Chapter 51 - Let's Move On And Up - Part 1.

"f**k"

Cole growled as he ran his hand through his sopping wet hair.

"What's he talking about, Cole? what's going on?"

Cole looked at me with pity before turning back to look at Angelo.

"Can you leave us alone, please Angelo?"

"Sure"

Angelo smiles sadly at me before leaving the room.

I stood in the bathroom doorway waiting for Cole to say something but he didn't, he didn't even look at me, he just stood with his hands on his hips looking at the floor.

"What was Angelo talking about, Cole?....why is Max's life in danger?"

My voice quivered as I started to worry about my poor little nephew, Cole must've noticed it because he immediately looked over at me before coming and standing in front of me.

"Please don't get upset babe, everything's gonna be ok"

I looked at him confused and a little bit angry.

"How can you say that when Angelo just said Max's life is on the line?"

Cole looked down and sighed.

"Do you remember last night at the party when I had to leave you and I told you to stay by Brody and Jason until I came back?"

"Yes"

I whispered as my nerves started to spike and my heartbeat was racing really fast, please moon goddess, please don't let him say that something bad has happened to my poor baby nephew.

"Max is safe, baby, I promise you he's perfectly fine"

"Really?"

He smiled at me which calmed my nerves and my racing heart down.

"Yes, he's with Nathan, Rachel and Emily downstairs, he's ok"

"Oh, thank the moon goddess he's ok"

I let out a breath as Cole gently cupped my face and placed his forehead onto mine.

"If Max is fine, babe then...then what happened?"

Cole gently caressed my cheeks with his thumbs and I could tell from the look on his face that he didn't want to tell me but he knew that I wouldn't give up until he did so he told me everything and to say I was shocked and horrified would be a MAJOR f*****g understatement.

"Last night, some of our warriors who were on patrol came across the body of a dead man who had been mutilated to the point that he had no face"

"What?"

I gasped.

I can't believe this.

"Who was it?"

"We don't know...whoever did this had completely disfigured him...we haven't been able to identify him yet"

"Him?...how do you know he was a man if he was disfigured?"

Cole's face turned pale and for a second I thought he was gonna be sick.

"He was erm....he was naked and his erm...his pen...his p***s had been cut off"

My eyes widened in horror as I felt bile rise in my throat, how could somebody do this to another person?.

"I think I'm gonna be sick"

I went back into the bathroom and stood in front of the sink just in case I started to vomit.

"Are you ok, babe?"

Cole came in and rubbed his hand up and down my back in a comforting way.

"I'm fine...I think"

I close my eyes and take a deep breath before opening my eyes and looking at my mate through the mirror.

"Do we at least know if he's a pack member or a rogue?"

Cole shook his head.

"We haven't been able to detect any scents on him so we don't know if he's a rogue or a member of our pack or someone elses"

Oh god.

I closed my eyes again and sighed.

"I can't f*****g believe this"

When is all of this gonna end? when is the time gonna come where I can just be f*****g happy and not have to deal with f*****g drama all the bluddy time?.

"Talk to me baby, tell me what's going on in that beautiful head of yours"

Cole asked whilst nuzzling his face into my neck and kissing my mark, I rested my head against his head enjoying the comfort he's giving me.

"I just feel so frustrated Cole....why can't everything be easy for us?"

I felt him smile against my skin which confused me, why is he smiling?.

"If life was easy, babe, where would all of the adventures be?"

I chuckled slightly.

"Are you seriously calling everything that's happened with us and everything that's continuing to happen an adventure?"

"No, that's just annoying shit that I promise you with my life will be over soon and our adventures will start after that"

He kissed my neck making sure to aim his attention on my mark and I had a slight feeling that he was doing this to try and distract me which he almost succeeded in.

"Not if my family is continuing to be threatened Cole, speaking off, what's all of this got to do with Max?"

Cole sighed before pressing a kiss against my shoulder, he then rested his chin on my shoulder and looked at me through the mirror.

"The warriors found a note pinned to his chest which had your name on it and when they read it, they found that Max's name had been mentioned in a threatening manner and that's when they came to get me and afterwards, that's when I went with Angelo to investigate what's going on"

"Wh..what?"

I cleared my throat when my voice came out a little groggy.

"What did the note say?"

Coles jaw tightened and his nostrils started flaring, it worried me seeing him like this because it must mean that the note is pretty bad.

I turned around to face him and cupped his face to ease the tension.

"Cole....what did it say?"

Cole looked at me sternly but with warm eyes, he then placed his hands on my wrists moving them away and gently kissed each of my palms before walking back into our room and going over to the clothes that he was wearing last night which were scattered all over the floor and he pulled something out of his pocket, he looked at it for a few seconds before coming over to me and giving me the note.

My hands were shaking as I opened up the note but they instantly stopped when Cole placed his hands on mine, I looked up at him and saw his face was stoic but his eyes were filled with worry.

"Please don't panic, baby, ok...I'll keep you and Max safe"

I nod my head before looking down and reading the note.

'Dear my sweet future wifey, do you like my present? this is all your fault you know, if you'd have just stayed with me like a good little girl then none of this would've happened but no you had to be a little bitch and leave me but it's ok because one of these days I'm gonna get you back and when I do, I'm never gonna let you go again until then I'm gonna have a lot of fun mutilating anyone I get my hands on maybe it's a rogue or one of your family members or maybe that mutt Cole'

I gasped covering my hand with my mouth.

'If you surrender yourself to me then I'll spare everyone's lives but if you don't then I'll have no other choice than to take my anger out on other people and it'll all be your fault especially if I get my hands on the heir to MY throne and I'll take great pleasure in doing to that little brat what I did to this guy, it's up to you, babe, either surrender yourself and nobody will get hurt or I'll torture and kill Max, the choice is yours, see you soon, babe, Mason X'

"Oh my god"

I whispered as tears fell down my face splashing onto the paper.

"Baby, please don't cry"

Cole pulled me to him and hugged me tight as tears started to flow down my face even faster, I became really hysterical the more I thought about what the note said.

Cole tried to calm me down but I was too upset too, a man has been tortured and mutilated because of me...because my sick f**k of an uncle wants to use me to be king.

"Please stop crying Nattie, Max is safe, you're safe nobody is ever gonna hurt either of you"

"B..but what about the d..dead m..man"

"What about him?"

He asked confused.

I pull away from his hold and look up at him.

"I..it's my fault h..he's d..dead"

"What? why would you say that?"

"M..Mason said it and he's r..right...it's my fault he's d..dead and my fault if anyone else gets h..hurt"

Cole looked at me shocked and with another emotion on his face that I couldn't decipher.

"Babe, Mason is a f*****g idiot, if any of this shit is anybody's fault then it's his not yours, do you understand me?"

"But..."

"No f*****g buts Natalia, now I don't wanna hear another word leave your mouth about this being your fault, ok?....ok?"

He repeated himself more sternly when I didn't answer him and I nodded my head.

"Ok"

"Good girl"

He said pressing a gentle kiss on my forehead.

"Let's get dressed, ok"

I looked down at the both of us and noticed that we're both still in our towels, shit, I was so caught up in everything that I'd forgotten that we'd just gotten out of the shower when Angelo interrupted us.

"Urgh!!, I'm surprised you were able to concentrate so much with me like this"

I go to head into the walk-in wardrobe when Cole stopped me by grabbing hold of my hand and pulling me close to him wrapping his free arm around my waist.

"Don't take this the wrong way babe but seeing you hurt, sad, distraught, in tears or whatever is a major f*****g turn off for me...I hate to see you like this even if you do look sexy as hell dressed in nothing but a towel"

I smiled loving how compassionate he is.

"I love you, Cole"

"I love you too, mi amor"

He whispers against my lips before kissing me in a very slow and passionate kiss, f**k, I love this man and how he makes me feel.

The Next Day...

"Come on Natalia, tell me"

"No, Destiny"

"Why?"

"Because it's weird"

"How?"

This f*****g woman.

"Because you're our cousin Destiny, I'm not telling you about our sex life now get over it"

"Urgh!! but I told you about me and Christian"

"Yer and I still need to book myself some therapy for that"

She sighs whilst crossing her arms over her chest looking like a stroppy child.

"You're no fun"

"Sorry about that"

I said with a chuckle.

Talk of sex quickly turned to talk about my body and tattoos when I started to get dressed in front of her, Destiny is a huge fan of tattoos and is probably responsible for half of the women in our pack getting them done.

"Why didn't you ever get inked, Nat? if I had a body like yours I'd definitely decorate it with some fancy ink"

"Oh trust me, I wanted too especially when I woke up to this bad boy, I wanted nothing more than to make a beeline to the nearest tattoo parlour but I couldn't"

"Why not?"

She asked confused with a little annoyance in her tone.

"Because of Angelo, he says that women shouldn't have tattoos and piercings because it makes them look stupid and unladylike"

"Oh really?...just wait until I corrupt his mate"

"Leave Emily alone, Destiny"

I warn her but she didn't respond, I turned to face her and saw her deep in thought with an evil grin on her face, my poor best friend she doesn't even know what this evil young mind has got planned for her.

I chuckle as I take off my robe and go over to my bed to get my shirt.

"I see you defied your favourite big brother and got several tattoos anyway"

She said with a slight chuckle.

"Huh"

I turn around and look at her confused.

"What do you mean?"

"What do you mean, what do I mean? look at yourself Nattie, you've got tribal tattoos all over you"

"What?"

I look down at my body and she's right, at least from what I can see, I go into my bathroom turning my back to the mirror and looking over my shoulder at the huge tattoo which is on the tops and bottom of my back, my hips and front hips and the entire side of one of my biceps.

"What the f**k? where did this come from?"

"Oh come on Nat, you don't have to act with me, I won't tell Angelo...Cole might though"

I look at Destiny with so much anger, how dare she say that I'm acting?.

"I'm not acting bitch, I seriously don't know where the hell this has come from?"

"Whatever Nat"

Urgh!!.

"I'm telling you the truth Dest, I've never once gotten a tattoo before"

I look back at the huge tattoo which, to be honest, looks amazing and it looks so beautiful against my tanned skin but I'm just so confused, I never had this when I woke up and I certainly didn't have it when I was in the shower so how have I got it now?.

"Oh my god you're....you're being serious, aren't you?"

"Yes"

It's nice to see she's finally getting it.

"You really don't know how you got this?"

I roll my eyes at her.

"How many more ways can I say it before you finally understand it, Dest?"

"I'm sorry Nat it's just very odd, where did this thing come from if you don't remember getting it?"

I thought about it and only one set of people came to my mind.

"My parents"

"Your parents?"

She asked confused.

"Wait, NATALIA!!"

She shouted after me as I left my room and ran downstairs not caring that I'm only wearing a bra, a pair of jeans and my shoes.

"DADDY!!....DAD!!"

"Where's the fire baby girl?"

"For f***s sake, Natalia, really?"

I look into the living room where everyone including Cole, Angelo, Brody, Jason, Nathan, Christian, Dean, Emily, Rachel and my adopted parents are sitting looking at me with different emotions on their faces, Cole growled and looked like he was ready to blow a gasket, all of my brothers and Dean have got a look of disgust on their faces, Brody and Jason are laughing, Rachel and Emily started wolf-whistling and complimenting me whilst my adopted father facepalmed and my adopted mother smiled.

I narrowed my eyes at the guys and glared at them.

"Can you all stop looking at me like that, Jeez, you'd think you've never seen a pair of t**s before"

I said whilst rolling my eyes.

"Darling, why are you coming down here dressed like this?"

"Because of this daddy...what the hell is it?"

"It's a tattoo dumbass"

Jason says and I flip him off.

"You got a tattoo? what did I tell you about tattoos, Natalia?"

"Oh shut up Angelo, it's 2020 for f***s sake, girls can do and can have pretty much anything they want too and they don't need a man to say otherwise"

Destiny growls and Angelo glares at her.

"This isn't a tattoo"

My dad mutters causing me to snap my head to him.

"What do you mean daddy?"

He walks around me staring at the tattoo or whatever it is intently, he then shouted for my momma and I flinched covering my ears, I thought I was the only one but I wasn't, everyone else except for Nathan and Christian did as well.

"Do you have to shout, babe? I was only in the next room"

"Sorry baby...c..come and look at this"

He beckons my mother over who came and stood next to him, she then gasped loudly and I looked at Nathan and Christian hoping they could help me with what's going on but instead they were smirking with pride.

"Oh my moon goddess, is that real?"

"It sure is, our baby girl finally got her Royal mark"

"My...my what?"

I asked turning around to face them.

"Your royal mark baby, every Royal gets their mark after they've marked and mated with their true mate, I've got one so has your momma and your brothers"

"Really? but why this type of mark it doesn't look regal to me"

"It's a tribal tattoo honey, it signifies your status in the supernatural world as well as your status as a Luna and a marked woman"

"I thought that's what Coles mark is for?"

"Oh it is but this one is more intricate and shows everyone in our world who you belong too i.e. Cole and the Royal family"

"Oh"

I was still feeling confused but not as confused as I was before.

"You should be proud and honoured to have this mark sweetheart, it's very beautiful"

"Thank you, daddy and I am proud to have it"

I said with a smile.

"Now come my dear daughter, we've got something very important we need to talk to you about"

"Erm momma, can I go and get a top first?"

"No worries Nat, here you go"

Destiny throws me a shirt and I was grateful for it.

"Thanks, Dest"

I put the shirt on and follow everyone into the living room.

"What are you all doing?"

I ask confused when I look around and see what looks like plans for a wedding, there are folders for flower arrangements, table decorations, music, food just basic event planning stuff scattered all over the place.

"We're planning your Luna ceremony, sweetie"

My adopted mother says all giddy as I look at her confused.

I've been on goodish terms with my adopted parents lately and I've been trying my hardest to forgive them and move on for not only the sake of my mate and my brother but also for myself and my future kids, life is way too short to hold on to grudges even though I've got every right too with them and I just want to move on and get on with my life, that being said, I'm taking baby steps with them and don't fully trust them yet, they have to earn that which they haven't so far.

"Hypocrite"

"Huh, who are you calling a hypocrite?"

"I'm calling you one, you'll forgive your parents and give them a chance but not Tina, do you even realise how much you're hurting Dean right now?"

"Shut Up, Lucky"

I look over at Dean and I'd be lying if I said I didn't feel guilty for his current state, he looks like he's barely slept in days, his hair looks like he's been running his hand through it continuously and he's grown a beard which he suits but I'm not used to seeing him like this.

"Why are we planning my Luna ceremony?"

I ask looking away from my cousin.

"Because it's about time we had a celebration, honey"

"But daddy, Mason is still on the loose and he's killing innocent people, how can we throw a party and have fun knowing he's still out there?"

"Your Luna ceremony isn't a party Natalia, it's a very prestigious and sacred ceremony"

My momma said sounding slightly annoyed.

"Your mothers right, Natalia"

My adopted mother says with a lot of pain and sadness in her voice but I could tell that she was trying to hide it.

"Whether you like it or not princess, you're a Luna now and you need to take your rightful place next to Cole as the Luna of the Dark Shadows pack"

"But what if Mason attacks us or tries to get to Max, you all read the note, we can't give him an opportunity to hurt him"

"Nobody is hurting my son"

Nathan growled and I felt guilty for making him angry even though I know he's not angry at me.

"Babe, we're ready for Mason and we're prepared to do whatever it takes to protect you and Max and whoever else that he plans on hurting, we've also upped our security and our guards to make sure that no unwanted trespassers come onto our territory during the ceremony"

"I've also arranged for a few dozen of my men to come in from Honolulu to serve and protect their princess and princes during the ceremony so please don't worry, baby girl"

Wow, they've really thought of everything.

Wait.

"Princes?"

Did he mean to say that as plural?.

"Yes princes, Max, Nathan, Christian and Cole, he's gonna be a prince come this Saturday"

My father said with a huge grin and an excited twinkle in his eyes.

I look over at my mate who was already looking at me with a huge smirk plastered on his handsome face, he then winked at me causing me to look away and chuckle.

"Please don't worry about Mason or any of this nonsense my darling, everything's going to be perfectly fine, do you understand me?"

I let out a sigh.

"Yes daddy"

"Good girl"

I smiled at him and he smiled back.

"Soooooo, can we plan or not because I really wanna go shopping for a new dress?"

Emily says excitedly.

"This woman"

Angelo muttered under his breath whilst rolling his eyes, I also rolled my eyes because we all know that my little bestie doesn't need an excuse to shop.

"It's up to Nat"

My daddy said and everyone looked at me waiting for me to answer.

I looked around at everyone before looking at Cole who was already staring at me with so much love, he then tapped his knee subtly and I gave in.

"Ok fine"

Everyone broke out into excited cheers as I made my way over to Cole and sat on his lap, he instantly wrapped his arms around my waist and kissed my cheek.

I can't put everything in my life on hold because of Mason, maybe this Luna ceremony is what we all need right now.