Becoming Luna

ADDISON

Oh. My. Gosh.

I was beyond speechless. I had been talking to my mom, moderately enjoying myself, when all of a sudden I caught this smell of amber and musk. It smelled amazing, but I had no idea where it came from.

When mom had turned to introduce me to the visiting alpha, it was like the air was sucked out of the room.

“MATE,” we both seemed to whisper as our eyes were locked.

There was a gasp that brought me back, and I turned to see my mom teary-eyed with her hands to her mouth. And my dad just stood there, mouth wide open.

I didn’t know how long we stood there until my dad composed himself and spoke breathlessly. “Well…that’s not how I expected this evening to go… Let’s head over to my office.”

I looked up to see the visiting alpha’s dark eyes still fixed on me, and my breath caught.

We all walked silently up the stairs to the alpha’s office.

The party had pretty much ended at that point, and we could hear everyone quietly speaking, no doubt about what had just happened, as they shuffled out.

“All right,” Dad sighed as he sat in his chair behind the desk.

“Alpha Slade, I know you were hoping to leave tomorrow, but is there any way we can convince you to stay another day or two? To make sure we can get everything sorted for Addison.”

I just stood there in semishock. I could feel my wolf inside going crazy, but I physically just stood there.

I had never planned for the possibility that I would find a mate from a different pack, let alone the alpha of another pack. I was hoping I would find someone here, where I could be near my family.

Alpha Slade spoke, running his hand through his hair. “I have some business I need to take care of at the end of the week. I was hoping to leave early tomorrow.”

But just then he looked toward me, and our eyes met. He sighed. “I guess I can stay another couple of days. But it means we HAVE to leave by Tuesday afternoon at the latest.”

When a couple found their mate, the female always left to join the male’s pack if they weren’t from the same one. I hated that fact.

Even if there was a choice to have the male move instead, there was no way that was happening in this situation. Slade was an alpha; I had to go with him. And we hadn’t even spoken to each other yet.

There was no way I was sleeping tonight. I could feel my wolf pacing. As I lay there in bed, I looked around my room.

I had slept in this room for twenty-one years, except for the four years I was off at school. It was nothing fancy. I had a desk full of random papers and things.

Above it was a board full of pictures and memories. On the left wall was the closet and dresser, my bed in the middle of the room, with my small bathroom to the right. It wasn’t much, but it was home.

***

I opened my eyes with a grimace as my mom threw open the curtains. Sleep must have claimed me at some point last night, and I chalked everything up to a bad dream.

“Morning love!” my mom half sang as she sat down next to me on the bed. I looked at the clock. Seven a.m. This woman was trying to kill me.

“MOOOOOM, why on earth are you waking me up? It’s my day off!” I moaned as I rolled back over.

“Sweetheart, it’s seven in the morning. Hurry up. Shower and get dressed and come help me make breakfast. Show your mate those mad cooking skills!” she teased with a nudge.

“Mate?” I stared at her like she was crazy. Then it all hit me. Last night really happened. I gasped. “OH MY GOSH, MOM! What am I going to do?!” The panic was setting in.

“Addison Lee Jennings. You’re going to do what every other wolf in history has done,” my mom said, rolling her eyes.

“We are going to pack up your things, hug the crap out of you, possibly threaten your mate about taking care of you, and miss you like crazy.”

Mom was fighting the tears now, and we embraced and cried for a few minutes.

“Okay.” She sniffed, straightening her dress. “Go get dressed and come help me.”

The warm shower helped fight off some anxiety. As I walked back into the room, I opened the closet. “What does one wear to meet their mate?”

My wolf answered back, eyes rolling, “Addie, stop it. He is our mate; he’s going to love us.”

That helped a bit but not much. I settled on my favorite pair of skinny jeans, rolled up past the ankle, and a yellow floral top. It was loose and comfortable but cute.

Perfect to make it look like I wasn’t trying too hard, right?

I walked downstairs to the common area and into the large kitchen. Mom always made so much food for anyone who wanted to come and eat. And there was usually a small gathering for each meal.

But this morning it was just Mom down in the kitchen. She looked up as I walked in. “Hey, can you start on the pancakes while I do this bacon?”

“Sure, Mom,” I replied, knowing it was one of the last times we would cook together.

***

SLADE

I sat on the edge of the bed, rubbing my temples. This trip had definitely taken an unexpected turn. Finding a mate was not in my plan.

I was mostly upset because I didn’t plan on staying for any longer than I needed to. And now I was staying for two extra days. My wolf growled, impatient that he wasn’t near her.

I got up to shower and dress, throwing on a pair of jeans and a collared, button-down shirt. I walked downstairs, following the smells of breakfast.

As I turned the corner to the kitchen, I heard talking and laughing as the Jennings family gathered, waiting to eat.

“Good morning, Alpha.” Max smiled as the rest of the family turned to face me.

“Good morning,” I replied coolly. There was Leah, Max, Addison, and two others I didn’t recognize.

As if knowing this, Leah chimed in. “Alpha Slade, you’ve obviously already met Addison. This is our son Jack and his wife, Michelle.”

I nodded hello with a tight smile.

“Shall we eat?” Leah broke the awkward silence as she walked over to the table with the last tray of food.

Breakfast was filled with joking and laughing and small talk—all of which I wasn’t the biggest fan of. I hadn’t eaten like that in a while.

I had meals cooked for me, but I had to admit, the food was delicious. “Thank you for the meal,” I said, leaning back a bit. “Do you need help with any arrangements today?”

Leah spoke first. “Addie and I are going to spend the day packing up all her things. I think we’ve got it. You could help Max with all the formalities. I bet he would appreciate it.”

“I hate paperwork,” Max said, leaning back in his chair.

At the mention of Addison’s name, I looked up at her across the table. I realized I hadn’t actually taken a good look at her. She was surprisingly beautiful.

Her dark-brown hair curled around her shoulders. Her bright, turquoise eyes were framed by long, thick lashes. She had full lips and a shapely body.

My wolf growled. “Shh,” I hissed in my head. ~“It’s just a girl, calm down.”~ But I couldn’t deny I had enjoyed the fact that all during breakfast she had done everything she could to avoid eye contact.

But when we finally did once, she blushed, and I could hear her heartbeat quicken. That didn’t help calm my wolf at all. I needed to get away from this girl.

The rest of the day was spent with Alpha Max, filling out forms and paperwork and brainstorming more ideas about relations between the two packs. Especially now with my mate being the daughter of the alpha.

Before dinner, I wandered around the common area a bit before settling in a chair on the back deck looking out over the lake. It was calming.

I needed that, considering all I could think about for half the day was that girl blushing and looking up with her bright eyes, her lavender scent taking over my senses.

I needed to chill.

ADDISON

The day was spent packing. I couldn’t believe that all of my belongings had fit into such a small number of boxes. The room looked empty. It made me sad, but I was determined to be strong about this.

My mom, on the other hand, was a hot mess. She had been crying on and off for the whole day.

We were so close, it was hard to not just sit and cry with my mom and tell them that I was staying whether they liked it or not! But I didn’t do that. And I knew I really had no choice.

The mate pull is strong, and now that we had found each other, there was no way we would end up separated.

That evening the pack had a BBQ outside as a going-away party. It was loud, happy, and the perfect send-off.

Everyone was so happy for me that I almost forgot I was leaving until I bumped into the wall of a person. I knew who it was, though, with his scent of amber and musk. It was intoxicating.

I used my hands to push off his chest, immediately pulling them away when the warmth radiated through my palms. As I looked up at him, I caught the stare he already had glued on me.

My cheeks blushed as I looked into his golden-brown eyes. A half smile flashed across his lips, gone just as soon as it appeared.

“H-hi” was all I was able to breathe out.

“Addison,” Slade said, stepping forward, closing the distance I had made between us. I stared up at him for a moment before snapping back to reality.

“Uhhhh…enjoying the party?” I asked, trying to fill the silence with literally anything.

“It’s loud. Are you all packed up for tomorrow?” he muttered.

I sighed. “Yes, I’m all ready. Just enjoying one last hurrah with my family. Thank you for staying an extra day.”

I gave him a shy smile. I was trying to be strong, and I was hoping he couldn’t see through my bravado.

“Mhmm” was the only response I got from him before he walked away.

As he left, I finally released the breath I had been holding. He was extremely attractive, and I was having a hard time trying to act like I didn’t notice.

Slade was tall and fit, extremely hard and muscular. I was pretty sure his biceps were bigger than my head. His button-down shirt pulled across his chest, and it fit in all the right ways. Same with his jeans.

His tanned skin and dirty-blond hair made it look like he had literally been kissed by the sun. And those eyes. Golden brown and rich like honey. He had a rugged handsomeness and a strong jaw.

But that didn’t stop me from being slightly irritated by the fact that he had barely spoken three words and then just stalked off. Apparently, he wasn’t as affected as I was by the mate bond.

That wouldn’t stop me from enjoying my last night. There was dancing and singing and so much food.

The night ended all too soon, and I found myself walking back up to the house with my parents on either side of me with their arms around me.

We sat on the couch in the family room of our living quarters and talked into the night, my parents giving me encouragement and advice.

“Don’t be stubborn in letting yourselves fall for each other,” my mom offered. I knew I had a stubborn streak, and my mom knew it would get me into trouble.

“Don’t fight the mate bond. The more you fight, the stronger the pull will be. Let yourself learn to love him.”

My dad interrupted, “And show him just how amazing you are! Because I swear if he hurts you, I’ll kill him.”

As I gave my dad a teary smile, I wondered what the future was going to be like. I was about to be a luna to a pack I’d never met with a man I’d barely spoken to.

As I went to bed, those thoughts wouldn’t leave me until my wolf whispered comfortingly, “It will work. He’s our mate.” And with that thought, I drifted off to sleep.