Beginnings

RORY

Back at the packhouse after the ceremony, everyone is sharing in our newly mated bliss, drinking and dancing the night away.

I’m not even allowed to drink champagne yet, according to human law. But in the werewolf pack, I’m of legal age and enjoying every delicious drop of bubbly.

I grab another refill, and out of the corner of my eye, I spot Mama dancing with General Gerard, the head of the pack guards.

He’s usually a stern, serious man, but even ~he~ seems to be letting loose tonight.

I keep expecting to hear some insults or snide comments from members of the council—especially from Amber.

But nothing of the sort has happened yet.

Actually, Amber seems to have been avoiding me all night, and when I have made eye contact with her on a few occasions, she just offered me a kind smile.

Maybe transitioning into the luna role won’t be so difficult, after all…

As I walk over to the dance floor, I feel an arm loop around my shoulder.

I turn to see Ace’s face smiling down at me.

“Hey there,” I say to him. “Having fun?”

“You ~betcher~ ass,” he says, slurring his words. “Shit. Am I allowed to say ‘ass’ in front of the new luna?”

“You know you can say anything you want in front of me,” I say.

“I’m really happy for you and Everett,” he says. “This pack was in desperate need of an immortal goddess leader like yourself.”

“Why thank you,” I say with a giddy laugh.

“And now that you’re the boss, can you tell Everett to go a little easier on us?” he asks. “I’m personally a fan of a four-day work week.”

“No way,” I say with a cheeky smile. “I’m going to need you to work overtime to teach me everything I need to know about all this luna business.”

Just then, I feel my phone buzzing in my pocket.

“Give me a minute, Ace,” I say to him, and he disappears onto the dance floor as I check my text messages.

Freya

Where the hell did you run off to, Rory?

Freya

We’re all celebrating with pizza at Giraldos

Freya

And Bryan has a fake so we’re drinking beer tooo 🤫

Freya

You should be here!!!!

Reading her words, I feel a pang in my chest. She should be ~here~, celebrating with me.

She’s the best dance partner and we would have an amazing time.

But I can’t feel ~too~ sorry for myself.

Despite all the stress and chaos of this crazy day, everything turned out perfectly in the end.

We won the debate tournament, ~and~ I got mated to the man of my dreams.

Just then, I feel another pair of strong arms wrap around me…

“Hello, my little luna,” Everett’s voice whispers in my ear. “How are you?”

I turn around in his arms and plant a sloppy kiss on his lips.

“So good,” I say. “I’m drunk and happy.”

“Me too,” he chuckles. “I think everyone here is so drunk and so happy that they won’t notice if we go missing for a little while... what do you think?”

He gives me a suggestive wink and I know exactly what he has in mind.

He wants to get our ~mating night~ started a little early.

Instead of an answer, I just grab his hand and we make a run for it toward the hallway, wearing mischievous smiles on our faces.

When we arrive at our bedroom door, Everett picks me up in his arms and carries me over the threshold.

Then he slams the door shut behind us and locks it.

We’re ~definitely~ going to need some privacy.

EVERETT

~Finally.~

~Aurora Matthews is officially my luna.~

She’s safe in my arms and I’m not ready to let her go again anytime soon.

It’s been well over twenty-four hours since I’ve gotten a taste of her.

I’m hungering for my Aurora... and Chaos is too.

We’re not going to waste any time.

I throw her down onto the bed and climb on top of her.

She looks up at me with her huge, almond eyes. “Someone’s excited,” she says.

“You’re never sleeping away from me ever again,” I growl. “It’s too painful.”

“I won’t have to,” she says. “It’s me and you, for the rest of our lives.”

I push her long hair out of her face and start to plant kisses from her cheek down to her neck.

This girl has cast such a powerful spell on me.

The subtlest whiff of her scent or the smallest touch gets me excited.

With my entire body pressed up against hers, I can feel myself growing harder and harder by the second.

I push myself back onto my knees and tug desperately at her little black skirt... my signal for her to take it off.

She makes quick work of it as I pull off my own pants and shirt, too.

“I wish you had gotten to see me in my mating ceremony dress,” she says to me. “I think you would have liked it.”

“The only thing I want to see you in is absolutely nothing,” I tell her.

I throw our clothes into a pile on the floor. Now, there is nothing separating us. It’s just me and Aurora lying naked together, holding each other close.

I continue to kiss my way from her neck to her stomach, and then all the way down to her center.

She starts to squirm as my lips move closer and closer to her sweetest spot.

“It’s okay,” I whisper into her folds. “I got you.”

Aurora is still learning about her own pleasure. And her own power.

Sometimes, I can still smell her fear when I work my way down her body. But I’m about to show her that there is nothing to be afraid of.

I press my tongue against her, warming up her core with my tender kisses as she grips my hair.

“Oh, Everett,” she moans.

At the sound of my name, I melt deeper into the space between her thighs. Nestled in this sacred space, I know for certain that there is nowhere else in the world I would rather be.

I keep working my magic until her body is moving in perfect unison with my tongue.

She continues to pull at my hair and drive her nails deep into the skin on my back.

~Sometimes, I wonder if Aurora does have a little wolf blood in her, after all.~

I look up at her from between her legs, making eye contact with my tongue still pressed firmly inside her.

As our eyes lock, she is sent over the edge, her whole body shaking in ecstasy.

Her eyes roll into the back of her head as she screams my name over and over again.

There is truly no sweeter sound in the world.

I move my way up her body again until we are face-to-face, my member at full mast between her thighs.

“Aurora,” I whisper. “Do you want me?”

“I do,” she says. “Now. And forever.”

With that, I press myself inside of her.

With our bodies connected in this way, I feel the sensation of perfect wholeness.

“I love you, Everett,” she whispers to me.

“I love you too,” I tell her as I continue thrusting inside her—steadily at first, and then faster and faster and—

“Oh Goddess, Aurora,” I moan. “I want to explode inside you—”

Just as I’m saying those words, I hear the sound of a loud, forceful rumble coming from somewhere inside the packhouse.

The terrifying boom makes the entire structure of the building shake, as if there was an earthquake.

~But we don’t get earthquakes around here…~

~This is something else entirely.~

When the noise dies down, it is replaced by an even more terrifying sound:

~Screaming.~

Aurora’s eyes widen in fear.

“What the hell was that?” she asks.

“I have no idea,” I say. “But I need to go find out.”

I roll off of Aurora and dive for the pile of clothes on the floor.

As I pull my pants on, I hear Lucius’s voice in my head, mindlinking me.

~“Alpha, are you safe?”~ he asks me.

~“Yes,”~ I reply.

~“Good,”~ he says. ~“Get down to the dungeons. Now.”~