We woke up in each other's arms, and this was so much different than how we woke up in each other's arms when I was in my heat. My head was resting on his chest - half of my body was sprawled on him. His arms were around me, holding me tight, and his nose was buried in my hair. We didn't sleep a wink last night and even though we were - mostly - physically connected the entire time, I was healed emotionally, too.

Adrian would never be able to take Aiden's place in my heart - Goddess, I loved that man despite what he had done to my parents and me - but I knew Adrian was the one who would help me let go of him.

And that was yet another point. I wanted to let go of Aiden on my own, not with my other mate's help.

I kept taking in huge breaths, taking as much of his scent as I could. I didn't know when I was going to come back - if I would be able to come back at all.

Who knew what Moon Goddess had planned for her favourite girl?

"Don't think too much, " Adrian murmured in my hair, "What's meant to be is meant to be."

I cuddled closer to him, as if that was even possible.

It was easy to know what he was thinking - he was savoring these moments, the loving murmurs, our skin on skin, our bodies fitting together perfectly, the scents and just the feel of each other's presence.

He was thinking that even now, after everything was over, we couldn't be in each other's arms and be at peace. We both were still worrying about separating and dreading the moments we would have to spend away from each other.

And he was getting insecure; he was thinking that I would prefer the normalcy of human life over the complications and responsibilities here and would never come back to the Kingdom. Worse, he thought I would find a man there.

And there was nothing I could do to assure him that something like that won't happen.

A thought struck him suddenly and before I could get it from his mind, he spoke up.

"The Alpha and the Luna of the pack I belonged to - WereFang, want to meet you before you leave." he started, "Well, they are the ones who basically brought me up and it didn't sit well with them that you knew nothing about them. I hope you don't mind; they are amazing people and already love you. And yes, I promise they won't overstep any bounds."

"So, it's like meeting your parents." I stated, not understanding why he was so nervous about me meeting them.

He gulped, "Yes, something like that."

"I would love to meet them; I'm hoping they tell me some embarrassing stories of your childhood." I winked at him wickedly.

He grinned at me cheekily, but then his face grew a little serious.

"And yes, you father gave me some...warnings." He told me.

"What?"

"Yes, the same old 'don't hurt my daughter or I'll have your balls chopped and fed to the wild wolves' thing, among other things."

"And what are the other things?" I looked up at him, resting my chin on his chest.

"To give you time and then woo you properly. He's expecting proper courting, as it happens in the PureBlood Kingdom." He had a smile on his face, but he blocked his mind-link so that I wouldn't know why he was smiling. "You don't know anything about that, do you?" he asked.

I shook my head, "I know nothing. In fact, you even know my father more than I do."

Oh Goddess, I again felt like a baby.

"That will soon change, Moon. Not many get the chance to see their parents alive after they have been believed to be dead." His tone told me that he was thinking about his parents.

I pressed a kiss to his jaw.

We kept staring at each other for a while until he said, "Your visiting hours will begin soon and Mercy will be here in no time." He sighed, and just like me, he didn't want to get up, too, "We should at least get dressed."

We reluctantly disentangled our limbs, and picked up our clothes which were lying on the floor. Adrian and I had made a point not to tear anything, because we didn't have spare clothes at all.

I sat on the bed once I was done and watched him zip up his denims and straighten his shirt. He came towards me and quickly pressed his lips to mine.

Just in time, we heard Mercy approaching my room.

"I'll have to get someone to change the bedsheets."

But instead, the both of us changed them quickly just before Mercy stepped into the room.

Her eyes fell on Adrian and her gaze lowered immediately. I first thought it was some sort of rule, but then I realized that she wasn't meeting my gaze, too.

She was embarrassed as if she walked in on us having sex.

"No wonder the entire Kingdom could feel the Luna Queen's mood uplift last night." She mumbled.

It was my turn to blush.

This meant that the whole Kingdom knew what was happening last night. Geez, talk about privacy.

"Well," she continued, still not looking up, "Thank you for changing the sheets, and uh, yeah, Prathma Vashisht and Elise are on the way. Just wanted to inform you."

We both nodded, "Thank you." I said.

She scurried out of the room in the next second; how she did that with her pregnant belly, I didn't know. It was as if she had come here only to inform us about my parent's arrival.

"She was probably thinking we were still at it, and wanted to warn us beforehand," Adrian murmured with a smile on his face.

I couldn't resist kissing him.

He kissed back deeply, and for a few moments I had forgotten that we were expecting someone.

Then we heard someone clearing his throat and we jumped apart.

I blushed; Mercy had actually warned us and we forgot.

Stupid. Idiot.

I risked a peek at Adrian before I met the gaze of my parents and I saw that he was blushing. He was embarrassed at the same time.

I wanted to laugh.

But it went away right after I looked into my father's eyes, who was not looking at me but was glaring at Adrian quite fiercely. I shifted my eyes to my mother who was stifling a laugh and was looking at my father.

"I thought I had asked you to court her properly." My father's voice wasn't soft or kind at all. It made me strangely happy - to finally have a dad to threaten the boys to treat me well.

"I'm sorry, Vash - Sir." Adrian hung his head slightly.

"I didn't ask you to stop calling me by my name. I just asked you to treat my daughter properly. Is that too hard for you, now? Can't keep it in your pants?"

Mom almost laughed at Adrian's flustered look, "Leave the boy alone, Vash. They are mates, and will be staying away from each other for quite a while."

"Why are they separating ways in the first place? If they have a valid reason - "

Mom placed a hand on his shoulder, "Calm down. Cel, we can come later if you are...busy."

"No, no." We were done a long time ago.

My cheeks were red and heated.

"I'll leave," Adrian muttered, slowly, as if trying not to get much attention to himself even though my parents' eyes were on him.

"You don't have to leave on our account," Papa said, "We won't stop you from anything. Except for breaking a limb or two if you overstepped your limits."

"Vash!" My mom chided, "Leave him be. Adrian, you can leave if you have things to do. Vash here might just explode."

Adrian's exit was hurried but he managed to do it in as dignified a way as possible. But before leaving, he grabbed my waist, smacked a loud kiss on my lips and left.

My father growled and I had to stifle a laugh.

"I was just teasing him, but he knew the way to get back at me." Papa grumbled, and this time, both Mom and I giggled.

He smiled too, and his eyes grew teary, "Oh babygirl, how desperately have I wanted to hear that that little laugh since two decades."

He wrapped me up in a bear hug immediately and I melted in his arms, feeling this safe, protected and cherished for the very first time. Maybe because this was the first time I could enjoy his love that encompassed me. Tears were running down my cheeks, too.

My father pulled my mother into our hug, and we stood like that for a moment before we pulled away.

"How do you feel?" he asked, compelling me to lie down on the bed again at the same time.

"I feel better now, Papa." I told him.

"Of course, you do." he said, a small smirk on his face.

Is he teasing me?

I blushed again.

"Well, I don't want to talk about that." he said, and then looked at my mother for a while. "There's one thing we want to discuss with you, though, Cynthia."

I nodded at him to continue.

"I know you want to return to the humans for a while, have some respite, take a break and all. We'll be coming along with you, right?" He asked.

"Yes," I replied. "I want both of you to be there with me, of course, if you don't have any responsibilities to fulfill here."

"For the next few months, we have been given time to heal physically and emotionally. Till that time, all the PureBloods will either be roaming around the world in quiet places or will be under the protection of the Werewolves. You can say I have no responsibilities to fulfil here and neither does your mother."

I grinned at them.

"Can you believe this, Elise?" My father grew teary eyed again, "Our baby has grown up so much. The last time I held her, she was so tiny, just some eight months old. I wish I had been there to help you take your first steps and teach you everything I wanted to. I missed so many years of your life."

He was crying, and my heart broke.

"Papa, that's what the next many months will be about." I caressed his cheek, "I'm still a baby as compared to all of you - I know nothing about the world I belong to. And I want both of you to teach me how to be a Werewolf and a PureBlood. Grandma taught me being human, and the rest all is up to you."

"Bless that woman for bringing up our daughter like her own." Mom murmured. "How is she?"

"She died a couple of years ago." I told Mom, sadly.

"Oh," she mumbled, looking sad herself, "She was a wonderful woman. She brought you up so well. I really wanted to meet her and thank her."

I shrugged, "We can visit her grave when we go there. I haven't visited her in what feels like ages, ever since I first knew of the supernatural world."

She nodded.

"I wanted to ask you, I hope you don't mind," Papa said, "What really went on between the two of you, you and Adrian? I clearly sense a mark on you. I have heard bits and pieces from here and there but I wanted to hear the whole of it from you."

I looked at him with wide eyes and started narrating the story to him.

"Well, I knew he was married, and we all had supported the Kingdom in the decision. I never knew it would come to hurt my only daughter." He murmured, "I can't hold it against him, though. He did what was the best and just."

I nodded in agreement.

"It will do you tremendously good to spend some time away from each other. This way, I will have my little girl all for me." he smiled at me.

"I hope we are not intruding. We can come back later." Another male voice caught our attention and our gazes turned towards the entrance.

"Killian! Selena! It's been so long."

The man - Killian's gaze softened as he looked at my parents, "It's good to see you, too. You have no idea how it feels like to see you after so many years, when we thought you were dead."

There were hugs and warm greetings in the room while I awkwardly sat on the bed and stared at the people who didn't bother greeting me yet. Not that I was minding any of it - both couples needed time to reconcile and I was happy to watch them bond all over again.

Killian and Selena - their names, and they were probably the Alpha and Luna of the WereFang Pack, the ones who brought up Adrian.

"Moon," Selena was the first one to finally look at me, "It's so wonderful to meet you. You are a beautiful girl." She leaned down to hug me.

"And a strong one, too," Killian added, "After all she saved the Vampires and the PureBloods. A Luna Queen and the manifestation of Moon Goddess on Earth."

"I wouldn't be so sure about that," I said with a smile on my face.

"Oh but we all are," Another familiar voice came from the entrance of my room and we all turned to find the Vampire Queen there, with her King right behind.

A good number of people were in the room now and I was grateful that the room was huge enough to accommodate us all. Thankfully, I had been in a good mood and I didn't mind having the attention of so many people.

"I'm very sorry to interrupt your conversation and I hope we are not intruding." The Vampire Queen said. I didn't even know her name.

"Matilda, Cassius, you are very much welcome." My mother said, after exchanging an affirming look with me.

"Your daughter has saved the Vampire Kingdom, and we would like to repay her in whichever way possible. I think we should start by telling her about the prophecy."

Oh, yes, the prophecy. I have been curious to know about it too.

"In short, the prophecy was mentioned in some ancient structures, that one day a hybrid - Moon Goddess' incarnation - will be born in our world and will save the Vampire Kingdom from doom. It didn't explain much apart from that." she said.

"That was why we kept you hidden since the beginning - even when Elise was pregnant. We didn't know what kind of danger would be out there if everyone knew about you. I'm glad you remained hidden for so long." Mom added.

Oh.

"But we all never knew what the problem with the Werewolf Kingdom was. Lazarus had made it seem like the King and Queen had handed over the throne to him. We never knew there was an actual problem until the war." Killian said.

"Now we believe that the Vampire Kingdom should not remain estranged anymore - the Kingdoms need to mingle so that whenever such an issue ever arises, we can stand by each other." Cassius, the Vampire King said.

Everyone in the room nodded.

Some small talk carried on further when Matilda turned towards me, "I heard that you will be moving the human side for a while with your parents, is that true?"

I nodded.

She smiled at me, "I hope you find yourself feeling better sooner. We all will be eagerly awaiting your return."

I gave her a small smile.

We made some small talk and then Matilda and Cassius had to leave to head back to the Vampire Kingdom. It was wonderful spending time with them - watching my parents enjoy in their idle gossip was the best part.

After some more gossiping, all done by the old people my parents left and Killian and Selena remained in the room.

I grew a little nervous.

"It's nice to finally see the woman who has our Adrian behaving out of sorts." Selena chuckled while looking at me warmly.

"Yes, even when he was terribly bullied, he never lost his cool." Killian added.

"Can you tell me more about his childhood?" I asked them, their words piquing my curiosity.

"There's not much to tell you," Killian shrugged, "He mostly kept to himself and never asked for help, even when we wanted to be there for him. Being an omega, he was severely bullied, but it never seemed to faze him much. He was dedicated, kind-hearted and focused, even at such a young age - he still is. He has had high potential right since the beginning and that was why we paid the right amount of attention to him. Delia had been his friend ever since he knew what a friend was. He had a few more friends, but many of them died in the war. If you are looking for his little tales of mischief, I am sorry but he never gave us the chance to be really close to him until he became much older."

I nodded, looking at my fingers for a moment. Adrian's childhood might not be the hardest, but it wasn't a piece of cake either. For some reason, I couldn't imagine Adrian as this grumpy little child who gets bullied, doesn't let his guard down and never lets anyone in.

"Can I ask you something?" Selena asked after it had been quiet for a while.

"Sure." My voice was small.

"Will you come back?" She asked. Killian was silent and let his wife do the talking. " I mean, I know that you are purposely going away from Adrian but are you planning to come back at all?"

I couldn't look her in the eye.

"I don't know."

"I won't stop you if you wish to stay among the humans - I have no right to do that. But Adrian is like my own and I want to see him happy." Her voice cracked slightly, "He lives and breathes the Kingdom, but ever since he was a child I have never seen him happy. When he was younger, the only hope that kept him going was finding his mate." She was close to tears but took a pause and composed herself, "I don't want to sway you emotionally...I...I just want to see him happy."

I stared at the woman while my heart ached for her.

"Luna Selena," My voice quivered a little, "It was his choice as well, to get some space for a while - he is upset over me being with my...other mate. If after some time, when will be better than now, and we think that we can only find happiness with each other, I assure you I will come back. But I cannot promise you anything." My voice lowered towards the end.

*******************************

My heart was breaking, and I was pretty sure the whole Kingdom could hear it; feel it.

It was time to leave for home, but it did not feel like I was going back home.

Time and again, I had to remind myself that I needed this - that we needed this. We needed to stay away from each other for some time - it was something I chanted like a mantra so that I wouldn't go running back to Adrian and ask him to stay just with me.

But I knew I couldn't do that.

I needed to get over Aiden on my own. I needed to learn to be independent again.

Everyone I knew was standing in front of me, except for Adrian, and I was thankful for that.

Even though this was a little overdramatic, and it wasn't like I wasn't ever going to meet them again, I could feel the atmosphere was extremely sad. Selena and Killian were not here, but,

Jaxon was standing somewhat in the middle with Liana tucked into his side. It seemed like she was the only person who wasn't sad at all. Either it was because she knew that she would be definitely staying in touch with me the entire time, or she was confident that I was going to come back sooner or later.

Or perhaps, both.

No one said a word. It was just a huge number of people either hugging me or shaking hands with me. Mercy's huge belly was still there, and I knew I would come back for sometime when she gave birth.

The thought of staying for a few more days came across my mind, but I knew I had to leave sooner or I would keep procrastinating.

We bid our farewell, and sprinted towards the MoonLine - my mother in her wolf form and my father in his Blood form. I wished I could take in his beauty and finally see what a PureBlood looked like, but my senses were only focused on searching for Adrian.

We sat in the car that was going to take us to my house, we were almost out of the forests.

But there was no sign of Adrian.

I steeled my heart, and composed myself, looking at my parents who eyes were trained outside the windows.

This was a new beginning for me, and I was ready for it.