8 8: Happy Endings

Amelia

The next four days went at a snail's pace and I don't really remember most of it. The pain was indescribable...it was like I was being stabbed in the stomach with a fiery, poisonous blade that numbed all my senses except for pain. Even the slightest brush of my skin had me in agony. The toll it took on my body showing even now and I know that there is no way that I can go through that again. Next time this happens, I won't ask Bruno to be locked up...

" Amelia, dear, how are you feeling?" Debra asked me. I sat up from my place on the couch and smiled. She breathed an audible sigh of relief and sat next to me on the couch.

" You are so strong, Amelia. I have never seen a woman resist the urge to run to their mates for their whole heat," she said as she threw her arms around me in a hug. Janae came out a few seconds later and sat on the other side of me.

" Don't sign me up for that ever. That was horrible just to watch, I don't know what you must've been feeling," she said with a shiver.

" Don't worry Janae, she only went through heat this quickly because she is mated to an Alpha. The need for an heir is much higher and the urges of an Alpha are much more powerful," Debra said with a knowing look. She then got up from the couch and pulled something out of a small wooden box that sat on her bureau. She walked over and handed me a small metal object that I recognized as a key.

" Why don't you go get my son out of the dungeons," she said with light laughter coating her voice.

I nodded and stood from the couch. My joints protested at the movement and there was a strong stiffness in them. I walked to the front door and unlocked it. I was blinded by the light it being the first time I had been outside in four days and my way was blocked by two strong, female backs. The turned around when they realized that the door was open.

" Luna, how are you feeling?" one of them asked.

" I am feeling much better now, thank you. You can go home now though it's over," I said and they nodded running off into the woods.

I walked slowly from Debra's small cottage to the pack house following the scent of breakfast foods. All heads turned to me when I entered the pack house and many of the women looked at me with pity. I stood tall though and pretended that their looks didn't bother me. I went straight for the basement door, not being able to wait to see Bruno again and to apologize for the grief that I put him through. I pulled on the knob, but it wouldn't budge then I realized what the key was for. I put the key in the lock and clicked open with no issue.

I walked down the stairs and every guard that passed me bowed and had the same look of pity on their faces. I hated that everyone knew what had happened but I also knew that it was apart of pack life and when you're a Luna all things dealing mating becomes pack knowledge. The further I went down the stairs, the smell of metal and rogues got stronger. The cells, with thick bars of iron that had scratch marks up and down them, lined three of the four walls, leaving an open wall for shackles or chains to hang from heavy iron rings. A number of the cells were inhabited and by the horrible stench, I knew they held rogues. All pack houses had these dungeons and they are usually used to hold prisoners until they can be transferred to the council-run facilities or the prisoners are disposed of. I didn't even want to guess what will befall the man sitting in these cells.

Looking around at the rest of the room, there wasn't much. I guard stood at each inhabited cell and there was a table with a few chairs set up in the middle of the room. Then hanging from two of the heavy iron rings was a disheveled looking Bruno. His hands and legs were shackled to the wall and he was kneeling with his head down. He was dirty and from the looks of it, covered in dried sweat. I raced over to him and kneeled down next to him.

" Bruno?" I said in an indecisive voice, grabbing onto the chains that he was trapped by. There was a small spark and then his head snapped up and he stared into my eyes.

" Amelia? Are you alright? Is it over?" he asked scanning my body for any wounds. I threw my arms around and snuggled into his chest.

" I'm so sorry, Bruno. I didn't mean to put you through this I just wasn't ready to..." I said trailing off at the end.

" Don't worry about me, Amelia. You had it much worse than I did and I understand that you didn't want our more primal needs to make us rush into things that we weren't ready for," he said understandably.

" Guard, please unshackle him," I said firmly. They nodded and moved over to the wall, grabbing the keys.

He unlocked Bruno's arms and then his legs. I helped him to stand and sat him down in one of the chairs in the room. I pulled a chair over and sat across from him. He stared at me and when I sat down he put his hands on my cheeks. He placed a gentle kiss on my forehead and then pulled back to look at me.

" I missed you, Bruno. I know it was only four days and we have known each other for a little while, but I had gotten used to having you around and then you weren't and ..." I rambled not really knowing where I was going with my words.

" I missed you too, Amelia," he said with a smile.

" Why don't we spend the day together?" I proposed.

" Doing what?" he asked.

" Whatever we want," I replied incredulously.

" Ok," he answered simply.

" But first we both need a shower and a change of clothes," I said humorously.

" I couldn't agree more," he said noticing his current attire and odor. Then he raised an eyebrow at me.

" Are those my clothes?" he asked as he thumbed the collar of the shirt I had on. I looked at the clothes, by the masculine style and overwhelming scent of Bruno coming off of it I concluded with a giggle,

" Yes, they are."

We stood from our chairs and went up the stairs that I had just come down. The whole pack was looking at us as we went through the living room. I smiled at them and Bruno nodded at some of the waving members. By the time we had gotten to our rooms, I swear we had gotten the attention of the whole pack and staff alike. They all knew very well what I had gone through these last days and that we had both resisted the primal urges that the heat called for; in lamest terms, I wasn't an official Luna yet.

" I am never going to get used to that," I said, shaking my head and running from fingers through my hair.

" Didn't you get stares in your pack?" he asked.

" Not really...everybody knew me so they didn't have to stare," I said.

" I don't even notice it anymore...I promise that you will get used to it," he replied, then he pulled me closer to him and looked down into my eyes. They swirled with power and I knew that his wolf was slightly showing himself.

" You'll get used to it because you aren't going anywhere," he said in a much more gruff and assertive voice. Then he placed his forehead against mine and stared into my eyes. With a lingering kiss on my cheek, we parted ways and went to our rooms.

When I got the door shut, I slide down it and buried my burning cheeks in my knees. Where his lips had touched my skin was tingling and I could still feel where his hands had wound themselves around my waist. I was acting like a lovesick pup and we hadn't even kissed...what is wrong with me? I have never been like this. I used to pride myself on being better than all those girls in the pack, but now I was one of them. But...I just couldn't help it. The way he made me feel was different from anything that I had ever experienced before and I knew that I didn't want it to go away.

Thinking better than to make Bruno wait I got up from the floor and walked into my ensuite bathroom. With a quick shower, I threw on some of my most appropriate comfortable clothes and walked downstairs to find Bruno. It was easy thought all I had to do was walk towards the large crowd of fawning women. They will all abuzz with questions that I couldn't even keep up with.

" Yes, she is one of the nicest people I have ever met...I don't know...Yes, my mother has met her and yes my father does like her...You would have to ask her that..." There were hundreds of questions being thrown at him from every angle and he was actually doing a great job at answering most of them. I fought my way through the crowd until I got the middle.

" Ladies, I'm sorry that will be all the questions he can answer because we have plans. But I'm sure that he will get around to answer them all later," I said and the crowd sighed as they walked away leaving us to stand together in the living room.

" Geez, I had no idea that I would have to fight off an angry pack of women to get to spend time with you," I said with a laugh.

" Yeah, my mom's friends. They all just want to get to know you and they're not alone. The whole pack wants to know who their Luna is," he said scratching the back of his head.

" Well, tonight I just want to spend some time with their Alpha. The pack can wait their turn," I said.

" That they can. Now, what does their beautiful Luna have planned for the two of us?" he asked.

" I thought that we could order some take out and just watch movies. You get to know a lot about a person by the movies they own," I said.

" I like this idea, but what would we be ordering?" he asked.

" Chinese?" I suggested.

" Sounds like a plan. I have some menus from this great place in the city. It's owned by one of our pack members so they will deliver it all the way out here, but first I have to show you something," he said as he walked behind me and placed his large mitts over my eyes.

" If I run into something I am blaming you," I said as he began to lead me somewhere.

" I won't you run into something, I promise."

We walked from the next couple minutes and when he uncovered my eyes I gasped. He has an in-home movie theater!!!

" No way! This is so cool! I always begged for my father to put one of these in our pack house," I said while jumping around the room. He watched me and laughed for a second but then he turned and walked over to the wall. He pushed his palm into the wall and it opened a large cabinet. The compartment had tons of movies inside it. Ranging from Disney to Deadpool, I couldn't believe that he had this many movies.

" How do you choose?" I asked staring at the hundreds of discs.

" It's a challenge but I usually just let the pups choose what to watch," he said.

" Why don't you choose then? You don't always get this opportunity," I said.

" Why not? Let's see...." he said as he began to rummage through the cabinet. After a few moments, he pulled out something surprising. He held the case for "The Princess Bride" in his fingers.

" I didn't peg you for a chick flick fan," I said.

" What can I say, I'm a sucker for happy endings," he said with a cheeky smile. Then he disappeared through a door. I saw him again through a piece of glass as he loaded the movie into the projector. I let him do that while I found a seat near the middle.

These weren't your typical theater seats though. They were large leather loveseats that could comfortably fit two people and I imagined that they often did. I sat down and pulled a blanket from the bin next to me; throwing it over my body. Bruno came down the elevated rows and seat down in the seat next to me.

" I'm going to have one of the warriors bring us a menu and a phone," he said as he pulled the blanket over himself as well.

I nodded and kept my eyes on the screen as the beginning credits began to roll onto the screen. I could quote this movie's every line but I still loved watching because I too was a sucker for happy endings.

I hope that we both get the happy ending that we are looking for...