Athena's Human Mate

Chapter 51

Athena reflected on the past two years, so much has changed it was hard to believe at times.  Two years ago she was preparing to go against her father's wishes and participate in the games a second time.  She had no idea who her mate was or what the future would bring.  The future was still cloudy, but with Roman by her side they would make it wonderful.

The pack was experiencing a baby boom too.  Emma found her mate, became the Beta female and little Roman is sixteen months old.  Lauren's baby girl is three months old, Bailey is having a boy and is due any day so they are staying home this year, they had no desire to attend the games anyway.

All the other recent couples were all in different stages of growing their family.  Willow was the first to announce her pregnancy, followed shortly by Destiny.  Their babies were born within weeks of each other, Willow had a girl and Destiny had a boy.  They hoped the children would be mates in the future.  Athena hoped she could start a family with Roman soon, she had no idea when the chemicals preventing it would leave her body.

This year's games would be different than last year, most of the she-wolves who now had families preferred to stay home.  The grandparents were over the moon and even the girls without parents got showered with attention.  Athena only signed up for enough events to secure her a spot in the final, the urge to prove herself diminished significantly this last year.

Running the pack was a lot easier now, even with more members, thanks to Kyle, Emma, Jared and Carol helping out.  The girls took over organizing parties, Emma especially found it enjoyable after planning Athena's wedding.  She gladly arranged for several more since then.

Roman sat in the sauna with several of the young fathers, amazed every day how they turn to him for advice.  He certainly was no expert at relationships, he badly bungled his at the beginning.  He's talked at length to all the new male mates, and he told them all the same thing.

Number one was to never go to bed mad at each other.  Number two was to keep talking, particularly about their feelings.  Being a male it was expected to be possessive and jealous, but they had the same range of emotions as females.  They loved deeply, hurt easily and everything in between.  Embracing those feelings was freeing, expressing them took practice.

Carolyn happily increased her visits to twice a week for a while, counciling the couples together and the males was challenging.  Athena and Roman cut their sessions back to once a month, they didn't really need it but Carolyn loved to see them and witness how in love they were.

The comradery between all the members came as a shock to those from other packs.  They helped each other with simple things like babysitting to building a playground for the children.  Most of the guys were going to the games, they were proud to be part of Starlight and wanted to participate.

At Christmas, the unexpected happened, a lone wolf showed up at the gate, begging to be let in.  His name was George and he was Hanna's mate who rejected her several years before.  He apologized profusely, admitted he made a huge mistake and vowed to make amends.  Roman was proud of her, she eventually forgave George, but he had to work hard to prove he changed.  They eventually moved in together a month ago.

Roman prayed to the Moon Goddess to bless him and Athena with a child.  He didn't mention it to her, there was nothing either of them could do about it now.  He anticipated the day she would be round with their pup.  He never thought he would want to be a father, but he had a hard time waiting.

The pack was welcomed with warm hugs and handshakes when they arrived at Half Crescent Moon for the games.  Roman was doing races and wrestling, the boxing was exciting but Athena forbade him from doing it again.  To keep the peace, he agreed.