Chapter 57 – Lunars Ruined Alpha

Now is the part where, traditionally, the crowd breaks out of their dutiful stances and begins dancing the night away. There will be bonfires and drums and liquor, and people won’t stop celebrating until the sun comes up.

But all I want to do is spend the rest of the evening with my little family. And my people don’t need me around in order to party. They offer us smiles and pats on the shoulder as we move through the crowd and away from the building, beautiful chaos.

By the time we get home to our lovely cabin tucked into the northern side of the Greenbriar village, which is just a short walk from the main Alpha building, the fireflies are blinking through the trees.

Noah kicks off his shoes and makes a beeline for the kitchen, searching for the last honey cake his grandmother packed up after the ceremony feast earlier.

“Brush your teeth after,” I call after him.

“I know, Dad!” he hollers back.

Alina leans against the doorframe, rubbing her belly with one hand. “Do you think the new one’s going to be as much of a handful?”

“I hope so,” I say, wrapping my arms around her from behind. “I’ve got plenty of energy to keep up now that I’m officially Alpha. Also, I have you, my beautiful Luna.”

She snorts. “Says the man who fell asleep during patrol duty last week.”

“One time.”

“Twice.”

We stand there for a long while, listening to the quiet clatter of Noah rummaging through the pantry. My hand rests over hers on her belly, feeling the warmth of the life growing inside her.

Everything we lost and everything we feared…it’s behind us now.

We have a future. A family. A home.

I press a kiss to Alina’s temple, then her cheek, then her lips.

“I love you,” I murmur.

She smiles into the kiss. “I know. I’ve always known. Deep down.”

Noah barrels back into the room, crumbs on his face and zero guilt in his eyes. “I want to shift. When can I do it?”

“Soon,” I promise, laughing. “You’re still young.”

“Ugh,” he groans, flopping onto the couch. “Why does puberty take forever?”

Alina and I exchange a look. She shrugs.

“You can give him that speech,” she says under her breath. “That’s your fatherly duty.”

I just smile.

I’ll give him every speech. I’ll be there for every scraped knee, every shift, every full moon and fight and triumph.

Because this is the life I chose. The life we’re choosing to rebuild together.

And it’s everything I ever could have hoped for.

—The END

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