Finally Finding My Luna

Chapter 13

{Enslee POV}

I struggled to open my eyes. I was starting to wake up finally after what felt like a long time of having my eyes closed. I finally willed my lids to fully open and I was staring at the ceiling overhead. There were streams of sunlight dancing across it, and I glanced over to my right to see the window blinds drawn half closed. 

I rolled my body in the same direction and rubbed my eyes so I could see the room around me better. As my body started to wake, so did my mind. I recalled the events of last night, and I looked at the floors and walls that held marks from the wrath of my wolf. I shuddered at the ferocity in the claw marks. I also remembered that Zader had gone to sleep on the couch just across the room. 

I scampered to my feet and jogged over to the back of the couch. I peeked over, but I only saw a pillow and a rumpled up blanket. The smell of searing meat floated into the room at that moment, and I walked over to the door to investigate.

I tiptoed into the hallway and followed the delicious smell toward the living room. I found my way into the kitchen, where I saw Zader standing at the stovetop with his bare back to me. He was shirtless and frying something. The noise of the frying food drowned out my light footsteps into the room behind him. 

I peeked around his massive back and saw beef patties in the frying pan. I let a moan escape my mouth. Burgers were my absolute favorite food, especially homemade. The noise from me startled Zader who immediately put me in a headlock. I squealed at the movement and my breath slowly started leaving my chest. 

Zader finally realized his mistake and let me go quickly. I fell to my knees on the tile floor and coughed trying to regain my breath. Zader fell beside me and started running his hands over my face to check me. 

“Oh my goddess… I am so sorry. I didn’t hear you come in, and I heard your moan. I thought someone else had gotten in somehow. Are you okay?”

I nodded finally catching my breath and gave him a weak smile to show that I was indeed okay. He stood to his feet and helped me up after. 

“I’m making burgers. I was really hungry, and I wanted to wait. But I haven’t eaten anything all day. Do you like burgers?”

I smiled and nodded really fast. “Yes! I love burgers. They’re my favorite. What do you mean ‘all day’? What time is it??”

Zader screwed his face into a confused look and smiled nervously. “I knew you had a long night, so I let you sleep. It’s 3:00 in the afternoon.” I blanched at his words and nearly fell again. 

I hadn’t slept past 6 am in many years. I always had to be up with the kitchen omegas to prepare breakfast in my old pack. “Why didn’t you wake me??? I shouldn’t have slept so long. OH MY GODDESS! Analia wanted to take me shopping today! I am so late. She is probably waiting for me!!!” 

I pushed past Zader and started trotting down the hallway when his voice halted me in my tracks. “Wait! I already spoke to Analia. She’s more than happy to go after you’ve eaten something. She said that she didn’t mind. Please, come back and eat with me.”

I turned around slowly, and I bit my lip. “Well...I am kind of hungry.” 

Zader laughed and led me back to the dining room. “Here babe, I will get your food.” He went back into the kitchen and finished frying the patties. About ten minutes later he came back in carrying two plates with burgers and made a second trip to bring toppings and the pitcher of iced tea. I poured us both some tea and began to fix my burger the way I liked it. 

I frowned at the incomplete burger and Zader nudged my arm. “What’s wrong?”

“Well, I usually eat my burgers with mustard, but if you don’t have any, that’s alright. I can do without.”

Zader scrunched his nose at my statement. “You eat mustard on your burgers? That’s gross Ens.” My heart leapt at the nickname, but I pushed it aside momentarily to address the audacity of his question.

“You don’t?? Of course I eat mustard. Do you have any or not you goofball?”

He nodded and rose to go get it, but he carried that same look of mock disgust which made me laugh. I gave him a smile as he returned through the doorway and he set the mustard down next to my plate. 

“So, what are you going to do while I go shopping?”

Zader wiped his mouth after the huge bite he’d taken out of his messy burger. “Well, it’s been four days since I have acted like the Alpha of this pack. I have to tend to some of my pack’s business. I will mostly be going over paperwork and getting things back in order before I go to the office tomorrow.”

I furrowed my brows. “Office?” 

“Yes baby. I work as the CEO of my PR agency. I have to go back to work tomorrow to hear my team’s final pitches. I should have gone back yesterday, but I pushed off the meetings as long as I could. I will be back tomorrow afternoon, and then we’re off for New Year’s.”

He continued eating, and I followed suit. 

Thirty minutes later I was hopping out of the shower and getting dried off. A knock came on the bathroom door, and I hastily wrapped the towel around my body. “Enslee? It’s Zader. Analia came up just now to bring you a change of clothes to borrow this evening while you shop for your own. I am going to leave the bedroom and let yall finish getting ready.”

A few moments later I heard the thud of the bedroom door closing as he left. “Come E! Get your cute ass out here, let’s go get you some clothes!!”

I giggled at her and stepped out of the bathroom. I grabbed the underwear from her pile of clothes and slipped them on. I slid on the jeans, which were a tad too tight. They would work for a few hours. Analia was a really small girl, and it seemed she was a size two. Compared to my size 6 waist, she was tiny. Lastly, I grabbed the sweater and pulled it over my head. Luckily, it was oversized so it fell loosely over my torso. She also let me borrow a winter coat so I didn’t freeze to death in the Washington winter weather. 

I used the blow dryer to get my hair dry, and I shrugged on the heavy coat. We headed down the long hallway and walked into the living room, where Zader was watching some football game on the flats creen. He whirled his head around and stood up to see us out the door. 

“You girls have fun tonight. I expect her closet to be full by the time we hang up all the clothes you’ll buy her.” he said, directing the last sentence to Analia. “Also, here’s my credit card. I am not even worried about the cost, just make sure she’s clothed and happy. Whatever she wants.”

He bent to kiss my cheek, but I turned my head at the last moment so that his lips landed on mine. I pulled back after a brief moment and smirked at his shocked expression as Analia and I walked out of the door. Once the door shut behind us and we were in the elevator Analia crossed her arms and looked at me. 

“What the hell was that? Why did he look like you had two heads?”

I smiled and looked down towards the floor. “That was technically our first kiss. He’s always been careful to kiss me on my cheek or my head, never on my lips. Zader has been nothing but kind to me, especially about … physical contact...after the other night.”

She squealed and pulled me into a giant bear hug. “AWWWWW That’s SO sweet! I love you two together. You’re going to have cute pups together.”

I gently held her out from myself and looked her in the eyes. “No, we’re not talking about pups just yet. I do want that some day, but I don’t want Zader to get his hopes up just yet.”

Analia smiled widely, but she nodded her head. “Alright, before we get down to the main floor, I need to tell you that I invited someone else along. Well, actually three someones…”

Before she could tell me more, we stepped out of the elevator to see Carina and her mate, the head guard, Davian. They were standing near the front door, and they made their way over to us. “Good evening Luna! I hope you don’t mind, but Analia invited me to come shopping with both of you. Davian will be escorting us and act as our personal chauffeur for the evening as well!”

I smiled at Carina and Davian bowed his head politely. “It will be my honor to escort you Luna, as well as you Beta Female.”

I gently touched his shoulder and thanked him for his efforts. Analia looked around the room as though she were searching for something. She finally gave up and huffed indignantly. 

“Carina! Where is your sister? We need to get her down here now! It’s already late enough, we want to have enough time to shop before the stores close in Seattle. Will you please mindlink her? Also, please have her bring her mate. He needs to officially meet his Luna.”

Carina smiled and her face went blank as she mindlinked her sister. I looked at Analia confused. “Oh, her and her sister aren’t officially members of our pack yet. We can’t mindlink them until they complete the process. They are related, so they can still mindlink each other.”

She didn’t really answer the question that I had been thinking of, but it wasn’t long until that question was addressed. A red headed girl appeared in the doorway where the elevator was and her blue eyes were piercing. She looked very similar to Carina, and I guessed that this was the sister in question. 

A moment later, a tall blonde headed boy appeared behind her. He also had blue eyes, and he was looking at me curiously. I could tell he was her mate by the way he lovingly held her around the waist as they walked closer to our group. 

“Analia, what is going on?” the young man asked. Analia smiled and gestured toward me. 

“Well Brett, we’re taking the new Luna shopping. Your mate was late, and I am sure we have you to thank for that!” she giggled as the pair standing before me blushed. 

Brett cleared his throat and looked at me. “Luna? You are our pack’s new Luna? So this means that Zader finally found his mate?!?!?” His voice continuously rose as he kept talking. 

Analia, Davian and Carina all smiled at Brett’s excitement. “Yes, Zader brought home his mate...finally. He met her at the Christmas Ball.”

Brett and the girl next to him both looked at each other with a wide smile. Brett took a knee in front of me and his mate followed his example. I was startled and didn’t know what to do. “Luna, we are honored to finally meet you. My name is Gamma Brett Marshall, and this is my mate Gamma Female Renley Sullivan. We are humbled to serve you and protect you with our lives.”

I placed a hand on his shoulder and smiled at both of them. My heart was truly touched. This pack was beginning to accept and love me already. “Thank you Gamma and Gamma Female. I am honored to serve you and this pack as your future Luna.”

They both stood up, and Renley gave me a bear hug. Carina’s eyes went wide and she tried to snatch her sister off of me, but I gave her a reassuring smile and hugged Renley back. 

“I’m sorry Luna, she’s only 19. She’s still learning what it means to be a high ranking wolf. We were only omegas in our old pack.” Carina was blushing as she tried to explain for her sister.

I shook my head and said “No, it’s quite alright. I want everyone to see me as a friend, not just a Luna. Please, feel free to call me Enslee.”

Brett kissed his mate and said his goodbyes to the group. “Lu-- I mean Enslee, it was so good to meet you, but I must go assist your mate and Beta Rylan in some pack business upstairs. You ladies...and Davian…” he smirked with Davian’s name “have a good evening. And Renley, I will see you when you get home love.”

He winked at his mate and trotted back in the direction of the elevators. I was shocked to see Renley clap her hand over her mouth and turn as red as her hair. Analia and Carina both noticed the same thing and questioned her about it.

“What the HELL was that?” her sister screeched, while Analia screamed at a similar volume, “What did that mean??”

Renley didn’t say a word, she simply brushed her hair behind her shoulders, and there was a mark on her right shoulder now visible. It was her mate mark.

Both of the girls gasped and squealed very loudly. They rushed to hug her and all three started screaming and laughing together. I looked at Davian who was in the middle of rolling his eyes. He craned his head toward me and gave me an innocent shrug. 

“You finally got your mark!! Is that why you and Brett weren’t around last night to greet the Alpha and Luna when they arrived home?” Carina said to her sister. Her blue eyes studied the green ones of Renley trying to discern the story of their otherwise unexplained absence last night. 

“Yeah, after dinner I basically had to show him up in a fight, because he didn’t think I had formal training. Little did he know that our dad was the head guard at our old pack. I kicked his butt, and we went upstairs to shower and relax for the evening….but we ended up doing other things instead.”

She started blushing furiously and wrinkled her nose thinking back to the memories of her night. “We continued to do those things today and he marked me about mid-morning.”

At this, the other two girls squealed again, and nearly picked Renley up as they hugged her once more. “It’s official! We are all marked!!” Analia gave her two friends a high five, but suddenly whirled to me with astonishment on her face. 

“Well, maybe not quite all of us. Our newest female friend probably hasn’t had the opportunity yet!”

Renley’s face screwed up into disbelief. “Are you kidding? She’s known her mate for two almost three days! Surely she is marked already. I mean no offense Luna, but you’d have to be crazy to not want to have s*x with the Alpha. Have you seen him? He looks--”

Analia’s menacing growl cut off Renley’s gitterish banter, and she looked offended at Analia’s sudden aggression. “Our Luna’s s*x life isn’t our business! She does not deserve pressure to be mated, so I don’t want to hear another word from anyone in this pack about it!”

Renley and Carina had taken a few steps back as Analia’s voice rose in anger. I understood why she was defending me and shielding me from having to answer Renley’s question. I reached out and laid a hand on her shoulder to calm her down. 

“It’s okay Analia, they don’t know. They are only curious because they don’t know.”

Carina, Renley and Davian looked at us confused. “Pardon me Luna, but we don’t know what?”

I blew out a breath and looked to Analia for help. I knew I didn’t have the words to form. I also didn’t have the courage to speak about what happened to me, not yet. Especially not with people who I only just met. I hadn’t even spoken the words aloud to even myself. Analia looked at me for permission and I c****d my head slightly to let her know to proceed delicately. 

“Enslee was...attacked at her old pack. She was found by the Alpha in the middle of being attacked. He saved her, but not before she was terribly beaten and almost…” She dropped off before saying THE word. Turns out it’s hard for people who haven’t been through it to say it too. 

Luckily, it resonated well enough with the group. They all dropped their gazes to the floor and were deadly silent. My heart started racing from nerves. I was scared of them seeing me differently. “Um, yeah. So I haven’t really been keen on the idea of completing the mating process yet, which is why Analia tried to defend me. Sorry everyone, I hope this doesn’t change how you all see me or act around me. I also don’t want to tell just a whole lot of people if you don’t mind…”

Carina looked up then and said “We won’t tell a soul Luna. We won’t ask anymore about it until you are ready to talk about it.”

I nodded, and Analia gracefully focused the group’s attention elsewhere. “Alright gang, how about we go shop til we drop??” All of the girls laughed and nodded, while Davian gave us a nervous grin. We all headed out the door and loaded up into the giant black suburban that was waiting in the driveway.

---

{Zader POV}

I was in my office with Rylan discussing the rogue issue and new strategies to prevent them from coming into our territory when Brett finally walked in. 

“Dude, where have you been?? You’re thirty minutes late.” Rylan punched Brett in the shoulder in a friendly manner. 

Brett c****d his head to the left showing us his neck. My eyes went wide, and Rylan busted out laughing. “Yup! That’s right boys, I am officially off the market. My lovely mate decided to mark her territory...literally.”

We whooped and hollered in congratulations to our friend. He had found his mate, made it official, and he was happy now. We were proud for him. 

“Yup, now that just leaves you Zader! When are you gonna hit that fine --”

Brett couldn’t finish his sentence because I had him against the wall with my hand around his throat. It was everything I could do to keep Arlo from shifting right then and there for the thousandth time this week. “What the f**k did you just say about my mate and your future LUNA?”

Rylan slowly forced me to release my grip on Brett’s throat. He started coughing for air and trying to regain his voice. Rylan turned me to face him. 

“Alpha, I know you’re struggling with your wolf right now, but you have to calm down. Brett didn’t mean anything by it. He doesn’t know what happened. He wasn’t being disrespectful, he was simply trying to do the ‘bro’ talk.”

I took a few deep breaths and realized he was right. I apologized to Brett who was still trying to recover, and he gave me a weak thumbs up. “I am sorry Alpha. I didn’t mean any disrespect to your mate. I was just trying to include you in the conversation. I actually just met her downstairs, that’s part of the reason I was running late.”

I sat down in my office chair behind my desk, and the boys took their seats across from me. “It’s not your fault. Rylan’s right, you don’t know what happened. Enslee is special. She has a rough past, and that is only the beginning.”

I told Brett the whole story of Enslee’s childhood, how her parents were murdered and that she was forced into slavery by her pack. I finished by telling him about the night I found her in the middle of her being attacked. 

His mouth was gaping open, and he looked from me to Rylan in pure shock. “Zader, I had no clue. I am so sorry man. She is one strong she wolf to have gone through all that and survived.”

I smiled grimly at him and nodded in appreciation. “Yeah man, she’s special, but not because she survived all that s**t. My wolf keeps telling me that we have to protect her at all costs, and not just because she’s our mate. He won’t tell me why. I guess I am just on edge with all these rogues trying to come onto our land. The attacks started increasing only a few weeks ago.”

Rylan leaned forward on my desk and started chewing on his inner lip. He always did that when he was thinking really hard. 

“What if these rogues know what it is that makes her special? What if they’re attacking to try and learn our weaknesses so they can use that in the future?” he said. 

I scratched my head and shook it. “How would they know what she is if we don’t even know what she is? I am not even sure if Enslee herself knows that she’s special. Whatever she is, we have to figure it out fast.”