MOONLIGHT: ORIGINAL EDITION

Luca wakes up. It’s Sunday morning, and the sun shines brightly through the blinds on the windows 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. When he gets to the side of her bed and looks at her to see how she is doing, his shocked face says it all. He exclaims in a loud voice, “What the hell?” when he hears the footsteps running towards the room. He looks at his mate and does not believe in what he sees. All of her cuts and bruises have vanished like they were never there. Luca stands there next to the bed, unable to say anything. He is 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 to him again before asking, “What’s wrong? What’s happened?” they both asked him, looking scared that something terrible had happened to Luna Rosa. Luca looks at them both, then points to Rosa and says, “Look at her and tell me,” he tells them cryptically while still in shock. They both head over to check on Rosa and find the same thing as 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 couple more days. 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,” he asks the both of them. Arianna and Luca look at him before he says, “Could be l guess I wouldn’t put it past her, but why?” he replies. Cristian then replies to him, saying, “Who knows why, but l can’t wait until Gabriel finds out he will be shocked at this news like we are,” he tells them. Arianna says, “We will all be in shock after everyone else finds out, don’t you think?” Luca replies, “Yes, l agree with you there; l 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, asking him, “Stefano, are you and Gabriel up yet?” Stefano replies to him, “Yes, we are. Why?” Luca replies, “I need you both in Rosa’s room. There has been a new development since we went to sleep last night,” he informs him. Stefano replies, “Okay, we will be right there,” he tells him. Luca replies to him, saying, “Okay, thanks.” Stefano says to Luca, “No worries, Alpha.” They break off the link as Luca informs the doctors they will be here soon.

A few minutes later, Stefano and Gabriel enter the room as the Elder asks Luca, “What has happened now?” he asks in a worried voice. Luca replies to him, saying, “Oh, nothing much, just her cuts and bruises have vanished into thin air by themselves, that’s all,” he says amusingly to the Elder, who, with Stefano, has a shocked look on his face when Luca informs them of the news. Gabriel was the one to speak first. “How,” he asked. Arianna told him, “We think it was the Moon Goddess helping out again,” she explained to the Elder. Luca then says to him, “Take a look for yourselves,” as he invites the Elder and his Beta to look at his mate and to see exactly what they mean. Gabriel and Stefano look at Rosa and see that her cuts and bruises have vanished like they were never there. 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 so happy and relieved that she was healing quickly with help from above. They all sent their thanks to the Moon Goddess, especially Luca.

Gabriel asks the doctors, “What does this mean for her recovery?” Cristian replies, “Well, this cuts down her recovery time by a few days at the most regarding cuts and bruises. For now, we just have to wait for the rest and take it daily until she recovers,” he explained to the Elder. Luca then asks Arianna, “How is she otherwise?” Cristian answers him, saying, “She is fine. She is stable and resting as comfortably as possible” he replies as he continues, “She will be fine while you go and get something to eat I’m sure the three of you are hungry,” he asked them. The three of them agreed, especially when Luca’s stomach started to growl. They all began to laugh while Luca looked embarrassed and said, “Yes, we will go and get something to eat. Let’s go,” he headed towards the door, thanking both of the doctors as they left the room and went their ways. Luca, Gabriel and Stefano headed to the packhouse and the dining room after entering via the back door and heading towards 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 some good news, but not until everyone has finished their food. Luca let Gabriel serve himself before him; then it’s his turn and Stefano’s. After everyone had finished their food, Luca announced that the Moon Goddess had heard their prayers regarding the Luna by healing cuts and bruises during the night. They all cheered and clapped at the excellent news, including Luca’s brother, Constantino. Luca also informed them to take it daily until she fully recovers. He dismissed everyone, but not before thanking the kitchen staff for the delicious food that they had prepared. Everyone went to attend to do their duties for the day.

Luca asks Gabriel what he would like to do, and the Elder replies, “How about a tour of the territory?” Luca replies to him, saying, “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 the territory by going first 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 as they continued the tour. Luca shows Gabriel the gym, where some or more of the pack members like to keep in shape, the other pack members’ houses, the meeting hall, the garage, the gardens, especially the vegetable gardens, the childcare centre and the orphanage where the kids there were excited that they had unique visitors come to see them. They were incredibly excited to see the Alpha and asked him how the Luna was. He told them what he had told the others about the Moon Goddess healing their Luna to help her recover. The children’s faces said it all. They were smiling in awe about what the Moon Goddess had done. She had heard their prayers. Luca and Gabriel then left the children when it was their time to go out and play.

Luca then leads the Elder towards another building built out of white-painted bricks. They enter through the door as Luca explains to him by 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 can go back to their duties, so there are beds available for more serious cases like Rosa” he explained to the Elder as he continues “There are a couple of the female pack members that look after them with a couple of the male pack members that also help out but double as guards as well as other patients that don’t need to be kept in the pack hospital.” Gabriel looks around and then compliments Luca on how he treats his pack members. Luca thanks the Elder for his kind words as he continues the tour. He takes the Elder to a location where they go down some steps where four guards are standing. Luca explains to the Elder this is where they kept wolves that could pose a danger to the pack. The Elder looks at Luca and says, “They are well-kept rooms instead of cells?” Luca explained to him, “They are still human beings. They have doors with a window to look through to ensure they behave and for privacy. We have a room that monitors everything from every angle, and the guards are well-trained for anything,” he informs the Elder.

Luca then takes Gabriel towards another building built in dark brown bricks. They go down some steps when they come to six guards standing. He explains that this is where they keep prisoners who have done more dangerous acts against the pack. There are about twenty cells, with ten on each side. Luca says to the Elder that cells one to ten hold the prisoners that have done less dangerous acts while cells eleven to twenty hold the more dangerous ones that will either be handed over to the Werewolf Council to be dealt with or by the Alpha, depending on the crime. Gabriel was impressed. Luca then looks at his watch and notices the time. It was time for lunch, and he let the Elder know. “Okay then, let’s go. I’m hungry after all that walking,” he said to Luca, who replied, “Yes, me too and l will continue the tour after lunch,” he informed the Elder. Gabriel looks at Luca and then says, “There’s more?” Luca replies to him, saying, “Yes, there’s more thing to show you, but after we had lunch,” as Luca turns back towards the packhouse. Gabriel replies, “Okay,” as he follows Luca back.

Twenty minutes later, they reach the packhouse and enter through the back door. They wash their hands in the spare sink in the mudroom and go through to the dining room. They said good afternoon. Everyone sat at the table and started eating after serving themselves. After everyone finished their meal, they quietly returned to their duties. Luca asked Stefano to join the tour with Gabriel, and he agreed. Luca and Stefano then take the Elder down the end of the hallway and towards a locked door. Luca opened up a part of the door by pressing it down. It opens up, showing a hand recognition device. Luca explains that only a few people know about it and will be recognised. He tells the Elder to put his right hand up and to put it onto the device. Gabriel does as directed. The device then scans his right hand, records it and then says, “Elder Gabriel Lombardi recognised” in a computerised voice. Gabriel asks him, “Why all the security?” Stefano replies, “This is where we keep all our pack members safe in case there is an attack from another pack. Plus, it also doubles as weapons and a conference room,” he said to him. Gabriel replies to him, saying, “That’s good thinking and planning” he tells them “Is there anything else?” Luca replies, saying, “Yes, there’s one of these safe rooms in my bedroom for the Luna as well as in my office and another bigger one underneath the pack’s hospital to get the patients and staff safe from attacks. The pack members’ houses also have safe rooms built into them,” he informed the Elder. Gabriel was delighted to hear that. Luca informs Gabriel that was everything that he had to show him. The Elder pats Luca on the back and says, “Well done, Luca. I’m very proud of you and your pack. You and the pack have come a long way since your parents. They would be very proud of you, too,” he tells him sadly. Luca replies to him, saying, “I hope they are,” and he answers back. Gabriel said, “Of course they are; l know they are very proud of you. I would be if l were your father,” he said. Luca replies, “Thanks, Gabriel. l appreciate it; it hasn’t been easy, that’s for sure.” The Elder answers, “It’s never easy after losing someone you love. It takes time to have the support of others with you through difficult times,” he said, then continued, “I wonder how Rosa did it? Well, l suppose that will have to be answered by Rosa herself,” he said. Luca replies to him, saying, “Yes, we will have to wait, hopefully not too long” he replied.

Luca then looked at his watch to see the time; it was two-thirty afternoon. Luca then asks, “I need to check up on Rosa and try to finish some paperwork before dinnertime. Is that okay with you?” Gabriel replied to him, “Yes, that’s fine with me; Gianna Gallo is waiting for me to call her for an update on Rosa anyway,” he informed Luca, who then replied, “Alright, use the phone in my office. It’s a bit more private for you to talk to her” he replied. Gabriel thanked Luca, who replied, “No worries. I will link with Stefano to let you know that I’m done with the paperwork,” he informed him as Stefano nodded in agreement with his Alpha. They all head in different directions. Luca heads towards the hospital while Gabriel heads towards the Alpha’s office, and Stefano heads towards the kitchen for a bottle of water from the fridge. Luca arrives at the hospital and walks down to Rosa’s room. Entering through the door, he sees Cristian checking on Rosa and reports that she is doing well. Luca thanks him as he sits at the table, waiting for Cristian to finish. When Cristian had finished his examination, he wrote his notes in her chart and told Luca that either Arianna or himself would be back later to check up on her again. Luca thanks him. Cristian answers him with, “No worries, Luca”, as he walks out the door. Luca then starts on his paperwork. Three hours later, he is finished. After sitting down for so long, Luca sighed and stood up to stretch out the kinks in his body, then walked over to his mate and kissed her on the forehead while caressing her pale cheek and whispering that he would be back soon.

Luca heads out to find Gabriel after letting Stefano and Gabriel know he is finishing the paperwork. Stefano informs him that he and the Elder are watching the afternoon training session with Giovanni and the twins, Riccardo and Dominic Vittori. Luca heads towards the training grounds and finds his Beta and the Elder watching the other pack members and his three trainers. They were sparring in their human forms and mixed between the males and females of the pack. After another hour of hard work, the training was finished, and then the pack members were dismissed for showering and changing before coming back for dinner.

For forty-five minutes, everyone was sitting down at the table. The food was served fifteen minutes later. When everyone had finished their food, Luca announced that this would be the last night that Gabriel would be staying and leaving in the morning, he told them. The pack members at the table wished him a safe journey home, and he will hopefully come back again soon. He assured them he would. They all cheered and clapped at the news of the Elder returning. Luca then dismissed them, but not until everyone thanked the kitchen staff for the fantastic food they had prepared. Everyone said good night to the Elder and left to do their own thing before retiring.

Luca, Gabriel, Stefano and Constantino went up to Luca’s office. Once everybody had arrived and taken a seat, Luca asked Gabriel, “How did your phone call to Gianna Gallo go?” while making drinks for a nightcap at the minibar. The Elder replies, “That it went as well as expected. Gianna was upset after hearing about what had happened to Rosa but is happy that you found your mate and that it is her best friend. That is great news. She is also hoping to come and see her on the weekend if that is okay with you,” he informed him. Luca replies, saying, “Yes, of course she can. It would be good for Rosa, and l would like to meet her as well,” he replies. The Elder said, “That’s what l told her,” he replied. Luca smiled at the Elder and asked, “What time were you thinking of leaving?” Gabriel replied, “Probably after breakfast. Why?” Luca replies, “Nothing. I thought you would like to say goodbye to the pack and Rosa before returning home.” The Elder replies to him, saying, “That would be great, Luca.” The Alpha replies, smiling at Gabriel, “No worries.” Then he links the pack, saying there will be a meeting in the hall after breakfast and before the morning training session. The pack immediately replied to him, saying, “Yes, Alpha!” Luca tells Gabriel that the meeting has been set up before he leaves in the morning. Gabriel thanked Luca as they each sipped their drinks. Before long, Gabriel then stands up, and the others follow him. He tells them, “Well, thanks for the nightcap, but l think it’s time l head off to bed.” The others agree as well. Luca says good night to them before he heads back to the hospital. Gabriel says to Luca as he heads out the door to keep him updated on Rosa’s condition and to let him know of any developments. Luca agrees to do that. Gabriel then walks out the door and heads towards his room. The others say goodnight and head off to their rooms as well.

Luca heads towards the hospital after leaving his office. Luca arrived at the hospital ten minutes later. As he enters the room, he sees Arianna walking towards him, saying she was about to check on Rosa before taking a break to rest for a while and that Cristian would take over until her rest break was over. Luca replies, “Oh, okay,” as he sits at the table. Arianna finished checking on Rosa and told him, “She is doing great, Luca” Arianna told him, “Not much longer before her scent comes. It will be subtle at first before it becomes more noticeable,” she explained. Luca replied, “I thought that would be the case,” he said. Arianna writes up her notes in Rosa’s chart before leaving the room. She tells him to hang on a bit longer before wishing them both a good night on behalf of Cristian and herself and starts to leave the room as he says good night to her and Cristian. Arianna says to him that we will see you both in the morning. Luca tells her that Gabriel will be here to say goodbye to Rosa before returning home. Arianna tells him that Cristian and she will also be there to say goodbye to the Elder and then leaves the room so he can go to bed himself.

Luca sighed, then went over to Rosa’s bed and kissed her on the forehead while he caressed her pale cheek and whispered to her goodnight and sweet dreams. He slips into his bed and gets between the sheets and under the covers. It has 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, waiting for that day to come.