Chapter 16: The Awakening Within

The wolf stirred. The Luna rose. They mark. The bond sealed. And beneath the skin, legacy bloomed as Rosa became one with Mia, and the pack prepared to kneel.

Rosa woke up the following day feeling restless. Something was moving under her skin, making her feel uncomfortable. Something she had never felt made her nervous, but she put it back in her mind, not before hearing Mia say to her, "Time's up!" Rosa wondered what Mia meant, but pushed the comment away and continued her day as usual.

Rosa moves Luca's arm carefully, trying not to disturb him as he sleeps peacefully. She goes to the bathroom to shower and dress for the day. She comes out in her training outfit because soon it will be time to train. Rosa looks up, sees the empty bed, and notices that Luca is up, too. She watches him stretch, but he suddenly goes still. Luca turns around and sees Rosa watching him.

He smirks and asks her, "Enjoying the view?"

Rosa smiled before replying, "Yes, I am. "She did not care that Luca caught her ogling his body.

Luca laughed and said, "So am I," as he looked at her. She blushed at his returned comment in her training clothes.

Rosa laughed before asking, "Are you going to get ready to train?"

Luca answers, "Yes, I am on my way to get ready." He tells her, picks out his training clothes, and heads to the bathroom, only to come out fifteen minutes later.

Before long, there was a knock on the door. Luca told them to enter. Arianna and Cristian entered the room, where the two doctors saw the beds together and curiously looked at Alpha and Luna. After Rosa's check-up, Luca informed the doctors that they would be moving to the packhouse. The two doctors looked at the Alpha and Luna before saying, "Alright then, I will get the discharge papers for you to sign, Luca."

Cristian said as he left, while Arianna checked on Rosa. As Arianna began writing her notes into Rosa's chart, Cristian returned with the papers. Luca signed them while Arianna finished writing her letters down on the chart. Arianna informs him, "Rosa is in good health, but do not overdo anything because she is still healing," she said to them both.

Rosa remembered what Giovanni had discussed with her about the light exercises that Rosa could do and informed the doctors.

Arianna told her, "Yes, that will be okay, but nothing too strenuous because doing more than you should be capable of could set your recovery back to where you were beforehand. "She warned them of the consequences.

Both Luca and Rosa nod their heads. Arianna and Cristian then informed the couple that they would check in on Rosa periodically to see how she was recovering. Luca and Rosa agree with their assessment and thank them for helping Rosa recover. The two doctors reply to the alpha pair, "You're welcome, and it was an honour to help Luna Rosa in her time of need," they said before continuing, "If the two of you want breakfast with the pack, you had better get to the dining hall before the food disappears. And Luna Rosa can leave," Arianna informed them, but not before Rosa hugged them both and thanked them again before leaving to address their other patients.

In contrast, Luca and Rosa leave the hospital for the packhouse and the dining room for breakfast, with Rosa currently using a wheelchair.

They arrived twenty minutes later and went straight to the dining room, where everyone was waiting after Luca told Stefano that Rosa would join them, but to keep it quiet. Stefano is happy that Luna will join them. Luca then wheeled Rosa into the dining room as Stefano stood up to take a chair away for her. Rosa thanked him as Luca sat down at the table before noticing that everyone's eyes were on Rosa. Luca introduced her to everyone at the table. The food was out and placed on the tables. Rosa thanked everyone for their kind words and the delicious meal, which she could not wait to taste. Everyone laughed at her comment, knowing the hospital was not a great place to eat.

When everything settled back down, they waited patiently for the alpha to serve Rosa, then themselves, and asked what she would like to eat beforehand. Next was Gabriel, Stefano and Constantino's turn to help themselves before the rest of the table had theirs. The food was delicious, according to Rosa's taste buds. However, the food was like that. It made your mouth water just thinking about it, or when you could smell it as the food slowly cooked away on the stove and in the ovens. The food tasted heavenly, as did the entire kitchen.

After everyone had consumed their food, Luca announced they would move to the packhouse for good. Everyone at the table clapped and cheered upon hearing the news. Luca then dismisses everyone to get ready for training, except for Luca, Rosa, Stefano, Constantino, Giovanni, Lorenzo, and the twins Riccardo and Dominic Vittori, in training attire. Everyone, including Rosa, headed toward the training grounds twenty minutes later. Once everyone had taken their spot, they began training. Rosa was, in the meantime, placed under a shady tree to help keep her calm while she did the light exercises that Giovanni had shown her to help her get stronger, as the rest of the group trained nearby.

Everyone, including Rosa, was sweating so heavily an hour into the training that sweat was dripping down their faces and bodies, so they took a ten-minute break.

Then, suddenly, out of nowhere, everyone heard a piercing scream. Everyone, including Luca, saw that Rosa had fallen out of her chair and was lying on the ground, screaming. Luca rushes over to his mate, looking worried and scared.

Wondering what is happening with his mate, he asks her, "Rosa, what's wrong?"

Rosa tried to speak. But could not because of the excruciating pain going through her entire body. When she could finally say something, she said, "It hurts," she tells him.

Luca then asks her worriedly, "Where does it hurt, sweetheart?"

Rosa then told him, in between bouts of pain, "It hurts everywhere!" She informed him as she grimaced, as another shot of pain hit her.

It finally dawned on Luca after she explained where the pain was coming from. He then realised that Rosa was about to shift for the first time. When everyone else in the pack went through their first shift, the pain was excruciating as their bones broke throughout their bodies, only to realign and become something else.

Luca then picks her up, trying not to worsen her pain, and takes Rosa somewhere more private to rest. Rosa then asks him, between gasps and gritted teeth from the discomfort, "What is happening to me?"

Luca replies, "Rosa, you are shifting for the first time, which is painful when we shift at a certain age. But because you couldn't shift then, and now you are going through the shift, it will be even more painful for you. Mia, Diego, and I will be with you during the shift. I know you're terrified, but we are here for you, alright?"

Rosa nodded her head as she winced at the dreadful and excruciating pain. Now she understood what Mia meant by 'her time was up'.

Ten minutes later, Luca found the perfect spot for her to shift. He placed her on the ground and stayed with her as she groaned in pain. He explained that Luca had instructed her to let Mia through and not to force the shift, as the problem would worsen if she did. Then they heard it—the first of many bones breaking—while Rosa screamed as her human bones kept breaking and realigning into her wolf form. Luca, Diego, and Mia were there to help and support her during the extremely painful shift.

Three hours later, it was all over, and there was Rosa—once standing—now a stunning wolf with black fur and the brightest blue eyes. Rosa had finally shifted, and now Mia stood before him and Diego, who had seen his mate for the first time since they spoke through Luca's eyes.

Luca then reaches for her, strokes her, and pats her head as he says, "You are so beautiful." He continues to pat and stroke her, then says, "Welcome, Mia. I am so glad to meet you finally, and so is Diego," he tells her.

Mia barked in agreement with him. Luca removes his clothes before shifting into Diego so Mia can meet him. Still, before turning, Luca and Diego asked for Mia's and Rosa's permission; they wagged their tails from side to side in happiness and excitement at meeting Mia's mate for the first time. Luca shifted into Diego, who then barked and pranced around Mia like he was a pup all over again, showing off to her, which made Mia bark. Diego then walked towards the woods and barked at her to follow him, so she did. They walked until Diego barked again, then slowed down to keep up with Mia. Mia had other plans and passed Diego, barking at him to slow down. Mia slowed to let him catch up; for the next three hours, they ran before it was time to return to where he had shifted and dressed again.

Thirty minutes later, they returned to the training grounds where it all began. They realised training had finished, but everyone, including Elder Gabriel, had stayed. They had waited to see Luna in her wolf form after what happened during training hours earlier. They clapped and cheered when they saw Luna in her wolf form, noticing how she looked as she shifted into a strong, beautiful wolf. Mia barked, and everyone laughed.

Luca introduced her to them. "May I introduce you all to Diego's mate, Mia!" he said proudly as he looked at his mate. The cheers and clapping grew louder as she sat beside Luca, waiting to enter the packhouse and shift back. Luca dismissed them, but not before they welcomed Mia to the pack. She barked back in reply to them as they left the Alpha pair.

They both entered the packhouse and saw Arianna and Cristian present. They exchanged smiles with Mia, who approached and leaned against them. Luca and the doctors chuckled at her playful behaviour when Luca asked Arianna to assist Rosa in shifting back and dressing again. Arianna responded to her Alpha, "It would be my honour to help the Luna," and then accompanied Mia to their room.

As the girls made their way to the room of the Alpha pair, Cristian turned to Luca and asked, "So, how did her first shift go?"

Luca responded, "Aside from the pain, she handled her first shift well. I advised her not to resist and to let Mia come through. She was a natural," he told the doctor.

Cristian nodded and said, "That's good to hear," addressing the Alpha.

Luca agreed, "Yes, it is," and they continued discussing other topics. Luca couldn't help but wonder what was happening upstairs.

Meanwhile, Arianna was helping Rosa transition back into her human form. She explained that it was like a reversal of the shift; instead of turning into a wolf, she reverted to her human form. Therefore, you must remember to let the change happen naturally, rather than forcing it. Arianna told Luna that shifting that way would be more painful. She ran a bubble bath with salts in not-too-hot water to help relax Luna Rosa's sore and tired body after shifting.

When Rosa returned, she got into the bath and sighed as the water eased her sore muscles. Arianna then asked her while sitting at the end of the tub, "So how was it?"

Rosa replies to the doctor, "It was excruciating, but it was also exhilarating to finally shift after all this time." She tells the doctor, who then asks, "Did you feel anything before you shifted?"

Rosa considered what the doctor had said before she told herself, "Well, I felt something moving under my skin and was restless this morning, but I didn't think much of it until I shifted and heard Mia say that it was time to shift." Did she mean it was time to shift?

Arianna answered, "Yes, what you felt was Mia moving to signal that she was there and ready to come forward," the doctor explained, then added, "You were fortunate that it happened while you were shifting and everyone was outside training. If you had been alone, unsure of what was occurring, it might have frightened you," she explained to the Luna, who nodded in understanding. Arianna then recommended that she get out of the bath, as she had been in it for an hour. The men might be wondering if something had happened, as they were taking their time coming back.

Arianna held out a big, fluffy, dark blue towel to wrap around her body, then dried off and got dressed again before they went back downstairs. Rosa chooses her most comfortable pair of black pants, a soft, light-blue sweater, and matching socks, all paired with sneakers. They both head back to join the two gentlemen waiting for them.

Rosa and Arianna started walking down the stairs. They heard the men talking. The women entered the lounge room, walked towards their mates, and kissed them both on their cheeks. Both men turned red in embarrassment.

The two women laughed at their reactions. Then, the four sat on the two separate couches and discussed Rosa and Mia's transformation until Rosa yawned.

Luca and the others saw this and decided to stop for the day, letting Rosa and Mia rest for a while.

Arianna and Cristian left as Rosa headed to the bedroom and fell asleep as soon as she lay down. Luca came in later and saw she was sleeping; he covered her to keep her warm.

As Rosa and Mia slept, Luca dismantled his temporary office in her old hospital room and brought their belongings over from the hospital. He contacted Emma to see if she could come over and keep Luna company while he worked. Emma responds, saying she will be right around. Luca thanks her for the help.

There was a knock on his door; he opened it and found Emma on the other side. Luca let her in and entered the room before shutting the door behind him. He then informs Emma of his plans, while Rosa is sleeping, staying with her and keeping her company during his work. Emma agrees to remain with Rosa. Luca thanks her as he walks out the door.

Twenty minutes later, Luca was back at the hospital and in Rosa's old room. He looked around to see that he needed help and asked his brother, "Could you come and help me pack up everything?"

Constantino replies, "Yes, Angelo Moretti is coming too."

Luca then tells them to go to the hospital because he is already there and has started packing some things into the boxes he kept when he set up his temporary office. His brother replies, "No worries, be there in minutes."

Luca answers him, "Okay?"

While Luca waited for the others to arrive, he packed as quickly as possible to return to Rosa before she woke up. Five minutes later, Constantino and Angelo arrived and helped him finish the packing.

As they were finishing, Stefano came in through the door, saw what they were doing, and offered to take them to the packhouse for them. Lucas thanks him for his offer, which he accepts without hesitation, and then leaves for the packhouse while the others continue packing.

Half an hour later, Stefano returned with a couple of additional pack members to remove the table and bed from the room.

Luca thanks them both for their help. Everyone had a turn at packing; before long, they had packed everything up and were ready to go to the packhouse, Lucas' office, and room two hours later. They all made sure the room was clean for the next patient who would need it. They left the door and window slightly open to let in the fresh air, then all headed towards the packhouse. They arrived twenty minutes later. Stefano and the others rushed towards the Alpha's office while Luca headed to his room and his mate.

When he enters his room, he goes into the bedroom and sees Rosa still asleep, with Emma watching over her. He nods in acknowledgement as she smiles at him. Luca puts his things away and returns to Emma and Rosa. He thanks her for her help as she walks out the door and nods in acknowledgement to the Alpha. Luca sighs before sitting on the bed, thinking about what Rosa was talking about yesterday regarding the marking. Was she ready? He thought it was too early to tell, then heard a voice say, "A penny for your thoughts?"

He looked up and saw that Rosa was awake, so he told her, "I was just thinking about what you said yesterday about the marking. It sounded like you were thinking about doing it. That's all. I thought we would wait until you are ready."

Rosa replied to Luca with a smile, saying, "I am ready, though," as Luca's eyes widened in shock.

Luca shakes his head and asks, "Are you sure that once we mark each other, I cannot reverse the mark?" He then informed her. Rosa took his hand and said, "I know that, and I am sure I love you, Luca," blushing as she shared her feelings.

Luca, happy, replied, "I love you too," leaning in to kiss her, as Rosa did the same.

As their lips met in a kiss, fireworks, sparks, and tingling sensations ran down their arms, causing them both to shiver with excitement and nerves. They then kissed each other on the left side of the neck, near where it meets the shoulder. After that, they switched to the other side, repeating the same as before, and kept kissing until Rosa was a complete mess from his kisses. Then he bit her between the neck and shoulder, where they met, as she reciprocated the gesture. The feeling she experienced was both painful and intense. It was euphoric.

Then Rosa heard a voice in her head; it sounded like Luca. Still, it couldn't be that his lips weren't moving. Then he said, "It's called linking; you can now link everyone in the pack and me. The mark will allow us to feel each other's emotions and know where the other person is. If there is any danger around, we will let the other pack members know," he tells her what the marking entailed before they marked each other a while back, when they talked and got to know one another. Rosa was feeling tired and fell asleep. Luca joined minutes later after checking that everything was secure.

An hour later, Luca woke up and looked down at his mate. She was still sleeping, so he let her rest. A marking bite drains a person's strength, which is why they feel tired afterwards. Luca then got up and freshened up in the bathroom while Rosa slept. As he exited the bathroom and looked towards the bed, he saw movement under the covers as Rosa stirred. Then her eyes slowly opened, revealing a brilliant blue colour that gazes at you, and her magnificent smile appears as she becomes fully awake.

Luca smiles back at her, then asks, "How was your nap?"

Rosa replies, "It was a good feeling, much better; why?"

Luca answers, "Nothing. I was just wondering how you were, that's all. Can I ask you about something, though?" he says to her as she sits up in the bed and looks at Luca, then asks him, "What's wrong?"

Luca replies, "Nothing is wrong per se, but I need to ask you when or if you would like to do the Luna ceremony; there's no rush if you want to wait a few more days," he says to her.

Rosa frowns at what he's said but responds, "How long does it usually take to organise one?"

Luca replies, "Um, don't know exactly, maybe about a month at the most; why?"

Rosa responds, smiling, "Well, we'd better get organised then, shouldn't we?" Luca jumps onto the bed like a little boy and kisses her face as Rosa giggles in amusement at his reaction.

They then leave bed and plan their Luna ceremony for a month, uniting the entire pack. They announced that the Luna ceremony would take place in three weeks. The group cheers at the news, and preparations start immediately because they can't wait for the ceremony to celebrate their new Luna.

But little does the pack know that one exceptional and unexpected guest will arrive before the tradition begins.