From Beta to Luna

Chapter 18 — The New Pack

    “So Ethan, what do you like to do for fun?”

    “Mmm, I like rock climbing in my spare time, and I like to swim.”

    “Ooo, I’ve never been! Do you do tethered climbing or free climbing?”

    “Mostly free climbing.”

    I smiled from my sitting position on the car floor and rested my chin on my hands which I had laying flat on the middle console. Damien had fallen asleep not even fifteen minutes into the drive, and I figured this would be best the best time to learn more about Ethan since I didn’t really get to talk to him much during the conference thanks to being too preoccupied with the whole trying to deny my mate thing and then going up against a homicidal psychopath thing. 

    “Do you have a girlfriend?” I asked next, moving my eyes to look up at him as he smiled while keeping his attention fixated on the road. 

    “Yeah, I was lucky and met my mate right when I turned 18,” he replied. “We were childhood friends and apparently were the only ones who were shocked by the discovery.”

    I laughed at this, wondering what life would’ve been like if I had learned Nathan was my mate right when I turned 18 and almost gagged at the thought of us being anything other than friends. 

    “What’s she like?”

    Ethan laughed at me then, suddenly asking with a hint of teasing in his voice, “Are you trying to find out more about me to see if I’m a worthy replacement for Nathan as your best friend?”

    I gasped at this and jokingly smacked his arm as I exclaimed, “Don’t flatter yourself, nobody could ever replace Nathan!”

    He laughed, never once taking his eyes off the road. From what I’ve gathered so far, I like Ethan. He was easy to talk to and reminded me a little bit of Owen with how quickly I became comfortable around him. While Damien was at times quick to anger and a little more temperamental, Ethan was a lot more chill and mellow and oftentimes kept Damien grounded— I guess that’s why Ethan was such a great Beta for him. 

    “Her name is Alana,” Ethan finally answered after a moment of silence. “She’s feisty, and she’s got a temper, and she’s one of our pack’s top warriors. She’s a lot like you, actually. I think you guys would get along really well. Oh, and she’s also one of Damien’s younger sisters.”

    My eyes widened at the last statement he casually threw in there. Damien has a sister? Wait, he said ‘one of’. Damien has multiple sisters?

    “I didn’t know Damien had siblings,” I muttered quietly, suddenly realizing that while Damien knew pretty much everything about my life—even the things I swore no one other than Xander, Nathan, and myself would know about—I really didn’t know anything about him at all. 

    Ethan chuckled at my response. “He has three sisters in total, all younger than him. He’s the oldest and the only boy.”

    I looked back at Damien, smiling to myself when I saw how peaceful he looked in his sleep. He hadn't gotten much sleep these past few days since he spent most of his time worrying about me, and I’m sure the exhaustion finally caught up to him. Staring at him, though, I couldn’t help but wonder to myself about how it was possible to have such strong feelings for someone I hardly knew anything about—he was practically a complete stranger.

    “You’re probably thinking to yourself that you don’t know anything about him at all and wondering how you could possibly be so in love with him, right?” Ethan suddenly questioned, and I gasped, my eyes widening in shock. 

    Leaning in closer towards him, I whispered, “Are you a psychic? Can you read minds?”

    He roared with laughter, and I smiled at the sudden thought of how much he reminded me of Nathan when he did that. 

    “I can’t read minds. You just happen to be a very open book and wear your emotions all over your face,” he teased. 

    “I do not!” I cried indignantly, pouting. 

    “Oh please, Raina,” he countered, his words accompanied by an eyeroll. “The entire first half of the week you spent wrestling with your feelings for Damien, I already knew you were in love with him, you were just being extremely stubborn about it.”

    “I had my reasons, okay,” I huffed, straightening from my position and crossing my arms against my chest. “It was scary to me… I never wanted a mate, and when he suddenly came crashing into my life… I didn’t know what to think.”

    I saw Ethan smile in the reflection of the windshield as his frame visibly softened a bit. 

    “But then the longer you were around him, the more you found yourself wanting to always be near him, right?” he asked, and I slowly nodded. “You suddenly found yourself wondering if he was okay, or if he’d eaten that night already, or if he got a good night’s sleep the night before? You found yourself worrying about all these things, while also asking yourself why you were even worrying about these things at all when you hardly knew him?”

    “Alright, that’s it, you’re definitely psychic,” I concluded with a nod of my head as if to confirm my own words. 

    He laughed again and said, “I’m not psychic, Raina, I just know what it’s like to be there. That’s what the mate bond does. When you awaken that bond, it’s like… It’s like—”

    “—like you were only half a person before, and you suddenly feel completed by them,” I finished for him, smiling to myself as I recalled Xander’s words about Olivia.

    “That’s extremely cheesy,” Ethan teased with a chuckle, “but it’s also pretty spot on.”

    “I guess you wouldn’t really understand exactly what I was going through since you and Alana were childhood friends,” I commented thoughtfully. “It must have been easy for you guys right from the start, right?”

    He snorted at my comment. “Are you kidding me? How would you have reacted if you suddenly found out Nathan was your mate after you turned 18?”

    I grimaced slightly at the mere thought of it, which caused him to laugh. 

    “Exactly,” he continued with another laugh. “I was pissed when I found out. Like you, I almost rejected her. I didn’t wanna cross that line with her because she was Damien’s sister, and I only ever viewed her as such. I was so angry the Moon Goddess mated me with her, wondering why she couldn’t give me somebody else—anybody else—that I didn’t view as almost family. I also wrestled with my feelings for a while when we both found out.”

    “What made you change your mind about her?” I asked, deeply intrigued by someone else’s almost-failed mate story. 

    “Damien threatened to kill me if I broke his sister’s heart.”

    I gasped, which caused him to laugh again. 

    “I’m kidding, Raina—sorta.” 

    He paused for a moment, taking the time to bypass a slower moving car, before he continued, “Damien didn’t threaten me, but he did sit me down and talk to me about why I was feeling the way I was. After talking with him, I realized I wasn’t giving her a fair chance. In my mind, I only viewed her as Damien’s sister, not as my mate. So when I tried looking at it objectively, I noticed all the little things.”

    I smiled, noticing the change in his tone from a joking and teasing one, to one filled with pure love and admiration.  

    “I noticed the way she fussed at Damien if she felt like he wasn’t getting enough sleep, or the way her eyes twinkled when she laughed, or the way my name always left her lips accompanied by a smile. Before I knew it, I had fallen so deeply in love with her that I couldn’t believe how stupid I’d been for trying to fight it. And now, I can’t imagine my life without her at all. I’d be nothing without her.”

    I smiled to myself. 

    Everything he was saying reminded me a lot of the same inner turmoil I went through over first meeting Damien. It was when I began paying attention to all the little details about Damien that I suddenly found my feelings for him beginning to grow, and—like Ethan—before I knew it, I found myself feeling such strong feelings for him that I didn’t know how I had survived before he was a part of my life. 

    “It’s nice,” I finally said after a moment of silence, “this whole mate thing.”

    He chuckled. “It’s only nice if you decide it’s what you want. But the Moon Goddess doesn’t make mistakes. They’re your mate for a reason. They complete you in ways nobody else can.” 

    I quieted at his words, thoughts of my parents swimming around in my mind, but I didn’t have time to respond before Ethan quietly said, “Raina, look up. We’re almost there.”

    I sat up in my seat, turning my attention out the window. The sun was beginning to set, painting the tree lines in warm shades of red and orange, and I smiled as we passed the scenery, almost feeling like I was on the way to Silver Moon. I felt my heart lurch slightly in my chest as the first few houses came into view, suddenly feeling a little nervous knowing that we were now crossing into Emerald Moon territory. 

    Would they like me? Would they accept me? Would they think I was worthy enough to be their Luna—to help Damien lead them?

    “Ethan,” I quietly called, causing him to look at me through the rear view mirror. “Do you think… Do you think they’ll like me?”

    My voice sounded small, even to my own ears. I was hoping I didn’t come off as insecure to him, but this was my pack now; I wanted to make sure they accepted me. I’d be heartbroken if they decided I wasn’t worthy of being their Luna. 

    “Raina,” Ethan began with sincerity in his voice, “you are the first female Beta in the entire world. And on top of that, you accepted the challenge of a dangerous Alpha that I’m not even sure any of us could beat, and won. You are extremely intelligent and caring, and more importantly, you’re our Luna. Emerald Moon is lucky that you’re Damien’s mate— I can’t imagine anybody else being more fit to lead us.”

    I smiled at his reassuring words, suddenly feeling confidence surge through me. He was right. As long as I was myself around them and made sure they knew I would fight with every bone in my body to protect and care for them, I’m sure it would be alright. 

    After a few minutes, a big, white house came into view, and I smiled at the sight of my new home. I saw a crowd gathered around as Ethan pulled the car to a stop in a big circle driveway. 

    Although I could tell the crowd was excited, I was thankful they didn’t try crowding the car. 

    “Damien. Damien, wake up, we’re here,” I whispered softly, gently nudging him awake. 

    He sleepily opened his eyes to look at me, and instantly, his face split into a wide smile. 

    He leaned forward and kissed me, murmuring against my lips, “Welcome home, Raina.”

    I smiled before pulling away from him, wondering how to go about meeting the pack for the first time without getting too overwhelmed.

    “You wait here,” Damien told me, kissing me on the side of the head, “I’ll go announce that you’re here and tell them not to crowd you just yet.”

    “They don’t know about me?” I asked, shooting him a quizzical glance. 

    “Not yet,” he replied with a smile. “I wanted to keep you a secret all to myself for a little while and figured it’d be a nice surprise for them.”

    I smiled at him as I nodded. Leaning forward to give me another kiss on the cheek, he pulled away before exiting the car with Ethan. I watched as everyone cheered and welcomed him home, glad to finally have their Alpha back, I’m sure. 

    “Thank you for the warm welcome, it feels so good to be back home,” Damien greeted, and I watched as everyone knelt down on one knee and bowed their heads slightly in respect.

    I smiled. The sight of Damien standing in front of his pack as their leader made my heart flutter in pride. 

    “The conference was a great success,” Damien continued as everyone straightened from their kneeling position. “We’ve successfully strengthened our alliance with all packs of the Northern Allyship, and we’ve even gained a new sister pack in the Silver Moon Pack.”

    There was an excited murmur that erupted through the crowd, and I smiled. Silver Moon was one of the strongest packs in the country— to be their sister pack meant that we would forever be protected and also be coveted as one of the most formidable packs around. 

    “But, I do have a surprise for everyone that I know you’ve all been waiting a long, long time for,” Damien said, and I felt my heart flutter again as everyone began looking at each other in slight confusion. “During this past week, we not only strengthened our ties with our allies, but also, I found someone that’s completed me. I’ve found my mate— your Luna.”

    The cheers were suddenly deafening, even through the closed car door. I couldn’t help but smile. Damien had waited six years before he found me, meaning that his pack had also waited six years for their Luna to be here. Just like how a wolf feels incomplete without their mate, a pack without a Luna also feels incomplete— like they’ll never be able to reach their full potential as a pack until she comes along and helps their Alpha guide them. 

    “Now, I want everyone to be careful in greeting her,” Damien continued, a slight edge to his voice now. “She was injured during the conference, and she’s still a little sore from her wounds.”

    Damien turned then, and I felt my heart beating wildly in my chest. I took a deep breath to calm myself, just as Damien reached the car door. Opening it, he stretched his hand out to me and helped me exit the car. 

    There was a hushed silence that fell over the crowd for a moment as they took in the sight of me, and I blushed slightly, wondering if this meant they didn’t like me. My fears were instantly put to rest, however, when everyone dropped to one knee, bowing their heads to me. 

    My eyes widened at the gesture. Bowing your head was a sign of respect, but kneeling in someone’s presence was the ultimate sign of respect, and I couldn’t quite wrap my head around the fact that I was on the receiving end of such an honorable action.

    After a moment, they raised their heads but remained kneeling. I felt Damien’s comforting hand grab onto mine as I smiled. 

    “Hello, Emerald Moon,” I greeted confidently, “my name is Raina Sterling. I know you don’t know anything about me yet, but I want to assure you, that from this moment on, you are all my family now. As your Luna, I vow to fight with every bone in my body to protect you. I only hope you can accept me and deem me worthy of leading you.”

    Everyone shouted in unison, “Yes, Luna!”

    I felt my heart soar in pride hearing my new pack address me as their Luna. 

    I had spent so long worrying about the day I would find myself in this exact position, that I didn’t realize that it would end up being the best day of my life. 

    As Damien kissed me on the top of my head, circling his strong arm around me, I suddenly knew without a doubt that I had nothing to worry about— this was where I belonged.