The Luna's Pure Heart
The Luna’s Pure Heart – Chapter 26

(Eleanor pov)

After making my way upstairs and collapsing onto the bed, I tossed and turned for a couple of hours, my mind constantly racing and going back to that time in the kitchen with Damion. Once I finally gave up on sleep, I lazily rolled over, stretching my arms as I began coming up with a game plan and how I would go about this.

Jane mentioned that Damion usually eats dinner at 7:00 pm on the dot downstairs in the dining room. So my goal is to go downstairs and cook for him..honestly, I thought about trying to catch him off guard and force him to have dinner with me..but the whole breakfast thing didn’t go well so I convinced Jane to let me do it as a surprise. I also learned that Damion likes practically anything but pickles, I guess he loathes pickles. Which made it hard for me not to smile and laugh when she was telling me this. Picturing Damion with a frown on his face while looking down at a pickle filled my imagination. Why was my mental image of Damion so freaking adorable? What was wrong with me…

I hopped out of bed, pulling on my jeans and gathering my thick silver hair up in a bun. Once I slipped on my shoes and headed out the door, I found Pierce standing by his previous guarding station and my heart dropped. s**t, was I not allowed to leave again? I thought considering earlier that wasn’t the case anymore.

I quickly composed myself and placed a soft smile on my face. Trying not to show any hesitation and act like I was allowed to leave.

“Hello Pierce, I would like to go down to the kitchen please.” I asked as sweetly as possible, holding my breath as I watched Pierce’s gaze studying me.

He nodded his head tightly and turned to press the elevator button. It took everything in me not to fist-pump the air and do a celebratory dance.

“Thank you.” I smiled brightly as we both entered the elevator. He seemed more quiet than usual, which was saying something…considering he was pretty quiet already.

“I made some scones earlier and was wondering if you wanted to take them back with you when your shift is over. I don’t know why I made so many.” I uttered, trying to read his expression as he met my gaze.

“Thank you, Miss Winters.” He nodded once more, the corners of his mouth lifting into a smile as I couldn’t help but return it.

Before I could say anything else we were already on the first floor. As soon as the door opened I went to step forward and stopped right in my tracks. My heart began to race and my stomach flipped uncontrollably. Right ahead of us was Damion and he was speaking with Lucas. Damion wore a white button-up shirt with dark blue dress pants. His long blonde hair was tied back and his neck was bared for all to see..just hours ago my fingers were gripping those golden locks, his firm body between my legs, and his lips pressed to mine.

My mouth suddenly became dry, my palms sweating profusely and my legs unable to move. Pierce looked at me with confusion as Damion’s eyes met mine. I swallowed hard, all of those nerves traveled down, settling into my stomach as I forced myself to step forward. I needed to talk to him, to see him and hear his voice.

I began striding toward him, my legs practically breaking into a jog as he watched me close the distance.

Next thing I know, he quickly ended his conversation with Lucas and turned a complete 180, and practically ran the hell out of there. I stopped, my eyes blinking rapidly as my heart began to feel a new emotion..complete rejection… The look on his face finally registered in my mind. It wasn’t a look of happiness and excitement, it was a look of annoyance, and a desperation to get as far away from me as possible. My heart dropped…so he did regret what we did.

‘What an a*****e.’

Kari growled, making me feel even worse…why did it have to be like this?

Lucas walked over towards me, obviously seeing the hurt on my face as he looked at me with pity.

“He is just stressed out right now, there is a party in two days and a lot of important people are coming. Please…don’t take it personally.” Lucas tried to tell me, making excuses for him but I knew he was just trying to make me feel better.

I quickly pushed down those emotions, placing a fake smile on my face as I refused to let that sadness bubble up. Not here…not in front of all of these people.

“I understand.” I lied, not wanting to make a big deal out of this.

“I did want to speak with you, Elle.” Lucas started, placing his hand on my arm gently and then pulling away just as quickly as my skin had burned him. I looked at him with confusion, his eyes clouding over as he cleared his throat and motioned for me to follow him. What was that about?

Pierce kept behind us at a safe distance as I was led to a sitting area. All the furniture was black and white, making the room look sleek with that spotless untouched look like everything else in this place.

Once we were by the loveseat, I sat down slowly as Lucas took the seat across from me. It’s so strange, even though Lucas and Lance were twins and looked practically the same, they couldn’t be any more different personality-wise.

“I have contacted River Rock like we talked about before.” He began speaking, his words making me and Kari perk up immediately.

“What did they say? Did you find out if they were there? Did you speak with Helen? Is everyone okay?” I questioned rapidly, causing him to chuckle and lift his hand like he wanted to touch me. Suddenly he pulled back once again, like touching me brought him pain or something.

“Calm down Elle, let me get to it first.” He spoke gently, his silver eyes warming as he cleared his throat.

“Yes, they did arrive at River Rock and are there safe. And your friend Helen..boy is she a spitfire..” he mumbled, making me lunge forward as I wrapped my arms around him.

“Thank you, thank you so much.” I couldn’t hold on to my excitement..they were okay…it was all worth it..all of it.

Lucas stiffened beneath me as I slowly pulled back, feeling awkward as he seemed to look away from me.

“Sorry..” I whispered, looking down at my hands as he shook his head no.

“No..it’s okay, we just..well…King Damion has made a few new rules we need to follow.” He admitted sheepishly, looking over towards Pierce.

“What new rules?” I was confused..what could he possibly be talking about?

“We will get to them when I finish telling you about River Rock.” He quickly changed the subject. I had a bad feeling about these rules but those can wait…I was just happy my friends were okay.

“Yes..sorry..what did Helen say?” I asked curiously, meeting his gaze once more as I twisted my fingers together nervously.

“Well, she said a lot..that’s for sure. Once she found out you were in Night Shade..let’s just say she had a few choice words to threaten me with if we did anything to hurt you.” He grumbled, causing me to laugh as I couldn’t help but grin. That’s my Helen alright..never afraid to speak her mind.

“I told her you are safe. Don’t worry, I didn’t go into detail and just said you are residing in the castle for now, I wasn’t sure what you were comfortable with sharing. Or if you wanted to tell her the news.” He quickly added, making me nod my head as I bit my l*p nervously. What would she think when she finds out I am Mated to the Alpha King?

“Here, this is her cellphone number, she said to call her tonight when you have time.” He quickly handed me a sheet of paper and I looked down at it happily…I can’t believe this…they were safe, they were finally free.

“Thank you so much Lucas…truly, this means the world to me. The fact that they are okay..that…that..” I couldn’t hold it in any longer..the tears began to blur my vision as I wiped them away quickly. Oh goddess…why was I such a mess. A wave of relief crashed through me, knowing everything I did actually made a difference. That I helped them in some way, that they finally had the chance to live, to truly be free made me fill with a happiness like no other.

Lucas watched me intently, his hands balling into fists as he comforted me with his words.

“It’s okay, she wanted me to make sure you knew they were all okay.” He smiled kindly and I nodded my head, sniffling as I let out a nervous laugh.

“I’m sorry, I never usually get this emotional.” I quickly tried to compose myself as Pierce walked over, handing me a tissue. I smiled softly at him and clutched Helen’s number in my fist.

To be honest, there was another reason why I was crying, one that I would never admit out loud..a reason I didn’t even want to admit to myself…I knew deep down that whatever life they would have, that they would be able to experience…somehow I knew I would never know that type of happiness. I was envious…jealous even…they had gotten their freedom and while I wasn’t an omega and serving in B***d Moon anymore…I also knew I wasn’t free, I was as much of a prisoner here as I was there. I won’t let them know that I was aware of that though…I will act blissfully unaware, but I’m not stupid. The Alpha King would never let me walk out of here, whether he accepts me as his mate or not. Something deep down inside of me knew with either outcome, I would never truly be free.