please don't end

Archer and I ended up falling asleep, but the next time I woke up, the moon was high up the sky and it was completely dark outside. I concluded that it was deep into the night still.

With my stirring, Archer won't up next to me and the moment we laid eyes on each other, the passion started all over again. This time, much more intimate than the first. Who knew moments of ecstasy like that existed?

The sun was shining bright already when I next opened my eyes. Archer was holding me close to him, his arms embracing me and resting at the bareness of my lower back.

Remembering the scenes of yesterday made me blush and I ended up digging my face deeper on his neck.

"Hmm..." Archer stirred at my actions and I whispered a sorry for bothering him.

I thought he had woken up completely so I waited for him to let me go, but he only tightened his hold and bringing me closer.

We stayed that way for a while again and although I also wanted to stay like that, remembering that today was our last full day, I wanted to cherish it and spend the most time I could with him.

"Archer, wake up." I whispered and looked up only to see his sleeping face. With my hands, I held on his chest and shook him lightly. "Wake up, it's already so late."

Finally, he moved and slowly opened his eyes. Upon seeing me, he smiled and closed them back to embrace me. "Just a little bit--"

"No," I said and pushed him off of me, "it's our last day here let's go--ah!" I tried to get up but stopped when I felt pain at my lower part. I held onto the blanket that covered me as I crouched in pain.

Hearing my cry of pain, Archer sat up to check on me. Realizing the cause of my pain, he muttered curses under his breath and started apologizing.

"I'm sorry, was I too rough?" he asked and tried to easy my pain. I shook my head and moved slowly.

"I'm fine, I just need to take it slow." I said. He put pants on and gave me his shirt to wear which I gladly wore.

I came to realize that it was practically already noon and we'd wasted half a day sleeping in. My body ached and seeing that, Archer carried me to the breakfast counter and started cooking.

I watched him cook and coached him on what to do and what not to do. By the time we finished eating, my body felt much better and I could move on my own. Archer insisted on helping me but I reminded him that I was not a child.

We ended up getting out of the hotel room by one in the afternoon and we went back to the beach. When we got there, we saw Suzy and the others and that's when she informed us that she rented an evening yacht tour with dinner and told us to be at the dock by five which was only a few hours from now.

Archer and I spent the time swimming leisurely and just talking. I learned that Archer actually had a pretty passive attitude, but in a positive way. He let things happen at their own time, he didn't force them.

Compared to when he was acting as an Alpha, he was on point and in control of everything. It was a nice change to see.

I watched him surf from afar when I got tired of being in the water and I refused to surf because... well my body still hurt. As I suspected, he was a good surfer, it looked rather hot. I knew because there were other people watching me.

I almost wanted to tell them 'Hey, that's my mate, see only, no touch.'

But I let it be, I'll share his beauty with the world.

Before five in the evening arrived, we went back to our room to change into a formal attire as Suzy had instructed us to.

I wore a square neck white dress with small floral patterns all over that went down till the top of my knees. I wore a small golden heart locket and and tied my hair into a pony tail.

As much as I wanted to put on makeup, I decided not to because my skin might react badly. I've been in the sun and sea water for so long and I had a pretty sensitive skin.

Archer, in turn, wore a dark green shorts that he paired with a white top. I noticed how much he tanned and laughed at the ridiculous tan lines.

With that, we went by the dock and expected the other girls to be there, but apparently, they went on another yacht and that this one was for us.

I didn't know whether to be shocked or amazed by Suzy. "I didn't know she was such a planner." I tell Archer as he helped me from the dock to the boat.

"Yeah, well now you know." he sighed.

We were greeted on board by the staffs and they explained our itinerary and what time the food would be served. They asked if we had any music we wanted to play and since Archer and I didn't have any, they opted for old romantic songs.

"Do you wanna go at the second level while they're preparing the food?" Archer asked with a smile.

I looked towards the stairs and nodded. The boat was shaky, but Archer led me safely at the top and we sat down at the back part of the yacht as it sailed away.

The sun was setting and I realized that the past three sunsets I've experienced in this place were the best. This place offered the best sunsets with the right person.

"Have you done this before?" I asked, leaning my head on his shoulder.

"No, it's also my first time." he answered.

As much as I hated it, my mind drifted to Jessica and Archer's confession of her being his first love. It still pained my heart whenever I thought about it, but there's nothing to do than to accept it.

"You know, I've been thinking about you and Jessica." I started. Archer turned to me, I felt that he became worried with what I was about to say. I chuckled and looked ahead.

"Of course, it hurts to think that she was your first love, that you had a person you loved before me, but I understand. I also had someone I loved before you. We grew up separately and our own struggles growing up. We met different people and felt differently towards them. Jessica was your past, I understand that."

I felt like I was mumbling, I said those words without much thought, but I knew that they were true, I knew that they're words from the deepest parts of my heart.

Jessica was Archer's past, he loved her, but that's been long gone and I could see that. Yes, Jessica is still here and clung onto him and that bothered me a lot.

"And I understand that you're helping her and that she needs you, I really do. She has issues she can't deal with alone and you're far too kind to let her go through it alone, you think you're responsible for her rejecting her mate and everything else she lost, but you're not." I assured him.

Archer looked down and then met my eyes. I could see his eyes watering and I panicked. I sat up properly and turned my whole body towards him.

What the--?!

"Are you crying?" I ask in a hush hush tone, feeling sorry all of a sudden and ready to protect him at all costs.

Noticing my panic, he looked up and started chuckling to shake it off.

"Thank you, no one's ever said that to me. Thank you, truly." he said and put his arm around me and pulled me back to him.

I sighed, relieved that I didn't make him feel bad. "But, you also don't have to be the only one to be helping her. Your pack is kind, Archer, they helped me settle in, I'm sure they'd help one of their own. Don't drown yourself by helping someone else up."

I felt him kiss the top of my head and then smiled.

"Yes ma'am." he answered quietly and we watched the sun set.

The sky was painted different hues of red, orange and yellow and with the cheesy retro romantic music playing through the stereo and the wind blowing coldly through the hot air, with Archer's arm around me and my head resting on his shoulder, I wished the moment didn't end.

But then I felt Archer moving and then he placed something in front of me.

It was a small velvet box and I quickly pulled away from. My eyes switched from the box to Archer. He smiled sweetly before slowly opening the box.

I gasped when I saw what was inside. It was the golden ring that I was looking at yesterday, but was too expensive for me to buy!

"When-- when did you--" I was stammered which made him laugh.

"I have my ways." he said and took the ring off the box.

He took my left hand and held it up.

My heart was racing once again and I was too speechless to say anything.

"Do you remember that man who drove us to the mall the other day and asked if we were newly weds?" he asked me and I nodded, not seeing the correlation. "Well, humans give each other rings when they get married apparently. It's a sign that they're with the person they love and promised to succour and be loyal to each other and... well love them."

It was my turn to get tear-eyed and although I was trying so hard to hold the tears back, they fell on their own.

I'm proud to say that they were tears of happiness.

"Are you promising me the same things?" I asked, but my voice was low because of the lump that I felt in my throat.

He smiled. "If you'll let me."

I returned his smile and nodded. "Of course."

With that he started to put the ring on my ring finger and it fit perfectly. I raised my hand up to look at it and appreciate how pretty it looked and with knowing the meaning behind it.

"I may have had someone else in my past, but you're my present and you're my future Hazel. You're far from the mate I imagined, but perhaps you're exactly what I needed." he stopped to tuck behind the strands that were covering my face behind my ear.

"You're always so worried if people will like you, you're always so worried if you make a mistake, that you're not good enough for being the Luna. But you are enough. You are more than enough for me. You're a perfect Luna, my perfect Luna."

I felt so wholesome hearing that from him. It felt different hearing it from him not just because he's my mate, but because those words came from well, just Archer.

I couldn't hold it anymore, I couldn't hold my heart anymore. I leaned in and kissed him everything I felt.

------------------------

a/n: PLEASE READ ❗️

hii there lovelies~

i hope you've been enjoying the daily updates, i've been pretty organized lately and made sure to make time to write because you guys have been so good to me and been very patient 💕

just to clarify the "i'm coming part" from last chapter, yes it was what you were thinking about and no it wasn't someone was coming in the room and interrupting them, it was comin-- i'll stop cause there are children in this app and we must protect them at all costs 😂

anyways, i also see a lot of comments with guesses as to what will happen next, etc. etc., and lemme just tell you guys not to worry, we'll get there.

let archer and hazel be happy for now T_T

with that said, we're pretty much at the middle of the book, i know a lot of you are also wondering if i am still writing The Lost Wolf and the answer is yes i am. there was just too much confusion as TPL and TLW's timelines are different and i didn't wanna make more mistakes in the timeline.

also, i will be trying my best to keep updating frequently so please bear with me!

much love,

-skyy💕