These are actually swimming clothes.” He said.

I want you to release the pain of your past at that beach." He added gently.

"I really want to go there so I can face my fears, but my mother won't let me go because the doctor advised her never to take me there again." I said to him, and he held my hands.

"I just wish I could see my father again, and thank you for believing the fantastic, horrific story I told you about him." I said to him, and I could tell he was smiling.

"Actually, I found it difficult to believe, but your father was a hybrid, so that explains why it's true." He said, and I laid my head over the seat edge, closing my eyes and wanting to devour him because he hadn't believed me all these years.

"I'm joking. To be honest, I believe you because there wasn't a trace of your father anywhere, so I think you need to ask your mother some questions." he advised swiftly.

"Marcus, my mother won't let you take me out of this house, especially to the beach, because that contradicts what the doctor asked her to do." I said to him thoughtfully.

He grabbed my shoulders, and I feared what he was about to do as he leaned me into his chest for me to rest.

"I don't like seeing you confined to this house all the time. You eat all your meals here, you don't even have the chance to walk around, and every education you receive is within these walls. Aren't you too beautiful to be treated like you're imprisoned, especially for a future Luna?" He said, kissing my head.

I loved being nestled between his strong, masculine chest.

The kisses he kept giving me were wonderful, along with his compliments.

"Okay, I'll follow you, Marcus, but my protection must accompany me wherever I want to go." I said to him, and he smiled.

"You mean your mother?" He asked, which certainly I thought was my mother, but now it was against her wishes.

So it had to be someone else.

"It's you." I said to him, and he tightened his embrace with an intense, heated kiss on my head.

Yes! Just you and me alone.

"All this is for my protection, Marcus, and I think you should respect these boundaries and calm down, man. Have you forgotten that I'm blind?" I said, and he pulled me deeper into his arms, and I giggled a bit, which he noticed but gracefully ignored.

"I'm taking you to the beach tomorrow, but I don't know when I should come to get you without Luna knowing." He said to me, and I smiled.

"You should just ask my mother first, because I might not follow you anywhere." I said to him, and I tried to picture the kind of expression he was making because of what I said.

"Did I hear you're going out?" My mother said from the dining room as she walked quickly toward where Marcus and I sat.

"Don't say a word!" Marcus whispered as she approached our location.

"Well, I was just telling Seraphina how nice it would have been for her and me to go out, and she was like, no, I'm not allowed to because of my condition." Marcus said, and silence followed as I remained calm.

"Well, it's not that I don't trust you. It's just that her condition makes her vulnerable to the darkness out there, if you understand what I mean." she said, and Marcus tightened my hand in his.

"But I'm giving you full permission to take her out, but not to the beach because that's where, you know, all this started, and you happen to be a strong warrior who can protect her." She said to him.

I squeezed his palm in return, and he didn't say another word.

"I think it's time you tell your mother what you've always told me was your biggest wish." He said aloud, and my heart started racing as my wish wasn't just a wish but my deepest secret.

"Please, I don't want to talk about it." I said loudly, and Marcus laughed slightly.

"Oh, I see. She wishes I would never stop buying her eye potions so she could see one day." the Luna said, sitting at my right side.

She hugged me, and tears followed as I felt them on my shoulders.

My illness has made such a hardworking Luna cry for so long.

"I'm sorry I let a thief steal such a priceless potion." she said, holding me tightly.

"Mother!" I said, annoyed. Actually, I'm tired of the fact that my illness has been making her sad and has destabilized her badly. I feel guilty about it as well, but I hope she gets better soon.

"You lost Seraphina's eye potions?" Marcus asked, and the next thing happening was beyond my sight while all I heard were body movements.

"Thank you so much, Marcus. You've been of tremendous help to Seraphina and me. May the Moon Goddess bless you." my mother said, crying heavily.

"Stop crying! I'll be okay. At least I have the best mother on planet earth and a friend who shows me love." I said, holding Marcus's hand.

"But Mother! I need to release my guilt. It kills me every day to tell you what happened to Father, and you categorize my stories as painful fantasy." I said as I began crying as well.

"The Alpha sacrificed himself to block a realm of darkness from the ocean, and water brought me to the shores. I need to see my father if he's still alive, so you either follow me to the beach with Marcus, or you let Marcus take me there." I said to her, and she slid down from the chair to the floor.

"Seraphina, the witches told me never to take you to the ocean because it may affect you mentally. You have to follow the witches' orders, sweetie, and you must understand that your father is now just a spirit." She said.

"I don't want to lose the only thing that gives me a future to live for, please, Seraphina." she begged, holding my knees.

"Mother! People take risks to survive. Don't you see that we've been following the witches' orders for so long now?" I asked her through tears.

"I've made up my mind, Mother. Please take me, or let me go where I want to go." I said to her, and she laid her head on my lap.

"You're as stubborn as your father, Seraphina!" She said loudly as she stood up, and the next words that escaped her lips stunned me so much that I felt it was unreal.

"Alright, I'll take you there with Marcus, of course, and we have something personal to discuss concerning the Alpha." she said, kissing me and leaving.

"See! Imagine if you had followed what I told you three years ago. Maybe with the persuasion you just used now, your mother would have voluntarily taken you there." Marcus said, putting his hand over my shoulders.

"Thank you so much for pushing me to finally tell her what I've always wanted her to know about." I said to him, and he kissed me as well.

"But why, Marcus? Why do you care about me? I mean, why have you always cared about me?" I asked multiple questions at once, and he leaned in with his warm breath pouring over my ears.

"You're so beautiful, and that's one reason. You have an amazingly curved waist with gorgeous hips, which is incredible."

"Your eyes are brownish with a light green ring, not to mention that your lips are soft and really pink."

"I love you more for the fact that your hair feels so curly when I touch it, and I've always loved you so much, my amazing-looking lady. And yes! I love you for being unique." He said, and I was about to melt from the chair I was sitting on.

"Oh my goddess, Marcus! God really made your mouth with all the flavors of milkshake!" I said to him, and it reminded me that he had bought a milkshake for me as well.

"So where is the milkshake?" I said, searching for it, only to feel something that made me almost stand up and run.

"Damn, Seraphina, you should have just asked me to give it to you." He said, shifting away.

"I didn't mean to grab your reproductive organ, boy. That felt horribly wrong." I said, and he laughed as I searched for a pillow to throw at him wherever he was.