybe we just talk? There’s still a lot to discuss.”

He nodded feverishly. “Yes, yes, let’s talk. Just talk.” Walking to his dresser, he pulled out different shirts before settling on a sweater. “Here,” he said, handing it to her.

“I’m not cold,” Essence responded, looking at him in confusion.

“Maybe not, but you’re proving to be quite distracting to me right now.”

“What are you—” Looking down, she quickly covered her hardened nipples. “Fucking hell, that’s embarrassing,” she said, her face flushed as she grabbed the sweater.

Kano closed his eyes, trying to get the imagery out of his mind. “Maybe we can go talk in the den or outside—just somewhere that’s not my room or yours.”

She scoffed. “Don’t be dramatic, they’re just breasts. You’ve seen my breasts.”

“Not in five years. Between your reaction and your pheromones, it’s hard to focus because now I want some.” Essence’s mouth dropped at his crassness, and he shrugged. “What? If we are to move forward in honesty, then I should be able to admit respectfully to you that you have spectacular trim.”

“Stop that!” she shouted, swatting him with the book. Kano belted a laugh at the fluster on her face. “That is not funny, Kano!”

“You’re right. I’m sorry. You know what? I think I should pay a penance.” He raised his brows up and down suggestively. “How about I let you treat me like a dollar hoe?” Unable to hold her laughter anymore, Essence chased Kano down the hall to continue their talk.