His Reluctant Luna

Alice

The kitchen was a whirlwind of activity. Pans were flying in and out of the large ovens, piles of vegetables were being washed, chopped, and diced, and enormous amounts of meat was being prepared ready to be grilled. During one of Katherine's trips around the kitchen, I have had enough. I was supposed to sit and relax, but I was never the one to sit around when there was work to be done. Moreover, after our scorching kiss in front of the pack, everyone's mood seemed to have lightened, and they were all ready to party.

Taking a spare apron off the rack, I joined a girl chopping onions. It was a few minutes before the girl realized I was there. Wide-eyed, she dropped her knife and just stared.

"What?" I asked.

"Madam Luna, you are not supposed to do this work," the girl stammered.

I smiled, "I want to help," and continued chopping.

The girl just continued to stare.

"Come on, get back to work," I said to her. The girl immediately joined back. I asked her name, she said she was Meg, an omega who worked in the kitchen.

I could sense Lucian and immediately turned towards him. He was smiling at me from across the giant kitchen. I smiled back at him.noveldrama

"Alice, you are Alpha's mate," Katherine exclaimed, clearly in shock.

"Well, if that means I'm not supposed to cook I should warn you, not only do I cook, but I also clean up the dishes," I winked at her.

Katherine's eyes practically popped from her head, and the girl next to me shrieked, nearly falling from her seat. Katherine and Rain burst into laughter.

"I'm so glad, you are such fun," Rain gushed.

I looked at her and frowned.

"Rain, you smell funny, somehow different."

She blushed," I am pregnant." She said shyly.

"Oh wow! Congratulations, Rain, this is spectacular news. Does Damon know?" I asked conspiratorially, leaning forward.

She nodded shyly.

"That is good, he must ask Lucian to give him some slack. You need him more." I said, feeling good about everything. It was fun talking and planning for the barbecue with the girls. Much better than being locked up in the room upstairs.

The barbecue was in full swing. Wolves filled the clearing eating, talking, laughing. Children ran wild, weaving between the adults as they played.

I was shocked by how warmly I was received as I moved among different groups. Most of the people wanted to meet me, talk to me, and touch me. Only to recoil in fear with Lucian's stern look.

I could see Lucian smiling proudly at his pack when something small flew out of the crowd and latched onto his leg.

"Uncle Lucian" the little girl cried happily, "your mate is pretty," the little cherub with red curls said glancing at me.

"Who is this," I asked, crouching down next to the girl of around 5 who was now hiding bashfully behind his legs.

"This is my dessert," he growled quietly, picking her up and pretending to take a bite out of the giggling pup.

I laughed, he looked adorable with kids. He would make a wonderful father, the unexpected thought flashed in my mind. Shaking the thought from my mind, I turned my attention back to the pup Lucian was tickling.

"Hello dear, what's your name?" I asked the little girl.

"I am Sherry," she cried happily.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Sherry. I'm Alice," Sherry launched herself into my arms and took a tentative sniff. A tall, lean woman soon arrived holding a toddler a few years younger than Sherry. He had the same shock of red hair as Sherry. The woman had dark hair and green eyes, just like Lucian. I instantly recognized her as Lucian's sister.

She grinned at me, "Hi I am Lenora; Lucian's sister and that munchkin is my daughter." She said with a gesture towards the bundle wrapped in my arms. "Looks like she already likes you."

"She is pretty and smells nice," Sherry said happily, hopping in my arms.

I had met Lenora briefly at the beach party; however, I did not know then that her brother would turn out to be my mate.

"Nice to meet you, Lenora," I smiled politely.

"And this is Matt. Don't you want to say hi to your new aunt?" Lenora coaxed.

Matt turned away from his mother's shoulder, where he had been hiding behind her glossy curls. His large blue eyes widened as he saw me and blinked his long lashes. I gave a small wave. "Hi there."

Matt gave me his baby grin.

"Aww, he is cute," I gushed. They reminded me of my niece and nephew.

"I wasn't expecting you tonight," Lucian said as he grabbed Matt from Lenora.

"I wasn't going to miss this ever; I have been dying to meet your mate. I am so glad you finally found her."

"Yeah and guess what it was all because of you." He grinned.

"Me?" She raised an eyebrow. "How?"

Lucian laughed and narrated the story of us falling into her pool at the party. Overall, it was a good night. I was enjoying myself. I met Daniel, Lenora's mate, and Alpha of the red pack. I walked with Lucian tagging along over to the cooking fires. The Omegas tending the meat were all working hard. I felt bad for them, everyone else was having a good time.

"Don't they deserve a break," I asked Lucian?

"Service to the pack, my love," he told me. "They will enjoy the festivities later, but this is their duty towards the family."

As the sun started to set, the cooks divided up the meat. A gigantic chunk of a hog was presented to Lucian and me. We ate and the rest of the pack dove into the feast. I moved among several groups of people. Thanks to the chilly weather and my polo neck. No one bothered about my unmarked neck. Rain bounced up beside me.

"Will you dance with us tonight?" she asked.

"You people dance during barbecues?" I asked surprised.

"Oh! Yes, it's a lot of fun, but I cannot join, of course, because of the baby." She said blushing.

"Alright, I would love to join if you would teach me your dance steps, though," I replied.

Squealing excitedly, she pulled me with her and called for Savannah, as she was supposed to be the best dancer of the pack.

I had not seen Savannah since our conversation. When she arrived, she gave me

a terse nod? I did not know what to make of it. Once, the rain was out of the earshot, Savannah asked.

"The pack is incredibly happy; they are assured that you are indeed their Luna. Have you cleared up things with the Alpha?"

I bit my lips and glanced at Lucian. He was busy conversing with Daniel, baby Matt was sleeping blissfully in his arms. I could not spoil things now.

"I am on it, Savannah; I will tell him soon."

She sighed, then said.

"Did you convince the Alpha to forgive the family members of the traitors?"

I nodded.

"That was a very noble thing to do. The Alphas of this pack is not known for being forgiving." She smiled.

I had unintentionally acted as their Luna! I took a sip of my beer to quell the burning feeling in my stomach. Instead, it got worse. I needed to get away. Mumbling an apology to Savannah before she would have noticed anything, I started to move towards the house. A few wolves looked at me with an odd look. I knew what was happening.

A flock of children ran past, as I quickly hopped out of their way. A hand reached out and grabbed my arm. Instinct flared through me.

"Madam Luna are you alright........." the young wolf who had grabbed me to save me from falling suddenly turned rigid as he sniffed the surrounding air.

"Crap!" I thought and shrugged my arm away.

"I am fine, thank you." I turned to bump into another male. My scent was attracting them. I was in heat!

"You filthy..." the unknown male wolf was suddenly snatched up by his throat and hanging in the air. Lucian stood before me, choking the dangling wolf with one hand. His eyes snapped with glowing fury; a fuzz of black fur started crawling up his arms.

Glancing around, I found us flanked by several other wolves.

"You dare touch my mate," Lucian growled his voice deeper than usual while shaking the wolf by his throat.

"Lucian don't.....," I shouted grabbing his arm.

"Let him go," I whispered but the wolf in him only tightened his grip.

"It's not his fault. Let him go, please," I repeated more forcefully. This time he

smelled the flash of pheromones that I was releasing and turned towards me stunned.

"Just take me away before things get worse."

He nodded and released that wolf who bowed and scuttled off in fear. Grabbing

my hand, he darted towards the packhouse.