Chapter 11: Touched by Moonlight

The wounds vanished. The Moon goddess had heard their prayers. The pack rejoiced. The Elder remembered. And as the Alpha watched, her scent began to rise. But beneath the silence, Rosa remembered. The dreams. The boy. The voice. And the truth waited to be born.

Luca wakes up on Sunday morning, and the sun shines brightly through the blinds on the left side of the room. He gets out of bed and does his bathroom routine. Luca then comes out of the bathroom, already dressed for the day. As he heads over to Rosa's bed to kiss her good morning, the hairs on his neck stand up in warning. Luca goes to her side of the bed and looks at her to see how she is doing. The look on his shocked face says it all as he exclaims loudly, "What the hell!"

He heard footsteps running towards the room a few minutes later, while looking at his mate and not believing what he saw. All her cuts and bruises have vanished. Luca stands there next to the bed, unable to say anything. He was still in shock at what he was or was not seeing.

Arianna and Cristian rushed into the room, looking at him, then at Rosa, and then back at him again before asking, "What's wrong? What's happened?" They both asked him, scared that something terrible had happened to Luna.

Luca looks at them both, then points to Rosa and says, "Look at her and tell me?" Luca asked them cryptically while still in shock.

They both head over to check on Rosa and find the same thing that he did. They are in shock, too, at what they see. Arianna tells him, "All her cuts and bruises have vanished; they should still be there for a few more days at the least; how did this happen?" She turns to look at Luca and then at her mate.

Cristian replies, "I'm not sure, but could it be the Moon Goddess up to her tricks again?" Arianna and Luca look at him before he says, "Could be. I guess I wouldn't put it past her, but why?" Cristian then responds, "Who knows why, but I can't wait until Gabriel finds out. It will surprise him at this news like we are," he tells them.

Arianna says, "We were all shocked after everyone else found out, don't you think?"

Luca replies, "Yes, I must agree with you there; I had better let Gabriel know what has happened," he tells them.

They answered back to him, saying, "Yes, of course," as they continued checking on the Luna.

Luca then links with his Beta and asks, "Stefano, are you and Gabriel up yet?"

Stefano replies to him, "Yes, we are. Why?"

Luca replied, "I need you both in Rosa's room; there has been another development since we went to sleep last night," he informed them.

Stefano replies, "Okay, we will be right there," he tells him.

Luca replies, "Okay, thanks."

Stefano says to Luca, "No worries, Alpha." They break off the link as Luca informs the doctors that they will be here soon.

Stefano and Gabriel enter the room as the Elder inquires of Luca. "What has happened now?" he asks in a worried voice.

Luca replies, "Oh, nothing much. It's just that all her cuts and bruises have vanished by themselves." He replies amusingly to the Elder, who, with Stefano, looks shocked when Luca informs them of the news.

Gabriel was the first to speak. "How?" he asked.

Arianna told him, "We think it was the Moon Goddess helping again", she explained to the Elder.

Luca then says, "Look for yourselves," as he invites the Elder and his Beta to look at his mate and see what they all mean. Gabriel and Stefano look at Rosa and see that her cuts and bruises have vanished. Gabriel then looks at the Beta, who looks back at him, and they both agree with the others that the Moon Goddess is at it again. They were overjoyed and relieved that she was healing quickly, thanks to the help from above. They all thanked the Moon Goddess, especially Luca.

Gabriel asks the doctors, "What does this mean for her recovery?"

Cristian replies, "Well, this will considerably cut down on her recovery time regarding cuts and bruises. For now, we just wait for the rest and take it daily until she recovers," he explains to the Elder.

Luca then asks Arianna, "How is she otherwise?"

Arianna answers him, saying, "She is fine, stable and resting as comfortably as possible." he replies as he continues, "She will be fine while you get something to eat. I'm sure the three of you are hungry." She asks them. The three of them agreed when Luca's stomach growled. They all laughed while Luca looked embarrassed and said, "Yes, we will get something to eat; let's go." He headed towards the door, thanking both doctors as they left the room and went their separate ways.

Luca, Gabriel, and Stefano headed to the packhouse and the dining room after entering through the back door and making their way to the table. Everyone stopped eating when their Alpha, the Elder and their Beta sat down to eat. Luca tells them to continue eating and that he has good news, but not until everyone has finished their food. Luca let Gabriel serve himself before him, and then it was his turn, and then finally Stefano's. After everyone had finished their food, Luca announced that the Moon Goddess had heard their prayers about the Luna by healing cuts and bruises during the night.

They cheered and clapped at the excellent communication, including Luca's brother, Constantino. Luca also informed them that she would take it daily until she recovered. He dismissed everyone, but not before thanking the kitchen staff for the beautiful food they had prepared, as everyone did their duties for the day.

Then Luca asks Gabriel what he would like to do, and the Elder replies, "How about a tour of the territory?"

Luca replies, "It will be an honour to show you around," he tells him, "Okay, let's go."

Gabriel says to Luca, "Lead the way." Luca shows the Elder around the territory, taking them to the training grounds, where the morning training session is about to start. Everyone said 'good morning' to the Elder and the Alpha, who replied with 'good morning' back as they continued the tour. Luca shows Gabriel the gym. Then, the other pack members' houses, meeting halls, garages, gardens, vegetable gardens, childcare centres, and orphanages. It excited the kids to have unique visitors. They were incredibly excited to see the Alpha and asked him how their Luna was.

He told them what he had told the others about the Moon Goddess, and he healed their Luna to help her recover. The children's faces said it all. They were smiling in awe of what the Moon Goddess had done. She had heard their prayers. Luca and Gabriel then left the children to go out and play.

Luca then leads the Elder to another building made of white-painted bricks. They enter through the door. Luca explains to him, saying, "This is where we keep wolves that need to recover from being released from the pack's hospital, but need to rest before they return to their duties. So, beds are available for more serious cases like Rosa," he explained to the Elder. He continued, "There are two female pack members who look after them, and two male pack members also help but double as guards." Gabriel looked around and complimented Luca on how he treats his pack members. Luca thanked the Elder for his kind words. Every pack member had impressed Gabriel immensely.

Luca then looked at his watch and noticed the time. It was time for lunch, and he informed the Elder. "Okay, then let us go; I'm hungry after all that walking," he said to Luca, who replied, "Yes, I am too; I will continue the tour after lunch," he informed the Elder.

Gabriel looks at Luca and then says, "There's more?" Luca replies, "Yes, there is more to show you, but after we have lunch," Luca turns back towards the packhouse.

Gabriel replies, "Okay, as he follows Luca around.

Twenty minutes later, they reached the packhouse and entered through the back door. They washed their hands in the extra sink in the mudroom and went to the dining room. They said good afternoon; everyone sat at the table and ate after serving themselves. After everyone had finished their meal, they slipped back to their duties. Luca asked Stefano to join the tour with Gabriel, and he agreed.

Luca and Stefano then take the Elder to the end of the hallway and towards a locked door. When Luca presses the door down, it opens, revealing a hand-recognition device. Luca explained and told the Elder to put his right hand on the device. Gabriel does. The machine then scans his right hand, records it, and says, "Elder Gabriel Lombardi recognised," in a computerised voice. Gabriel asks him, "Why all the security?"

Stefano replied, "This is where we keep all our pack members safe if there is an attack from another pack, he said to him.

Gabriel replies, "That's good thinking and planning. Is there anything else?"

Luca replies, "Yes, there is one of these safe rooms in my bedroom for the Luna and in my office, as well as another bigger one underneath the pack's hospital to keep the patients and staff safe from attacks. The pack members ′ homes also have safe rooms built into them," he informed the Elder.

To hear that. Luca reports to Gabriel that it was everything that he had to show him. The Elder gives Luca a pat on the back and says to him, "Well done, Luca; I'm proud of you and your pack. You and the pack have come a long way since your parents. They would be proud of you, too," the Elder tells him with a sad voice.

Luca replied, "I hope they are," he answered.

Gabriel said, "Of course they are. I know they are proud of you. I would be if I were your father," he said.

Luca replies, saying, "Thanks, Gabriel. I appreciate it; it hasn't been easy, that's for sure."

The Elder answered, "It's never easy after losing someone you love. It takes time to have the support of others with you through challenging times." Then he continued, "I wonder how Rosa did it? Well, I suppose that will have to wait for Rosa's answers," he said

Luca replies, "Yes, we will have to wait, hopefully not too long."

Luca then looked at his watch to see the time; it was 2:00 p.m. Luca said, "I must check on Rosa and finish some paperwork before dinner. Is that okay with you?"

Gabriel replied, "Yes, that's fine with me; I must ring Gianna Gallo anyway and update her on Rosa." He informed Luca, who replied, "Alright, use the phone in my office; it's more private for you to talk to her."

Gabriel thanked Luca, who replied, "No worries. I will link with Stefano to let you know when I finish the paperwork," he informed him as Stefano nodded in agreement with his Alpha. They all go in different directions.

Gabriel makes his way to the Alpha's office, and Stefano heads to the kitchen for a bottle of water from the fridge while Luca heads towards the hospital.

Luca arrives at the hospital, walks down to Rosa's room, enters, sees Cristian checking on Rosa, and reports she's doing well. Luca thanks him as he sits at the table, waiting for Cristian to finish. When Cristian has completed his examination, he notes his findings on her chart and tells Luca that either Arianna or he will return later to check on her again. Luca thanks him.

Cristian replies, "No worries, Luca," as he walks out.

Luca then began his paperwork, finishing it three hours later. After sitting for that long, Luca let out a sigh, stood up, and stretched.

He then went over to his mate, kissed her on the forehead, and gently caressed her pale cheek, whispering that he would be back soon.

Luca heads out to find Gabriel after informing Stefano and Gabriel that he's just finished the paperwork. Stefano mentions that he and the Elder are watching the afternoon training session with Giovanni, Riccardo, and Dominic Vittori. Luca makes his way to the training grounds and finds his Beta and the Elder observing the other pack members and his three trainers as they spar in their human forms, mingling with the pack's males and females. After another hour of challenging work, the training wraps up, and Riccardo dismisses them to shower and change before dinner.

After forty-five minutes, everyone was seated at the table. The kitchen staff served the food fifteen minutes later. When everyone had finished eating, Luca announced that this would be the last night Gabriel would be staying and that he would be leaving first thing tomorrow morning. The pack members at the table wished him a safe journey home, and he would come back again soon.

He assured them he would. They all cheered and clapped at the news of the Elder's return. Luca then dismissed them, but not before everyone thanked the kitchen staff for the lovely food they had prepared. Everyone said good night to the Elder and went their separate ways before retiring.

Luca, Gabriel, Stefano, and Constantino went up to Luca's office. Once everyone had arrived and taken a seat, Luca asked Gabriel, "How did your phone call to Gianna Gallo go?" while preparing drinks for a nightcap at the minibar.

The Elder replied, "It went as well as expected. It upset Gianna to hear what happened to Rosa, but she is happy that you found your mate and that it is her. It is great news, and he hopes to see her at the weekend if that is alright with you," he told him.

Luca responds, saying, "Yes, she can. It would be beneficial for Rosa, and I would like to meet her."

The Elder said, "That's what I told her," he replied.

Luca grinned at the Elder and then inquired, "When were you planning to leave?"

Gabriel replied, "Probably mid-morning; why?"

Luca responds, saying, "Nothing. I thought you might want to say goodbye to the pack and Rosa before heading back home."

Then the Elder replied, "That would be great, Luca."

The Alpha responds, smiling at Gabriel, "No worries."

Then he linked the pack, mentioning there would be a meeting in the meeting hall after breakfast and before the morning training session.

The group responded immediately, saying, "Yes, Alpha!"

Luca informed Gabriel that he had organised a meeting before he left in the morning. Gabriel thanked Luca as they each took a sip of their drinks.

Before long, Gabriel stands up, and the others follow him. He tells them, "Well, thanks for the nightcap, but I think it's time I head off to bed." The others agree as well. Luca says good night to them before returning to the hospital.

Gabriel tells Luca, as he runs out the door, to keep him updated on Rosa's condition and to inform him of any developments.

Luca agrees to do that.

Gabriel then walks out the door and heads toward his room. The others say goodnight and head off to their rooms as well.

After leaving his office, Luca heads to the hospital. Ten minutes later, he arrives and sees Arianna approaching, mentioning she is about to check on Rosa before retiring for the night.

Luca responds, "Oh, okay," and takes a seat at the table. Arianna finishes scanning Rosa and reassures him that Rosa is doing well, noting that it won't be long before Rosa's scent becomes detectable through her skin. "It will be subtle," Arianna explains.

Luca agrees, saying, "I thought that would be the case."

Arianna writes her notes in Rosa's chart before leaving the room. She told him to hang on a little longer, then wished them both a good night on behalf of Cristian and herself, and left the room as he said good night to her and Cristian.

Arianna says to him, "We will see you both in the morning."

Luca tells her that Gabriel will be here to say goodbye to Rosa before he heads back home. Arianna says that both of us will be there to say goodbye to the Elder, then leaves the room to go to bed.

Luca sighed and went over to Rosa's bed, kissing her forehead and caressing her cheek. He slips into his bed and under the covers. It's been a long but satisfying day, Luca thought to himself. He lies on the pillow as he slowly drifts to sleep, thinking about the day his mate finally wakes up. He falls asleep with a smile.

In the meantime, as the Alpha sleeps, Rosa panics, urgently trying to open her eyes, but all she can see is an overwhelming darkness that obscures her vision and muffles all sound. Her mind scrambled to piece together what had just happened, her thoughts scattering amid the suffocating silence that enveloped her, broken only by the steady rhythm of her breathing. She felt her heart pounding fiercely inside her chest, each beat echoing her growing fear. In a wavering voice, she asked aloud, "What happened?" Her sixth sense, which typically warned her of approaching danger, was completely absent, amplifying her anxiety and suspicion that she might be facing unseen threats lurking in the darkness.

After a while, she remembered. Rosa remembered going out to explore as she usually did. Hearing the silent wildlife around her, she turned around to head back, only to find herself surrounded by a pack of wild wolves. They then attacked her and left her for dead; there was nothing else to recall. Where was she, and how long had it been since the attack? A day, a week, or even a month or more? She wondered as she tried to move, but couldn't. She asked herself why she couldn't move and panicked, but then, as I thought about her injuries and how severe they must have been, whoever was treating her decided it was best to keep her still in case she hurt herself further. Rosa then calmed down once more. She thought about her boss, Gianna Gallo, and her co-workers; what would happen if she didn't return to work when her break was over? What will she do?

Rosa suddenly felt a comforting warmth, as if the gentle rays of the sun had enveloped her, infusing her with a soothing heat. It felt as though an unseen presence, possibly a tender touch from someone or something, was softly resting on her forehead, adding to the sensation of closeness and serenity.

Then, suddenly, a voice echoed softly in the silence, saying, "Not long now. Two more weeks should do. I will help heal you, and then the fun will begin." The voice had a gentle, soothing tone and sounded like that of a woman speaking with calm assurance. As quickly as it appeared, the warmth and the voice disappeared, leaving a lingering sense of mystery.

Rosa felt a surge of confusion and curiosity. She had just witnessed something inexplicable — a voice that seemed to come from nowhere, leaving her with more questions than answers. Who was she, and what message had she intended to convey? With only two weeks remaining for her full recovery, Rosa knew she had to stay focused, but the mysterious words kept echoing in her mind, hinting at adventures or dangers yet to come. She wondered what kind of 'fun' might unfold after her healing, wary of the potential meaning behind that innocent-sounding phrase. Determined to block out the unsettling thoughts, Rosa took a deep breath, trying to centre herself amidst the chaos of unanswered questions.

While lying here in this vulnerable state, Rosa contemplates the source of the mysterious voice. She perceives it as significant, yet she questions why it would be interested in her specifically. She dismisses her own importance, believing there's nothing extraordinary about her, and reflects on her ordinary existence—there's little to reveal or remember. Rosa ponders what kind of amusement or purpose the voice might have, speculating about its intentions. She concludes that she will likely discover more in two weeks, but for now, her focus is on recovery, maintaining hope, and expressing gratitude to those assisting her.

She longs to recall more details and believes there is more to uncover, but she doubts anyone around her will truly understand her situation without an explanation. Until she gains clarity, she resolves to hold onto any fragments of memory that might help her find her place, patiently waiting for the two weeks to pass. Suddenly, a vivid recollection flashes before her—colours black and gold—yet their significance remains elusive. She's unsure where she's encountered those hues before, and this mystery fuels her desire to recall their meaning soon.

Over the next few days, Rosa remained confined to her bed, her body healing from the injuries she had sustained. During this time, she was largely unaware of the world outside her quiet sanctuary. However, her mind kept returning to an image—a small boy with tousled brown hair and expressive brown eyes. He appeared to be about ten years old, suggesting she might have been about eight at the time. But the strangest part was that she kept seeing this boy in her thoughts, even though she had no idea who he was or why he kept appearing to her.

As days passed, more images flooded her mind—initially of the boy as a child, but gradually, he seemed to grow older, transforming into a young man over the years. Rosa found herself murmuring in confusion, her brow furrowing as the recurring image of the boy questioned her silently across her mind. The boy's persistent question was the same every time, echoing in her thoughts: "Rosa, would you be my mate?" She was puzzled, trying to understand who this boy was and what he wanted from her.

Suddenly, a realisation dawned on her. As the images grew clearer, she recognised the features of the man he had become. The young man who had appeared later, accompanied by another creature—a werewolf—came into focus. He was their leader, the Alpha, marked by a commanding presence and a piercing gaze, surrounded by others of their kind. She remembered the moment vividly—how they had arrived silently, almost like shadows, and then vanished as mysteriously as they had come. She wondered what it all meant — the strange vision, and who this man really was.

Rosa then recalled the stories her parents and grandparents had shared years ago about werewolves and their mates, stories she had dismissed as fantasies. Now, she realised they were true after witnessing it herself. As Rosa reflected on her situation, she understood what the boy or man had been asking her all these years- though she had never responded. Would she, though? She didn't know him; he was a stranger to her. Yet, his reactions hinted he knew who she was. Could Rosa Romano or Romanetti really be his fated mate? Based on her family stories, it seemed likely. But why now? As Rosa tried to make sense of everything happening, a sudden thought clarified her predicament.

Someone had planned all of this, but now the question racing wildly through her mind was: who? When did the planning even start? I was trying to remember when this—whatever it was—began. Rosa was thinking carefully when another thought hit her, surprising her. Did this have anything to do with her birthday? She wondered. It must have, Rosa thought to herself. The dreams started when she turned eighteen and have continued every year since. Then there was that mysterious woman's voice. Who was she, and was she involved in everything that had happened so far? Rosa wondered. She must be, Rosa concluded, but why? She must have a good reason, Rosa thought to herself. Perhaps something occurred earlier, and this individual is attempting to restore everything to its original state.

But that would mean everything that's happened now should have happened about six or seven years ago. I would have been fifteen or sixteen at the time. All I understand now is that everything will be clear when I wake up, hopefully soon. So, until then, I'll relax, enjoy the peace as I heal, and wait to wake up and find out what's going on and why. Hopefully, it won't be too much for me to handle when I'm finally awake. But who knows when that will be? Not me, that's for sure.