The Luna

Chapter 19: Welcome Home

Disclaimer: This chapter is NOT edited yet. Half of it is the result of my 2AM can't-sleep writes. I'm sorry in advance lmao

      Alex was nervous. Not as much as she had been earlier, before the alphas had arrived, but still nervous. The upcoming Ceremony was all she could think about, no matter how hard she tried not to. For the past hour, she'd been catching up with her family --mostly Sebastian. As she'd promised, they'd hung out as soon as the last alpha had left, walking around one of the parks around town. They'd brought his youngest son, Cade, but left his oldest with his wife. They'd watched as he tore around the park with the Silver Claws kids, having fun.

      A lot had changed since they'd last seen each other, but the bond between them stayed the same, as it always had. Even when they'd been thousands of miles apart, they'd always been talking to each other. "So," Sebastian was saying, "what do you make of Austin Hendrix?"

      She was silent for a moment, considering her answer. "He's a good guy. He wants to help me and doesn't want to take things too fast with us, which I appreciate. He's kind and caring. I think I'm gonna like being here with him. What do you think of him?"

      Just as she had, he thought about his answer before speaking. "I never really put much thought into it, you know? Even when we were younger, I never thought about the day you'd find your mate. Of course, we all thought it was gonna be Jason, but that's besides the point. Point is, I never thought it'd be Austin. He's a great guy, and I've known him for a while, but we've never been... friends, if that makes sense. We were friendly with each other, but... yeah. However, I do think you guys will be an amazing alpha and luna pair. If you're anything like you were when you were eleven --and from what I can tell, you are-- he's going to be the stone to your fire. You're good for each other."

      Alex mulled his answer over in her head. "That's good." She said distantly. "How're things at Tropic Fire?"

      "Oh, everything's fine there. The usual, really. Paperwork." He rolled his eyes. "But it's nice. Peaceful."

      After a pause, Alex responded. "You know, we were gonna go live with you. I don't know if Trey told you or not. When we were at Blood Moon, we were planning on going to live with you. Then everything happened, and here we are."

      "I know," he replied. "I was looking forward to it. But even though you're not going to be coming back with us, I'm happy for you. You can start your own little family here, with your brothers and Austin and his family. They're good people, Alex."

      "I know they are. But..." she hesitated, "I'm scared to start a family. I'm scared that they'll realize just how stained our souls are. How stained my soul is. And then... who knows what they'll think of me?"

      Sebastian had stopped walking and was staring at her with those dark eyes, assessing her. Trying to see if she was joking. "You have got to be kidding me, Alex. Can't you see it? Austin is already head-over-heels for you, and that's not going to change anytime soon. Whether you like it or not, you're stuck with him. The Goddess knows he's gonna stick with you no matter what."

      Alex cocked her head, considering what he'd said. It was true, and she knew it. She just couldn't imagine anyone actually liking her in a romantic way. Conversation died after that.

      Jason picked her up from Elysia's house at exactly seven o'clock. Austin wasn't back yet, and Aidan was with Chris, so there was no facade to put on. She never had to put on a fake expression for Jason. Even if she did, he always saw right through it. He flashed her that charming grin of his as he closed the car door behind her, and it warmed her heart to see that it was genuine. There'd been too many fake smiles in the past week.