The Beta's Second Chance Mate

10. Alpha's Ceremony

Henry POV:

We were all gathered on the stage.

Lindsy was with me, we were holding hands.

Randall and Susan were on our right side, Alice and Liam were behind them.

Hunter was on my left side and Conri went to the front of the stage.

Everybody bowed down.

“I want to fully give my blessing to Alpha Henry Arcane, his Beta Hunter and his soon to be Luna Lindsy Redcliff, and I also want to say that I’m welcoming my Beta, Randall Blackford and his mate Susan Redfield, to the Royal Pack from this day on. Before Randall officially hands the Alpha position to Henry, I want to say some words about Henry” he said, and the wolves were all howling, roaring in a cheerful way. We all chuckled.

Then I noticed that Eva was there with a disgusting face, she was enraged and staring intently at Lindsy.

I felt protective towards Lindsy. I was noticing everything as I wound my arm around her shoulder and my hand was holding her shoulder in a protective instance. I was ready to protect her from anything, I was ready to embrace her and jump in front of her from any danger.

Chaos growled inside my head, he was also very protective and possessive over Lindsy.

Maybe I was thinking too much. Nobody would be crazy enough to do such a thing at such an important and special ceremony.

I relaxed a little.

“I remember until today, the day that Alice and the other Royals found me, when I was kidnapped and tortured for over 20 years. Henry was the only Beta that stood for the Royal Pack. Henry was watching over the Royal Pack while I was healing and I’ll be forever grateful to you, Henry. He was always loyal, respectful and he cared a lot for the Black Moon Pack and all of you, or else the Black Moon Pack wouldn’t become what it is today”, Conri said, and the Wolves were cheering again.

“Henry, you were there with two Alphas but I knew back at that time that with you, the Royal Pack was safe. I really wish you and your Luna all the best and all happiness. You deserve it”, he finished his statement.

“Thank you, Conri”, I told him and he nodded.

Then it was Alice who stood there in front of us.

“Henry, you have always cared for me ever since when I was a pup. You helped my father all over these last centuries, you made this pack greater than it was, you found yourself a wonderful and trustful Beta and now you have a wonderful and beautiful lady to be the Luna this pack needs. I’m so happy for you and I want to say thank you for everything you’ve done for me, for my father and for this Pack”, Alice said, and I thanked her for the sweet words.

I didn’t expect the ceremony would be so touching.

I glared at Lindsy and her eyes were glistening, she was about to cry and she was smiling at me, there was some pride in her gaze.

I kissed her cheek and held her closer to me.

Then it was Randall, we would officialize it.

“Alpha Henry Arcane”, Randall started, and the wolves already cheered us. Randall chuckled and waited patiently for them to be quiet again and they got, but suddenly it was everything too quiet.

“Alpha Henry Arcane, I have no words to say how much I owe to you” he said, his voice was trembling and I couldn’t hold back some stray tears that insisted on falling from my eyes.

“I have no words to say how special you are in my life. You weren’t just a Beta, you have been my best friend ever since we were pups” he said, and he took a breath, then I noticed that his eyes were also full of tears. I definitely haven’t seen any of this coming.

We’ve been through so much together, we’ve been raised together, we hunt together and it was only Randall and I for such a very long time.

The women were already sobbing and crying nonstop.

“What I truly want to say is; Thank you for everything, Henry. You’re my brother and you always will be” he said, and we hugged each other as we were crying.

I'd never thought I would miss him that much and, clearly, he also didn’t expect that the farewell moment would be such a hard path to go through.

After a few pats on the back, we parted and ever since it was such a special event for us, we wanted Conri to be the one to do it. Usually, when there’s a change or challenge for the Alpha Position, Conri has to be informed and officialize it. He could do it in the Royal Pack but he was our friend and he was part of it.

“Let’s do this” Conri shouted and the pack members roared and howled excitedly.

“Henry Arcane, are you willing to take the Oath?” Conri asked me.

“I am, Your Highness” I told him.

“Will you solemnly promise to rule all of the wolves from the Black Moon Pack according to their needs, so as will you to the utmost of your power maintain their safety, protection and respect for the wolves and do what is beyond your limit to always stand for them as the Alpha?” Conri asked me again.

“The things which I, Henry Arcane, have here before promised, I will perform and keep as an Alpha” I replied firmly.

“I solemnly accept you, Henry Arcane, having thus taken the Oath shall start to rule this pack over right away as an Alpha”, Conri stated, and Randall stood by my side.

Conri got a dagger and waited for Randall.

“I, Randall Blackford, solemnly reject the Alpha position of the Black Moon Pack and I solemnly accept you, Henry Arcane, having thus taken the Oath shall start to rule this pack over right away as an Alpha”, Randall said, and Conri cut his palm and cut my palm and Randall and I shook our hands.

I felt my aura increasing even more, my power was overflowing my pores and a burning sensation was running inside my veins.

Chaos growled in my chest and I let out a huge and powerful growl that made even the leaves pulsate over Chao's overpowering growl.

Everybody was quiet for a few seconds. They were startled but soon they hoorayed and roared in a cheerful way and howled happily.

“I always knew you were the right fit for the position”, Randall told me, and I hugged him again.

One thing I knew, after everything we'd been through, I was going to miss him.

The ceremony went on and the wolves were drinking Wolfcraig and Fairy Wine nonstop.

Lindsy was talking to Susan and Alice, so we stood until night.

I couldn’t take my eyes off her, I wanted to claim her, I wanted to mark her as mine and never let her go.

I wanted to take her somewhere and do it right away.

“What’s wrong with me?” I asked Chaos.

“We’re the Alpha now, everything you felt is going to be more intense” he gushed at me, laughing.

Oh great, that’s all I needed.

.

Lindsy POV:

I was so touched by the moment Henry had on the stage.

I felt like I was proud of myself to have him as my mate and I can’t wait until I turn 18 and be officially his.

I can’t believe my first kiss was with him and I felt that I did the right thing, everything felt so right with Henry.

It actually wasn't exactly a 'real kiss' but it was as important to me in the same way.

I would figure it out why he couldn’t feel it and I was going to do whatever it takes to make it work out between us.

If I felt so drawn into Henry already, I don’t know how it would be after I turned to the mating age. It was actually more than that, I was falling in love with him and I wasn’t holding my feelings back.

He could have taken advantage of the situation after I moved here but he didn’t. He always respected me and never tried anything.

It was so weird that I’ve denied Beta Hans so many times, but with Henry, if he had tried to kiss me on the first day we met, I would easily give in.

“What a touching moment we all watched on the stage” Susan said beside me, snapping me out of my thoughts.

“I couldn’t hold back my tears until now”, Alice said, standing on my other side with glistening eyes.

“I feel so lucky to see how wonderful Henry is”, I told them.

We kept chatting and my gaze moved to Henry on its own accord all the time, he was so handsome.

We exchanged our gazes all the time and my heart was racing.

I hoped he could feel the pull or start to feel it anytime.

I’ve never seen such a cheerful and beautiful event as the Alpha’s ceremony. Everything about this pack was so natural and joyful, the pack members were truly happy here and my heart swelled in happiness and love. I would do whatever it takes to protect this pack and its members.

Then I thought about my father and I felt a cold shiver run down my spine. I wouldn’t let him do anything against this pack.

If he could whip me when I was a pup and I had the scars on my back until nowadays, and if he could offer me like I was nothing to an Alpha, I wonder what he could do against these wolves because of his own thirst for power.

I was truly glad he did it though, because now I’m feeling even more willing to protect these wonderful wolves and I got to know Henry.

At the end of the ceremony, Randall gathered all the wolves.

“Now to top off this awesome ceremony, we’re going to hunt” Randall said, and we all smiled and clapped at his statement as the men were roaring and howling in ecstasy.

Then I thought about Chaos, Henry’s wolf.

I was so excited about getting to know him.

Henry approached me.

“Will you be OK?” he asked me, holding my hand.

“Of course, I can’t wait to meet Chaos, do you think he'll like me?”, I told him, and he smiled at me.

“Don't doubt it. The hunt might take a while. You should go to the pack house with Alice and I’ll meet you there later” he said, and I nodded.

“All right, are you all ready?” Conri asked them and they all roared in response.

“Shift” he said, everybody shifted to their wolf form and I was mesmerized.

Then a beautiful huge wolf approached me. He was grey with black highlights and had bright blue eyes.

“Chaos” I whispered and he licked my hand, I giggled and ran my hands through his fur.

“You’re the most beautiful wolf I’ve ever seen” I told him, looking intently into his eyes.

He was measuring the same as I was, he was still standing on fours, he licked my cheek and I giggled again.

“I’m glad you liked me, I like you too” I told him and he wiggled his tail.

“I can’t wait for me to turn 18 and I’ll be able to shift so my wolf can go for a run with you”, I told him, and he happily licked my face again.

Then all the wolves went back to gather and like they were waiting for a signal.

Henry might have mind-linked them because suddenly they all started to run in the forest's direction.

“Now, let’s all go back to the Pack House”, Alice said and touched me and Susan.

We were inside the pack house in a blink of an eye and I gasped, Liam was also there with Alice.

“You flashed me” I whispered, and she smiled “That was so cool” I said.

“Alice used to scare the s**t out of me when she was younger”, Susan said and I chuckled.

“I wonder what kind of power I'll have”, I told them.

“Both your father and mother are from the Alpha bloodline, you’ll have two kinds of powers”, Susan told me.

“I don’t even know what my parents’ powers are”, I told them honestly.

We chatted for a while more until Alice and Liam flashed to their mansion. Randall would mind-link her as soon as he comes back and Alice would flash Susan, Randall and Conri to the Royal Pack.

Susan also went to her room to have a bath and I decided I would do the same.

I wore a t-shirt and my shorts and I sat on the bed to read a book.

I couldn’t sleep until Henry got home, so I stayed there.

I heard someone leaving the room and Alice whispering. That meant they had already got home.

I got dressed and I made my way out of the room but Henry wasn’t there.

“Oh are you still awake or did I wake you up?” Alice said with an apologetic look on her face. I chuckled.

“I was awake, don’t worry, Alice. Have you seen Henry?” I asked her.

“Yes, he went to his office” she said and I was relieved.

“We already said goodbye to him, now you, come here” she said and hugged me.

“It was so nice to meet you, we’ll be meeting again soon” she said and I nodded.

Randall and Susan hugged me before we bid each other goodbye and they left.

I quickly went to Henry’s office and I knocked on the door.

“Come in” he said and I opened the door.

Eva was there wearing just a robe, leaning her back to Henry’s table by his side while he was sitting on his chair wearing nothing but a shorts.

Did something happen between them just now?

I felt my heart clenching but I couldn’t leave now.