Chapter 22: Chapter 22

~Ariana's POV~

I had met Luca only recently, he was a respected warrior of the Crescent Moon Pack and Talons close friend, he started hanging with us when Talon revealed he was to be his personal body guard, he was really nice to me but we hadn't really talked as he tended to keep to himself, I had been too busy as well, perhaps it was time to remedy that, I thought, swimming out of the lake.

I grabbed a towel Dan handed me, wrapping it round myself, before grabbing two plates heaped with food that Mia had prepared, I ignored her glare and headed towards Luca,

"hey." I said taking a seat beside him, he looked up at me,

"Hi Luna." he replied, before looking down again, I sighed, handing him a plate, he looked at me before taking it and we began eating quietly, after he was done, he placed the plate aside and turned to me,

"if you have something you want to ask me, then do so Luna, I'm obliged to give you a honest answer." he said.

"I do not care for your obligations Luca, the only answer you will give me, is the one you are willing to share, anything beyond that is not my place to pry." I said with finality, he looked up at me before nodding, I sighed,

"forgive my curiosity Luca, it might just be me over thinking things, but why are you always so sad?" I asked straight forwardly, he didn't reply for sometime and I actually concluded he wasn't going to,

"I do not know myself, I have asked the same question, why do I let myself feel this way, I have been unable to come up with an answer." he replied, I was quiet for a measure of time, before deciding to just say it,

"where is your mate Luca?" I asked softly and his eyes darkened as he frowned,

"you don't have to answer." I quickly added, he didn't reply and I didn't push, we just sat there quietly and after a while he spoke,

"she's not dead if that's what you're thinking Luna." he said laughing softly, I turned to him, smiling sheepishly, I had been mentally reprimanding myself for reminding him of his loss, it must have showed on my face.

"Sorry about that, I probably shouldn't have made assumptions." I apologized, he looked at me funnily for a second,

"do not apologize to me Luna, you did no wrong." he said, and I nodded, turning my attention to the forest floor, I picked up a small branch and started drawing patterns on the soft soil, pondering over some things, a sad voice broke through my thoughts,

"she did not want me." I heard Luca say, I turned to him.

"who?" I asked, and he sighed,

"my mate Luna, she rejected me." he explained, I didn't reply, quietly processing his words.

"Who is it? Your mate, who is she?" I asked him and he sighed,

"Claire." he said and I nodded wordlessly, somehow, I wasn't surprised, but I was damn angry, rejecting her mate and going after my men, what a certified bitch,

"I know what you're thinking right now Luna, yeah, she's always had her eyes on the Alpha and now the leader of the pride as well, she's a horrible person, and I should hate her, but I can't seem too, instead I find myself still caring deeply for her, and hoping someday, she'd come to her senses, I'm a fool aren't I Luna?" He said laughing hollowly, I remained silent for a while, before replying,

"no Luca, you're not a fool, you know, courage is knowing it might hurt and doing it anyways

Stupidity is the same

And that's why life is hard, so no you're not a fool, willing to accept your mate despite her numerous shortcomings, you're a good man Luca, you have my deepest admiration." I said standing up and, tilting my head down slightly in respect the way they always did in my presence, he stared at me a new glow in his eyes that wasn't there before and unknown to me, my simple act had given strength and purpose to a broken man and in turn gained me the unflinching loyalty and service of this shifter, and as time went on, my little unconscious acts to this jilted warrior, would earn me an ally, a protector, a friend, a pillar of strength..... and in time he would come to be known as my shadow, walking towards Jake, I ignored Grey's presence,

"so are you gonna be able to make out time to practice, or.... ?" I asked and he stood up instantly, blushing,

"you forgot, yeah, I noticed." I said cutting him off before he could explain, he blushed harder and I rolled my eyes, hiding the slight smile that made it's way to my lips. He followed me as I spread a separate blanket, getting my case, we sat down and I brought out my guitar.

He handed me a list of songs and I nodded,

"so I'm gonna play any of them and you sing?" I asked, he nodded and I smiled in agreement,

"let's start light yeah?" I said as I began playing the tune to Ed Sheeran's Perfect, he glared at me as I chuckled, but closed his eyes and awaited his tone, as he opened his mouth I stopped playing, he looked at me in confusion, everyone was watching us now,

"take a deep breath Jake, let go slowly, don't just sing it, feel it, make the words your own, make the emotions your own, make the message your own." I instructed, he nodded, closing his eyes, when he opened his eyes again, I knew he was ready,

"Good, now blow me away." I said as I began playing, his beautiful tenor voice rang out perfectly to match the tone of my instrument.

"I found love, fo...r me, Darling just dive right in, follow my lead...

I've found a girl, beautiful and sweet, I never knew you were the someone waiting for me....

Cos we were just kids when we fell in love, not knowing what it was, I will not give you up this ti....me" he stopped, looking at me and I raised a brow, he shrugged,

"just continue for me a bit, I want to see how it sounds when I come in." he requested, I rolled my eyes but nodded, taking a deep breath before playing from where I left off, my alto rang out softly in the quiet forest,

"darling just kiss me slow, your heart is all I own and in your eyes you're holding mine...." At this point, Jake's voice joined mine in perfect symphony.

"ba..by I, dancing in the dark, with you between my arms, barefoot on the grass, listening to our favorite song,  when you said you looked a mess, I whispered underneath my breath, you heard it, darling you look perfect tonight..." We finished off the first part and our little audience clapped crazily, Jake laughed as Grey stared at him in shock and awe, I didn't blame him, Jake's voice was amazing, Jay was beside me in an instant, grinning,

"that was amazing." he said and I shrugged,

"amazing is the understatement of the year." Talon cut in, coming into view and I laughed,

"it was mostly Jake you know." I said, they both scoffed and I laughed again.

Turning to Jake, he finished up with the song while the twins went in the lake, with the pouty looks Grey was throwing our way, I could see he really wanted his mate back, rolling my eyes, I stood up. Jake gave me a questioning look and I smiled,

"considering you're Grey's mate, I believe you'll be coming around the pride house a lot, we'll have enough time to practice then, for now, why don't you and your mate enjoy your first day together, the lakes warm and if you go deep enough, I promise we won't see you guys." I said wiggling my brows,

Jake blushed hard, rushing to his mate and I laughed, It seemed Grey heard our conversation cause he gave me a huge grin a grateful look in his eyes, I scoffed turning away, I wouldn't let that growling episode go so easily.

Jay sat beside me on my blanket as we both watched the twins and the couple playing in the lake, Jay turned to me, looking at me with so much adoration in his eyes, I raised a brow and he laughed

"thank you Ana, for giving this a chance." he said, and I nodded smiling before my eyes were drawn to Talons, I looked at him sadly and Jay sighed,

"do you hate Talon Jay, for what he did?" I asked softly, he sighed again, he's eyes taking on a faraway look, after a while he replied,

"how could I?" He said sadly,

"I never have and I probably never will" he continued,

"but you still care for him?" I asked, he hesitated for a bit before his features hardened,

"I used to, after the rejection I mean, I still hoped, but right now, I don't know anymore." he said tiredly.

I took his hand in mine, smiling at the now familiar shocking feeling, I glanced at Talon again sadly, as expected he was watching us, I no longer felt the biggest problem was finding out Talon's reasons and finding a way around them, the biggest problem now was, should we succeed with Talon, would Jay still be willing to accept him, or had he really reached his last straw, I sighed again, standing up, taking of the towel and going into the lake, I needed some distance from them right now, if things were gonna work out the way I wanted them to, then I needed to think.

It was getting dark already when we left, Grey and Jake had taken a truck to go to Jake's, Caine went with them, in my truck now, Jay was driving, Leo and Kayla were at the back, I took the passengers seat with a sigh, the other truck consisted of Talon driving, Luca at shot gun and the twins at the back, it seems they had split up accurately this time, I rolled my eyes but didn't try to change things, I had other thoughts occupying my mind right now, if there was one thing this trip had given me, it was a better insight on the current state of Talon and Jaylen's relationship.

It wasn't looking promising, I understood clearly now why my help was necessary, countless times in my presence they had seemed to forget their rilvary, however between the two of them was so much hurt, disappointment, betrayal, I was confused on where to start, what I was sure of however is that if anyone could help them, it was me, and I planned on doing just that, first of all, I had to work with them individually like I had initially planned, if I could just heal even a bit of the hurt they both felt, then I was sure we could then work something out, somehow this had become a little more personal for me than it had been initially.

When we got to the mansion, Jay parked and I tiredly got out the truck with my case in hand, heading into the house.

"You okay?" I heard someone ask, turning to see Luca by my side, I smiled nodding as he took the case from me and we both went into the kitchen, he got a bottle of water from the fridge and handed it to me, just as I was about receiving it we heard a shout.

"What the hell is going on here?" Claire yelled coming into the kitchen, I raised a confused brow before realizing my hand was about to brush Luca's to collect the bottle and I sighed tiredly, how dramatic.

The guys had all come in at that moment too and a few other people Claire's shout had drawn their attention, she walked up to me, grabbing the bottle from Luca, my friends and the guys were about to interfere but I shook my head, they quietly walked up to us, took their seats, all still looking warily at her.

Luca rolled his eyes as she glared sharply at him,

"so this is what you're up to now huh?" She snapped at him and he sighed

"what exactly are you even talking about?" He asked and she growled,

"you know exactly what I'm talking about Luca!" she said angrily, I was already tired and being interrupted so rudely from my thoughts had my mood down right sour so the moment she turned on me, my anger was already at a dangerous level,

"you..." She began loudly, pointing a finger in my direction, I raised a deadly glare to her cutting her short immediately,

"hey, hey, don't even start with me right now okay, who the hell are you about to address in that tone, listen clearly, if my survival ain't in your hands then you'd do well to lower your voice when you speak to me, its in your best interest Claire, don't be unfortunate....and that's mine." I said icily grabbing the bottle of water she had collected from Luca, I picked up my case and pushed through the crowd she had attracted, heading to my room, before I did something I wouldn't regret.

I left my door open , knowing the twins were coming after me, dropping my guitar case, I sat on the edge of my bed, they both began laughing immediately Dan shut my door,

"don't be unfortunate, mehn Ana." Dan said laughing and I rolled my eyes but smirked slightly shrugging, Mia chuckled seating besides me,

"Talon will handle her." she assured me, I chuckled,

"there's no need." I replied, she smiled,

"the news has already spread through the pack link of how the Luna shut Claire up, they all believe you're a force to be reckoned with and you will earn a massive fanbase by morning." Mia informed me and I laughed, pushing them both out of my room, I locked the door, took a quick shower and went straight to bed, drifting off to sleep the moment my head touched the pillow.