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The following evening, we met Cory’s parents for dinner. Celeste and Markus wouldn’t let me call them by their proper titles anymore. Dinner was going well until Lucien asked why it took us so long to figure out we were mates, and we had a repeat performance of the previous night were I had to explain what happened, and everyone wanted names. I even noticed Kara taking over a few times, subtly trying to touch me to see if she could get a vision of who bullied me. Celeste apologized, saying Kara was being an protective mama wolf.
I didn’t see a point in dragging up the past. It was a decade ago. People grew up and changed. It wouldn’t be fair to bring up an incident that happened when we were all young and immature and hold it against them now.
I repeated the same story the following night during movie night with Jo. Everyone was mad on my behalf, but honestly, it was all on me. I kept it quiet. I let it affect me. I was the one that listened.
Outside of meals, Cory and I were spending most of our time on the alpha floor. Jo, Melinda, and James tried to give us space, but they were being ridiculous about it, not even wanting to show up for breakfast to give us our privacy.
Yes, we were having a lot of sex right now, but what newly mated couple wouldn’t? They weren’t going to walk in to see us fucking on the kitchen table. Not that I was opposed... but knowing when they were expected to show up was enough to make both of us behave.
The morning gatherings around the breakfast table became longer than usual once Zi joined us with Molly because they became unofficial work meetings. She was a little nervous at first. She still felt like she didn’t quite belong there because she hadn’t accepted James. What she didn’t realize was that there was a difference between waiting to complete a bond and rejecting a bond. Zi was not rejecting the bond, or James. You could see the way they looked and interacted with each other. They would get there. She just needed time to come to terms with her situation and her place in the pack and our group.
Every morning, our friends took time to fill us in on things going on at the office and the pack. We were heading out on Saturday morning to Vegas, and if everything went right, We would be back by Monday morning and back to work on Tuesday. This was the longest I’d gone without my tablet, computer and phone, and yet for once in my life, I didn’t mind. This time with Cory was precious to me. Once this week was over, we had to go back to normal life.
Except life would never be normal again. I was going to be the pack’s luna on the next full moon. It was going to be a long road. I had a lot to learn, but any time I felt the panic coming to the surface, Cory’s smiling face was right next to me. His hands were never far from my body; a finger skimming my arm, a leg draped over mine. I found myself waking up everyday on top of him.
I was embarrassed the first two times it happened, until the third morning when I woke up early and slowly moved away from him so I wouldn’t crush him, and fell asleep again. Cory was clingy that entire morning, and when I asked what was wrong, he grumbled he thought I was mad at him because I didn’t sleep cuddled to him, so I stopped fighting my body’s need to be as close to him as possible.
Cory had a way of soothing my anxieties and reminding me how lucky I was to have been blessed with him as my mate. I was chosen for him by the Moon Goddess. Cory was an alpha, and I was born to be his mate, which meant I was born to be his luna. I could do this. There wasn’t a challenge I had ever turned down, and this one was the most important one in my life. I would learn to be a good luna. No. I would fucking rock it! Because it’s what Cory deserved.
Friday night came too quick, and Cory and I were joining the pack for dinner. I dressed as well as I could without putting on a dress, though this wasn’t anything official or formal. Cory just wanted to check in with everyone before we left.
Adrien and his mate, Elias, were coming with us to Vegas. It helped Cory’s overprotective instincts calm a little when we were told. Adrien was a vampire-werewolf hybrid who shared a gift with Elias. Aside from the strength and speed vampires and werewolves possessed, both of them could teleport from place to place. Some of the more important men in Texcatlipoca’s service could do something similar, and Cory didn’t want a repeat of what happened at the raid. I wasn’t so keen on seeing the love of my life falling through a glass window seven floors up, either.
Cory walked into the bathroom while I was brushing my hair, took one look at me, and walked right back out.
‘What’s wrong?’ I asked via mind-link.
‘Nothing is wrong. I’m just going to change my shirt,’ he answered.
‘Why?’
‘Because otherwise I’ll look like a hobo next to my beautiful mate,’ he answered, and while I snorted at him, I couldn’t help but see the blush betraying my face in the mirror.
‘Baby, you’re a studmuffin. You could wear a trash bag, and you’d still look like a fucking model,’ I cooed. I walked out of the bathroom in time to see him blushing while he buttoned up his new shirt. I smiled at seeing him so shy and felt a burst of possessiveness coursing through me. No one was ever going to make him feel like this. Only me. I shook my head at my own thoughts. I never thought I’d be this possessive over my mate.
You were always possessive over Cory. You just never thought he would be our mate, so thoughts of a mate never made you feel like that, Tozi pointed out.
We headed down, and I paused outside the door to the dining room to take a steadying breath. Cory smiled down at me and squeezed my hand, patiently waiting for me. We walked into the dining room, and all conversation ceased. I wanted to squirm under the stares, but Tozi made me square my shoulders and hold my head up high. The room burst into applause, and people started coming up to congratulate us. I kept close to Cory at first, but then remembered this was my pack, too. I was born here. I was not a stranger, and the way they greeted me warmly reflected that, so I forced my anxiety down and started talking to those approaching us. By the time we got to our table, I could feel pride and happiness coming from Cory.
Cory checked in with everyone, while Luna Celeste— well Celeste, as she was trying to force me to call her. It still felt weird. —was giving commentary over the mind-link whenever an issue came up with a member that I hadn’t been privy to beforehand, allowing me to make suggestions as we spoke to them. Even though a luna was supposed to be the heart of a pack, Cory would always be the heart of Crescent Moon. Celeste and Markus always made sure their children were involved in the community. The pack loved them, and for good reason. I was always more practical than emotional. My brain was more direct, looking for a solution. I wasn’t callous or unsympathetic, but my first instinct was always to find a solution.
We would not be a normal luna and alpha, and I was finally accepting of that. If it worked for us and the pack, what did it matter? I set up a few appointments for next week to go over a few things I thought could help the situations until dinner arrived. Then we settled into a quieter conversation with our family and friends. After dinner was taken away and we were waiting for dessert, I stood to head to the bathroom. I did my business quickly, but stopped before I cut across the kitchen when I heard people talking. The voices sounded very familiar.
“I still think it has to be some sort of witchcraft. Probably from that friend of hers. Isn’t she a witch or half or whatever? It’s the only way she’d get someone like Alpha Cory to look at her. Probably how they got that job, too,” Traci’s, my childhood bully, voice reached my ears.
“I don’t think so. You should see them. They’re so cute together whenever I see them when I go up to clean,” I recognized Rosie’s voice counter.
“Please. What else would explain it? Alpha Cory could have anyone, and the Moon Goddess would pick a frumpy nerd? She doesn’t even keep in shape. She used to walk into everything at school if someone wasn’t there to look out for her. How is someone like that supposed to protect the pack?”
Her words were resonating in my head like they used to when I was younger. They were questions I always asked myself, but this time, instead of feeling the same sense of lacking that I did when I heard her, I felt anger. Listening to her now, her words were similar to the ones she used while we were in school, and they were the same words I used when Tenoch asked me why I hid from them for so long. They were not my words. They were hers. She’d gotten under my skin so much that her insults became my insults to myself.
“She’s incredibly smart from what I heard. Besides, Alpha Cory’s strong. He can protect us. You’re just jealous that Alpha Cory never let you near him,” Rosie defended me, and I was warmed by her attempts.
“If he’d let me blow him, he wouldn’t have let that nerd near him. He was probably more susceptible to whatever the hell that witch bitch did to him because he never got laid.” There was a quick moment of quiet before she spoke again. “Maybe if I can get him away from her before the luna ceremony, I can show him what he’s missing, and the spell will break.”
The small control I had over Tozi broke when I heard that because, if I’m being honest, the small control I had over myself also broke. I wasn’t going to let that bitch get anywhere near Cory. Not only was he mine, but I would never let someone that... vile rot the heart of the kindest man I knew. A loud growl left my chest, and I stalked around the corner and into the kitchen. Tozi was just below the surface, and I felt my aura flying out. My anger dampened slightly when I was surprised to see Rosie and Traci instantly bare their necks at me.
It’s not surprising because we were born to be a fucking luna. Show this bitch our power. You can’t spell a fucking aura, Tozi snarled in my head. She wanted blood, and I wasn’t sure I’d be able to deny her.
