19 Consolation

~Dante~

I wrapped my t-shirt around Noelle, letting the smooth cloth cover her shivering skin from the cold breeze of the fan. The windows are always locked in my room, curtains drawn and lights on.

When I heard the first knock, my initial thought was to tell her off but I could feel her distress.

I sigh reluctantly. I could feel her unease before she even showed up. The bond connects an alpha to his Luna. While she can increase my abilities, give me indescribable pleasure, and birth a powerful mix of a child for me, I have a part to play too.

Protecting her. Guiding her through whatever she needs. We're supposed to be a pair. That is kind of hard to do when I don't see anything in Noelle. She's like everyone else, only ten times more annoying. Her infection is reacting so poorly with her blood, I'd say it goes more into her genetics. But I have no idea what her parents looked like, or even their blood type or what they did before their tragic death. I'm assuming they're dead if she's all alone.

And I've heard some of her thoughts about them. Her mother got infected first, then something happened to her father. She doesn't dive deeper when she thinks about that particular night.

My fingers are a bit large, for a moment I find it hard to run a soft straight line from her nape to the curve at the top of her ass. Her sobbing hasn't stopped, not even for one minute.

I know what I have to do, the question is why aren't I doing it?

I don't want too. But sooner or later I will have to get closer to Noelle to understand why her body is changing differently. Especially with the moon festival approaching, and our wedding falling on the third day of it. The speculated time for a full moon. Who knows how she might react.

I usually force the pack to go for a run around the island, everyone stays close and no body is allowed to cave into instincts until we've gotten a bit of the high out of our systems.

With Noelle, a Luna, I can't predict what might happen during the full moon. My hands are tied. At some point, I'm going to need create a deeper bond.

Fuck. My. Life.

She nestled her face as much as she could, into chest. Even while seated fully on my lap, my size is still apparent.

'Tell me what happened.'

Her head swings left to right. My grip tightens, her fingers hook onto the collar of my shirt. As if begging me to make her tears stop. I'm not a miracle worker.

'Tell me, who were you running from?'

Pressing my lips to the top of her head, I deeply inhale her honey soaking scent. Feeling my insides melt. She smells divine. A little bit too good.

"T-" she gulps, removing her head from me to stare at the door. A small creak in the night, and Noelle shoves her face back. Almost climbing my body. I kept her in place, trying my best to calm her through simple rubs on her spine.

That was nothing. There are creaks in the house, it's not made of the perfect materials but it does the job. Some floorboards are loose. It could have been Micah, she doesn't sleep in her room. She has claimed the living space by the window as hers.

It could have also just been an animal.

I rocked her. Whatever she saw has her entire body shaking, and her eyes red. Almost swollen from crying. She continued to take in my scent, I hope it helps her. This trading of body heat is not really what I had in mind for tonight.

"There was a man in my room." She says stiffly, no stutter this time. I give a hum to let her know I'm listening. "At first, I thought it was you." What? Why would I be in her room? I haven't been there since I marked her. "Until some things started to feel odd. He wouldn't let me look at him. He had his hand covering my eyes. It felt wrong. He was cold. So cold. No eyes. Dante, I can't describe him. How did he get into my room? He said something about coming for me…."

Hmm, I don't think I've met a man without eyes. And if someone was in my home I would have sensed it.

'I think you were hallucinating, Noelle. It's very common during the early stages of the infection.'

She sniffles, rubbing her eyes with the sleeve of my shirt. I raised a single brow, she can be cute without trying. My neck tilts, taking in how my shirt swallowed her entire body. Not a bad look. I almost like it on her.

Almost. A part of me is uncomfortable with her wearing my clothes.

"How can that be a hallucination? Did I miss a part in the dictionary where they wrote about being able to feel it?"

No. You shouldn't be able to feel it. And I won't even go into why she was comfortable with me being in her room, how she was able to tell the difference between my touch and the touch whoever this so called guy is.

Unweaving my arms, Noelle is still clutching to me. I reached for her face, cupping both cheeks so I could see into those crescent beauties. The science behind this virus is fucked up. It shouldn't be possible for an infection to make someone beautiful.

'Can I see him?'

Her pupils suck in, and her thoughts run rampantly. Reminding me of why I hate being in her mind. She thinks a lot. Some times, it clashes and makes no sense. It would be difficult if I hadn't raised Lynx.

Her mind is a different kind of disaster.

"Yes. You'll see what I mean, he was very real Dante. So real and-"

Another hum and I buried my face in her neck, feeling the increase in the pacing of her pulse. And her hiccup as her breath hitches. My nose nuzzles the mark, taking in more of her honey scent. It's more potent around this area.

The image comes back. I see water, she's mumbling something. There's an itch in her skin. What the fuck was she doing burying her body in water? She pushes out of the tub like she had only been under there for a fraction of a second. The next thing I see her looking at the mirror, heat shoots through me at the glow of her marks.

Her reflection is…. Breathtaking. Droplets of water running down her pale skin, her marks accentuating the parts of her that are pink. The light of the bathroom providing me a good look at them. From her peaking in nipples too…

I'm grateful when she moves away, sliding under the covers to rest. Then something flips, and Noelle grows tense against.

With her eyes closed in the image, there isn't much I can get. I opted for waiting, rather than digging through to read what she had been thinking at the time. A few minutes go by, and then she turns her body around.

I yank my face away from her neck, sucking in as much air as I can into my lungs. This is a joke.

No, she's hallucinating.

"Dante? Did you see him?"

She dreamt that man. I've never seen him before, but I know the purple veins. I know what they are. I saw them once. Black dugs out eyes with the scratch marks done by a woman.

He's an alpha. Of some pack. Maybe one that isn't too far from mine. He must have found a way to connect with Noelle. She's been marked, yes, but our bond isn't very secure. I'm not keeping tabs on her like every alpha does when they get a Luna in their grasp.

And that is bad. It's bad for Noelle, meaning my pack is in a bit of a issue. The purple, he's sick. And of course I know why. It's very obvious, I have warned the alphas I've met. Fuck. Those alphas, they never listen.

They become hooked. Basing their entire life, they hunger for blood and power on having a Luna. And they'll tear through anything to get one. I dare that bastard to come to my pack to pull that bull shit.

But how? Still, I need an explanation on how he could connect with Noelle. She could feel his touch.

Am I wrong?

He could be something else. For all I know the infection might have had a different effect on other parts of the world.

"Dante?"

She searches through my eyes as I return from my time of thinking.

'Yes?'

"Did you see him?"

I thought about it. The need to lie is at the tip of my tongue, but what good will that do. What if I am right? And it was a hallucination? She can sense danger.

If he was real, her trigger would have activated. Or she would have perceived it.

This calms my heart beat.

'Mm. Yeah I saw him. I think he was all in your head.'

She throws me a look of disbelief. "Are you sure?"

'Yes. You're safe. You can stay in my room tonight, and I'll check yours first thing in the morning.'

"Okay."

I haven't shared a bed with any one besides Lynx, so I'm unable to close my eyes as Noelle falls into deep slumber. Shielded by the heavy weight of the duvet, and my body heat. She leaves no room for air between us.

The face of that man is in my head. Somehow, I think she knows him. I can't explain it, but my gut tells me she knows him from somewhere. She just can't remember him.