LUNA ASTERBELLE’S POV
I chose to let him hug me instead of pushing him away. The warmth in his embrace made me feel a sense of nostalgia. He was the first one to step back, but both of his hands still had contact with my forearms.
“Are you Mr. Asterbelle?” I asked, making it obvious that I don’t recognize him at all.
He didn’t seem to like my first query, seeing how he pressed his lips together, which made his dimples visible. “Yes, I am. I’m Denrick Asterbelle, your father, and my wife is Charlotte Asterbelle. I would understand that you don’t remember a single thing about what kind of life you had here. Let’s go inside so we can have a proper and decent conversation while sitting,” he said, inviting us inside the office.
The three of us sat together on a single couch. We instantly saw Yuki from the other corner, and when she noticed our presence, she hurriedly went to sit beside her brother, Nero. My lips curled a little bit to form a small smile when I saw how the Holmes were glad to be reunited.
“How have you been, Jerome?” Denrick asked my mate, which surprised the both of us.
We even took a peek at each other before Jerome answered. “I-I’m fine, I guess…”
Denrick chuckled as he sat above the table that was in the center, almost making the vase fall from it. “I’m really happy that the two of you ended up together. I was anxious when I left both of you at the orphanage,” he said, leaving us in silence, so he had to continue for us to get what he was trying to say.
Based on everything that Denrick told us, Jerome and I were kindergarten classmates and close friends. It was difficult for us to be separated. Our teachers noticed something different from us after a few months; they said that we kept on howling every break time, which scared the other students, so they had to kick us out of school. It was the main reason why Denrick had to go through the portal he found in some random forest while he was on vacation with his wife.
That’s where they discovered the existence of werewolves. The couple first encountered Brian in Grimstone, together with his son, Jin. They were the ones who took us to the orphanage, and I already knew what would happen afterwards, so I stopped him from continuing.
“But how were Jerome and I close? What about his parents?” I asked out of curiosity.
"That was simply the work of the red string of fate. You were destined for each other from birth, I guess.” Denrick seemed to have second thoughts about whether he would answer my second question since he had to be quiet for an entire minute. “His father was nowhere to be found. He probably left their household to live his own life. And as for his mother—”
“She’s dead.” Jerome cut him off.
“You knew?” I looked at him; his eyes were covered in gloom.
“I believe I already told you before. I witnessed my mother being slaughtered in the house where I used to live in Grimstone. I even brought you there as the man in a hoodie, Eman, the hut where the scent reeked of blood,” Jerome replied with a bitter tone, so I placed my hand on his back and slowly caressed it. “Althea was only my mother in Grimstone, but she never gave birth to me. Moon Goddesses are all pure,” he added.
“What are your plans now that you have heard everything, Luna?” Denrick asked after he picked up his mobile phone from his pocket. “I’ll call my wife over; she’s been longing to see you too.”
Jerome held my hand. “Should we settle down here? We have nowhere else to go; Grimstone is probably crumbling as we speak,” he said.
The people we left behind in Grimstone would die if they didn’t discover the portal soon. I’m pretty certain that Zen and the rest who were with us would go back and enter after a year, but the others won’t even have another chance to live.
“That doesn't seem like a bad offer, but how about them?” I questioned, wondering about where the others would reside, knowing that they don’t have any relatives here.
“You don’t have to worry about them,” said a woman behind us who just entered the same room as us. “They would be under our care. We would provide all of their necessities until the day comes that they’ve fully adapted to our world,” she continued.
That voice sounded familiar.
“M-mom..?” I uttered, turning my head around to look at her. “Mom!”
Charlotte came to us. “More than a decade slipped by without me by your side. I can’t fully express in words how delighted you made me feel, hearing you call me your mom as if you recognized me just from my voice.” Just like Denrick, she hugged me like there was no tomorrow.
I finally feel like my whole life is complete. My real parents are here, and even Jerome. Plus, my friends.
If this was a dream, I hope I never wake up.
“Do you know where Yve and Yana are?” Yuki asked.
“We haven’t seen her at all. There wasn’t any trace of either of them,” Nero answered, bothered that his sister might not like his response.
“Oh, those sisters? They’re resting on the third floor; it’s where our wards are located. There are medical employees there. One of them still hasn’t regained consciousness since they arrived here; I think it was Yana. You can check them out before you have dinner,” Charlotte mumbled, which made me figure out why they were nowhere to be seen.
***
A week later, we have grown accustomed to how humans act and live their lives here. There’s not much difference compared to us, aside from the fact that they don’t eat the flesh of one another. Most of them don’t have any idea of the supernatural creatures; they only see those as myths that are yet to be proven to be real.
“I doubt that there’s a wolf in our country. How would we live in peace if there were werewolves breathing the same air as us? I’d rather die!” exclaimed by the woman who was getting her tray from the cashier.
I couldn’t do anything other than keep my mouth shut. I can’t just randomly talk to them to reveal my identity to them. Both Denrick and Charlotte warned me about it. They told us to keep our identities hidden because of how the government works.
We ate outside at a fast food chain, even though my parents insisted that we should have our meals at home to avoid any possible risk.
“Do you have any method to contact Zen?” I asked Nero, who just finished eating. He removed the vegetables, saying that his taste buds didn’t like them.
“Nope. I think the cellphones here don't function the same way as what we had in Grimstone. We can’t even use mind-links here. It’s as if we’re all forced to become mortals. I’m not even sure if I would still be able to regenerate like usual if I got injured,” he answered.
“Let’s give it a try,” Jerome said, holding onto the pointed knife as he kept on attempting to claim the beta’s wrist, which Nero persistently avoided. “Fine, I’ll be the one to show you.” He gave up.
“Wait, don’t!” I yelled at him, but it was too late for me to stop his intention.
Jerome got to slash his own wrist with an immediate gushing of his blood. I wiped those with the tissue that was given to us, while my vision focused on staring at how the cut quickly recovered.
I sighed in relief. “What if it didn’t heal? You could’ve died, Jerome! You didn’t have to do that just to brag about your quick regeneration ability,” I muttered in vexation.
Jerome just laughed at my reaction. And before I got out of my seat, a waitress came to our table, lending me a piece of paper. I tried to ask what the content was and who sent it, but I got no response, and she only said that it was placed by a stranger on their desk.
“Don’t tell me you already have a secret admirer?” Jerome protested after he saw how the entire envelope was too colorful.
I shook my head while I opened the envelope, bringing out the paper from it. “An invitation…” I murmured, unable to continue the next word.
It was a scheduled invitation for a wedding arrangement for Jerome and me!