The Luna Before Me

The Double Dinner Date

Beau -

Her scent was intoxicating, had this been any other wolf jumping for a hug I would have swatted them away. I let her lean all of her weight into my arms. Her sweet voice kept thanking me. I finally pulled away from her embrace.

“Let’s go get some food,” I said. I could see her start to blush, I pushed back some strains of hair as her wide eyes looked up at me.

“I have a confession to make,” she whispered, breaking her eye contact with me. “I kind of have a crush on you, well I thought it was only a crush.” I felt my heart flutter at the acknowledgement of her feelings for me.

“That's ok, can I tell you a secret too?” I said, lifting her chin back up so our eyes could meet.

“What is it,”  she said breathlessly. Her lips were inches from mine and it took every ounce of strength to resist kissing her. I just wanted to take what was mine already, but I couldn’t.

“I might like you also,” I said, looking deep into her eyes. A smile played on her lips and tortured me. After staring at her for a minute I got up and started for the door.

“Let’s go because who knows what would happen if we stayed,” I said, turning to her. She was standing and staring at me with wide eyes, flush from the comment I made.

“Come on little wolf” I smiled at her. I followed her out the door and down the stairs.

-

Once at the restaurant we quickly spotted Willow and Jack already seated at a table. I looked beside me to see Oakley beaming with joy. Her little arm raises, wagging it in excitement. It reminded me of a puppy who sees its owner after a long time wiggling around too happy to contain itself. I smiled in admiration at her.

We walked over the table and sat beside them, letting a distance fall between that I secretly hated. 

“How are you guys?” Oakley asked, still beaming. Willow glanced at Jackson and laughed.

“We are fine, but tell me what made you so excited today” she said, still chuckling. Oakley looked to me in almost approval. I simply nodded my head and rested my arm on the backrest of her chair. I was careful not to touch her, so it didn’t seem too flirty.

“Well I am moving into the pack house!” she nearly shouted. I looked around to see the few nearest tables had turned their heads at her.

“The sorority house she means,”I said loud enough for them to disregard the whole “pack house” thing.

“It's part of the terms and conditions of my new scholarship!” she once again shouted. I laughed at the pure joy that was radiating off of her, it was intoxicating.

“Oh my gosh Oakley! That is so amazing, I didn’t even know the pack offered scholarships,” Willow said, slipping me a slight glance, “but then again I was never into school” She returned her attention to Oakley. Jackson let out a low grumble.

“Beau, would you join me at the bar to get these ladies some drinks” he said in a tone that made it sound less like a question and more like a command.

 “Sure” I nodded my head and we excused ourselves from the table. We made our way to the bar and found an excluded bar end to stand near. I looked at the bartender who was swamped with orders, she politely told us that she would be with us in a moment, her eyes lingering on mine too long for comfort. 

“So scholarship huh, never heard of it” Jackson said resting his questioning eyes on me.

“Yes, a scholarship,” I replied. He started laughing while I tried to maintain my stoic composure.

“There’s no scholarship, is there?” he raised an eyebrow at me.

“Not completely, but I’ll pay her tuition out of my own account if I have to,” I said. I didn’t even think about allocating the funds for it before I told Oakley about it. I wasn’t sure what the pack finances were like, I never really paid attention in the budget meetings. My eyes started falling towards the floor.

“Don’t worry about it Beau, the pack has enough money to send at least two students to school every other year, we can pick another student and let everyone know that seniors and juniors can apply for the next round.” he said in a reassuring voice. 

“Do we have enough to do that? Without having to cut the budget?” I was skeptical of his claims.

“At least one of us was paying attention in the budget meetings,” Jackson said laughing. I smiled at him. Jackson had been my best friend and Beta since I was born. I honestly didn’t remember a time when he wasn't in my life. He was always there to be logical about the situation, even now when I let my testosterone get the best of me and made a rash decision, he was always there to clean up after my messes. I wasn’t sure what I did to deserve such a fiercely loyal friend, but I thanked the Goddess everyday that he was mine.

Just then the bartender cut in to get our drink orders. She was a small minky blonde girl, covered in tattoos. Her outward demeanor screamed “I’m not like other girls, I want a bad boy so I can pretend to fix him”. I scoffed at the idea that guys actually were turned on by that.

“What can I get you studs?” she asked in a high pitched voice. Her eyes never leaving my body.

“Well we both will have a beer and can you get our girls over there,” I raised my hand pointing towards Oakley, ”a glass of the house white. Thanks.” I said trying to use my hardest disinterested voice. She glanced over at the table and gave me a sly smile.

“Those are them?” she chuckled, almost ridiculing us.

“Drinks, please” I said, gritting my teeth. She rolled her eyes and finally turned to get our drinks.

When she came back I noticed the napkin wrapped around it. My eyes fixed on it.

“It’s in case you want someone who can actually make you happy,” she said with a disgusting wink. I ripped the napkin from my drink and crumpled it, throwing it at her. I had to contain the rage from spilling out of my mouth and torturing her. I turned and walked back towards our table. 

Oakley -

I felt myself watch as Beau left the table, he turned many heads in the restaurant. I almost felt self conscious that I was here with some way out of my league. My eyes are still watching his muscles move under his button up shirt when Willow's voice made me jump. 

“Earth to Oakley, you good” she said. I felt my cheeks get flush.

“Yeah I just zoned out I think,” I said looking down at the empty plate in front of me. I saw her briefly glance towards Beau.

“Ah, I see. He is kinda sexy, in a fierce leader way, I guess.” I looked up to see her still staring at him, but not in the way I was. She was trying to figure out why I was so mesmerized by him. I felt the nerve to ask her about mates. I looked towards him, they were standing at the end of the bar, still not receiving service. Finally without force the words slipped from my mouth. 

“How did you know Jackson was your mate, what did it feel like?” I said, almost instantly regretting the words that just flew out. She looked at me smiling, not the reaction I was expecting.

“My wolf confirmed it for me, but his touch had always been comforting, soft. Yet at the same time his touch was hot and fiery and prodded at my passion. I felt drawn to him, like the universe was forcing us together, I couldn’t escape him” she laughed,” I used to have a routine of going to the gym in the mornings, I always ran into him and was a complete mess near him. So I thought ‘hey why not save myself the embarrassment and run by the lake’. Well I get to the lake and start running as usual when I notice my shoe had come undone. I was looking down for, I s**t you not, ten seconds when my head collided with his chest.” she was still smiling. I could see both of them in my head, embarrassed and shy, it made me smile also. “ We ended up talking and he told me he skipped the gym so he didn’t go crazy around me anymore and ran here instead. It was that conversation that my wolf confirmed that he was my mate.” She looked up to see me smiling.

“That's a nice love story,” I replied.  

“Why do you ask? Does it have to do with mister hunky pack leader over there” she whispered, leaning closer to me.

“Maybe” I said, shrugging my shoulders. “I get all warm and dumb around him, and when I touch him I melt into it, like I literally want to loose my balance and just fall into his arms. I even swear that he smells nicer than anybody in the world. Like a fresh forest, but I don’t have my wolf around to confirm” I said a little hurt. I don’t understand why she left me to figure this out for myself. I felt like I was living a lie, that they might find out at any moment I was just a regular human now, I didn’t deserve the pack. My eyes shifted towards the forks again. Willow outstretched her hand and rested it on mine, I looked up to see her eyes already staring at me.

“I don’t think you need a wolf to confirm it,” she said smiling.

“Do you think he knows?” I whispered, glancing at the boys who were reaching out for the drinks.

“I think he knows,” she said still in a whisper,”I bet he feels it even stronger since his wolf is stronger and he's the Alpha, they are kinda wired to think about procreation.” She laughed and sat back. I gulped as Beau took a seat next to me, placing the wine glass in front of me. I grabbed it and took a few sips to calm my nerves. I couldn’t imagine him knowing I was his mate, he wasn’t acting too much different, just a really nice guy. As soon as the wine touched my tongue I winced a little, the first sip was a little bitter, but the more I drank the sweeter it got. I glanced at him, he was looking at his eyebrow raised.

“Sorry, I’m not used to alcohol” I said, a little embarrassed. 

“It’s okay” he said, taking the beer to his mouth and chugging half of it. As the bottle left his lips he let out a sigh of relief and gave me a wink. 

After that first beer Beau restricted himself to water, but continued to order me wine when my glass emptied. I felt like such an adult, sipping my wine out to eat with my friends. The rest of dinner went great, the three of them talked about childhood experiences and what it was like to grow up in the pack. Hearing the stories put me at ease, it seemed like most of the pack was light hearted and accepting. By my third glass of wine I started to feel a little buzzed with the alcohol, it was really the fourth glass that pushed me over the edge though.

When we stood to leave I made sure to keep one hand on the table so I didn’t topple over. Beau quickly put his arm around me and helped me out to the car. After putting me in the passenger seat and buckling me up he hopped into the driver side and started down the road towards the territory.

“Did you always know you were Alpha?” I asked. The sudden break from silence seemed to startle him.

“Yes, yes I knew. My father was Alpha and as his male child I was the heir to the pack,” he said. I nodded my head.

“What if you were a girl?” I said, this alcohol was really making me loosen up with my questions.

He chuckled “then I’d be Luna.”

“Would your mate know he was Alpha?” I asked.

“Only if he knew me when he was growing up, but if he was from another pack and I didn’t outright tell, no probably not.” he said calculating his answer. 

“Do you have a mate? Does she know she’s going to be Luna?” I asked, I started to feel warm, and felt the anxiety grow waiting for his response. He stayed quiet for a couple minutes, but finally his low voice broke the silence.

“Yes I have a mate, yes I assume she knows,” he finally emitted. I mulled over his response before countering with my next question.

“Does your mate know your her mate?” I asked, a little jumbled with my own words. 

“What's with the twenty questions? Why don’t I ask you something” he said.

“Fine, ask away,” I said, overly confident. 

“Have you found your mate yet? While visiting the pack lands?” he asked, glancing towards me.

“Yes,” I whispered, that alcoholic confidence had left my system.

“Who” he said, slowing the car so he could focus on me. Finally he slowed to a stop and pulled to the shoulder of the road. He twisted his body so he was facing me, I did the same. I looked around, for an escape, maybe. He reached his hand out and grabbed mine. I looked at our hands wrapped around each other and felt the warmth of him. It sparked every pleasurable sense in me. I finally lifted my gaze to meet his eyes.

“You”