Page 44 of The Alpha’s Chosen Mate

Chapter Twenty-One

EMILY

21 Years Old, February 1994

“Crescent Lake, I present to you your new luna, Luna Emily Stone!”

A collective, enthusiastic howl from our pack members rips through the night sky. I haven’t stopped smiling since I walked to the front of the pack, joining Harrison to take my vows as his luna. My cheeks ache with joy. The love and acceptance I feel from the pack is overwhelming. It’s more than I ever expected or thought I deserved.

And we haven’t even told them the best news yet.

Harrison turns to face me, lowering our connected hands as he does. His beaming smile turns soft. He cups my cheek, thumb tracing beneath my lower lip. His eyes track the movement. The heat in them promises a kiss—and more—but he holds himself at a distance instead of bringing his mouth to mine.

“Are you ready for me to tell them?” he asks through the mindlink.

“They need to know. And they’d figure it out soon enough anyway.”

The intense pride and enthusiasm I always sense through our bond whenever Harrison thinks of our little one hits me with an almost brutal force as he turns to address the pack once more.

“Everyone!” Harrison slides me against his side and curls his hand around my hip. “I have one more announcement to make before we begin the pack run.”

His hand slides protectively over my stomach, and I lean into him. Through my newly formed luna bond with the pack, I sense the shift in them as their attention locks on the way he guards my stomach. Realization dawns before Harrison even has a chance to say the words out loud.

“Not only did you gain new pack leadership this evening, but your luna, my mate and the love of my life, is pregnant with the future alpha of Crescent Lake!”

The pack begins howling before Harrison even finishes his announcement. I thought their first howl when I officially became luna was loud, but it’s nothing compared to the joyous cacophony echoing across the pack lands.

As they cheer and howl their congratulations, Harrison dips his head and presses his lips to mine, finally giving me the kiss I need. The kiss I’ve been craving since I felt his alpha power ripple towards me through our bond when his dad handed him the alpha title.

I spin to face him as our lips dance. My arms wrap around his neck as he deepens the kiss, and the cheers of the pack grow louder. Featherlight tingles zing across my skin where his hand trails down my neck, a ghost of what we’d feel with a true mate bond.

But it doesn’t matter to me. It doesn’t matter that the sparks aren’t as deep as they should be or that we only feel each other’s strongest emotions instead of every nuanced flicker passing between us. None of it matters because he is mine.

“That’s right. I’m yours.” Harrison rests his forehead against mine. “I love you,” he adds. The words are only loud enough for me to hear, but the entire pack is witness to his declaration.

“I love you too.” Warmth fills me as I reply, as I sense the deep, unending love flowing between our souls.

Harrison gives me one more kiss before addressing our pack again. “As you all know, due to circumstances beyond Emily’s control, she shifted later in life than most werewolves.”

He glances at me, checking that this is still the story we want to tell them. When I nod, he continues. “While she’s worked harder than almost anyone I know to gain the ability to shift—and can do so easily now—we both feel it’s safest for her not to shift at all during her pregnancy, even though our bond would allow it if I were nearby. So Luna Emily will not be running in her wolf form with us tonight.”

I hold my breath and wait for the response from the pack. What will they say? How will they react? Will there be tons of questions? Or will they accept our lie without hesitation?

I hate the dishonesty. It leaves a bitter taste in my mouth. But it was either this or I find a place to hide until the pack run is over.

Or risk the fallout of telling everyone we’re not fated mates.

Not that there’s anything inherently wrong with being chosen mates. While rare, it’s not unheard of. But we’re both young, barely twenty-one. Harrison worried that others would accuse him of marking me so he could take his father’s place, and I worried that they’d accuse me of trapping Harrison with a pregnancy.

He didn’t care. He told me he’d rip out the tongue of anyone who accused me of such heinous behavior. But I knew, with everything I’ve already gone through, my heart would never be able to handle the rumors. I’d constantly be worried and watching my back, afraid to trust anyone for fear they’d be among the gossipers.

So we told no one. Not his parents, not even Brad and Stephanie or Felix and Fiona. We came back to Crescent Lake on my birthday, freshly marked, and let everyone believe our bond was true.

Because for us, it is.

My nerves are unfounded, however. The pack accepts our reasons at face value. There’s no ripple of discontent or suspicion.

I breathe a sigh of relief. Harrison’s hand settles over my stomach once more, his fingers flexing as they splay across it. There’s no trace of a bump yet, but with our baby being an alpha lycan combined with my smaller stature, I’ll start showing sooner rather than later.