Luna of the Golden Moon

Village

"A village?" I was sitting on Caleb's lap in the office. He was in the leather armchair. I nodded; that was precisely what I meant. We would need it. We had families here. Would they live in a room? How would that work? Not everyone had just one child. I wanted more children down the line myself. We needed to give the pack room to grow.

"I never really thought about it, I guess, and we have been growing a lot these last months, maybe even more than under Terrance." Caleb was giving me a solemn nod back at my smile, knowing he was listening to me, yes. We did have a lot of people to care for. Since I hadn't been Luna for that long, it didn't really strike me that people here were living close, maybe too close if you started to ask around. Not everyone was happy living door to door with a newborn or a newly mated couple.

"You know what, I like it? And it could be our legacy, something to pass on to little Alpha…" Caleb was stroking his big hand over my belly, making me love him even more, giving him a kiss right on his cheek, being newly showered and smelling so good that I had forgotten we were inside the office for ten minutes, kissing.

"We could just tell the rest of the pack we have the day off, go back upstairs and keep going…" I snorted with his hand still on my belly, feeling the baby move, sure. Then we would have twice as much work and people wanting our attention tomorrow.

Caleb sighed, knowing I was right. To be honest, he wouldn't abandon his duties as Alpha, not with so many depending on us. That responsibility had started to weigh on me. The pack was so large, and they all relied on us. Caleb was twenty, and I had just turned nineteen—it felt like we should still be out having fun instead of being here, working to ensure everyone had a place to eat, sleep, and understand their duties to the pack.

"Not so fun being an Alpha anymore… is it?" I snorted at his teasing, his fast kiss on my hand sending my heart and body racing. I knew it was pointless; I had brought up the housing problem, but we still had the first Beta to deal with, and from what I saw in the garden, we needed one right now.

"Yes, I heard about the commotion…" Caleb made a deep sigh now, letting me go. I was still sitting inside his lap, he was leaning back and looking at the ceiling, his eyes shifting yellow, not really knowing what to do about it, with me staring at him, wanting him to see that I was right about Brad. He would be a good first Beta, sure, he just got here. He was new with his mate, but he saw stuff I didn't, and he didn't seem to act too rashly… Caleb stopped looking up, giving me a tired smile, hearing the name coming inside my head.

Kyle.

"That is exactly why I haven't chosen one. I don't need another guy getting too high up for his own good and then just try to take advantage of his position, like, say, lure the pack's Luna outside the borders, with nobody knowing where she is, causing panic inside the pack?"

I heard him, feeling bad. He wasn't trying to make me feel worse, but it still stung, considering how upset he had been.

"I didn't get mad, I panicked, Mila, you were gone, and then when I got you, you went out with Kyle..." I whimpered, not wanting to feel just how much I was breaking his heart, the charcoal eyes showing me so much pain I was drowning in a memory that would never happen today. Never.

"I know that, but …" Caleb made another face. He was sorry for making me feel so worthless; he didn't believe I was; he loved me, and I wished I could go back in time and never take that chance to run, not with what I knew today.

"That's the problem, isn't it? You knew nothing, and I was trying to please Terrance…" I sighed, hearing him exhale, both of us holding our breaths, the baby moving again, with me nodding, Yes, I guess that was the problem.

"I'm not mad at you for running, never was." I didn't believe him, feeling like I wanted to cry, but what good would that do? I still did it, ran away from him with Kyle, and I was happy being outside the pack. I knew what would happen, and I still did it. My fault.

"No, it's not. It made me wake up, see what I had to lose for real, not just my pride, but my real Luna wanting to leave me. I knew I had to change, that this place had to change." Caleb looked into my eyes, showing love and understanding. I started to cry, unable to believe him, feeling undeserving of all the forgiveness he was giving me. Still, he wanted me to understand he meant every word—he did love me, and he wanted to change for me.

"Well, you changed for me. It's fair, right?" I nodded, warmth building as his hands rubbed my arms. Why hadn't we just talked instead of fighting before becoming Alpha and Luna?

"You tell me, Luna, you made me want to talk about everything. I'm still not really used to this, but I'm trying for you." Caleb was kissing my hand again, my cheeks wet from tears, and feeling tired, leaning down more against his chest. I loved him so much, and people would never understand how much he meant to me, bond or not.

"Same." I felt the deep purr as his arms wrapped around me, exhaling me and having my eyes closed; it felt nice, talking and not arguing for once, feeling the intense vibrations from his chest, healing my body and heart.

"Now… we do need to deal with the first Beta problem…"

I was whispering it into his chest after a few minutes, feeling the slow movement of laughter coming from my mate's hard body, meeting my eyes when I rose up, giving him a smile with him telling me that I was right, kissing me and making me blush when his lips are at my ears, telling me what he wanted to do to me when we are not at the office anymore.

“Cay… don’t…” I was still giggling in his arms, hearing the knocking on the door, the betas moving, searching for Caleb's approval, who switches from loving mate to hard Alpha; he doesn't even realize it, I think, just how fast the love inside his charcoal eyes dies. He is replaced by cold calculation, just waiting for the next threat or danger he has to face as the Alpha of this pack.

"Enter." I get chills from how deep his voice is when the door opens. Beta Brad is walking inside, having his mate alone, to my surprise, but not Caleb, looking like he was expecting the new Beta to take his mate inside the head office. Could they do that? I wasn't sure what to feel with Beta Brad smiling, calm and relaxed, and Beta Katlynn standing just one step behind with Caleb in his straight posture and furrowed eyes, scaring her more than anything.

"Alpha and Luna…" Beta Brad made a smile with Caleb, not smiling back. I guess it was me sitting inside his lap, making me want to get up with Caleb holding me down, like he knew it was too late to back down, and he would never back down for anything, especially not a grinning Beta giving us teasing looks for not acting as formal as we should.

"Beta Brad, Beta Katlynn." Caleb sounds short with Katlynn, whimpering at him and saying her name, but Brad looks happier. He wants his mate to be acknowledged. Why else would he drag her here when she clearly didn't want to?

"Actually, it's just Kate; she doesn't like Katlynn." Beta Brad gives his mate a smile, and I nod too, understanding. Okay, so her name was Kate. I felt bad again. Since I was the Luna, and she was afraid to tell me her real name, it wasn't supposed to be like that, was it?

"You are so sweet, my Luna, that you even know her name is a big step up from most Lunas in a big pack." Caleb was comforting me through the bond, his eyes still trained and dangerous on the new Beta. He really didn't want another situation like the one we had with Kyle, and I didn't blame him for being suspicious; I just had a good feeling about this man.

"Very well, Beta Kate..." Caleb sounded less impressed, repeating the poor girl's name. I still said nothing—no need, really. It wasn't my decision to make, not officially, with the tall Beta standing in front of me, never letting go of his mate's hand, staring at the desk, knowing he couldn't make eye contact—not yet, anyway.

"My mate has been singing your praises. Apparently, you are taking her well-being seriously and this pack seriously, not that I would expect anything less from Victor's former first Beta. The real problem is, are you loyal?" Caleb's dark, heavy voice was making the surrounding betas nervous. He was warning Brad and dragging the rest of them along, his eyes still piercing, having his wolf out now, with me still not saying anything, feeling the room's tension getting worse by the second!

"You mean, am I going to drag your Luna out on an adventure and stab you in the back, causing every other pack to talk behind your back?" I flinched, hearing Beta Brad sound so cool back at Caleb's hostility, like he was used to it, but so was Kyle, but he got angry at Caleb and tired of being unseen, I didn't get anything of that from the man before us, a little too calm for him being interrogated by my mate, but otherwise, I liked him.

"Of course you do…" Caleb was answering me back, tired, through the bonk, with me starting to smile, not caring if it made sense or not. Beta Brad didn't show anything in his feelings that he wanted to betray the pack or us, and his mate was right there. He would die for her, just like the rest of the mated couples in our pack.

"Yes." Caleb wasn't afraid to answer him back, his eyes still hard and leaning back with his arm still around me, showing everyone that he was not going to accept another mutiny on his hands, since we had more problems to deal with than the clock had hours as it was right now.

"No, I am not interested in putting this pack, or my mate, in danger.

In fact, I know you are offering me the first beta position right now because nobody else in this pack has what I have." Caleb's eyes shifted, a small approval that made me happier, so he was cocky, but he wasn't angry or bitter; he just seemed to want to live his life with his mate, same as us.

"Clearly, you have a way of getting information, so. Yes. I am offering you the position of first Beta, on the condition that you back up what you say with action. If you do, your first task outside of getting my men up to speed is to handle the new village my Luna is proposing, since we are having our heir soon, she will be occupied with other matters."

"And I will accept, Alpha, but I do have my own demands." The room shifted again, with Caleb getting an amused smile, looking just like his father right now, in the same leather chair and holding me, still looking like he had been expecting that all along, to my own sadness, hoping they could have trust instead of just going to war right away with each other.

"This is me seeing if we can trust him, Luna, look at him, does he look worried about me pushing him so far down his shoes that his mate is about to snap? No." Caleb was still smirking, nodding like he could agree to some negotiations, especially from an experienced Beta, no matter how young he was.

"Of course, and those are?" Caleb smiled. He didn't show how much of a demand he would make from the Beta before him. Being the first Beta in a big pack was hard, you had to keep track of every soldier, every training, every pattern, signs of weakness, moral, it wasn't that much different from being an Alpha or Luna, just less consensus.

"I want my mate and me to get married, and…" I couldn't stop myself from getting up from Caleb's lap, almost making a screech with my hands clapping. Oh yes! A wedding, that's just what we need! It would be grand and colorful, and I wasn't going to let Delta Vivian make me go full dark formal attire; it would be a fresh summer wedding with everyone happy!

"Seems my Luna is already planning the wedding..."

Caleb sounded smug with Beta actually looking a bit out of bounds, like he wasn't expecting me to go into a minor frenzy over him and his nervous mate tying the knot before everyone in the pack!

"Okay, so, I am thinking green, you like flowers, oh, maybe a garden wedding, wouldn't that be nice, Caleb?" I was still sounding way too pitched with my mate giving me another smug smile, like he wouldn't save the beta couple from me pushing a big wedding onto them. This was a pack thing, and we needed more unity. We did!

"Oh, wait, that wasn't really what…" Beta Brad looked stressed out because I wasn't caring, so he didn't want a big wedding, but his mate did. Look at her, she was perking up hearing me talk about green as a theme. What girl wouldn't want their wedding to be perfect?

"Beta Brad, I'm sorry, but this is not up for negotiation. I am not my mate and…" I stopped taking a deep breath, the baby being heavier for every second, with Caleb getting up, helping me, and giving me his support with his hand. He was the best thing that ever happened to me.

"… I'm sorry, goddess… I'm sorry…" I said it sadder, the realization of me getting carried away with all this, maybe they didn't want a big wedding, but I did, right before the whole pack with my mate, and I couldn't get it.

Caleb still looked grim, with me starting to sniffle, still holding me. Still, closer like he felt all my sorrow and couldn't help, faking another smile and clearing my throat, knowing I wasn't acting anywhere near how a real Luna was supposed to, I just got carried away.

"I do like green, Luna…" I couldn't believe it. Beta Kate's voice was still shy, but she was peeking out behind her mate, who looked just as stiff and upset as I was, like they didn't know how to handle me freaking out over something they only could feel, my deepest wants and needs, no matter how stupid it was.

"It's not stupid, and I will make it happen. I swear on my Alpha's status, this house, my heart, that we will be married one day, Mila." I didn't expect Caleb to sound so hurt, like he wanted to fix everything for me, making a sad smile back, taking my hand on his face, not really caring about the strangers, betas, our betas looking at us with surprise, and the best part. Hope.

"That's great… really, Beta Kate, but I'm sorry, I need to lie down now, and we will discuss this when you and your mate have made up your mind about the arrangements, and please, don't hesitate to find me…" I said it back, more politely, still with tears in my eyes, Caleb not wanting to let me go, his instincts driving him to hold me, to protect me. Still, he couldn't, not from this, and to be honest, I was tired, giving him a last look of love before walking outside with Mark and Tony, pretending not to hear me go insane inside the office.

"Don't worry, Luna, some rest, and you will be back for another round…" I made a thankful smile hearing the low voice of Beta Anthony when we had reached the bedroom, with me closing the door and sitting down on the bed, the baby kicking, and me starting to cry again.