The Alpha's Powerful Luna

Chapter 12

**Elliott POV**

My mom touched Jade’s face and as I watched their hushed conversation, I felt my dad clap me on the shoulder. “Well, it’s easy to tell but I thought I’d say it anyway— we love your mate!” We both chuckled and my heart swelled seeing my parents embrace Jade so quickly. Although technically, they’d had the whole beginning of her life to warm up to her.

As I was smiling and taking it all in, I realized my mom and I had been making eye contact through almost the entire long, tight hug she was giving to Jade. Everyone around us seemed frozen in time and all I wanted to do was have some alone time with Jade to process the last few days and start getting to know each other better. I felt this sudden urge to scoop her up, take her to my room, and lock ourselves away from anything but each other. I was realizing how close I came to never even knowing my true mate because we’d thought she’d been dead all these years, and the protective instincts that had been laying dormant in my body all this time were in full swing now.

Seeming to pick up on my desire for privacy, my mom released Jade, gently placing her hands on her shoulders. “I don’t want to monopolize your time, dear. We have forever to catch up and I’m sure you’d like to get settled into your new room and to have some time alone with your new mate.” My mom smiled wide at her and then turned her gaze to me. Jade turned around sheepishly as if that’s exactly what she wanted too but didn’t know how to say it.

“Jasper, why don’t you go find Cleo and spend a few hours with her. I’m sure she’s been waiting for you to come home. Cameron, can you show Emma to her room? For now I’m putting her in the guest room next to mine and Jade’s on the alpha floor. You can show her around for a little while after so she can get acquainted with her new home.” I smiled reassuringly at a slightly nervous looking Emma and she seemed to calm down slightly as Cameron led her through the kitchen door with an arm full of to go snacks for the both of them. Jasper had already peeled out at the words “go find Cleo”, so it was just Jade and I in the kitchen watching my parents leave with ear to ear smiles plastered on both their faces. At least I didn’t have to worry about winning my family over to like my new mate, and my friends seemed pretty happy with her as well.

This was officially the most alone we’d been since we’d met. I mean we had a few minutes together in the pack clinic but it wasn’t like we got to have a deep conversation when she was mostly unconscious and in horrible amounts of pain.

I saw Jade slowly walking toward the big kitchen windows and staring through them, wrapping her arms around herself and seemingly content to stand there the rest of the day. I came up behind her and put an arm around her waist. “If you think this view is pretty, you should see the view from my balcony.” I said softly and she turned to me excitedly.

For the first time, I was really seeing her face head on and not covered in bruises. She was absolutely beautiful. Her long copper hair fell in loose curls down to the middle of her back, her pale face had a delicate dusting of tiny freckles, her full lips a dainty pink color, and those eyes. They reminded me of the forest standing before us, a rich mahogany brown with vibrant flecks of green, the exact color palette of these lands I’d studied and explored my whole life. Her splendor was intoxicating, almost making me afraid to be alone with her for too long.

I took her tiny hand in mine and gently led her out of the kitchen and up the grand staircase at the front of the house. “The alpha rooms are on the 6th floor,” I tried to make conversation as we walked to calm the nerves I was sensing from her, some of them even coming from myself. I had to get a grip. This wasn’t the first girl I’d brought upstairs. It’s not like I slept with everything that moved like Cam, but I was too experienced to be this nervous around a woman. But then again, this wasn’t just any woman. This was THE woman. The one made specifically for me. “My office, and what will eventually be your office are on that floor, but other than Emma we’re the only people who live on that floor.”

“Where do your parents live?” Jade asked eagerly. It was clear that my parents had made a real impression on her.

“Mom and dad live in a stand alone house next door. When dad retired, he wanted a space that was just for the two of them. He can be a bit introverted and the packhouse lifestyle was just hard on him sometimes. He values his privacy. I’m sure there’ll be nights where they invite us over to have a private night or two just the four of us.” That made her smile, and the feeling it gave me to make this woman smile was going to be my kryptonite. I could already feel it.

“And Cameron and Jasper? Do they live outside the pack house?”

“No, they’re a floor below us. The beta and gamma share all the rooms on the 5th floor. You’ll see them on our floor all the time during the day when they’re visiting my office, though. The 3rd floor is for the high ranking warriors and their families, the second floor is for any of the omegas who work inside of the house that don’t want a cottage or townhouse of their own, and the first floor has our conference room, kitchen, dining room, ballroom, and our rec center.” I could see Jade’s eyes getting wide, probably worrying about finding her way around. “Don’t worry, Cleo will be with you and Emma whenever I’m unable to be. She’ll make sure you both know your way around before we let you just wander by yourself from place to place. But you’re welcome to go off exploring whenever you want.”

Jade breathed a sigh of relief. The elevator dinged and we both stepped inside. I pushed the “6” button, sneaking a glance at my mate to see her appearing to slightly bounce in place, which I hoped to be a sign of excitement rather than fear. I made a mental note to take the stairs on the way down so she would know where they were for emergency purposes. “Elliot,” Jade began carefully. “Do your omegas live the way Emma and I did on their floor?”

I was proud of her for asking questions already, but a rush of anger towards that low life Victor swept through me at the same time. We exited the elevator and I led her down the hall. “No, love. We have empty rooms down there right now because a lot of omegas want their own homes once they find their mate and start a family, so I’m happy to show you the type of living quarters our omegas have on the way down to dinner later. The omegas here are compensated for their work, they’re free to change jobs or leave the pack lands whenever they want, and the rec room and pool house are open to all pack members, not just the ranked ones.”

Jade beamed up at me as if I’d just given her a giant bag of diamonds. “That’s amazing, Elliott! I’d love to see where the omegas stay!”

I couldn’t help but chuckle at her enthusiasm. “Well, I’ll make sure we head downstairs with plenty of time for you to investigate,” I winked at her and she blushed. “But for now, I thought it was about time for you and I to get to know each other a little bit better.” We had almost reached my room. I dropped her hand to turn the door knob and gestured for her to go in ahead of me.

“Holy s**t,” Jade clasped a hand over her mouth and turned around as if looking for confirmation from me that this wasn’t all an elaborate joke. “This is your room?!”

“Our room, love.”