Lydia's POV:

He settled back in his chair, crossing his arms in a relaxed fashion as thought over something for a quick second.

"Well, before I get into that, there are a couple of things I think you should know beforehand," he inquired.

I just nodded, my mouth too full of food for any other kind of appropriate response.

The more information I can get the better.

"We as Lycans, for as long as our history has been recorded, have reverenced a Goddess. She is known by many names throughout the world; Selene, Cynthia, Diana, but we call her Luna, Goddess of the moon."

I found myself shifting my posture forward as soon as he began speaking, listening intently to each word.

Whether it was because of what he was saying or just simply the smooth tone his voice had.

"A lot of the beginning of our species history has been lost, but from what we have recorded, she's always been there. From the beginning of the history that we have, she's helped build and guide us as a hidden species. She's the one who bestows alphas with the power that we have, and we assume she's the one who gave us the power to shift between human and beast."

I had to catch myself from questioning him more about the power that the alphas carry.

Knowing myself if I had him stop to answer my question, only more would come from it and it would turn into a never-ending cycle.

But this whole mate thing has been practically haunting me ever since the word first left his mouth so I kept my mouth shut and listened.

"It's a give and take relationship between us and her. We heed and expedite her teachings and suggestions, keeping the land that we live in safe and sustained, and in exchange, she... in a way gifts us with ways that evolve the ways in which our species lives and grows. One of those gifts early on being the introduction of mates."

He paused for a moment, which wasn't odd until it passed a normal amount of time for someone to pause between thoughts.

And then I swore I could see just a hint of nervousness flash through his eyes

"Are the details of it hard to explain?" I asked.

"Uh..." He stammered a bit, eyes slowly shifting away from me and to the side. "Not exactly. It's just... I've been brought up with this information, and its normal knowledge and a common practice for us but it might come off as a bit... sudden for you."

Well, now I was even more curious.

Or nervous if the sudden sound of my heartbeat in my ears meant anything.

Which was odd...

Everything he's previously stated I took to well.

Despite it being new knowledge to me, it was like I had already accepted it as a fact without any further pondering.

I don't know why, but it just felt right I guess.

"Sudden how?" I queried.

Those alluring blue eyes fell back on me, causing a short burst of warmth to rise in my chest again.

I took another bite to distract myself as Luka cleared his throat, setting his elbows on the table.

"It's like a soulmate."

I nearly choked on the egg I was chewing, trying and failing to suppress the next couple coughs that forced themselves out of me.

I could have sworn he almost flinched at my reaction as if it hurt him.

Just like his words before, a part of me immediately accepted the short explanation he'd given, whereas the other half of me didn't know how to react at all.

Luka continued, now with a slightly distressed pinch in his brows.

"In exchange for our aid, she gave us a system in which we can easily find our... other half without the uncertain search and possibility of making a mistake of who we spend our lives with as humans do. The signs are unmistakable, as I'm sure you've felt them as well."

The tension in his shoulders became more evident by the second.

"T-that's what this is? The pull? That warmth?"

He just nodded.

"From the moment you were born, Lydia, Luna has deemed us as mates, and everything you've felt from me is because of that."

I just stared wide-eyed at him, my mind racing.

Never in my life had I expected nor even wanted the partnership of a man.

I looked down at my food, picking at it as I thought.

This all seemed so ridiculous, Goddess', soulmates, hell even werewolves, but I couldn't deny any of it.

That still didn't change the fact that him being 'my other half' so to speak wasn't that easy. Not for me at least.

He was right. This was sudden.

Goddess or not, there's no way something like that could be so easily obtained.

I mean he seemed nice and all, but that didn't mean I was just going to fall into his arms.

But these constant feelings I was getting from this mate pull were also making this difficult

"Luka I..." I didn't even know where to begin, "Is that it then? There's no other way to just hold off on this to get these feelings to ease up? We can't just reject-"

As soon as the word left my mouth, the air ripped from lungs as a sharp pain scraped through my chest.

It felt like something had stabbed into my sternum, now making the thought even finishing my sentence unbearable.

The pain quickly spread into the front of my head, causing a burst of fear to crawl over me before everything just stopped.

My now heavy breaths trembled a bit, as did the tips of my fingers.

The urge to go to him for comfort hit me just as soon as my next question.

What the hell?

I looked towards Luka for some sort of explanation but found him to have been through the same thing I just experienced.

Except the fear in his eyes looked like it surpassed what I felt.

Still, the thought of finishing what I had said prior had left my mind entirely.

"Nevermind," I heard myself say, "I don't want to-"

"No," Luka cut in, his voice a bit softer than usual.

He took a second to compose himself, "No, you should know. I don't want to keep anything about this from you, especially since you already seem skeptical about it."

A bit of me actually slumped in relief from that.

Honesty was also something that was hard to find amongst men.

"There is a way to," He swallowed, "reject the mate bond. It will cease the feeling that comes with being mated, and sever any connection that you've had with them. I can... explain the process if you'd like."

It looked like each word of that sentence caused him to ache.

Which made me practically mirror his expression

I thought over this for a second, thinking back to our previous conversations with this new knowledge, eventually deciding that knowing about this wasn't going to be worth it if it was going to cause both of us pain.

If I need the information, I'm sure I can get it later.

"No, I'm okay," I said

"Are you sure?"

I just nodded, letting a short silence overtake us before he spoke again.

"Look, Lydia, us being mated isn't the only reason I wanted you here, and It's not something that I want to force out of you. I'm sure this is a lot to handle for you on top of the other things I've told you. As I said, the lycan part of you is lying dormant, and I want to help you bring it out."

I nodded slowly, very relieved by the fact that he wasn't expecting anything from me right away if at all.

"And we'll just see where it goes from there?"

"Exactly."

Okay, I could work with that.

I'd be lying if I said I didn't want to at least explore the possibility of me being his species.

And it certainly made things easier that he was being light-hearted and flexible about the whole situation.

"Well, at least now I know why I'm so stupidly attracted to you."

His smile slowly returned to his face, which was a lot more refreshing than I would have thought.

"Being mated forces attraction in the physical being-right-next-to-each-other kind of way, thus the strong reaction when we touch, but it doesn't force any other kind of attraction."

Any movement of mine halted before my face flamed a deep red.

Well shit!

His laugh broke through the air.

"If its any consultation, I think you're gorgeous as well. But I don't think looks alone will be enough for you to accept me."

Apparently my curiosity overpowered my embarrassment.

"Accept?"

"Mhm, there's a process of acceptance just like there is for rejection." He explained

I chewed the inside of my bottom lip, debating my next question before it just let itself out.

"What is it?"

His eyes appeared to smile at my interest in this process.

It was easier to have an interest in when the thought of it didn't physically hurt me.

"We mark each other under Luna's moon," he replied vaguely.

If I didn't know any better, I'd say he made it vague on purpose.

I think he wanted to see how much I really wanted to know about this process

Which, to be fair, was a smart move on his part.

I fed into what he was doing.

"Mark each other? With what? Where?"

"Well," He licked over his sharp canines, "with our teeth, and on a very specific spot on our neck that's always sensitive to our mate's touch. It's to represent a shared bond of trust within the other and is apparently supposed to feel amazing on both ends."

I physically bit my tongue to stop myself from asking where that spot was.

The teeth thing was weird but I guess it made sense as wolves and all, but if it was sensitive to mates regardless, it was something that could be proved immediately.

My eyes fell to his neck as if I could figure it out myself.

"Would you like me to show you?" he offered, extending his hand.

Despite the fact that I did definitely want to know, I hesitated.

I guess it just felt kind of... vulnerable.

Still, after a few more seconds, I leaned forward and lifted my head a bit.

He moved his hand slowly towards me, my eyes trained on it.

Then, ever so gently, his fingers brushed against the skin of the left side of my neck.

My body tightened and eyes squeezed shut as a feeling similar to the first time we touched shot through me, causing me to gasp and pull his hand away at the wrist.

No way...

My eyes switched between my hold on him, and his face.

"Do you get the same thing if I touch you there?"

He breathed out a short laugh, switching our hand's position so that he was holding my wrist and now bringing it towards his neck.

"Wanna find out yourself?"

Well, he didn't have to ask me twice.

I traced my fingers across the same spot on his body, watching as he reacted outwardly almost exactly as I did.

I drew my hand back, looking it over as if I had just unlocked some sort of power.

"Woah..."

There was absolutely no denying it now.

"I told you," He began, "Being mated is a two-way street. We feel the same things and affect each other equally as much. "

I drew my own fingers against the skin of my neck, not feeling anything close as what I did when he did it.

What on earth was this Luna thinking while she did all this?

"Okay wait. Since you're the alpha of this place, and I'm your mate, if we happened to accept each other than that would make me...?"

"An alpha as well. The second we'd accept each other, you'd receive the title and the power that comes with it, but we can cross that bridge if and when we get there."

Why did the 'if' feel so much different when it came from him?

Did he feel that when I said it?

God I hope not.

My thoughts got cut short when a knocking came from the front door.

Luka turned his head with a smile, promptly standing.

"They're here."