Page 191 of Crystal Luna
“Gemma is fine, it’s the dress I want to set on fire.”
“I’m sure she’ll be glad to hear that,” Asher laughed, holding up her sketchbook. “So, when will we be allowed to see what’s inside here?”
A lot of the things she’d drawn were from her time with the Howlers, so she’d been afraid to share them.
“We won’t be upset,” Isaiah assured her.
Hesitantly, she nodded and led him to the couch where she sat next to Asher. With the hot chocolate at a safe distance, she opened the book in her lap and showed them the first picture. It was of her, naked and kneeling on the ground surrounded by a ring of shadows. It was the day she’d arrived at the Howler’s territory. She’d felt small and insignificant, bare and exposed.
“When was this?” Isaiah asked gently as he and Asher leaned closer to take in all the details.
“The day I arrived on the Howler’s territory. I was hunting a deer and hadn’t realised I’d crossed the border. That’s how Heath found me.”
Asher ran his finger over the sketched lines of her ribcage before quickly pulling away, not wanting to smear it. Velora turned the page and revealed an image of Mia and Curtis stroking her fur as they sat beneath their favourite apple tree.
“They adore you,” Asher chuckled.
“They were the ones constantly checking on me when I arrived. I was too scared to go out to the pack, but they kept asking me to spend time with them.”
“Ah, they were the wicket behind your relationship with Alpha Heath,” Isaiah laughed. He curiously watched as she turned the page again.
This time, it was just Heath’s face: hard and full of pain. The image had immense detail, like it was something Velora had seen far too many times—and it was. She quickly turned the page again because she couldn’t bear to look at him. The next one was the cliff she’d loved escaping to. The picture showed both Velora and Heath from behind, their hands clasped together and resting in his lap.
“Is this where you always watched the sunset?”
“Yes. I found it a little while after I arrived. I was introduced to some of the warriors but the crowd was too big for me to handle. They weren’t bad in any sense, but it was just overwhelming.” Velora sighed. “I ran. Heath came after me, worried that something had happened. It became my safe space. If anyone needed to find me, they knew where I was.”
They looked at all the sketches until she hesitated by the last one. It wasn’t anything she’d experienced, but one that made her pause—she wasn’t sure she wanted them to see it.
“You don’t have to if you don’t want to.” Isaiah gently kissed her temple before moving to stand up.
But then Velora turned the page.
It was a picture of her with a large wolf to either side of her. She wore her favourite black dress with her combat boots and a knife in her hands. Isaiah and Asher’s wolves had their heads low with their canines bared and their hackles risen, poised to rip apart anything that threatened their precious luna.
“I love it,” Asher cheered, leaning over the page to take in every small detail. “You’re fucking gorgeous.”
“I agree, but the real you is even sexier.”
Heat crept under her collar as Asher snatched the book from her hands. She watched him stare at himself while Isaiah wrapped his arm around her and kissed her temple. “I think you made his day.”
“Only one day? She drew us—that’ll keep me floating for months.”
“Well maybe if you’re a good pup, she’ll let you frame it.”
Asher’s reaction to that made Velora laugh.
When a knock at the door signalled Gemma’s arrival, Velora’s stomach sank. Isaiah stood up to let her in, then paused and waited for his mate’s approval.
“I’m pretty sure you’re over her.”
“I am.”
“Then what’s stopping you?”
“You nearly broke Larissa’s jaw,” Asher whispered, handing the sketchbook back to her.
“She deserved that,” Velora retorted quietly before standing up and greeting Gemma who walked in with a woven basket in her hands. “Hi Gemma.”