~Alaric~
I peppered kisses on her face and laughed. Here she was trying to cheer me up while she was just escaping from the coalition. She held onto me after we stopped playing and we just were quiet a moment enjoying the comfort of each other's presence. Her smell of honey kept me and my wolf calm as we could be. I sighed "As the mate to the future Alpha of the Greenwood pack you will be the future Luna which means you get to have a Luna ceremony." She looked at me shocked "You're an Alpha?!" She stared at me with wide eyes "Yes...is that a problem?" my chest tightened at her surprise, most women would be happy, elated, honored even, but here my mate was looking scared.... Was she disappointed?
"No"
She spoke up but looked down into her lap, still not looking at me and she spoke again.
"What does that mean for me? I've read about werewolf life, but a lot of what I know is general information and some things vary from pack to pack."
OK, she wasn't disappointed in me, but did she doubt her capabilities to be a Luna?
"You will have time to adjust, we are a larger pack, so we get about a year to prepare to take over maybe more, first 6 months we are given time to adjust to the mate bond when it's completed. That half we spend away from the pack mostly in seclusion. The other 6 months will be more hands on dealing with pack duties getting up to date on what's going on and giving us and the pack a smooth transition to the next Alpha and Luna."
She nodded taking in the information, so I kept going " It didn't used to be that way Alphas used to take over packs before finding their mates but that changed due to the Coalitions invasion. The people needed more stability and reassurance that the pack would prosper so doing it this way has kept rebellions very minimal and rouges are pretty much non-existent. Blue Moon pack was infiltrated by a female in the coalition that seduced the Alpha which led to the eventually end of the pack, members of all ages and genders kept coming up missing. It was bad and I rather not share the rumors, we still don't know exactly what happened to them."
I sighed and my shoulders slumped thinking about all those lost lives. I have no doubt that the coalition experimented on them extensively, kept them as slaves, and killed them in the process of their experiments.
I watched Azaria as she processed what I told her. I could feel through the bond she was nervous. It was hard to tell exactly what she was feeling since we hadn't completed the bond yet.
"Is there anything I should know? I'm not sure how long I have been gone...."
I nodded at her trying to think of what she may not be aware of had changed.
"The coalition started their invasion about 4 years ago and overthrew the king and queen and their daughter. It is not known if they are alive, dead, captured, or ran away. They put up a good fight though. Destroyed most of the castle except the wing where their daughter's room is."
She tenses up with worry as I tell the story and I can feel her sadness, but she must know eventually, the stories always roam anyway. I placed a kiss to the side of her head and held her closer to me even though she was already snuggled into my side, she still wasn't close enough.
"Please keep going, if I'm going to be a Luna, I need to know what's going on in the world."
I smiled at her and nodded. She is going to make a great Luna, she is already trying to step up, does this means she accepts me? I've never been so nervous in my life and usually don't care what people think but the thought of her rejecting me makes me sick. I gulped trying to force that uneasiness down and kept going.
"Witches went into hiding, a lot of supers seek shelter inside of packs now. The coalition stayed out of our territories for the most part, most packs that are left are too large and have been deemed too risky, low reward. Most of the packs have strict border policies now and are hostile to trespassers of any kind. Our kind became a haven for supers unintentionally.
Vampires have been taking residence in between pack lands and at borders and most packs, like ours, have agreements with a few covens who patrol our borders and keep humans out. Humans came up with some serum that poisons vampires if they drink from them and have consumed the serum. Alot of vampires have gone to a strictly animal diet. They don't always die from the poisoned blood but not a lot of them are willing to take the chance. Vampire covens pose too high of a risk for the coalition to seek them out.
The Fae are split 50/50, some working with the coalition and some completely against them. Very few other supers work with the coalition. Many of us speculate that the Fae probably worked with the coalition far before the invasion." I sighed.
" I know it's a lot to take in, but it has been 4 years or more for you...." She shrugged and added "Probably more I was 17 when they took me it was right after my birthday." I started to ask but she stopped me.
" Can you tell me about how much time we have to complete the bond first and what about ...kids?" I blinked a moment, a little surprised.
" Do you not want kids?" I asked carefully but she must have felt something, she quickly backtracked.
" I would love kids with you. " She smiled up at me.
"But I just worry about the pressure to have them and if that's going to be an..... expectation during this.... transitional time" I nodded as I listened, and I clenched my jaw a bit knowing she may not like the answer.
"Well...yes and no....some Lunas have come back with child, and some have not, and the packs favor have gone both ways. I think the Luna ceremony is going to be more telling of what the pack expects when it comes to kids." She frowned some "If I can't give you a child will you reject me?" She looked down to her lap fiddling with her hands as she sat next to me curled under my arm. I grabbed her chin to make her look at me.
" I would rather drag my balls across fresh lava and then take a lemon juice bath before I ever reject you." I stared into her eyes letting some of my alpha power seep out, so she knew I meant every word no matter how funny it sounded. Nothing could keep me from her now that I've finally met her. She smiled softly up at me staring me in my eyes right back. She was so bold yet still naive but that meant she wasn't afraid to stand up to me and I love that boldness. I placed a quick kiss to her forehead and smiled down at the snuggled under my arm.
" So....are you up for meeting people today? I think my parents really want to meet you and if you're up for it you can meet others, or we can take it slow. But I must let you know that my parents will want to do your Luna ceremony as soon as possible, but like I said before, we have time." she nodded and asked,
"what's the most important thing for me to know while being here?" I nodded slowly thinking a moment before answering "Don't take anyone's crap, the pack will push your buttons to test you." she nodded and her brows wrinkled, and I felt her determination swell through our bond.
"That right there, that's it baby girl." I smiled at her and kissed her temple " you will be an amazing Luna" I said, just feeling it in my soul that that was the truth.