Fighting For My Mate (18+)

Chapter 23

Eli POV

It’s been taking everything in me to respect Christa’s wishes. I find myself starting to walk in the direction of the pack hospital, and I quickly have to turn myself around. So, I’ve been keeping busy with pack business and this Sigma wolf running around wreaking havoc. He's gone on to kill other Alphas in the states surrounding us. So finally, the other Alpha’s have agreed to meet. All the surviving Alpha’s sit in the meeting room inside the packhouse, whispering to each other. I can feel their angst and tension just by being in the room with them.

”What are we going to do with the displaced packs that no longer have Alpha’s?” One Alpha calls out.

”We will divide them and send them to the packs of existing Alpha’s. Until we can get them situated into their new homes, we will provide them essentials until then.” The Alphas nod their heads in agreement with me.

”How are we going to prevent other Alpha’s from meeting a similar fate?”

”For now, all Alpha’s will stay here. You're Betas and Gammas can handle business for you.”

A hand comes down hard on the table, ”That’s absurd! We can not just hang out around here and neglect our duties to our packs and hide away like cowards!”

”It’s your choice whether you want to stay or not, but you will not be hiding away. The more Alphas we have here, the more likely we will win with us all here. He can not take us all on at once. His goal is to kill Alphas to gain more power. If all the Alphas are in one place, how can he kill us all if we are together? Together we can take him down. With all the Alpha’s here, he’ll be more likely to stop attacking other Alpha’s and focus on all of us here. Then we can set a trap.”

The Alpha that had the outburst thinks through with what I’ve just said. He calmly sits back down and does a curt nod of approval. We continue to discuss strategies and plan on how we set our trap for this Sigma wolf.

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Later that evening, I prepare for the announcement of the packs next Luna. I couldn't get Christa out of my mind. My mind keeps wandering to her, thinking about how she's doing. I’m nervous about the announcement. I’ve asked Pete if he can bring Christa out in a wheelchair but he says she doesn't want to be there for the announcement. I look up at my clock and realize how late it is. I leave my home office and get ready for bed. Once I’m in bed, I close my eyes and try to sleep, but once again, my brain won’t shut off. I toss and turn and think about how Christa’s face distorted when she told me to leave her and how she wasn't good for me. The images replay over and over in my mind. I know she thinks she's doing what’s best for me, and my father thinks Eliza is what’s best for me. If I pick Eliza will the pack be happy with her even if she's not my true mate? Will the pack accept Christa because she is my true mate even though she's human? Will Eliza be what’s best for this pack? I take into consideration what Seth had said, maybe I am blinded, and I am only considering my own needs and not the pack's needs. How will the pack react to the announcement? All I can do is hope my pack will accept what is to come.

**Christa**

I can feel the tension and nerves of everyone today, including myself. Today is the day Eli will be making the announcement. For me, I feel sorrowful. It means I’ll be losing Eli for good. My heart breaks knowing that our time together has come to an end, but I’ll always be grateful for the time we did have together, even if I didn't get to experience everything I would have liked with him. I let out a long sigh. I’ve spent enough time feeling sorry for myself. I get up from my bed on my own and walk over to the window.

After being stuck in a bed unable to move for a long time, I find myself just getting up and walking around my room and walking to my window just to people watch. I imagine what it would be like to be out there open and free with the pack my brothers have been a part of almost all of their lives. I look out, and I can see the stage set up from a distance. I can see a small crowd beginning to gather around. I can’t help but wonder what Eli is doing at this moment. I startle when I hear the door click closed. I turn my head and see Pete walking towards me.

”Sorry. I tried knocking a few times, but you didn't answer, so I just let myself in to see if you were ok?”

”Yeah. Sorry, I’m fine.”

”Yeah? You didn't sound too sure.” I let out a long sigh.

”I’m just second-guessing myself if I did the right thing by letting him go.” I say not looking at him. I continue watching as the crowd begins to get bigger.

”You know what my answer to that is.”

”I know… but how am I supposed to be strong and help keep this pack strong? I don't even know the first thing about being part of a pack, let alone be a Luna. How can I be good for this pack?”

”Listen, ” he says as he takes my hands and leads me back to sit at the side of the bed, ”if the moon Goddess chose you to be Luna of the Opal Moon pack and Eli’s mate, she knew you would be perfect for the job.”

”What if she made a mistake?” Pete takes my chin and brings my face up to meet his.

”The moon Goddess doesn't make mistakes.” He says as he kisses me on the forehead.

”I think… even if he doesn't choose me as his Luna... I should still be there as his friend... and support him.”

”I think that's a really good idea. I’ll walk you down there. I brought you some clothes for today just in case you changed your mind.” Pete says as he smirks at me. I lightly smack him on his shoulder and laugh for the first time in days.

After I change into my fresh clothes, we head down to where the stage is set up. The crowd is getting bigger and bigger. I don't think I’ve seen so many people at one time. It makes me a little anxious, but Pete squeezes my hand to comfort me and to remind me that he’s right there with me. The stage is beautifully decorated. The stage itself is huge; it has white drapes at the back of it so that you can’t see anything from behind. White lights are flowing down like raindrops in front of the white drapes. In the front of the stage, it has the same white drapes coming down the bottom covering it so that you can see through the bottom of the stage. Whoever decorated it did a beautiful job. Seeing it in person, though, makes my heart hurt more. Eli really went all out to make this announcement. It's beginning to turn dusk, which is making the white lights twinkle even more. Finally, a person walks on stage and gets the announcement started.

”Thank you for coming Ladies and gentlemen, tonight. We have a special occasion that only comes every once in a while. Today, we soon get to find out who our pack's new Luna will be, and our Alpha will finally be able to claim his mate. Without further ado, Alpha Eli.”

Everyone begins clapping and cheering as Eli walks up to the stage smiling and waving at everyone. My heart raced at the sight of him. Seeing his handsome face again after not seeing him for days made me want to take back everything said to him and ask for his forgiveness, and I kissed his soft, beautiful lips. As quick as the feeling had arrived at seeing him, it quickly went away. On the opposite side of the stage, I see Eli’s father and Eliza walk onto the stage and stand at the back of him with their hands crossed in the front of them. My heart drops into my stomach and I immediately tense up at the sight of both of them. Eliza has a smirk on her face that screams ’I won’ on her face. This is all just a game to her, and it pisses me off. Eli is not something to be won. He's someone who should be cherished, and loved, and supported. Oh my goodness… what have I done?

**Eli**

As I walk up on the stage, I can see my entire pack standing in front of the stage, excitedly waiting to find out who my mate is and who their future Luna will be. Looking at all of their happy faces, I couldn’t be more proud of the pack I have today. Just looking at all of their happy faces makes my heart swell and my decision all the more clearer. As I walk up to the microphone, I clear my throat.

“Hello everyone, first I’d like to say thank you all for being here today. It brings me such joy to see your smiling faces here, knowing that you support your Alpha and trust that I will always make the best decision for this pack. This brings us here today; I am here to announce who I have chosen as my mate and who will eventually become your future Luna. It has been years since we have had a Luna for this pack to help offer comfort and support and think about the needs of this pack in ways that I can’t possibly do. My mother was a wonderful Luna for this pack, and she did so many things to make this pack better and stronger than ever before. She put others' needs before her own, and she always made time for those who needed her. She even gave her life protecting another pack. It’s time for this pack to be blessed with another Luna who is as giving, loving, and as compassionate as my mother was when she was alive. This pack deserves a Luna who will give her all to our pack.” I say as I look at all the faces in the crowd of people.

As I scan, I look at one particular face that catches my eye. As our eyes meet my heart speeds up and feels as though it will beat out of my chest. I can see her breath hitch as mine stills altogether. She’s standing in the crowd watching me. SHE’S STANDING!!! SHE’S STANDING! SHE CAN WALK!!! SHE DID IT! I smile the biggest smile I can to show her how proud I am of her. I am so happy she’s here right now. Just like I knew she would be. I shake my head and continue my speech.

“That is why this woman I have chosen will be perfect for this pack. I know she will do great and wonderful things for this pack. It is my honor to introduce to you your future Luna…”

Just as I am about to announce the future, Luna, Eliza walks up and takes my hand. I look at her with confusion on my face. My eyebrows are furrowed with a frown. I look out to where Christa was standing, but she is no longer there. I look around frantically. I see her brother walking after her. I call out her name on the microphone and she immediately stops and turns back towards me. Her face has fallen and I can see she’s doing her best to keep it together. I pull my hand out of Eliza’s with a furious look on my face that makes her give pause. She takes a couple of steps back with a confused look on her face. I turn back to the microphone and take a deep breath and exhale.

“The new future Luna of Opal Moon pack is my true mate Christa Adams. Please come and join me on the stage.” I could hear the crowd gasp as the spotlight hit my beautiful mate. She looked around at everyone with confusion on her face. I walked off the stage through the crowd, and they parted ways creating a narrow space leading straight to Christa. I felt like I couldn’t get to her fast enough. As I finally got close enough, I took her hand in mine and brought it to my lips for a kiss.

“Would you do me the honor of joining me on the stage?” Shock on her face she could only nod.

I held her hand and we walked side by side up to the stage. I leaned down to her ears and whispered so only she could hear.

“I see you can walk again?” She looked down to her feet and blushed, which made me chuckle.

“We’ll talk about that later. I’m just so happy you decided to be here tonight!” I said as I gently kissed her lips.

“Ladies and Gentlemen, I introduce to you your future Luna, Christa.” I say as I hold her hand. At first, the crowd was silent, with only whispers and murmurs. After a few moments I heard a clap, then another, then another, until the entire crowd was clapping and cheering for their new Luna. I thought I had felt proud of my pack earlier but at that moment I had never felt so much pride and happiness for my pack. My pack had accepted my mate, their future Luna, and I couldn’t feel more ecstatic.

As I looked over, I could see Eliza and my father scowling at Christa. I had a bad feeling in my gut after seeing their expressions. I looked down at my beautiful mate smiling at me adoringly, and I vowed I would do everything I could to protect her.