Chapter 109

Chapter 109

***Rowen***

I had to admit that this had been the best Christmas I had had since mom died. I knew if she was here

she would have loved every minute of today. She probably would have gotten down on the floor with us

to play our silly little game as well. Chastity didn’t realize just how much like my mom she was. My

mom would have put the same amount of thought into her gifts as Chastity did.

As we sat around the table eating dinner, I thought back to the first meal I remember sitting at the table,

and eating with Chastity. It seemed so long ago, but in reality it had only been 6 months. Back then she

looked like she had a huge weight on her shoulders, and she was terrified of everything. I was worried.

that she would never come out of her shell. I was prepared to accept her as she was, if she didn’t.

Seeing her now I was in total aw of her.

In such a short time my sweet girl had bloomed, and come into her own. I knew she still struggled with

her self confidence because even though she thought she hid it well, I could still see it. It was getting

better, but I knew she had a ways to go. I would be with her every step of the way though. Watching

her laugh with her brothers, and carry on a full scale conversation with her dad was impressive to me.

To some it may not seem like much, but all of us who lived in this house knew it was a really big deal. I

was pulled out of my thoughts when I felt Chastity’s lips on my cheek, and I smiled.

“What was that for?” I asked her.

“No reason. You just seemed to be off in your own little world. I wanted to bring you back to us.”

Chastity said.

“Ah.”

“You ok?”

“I’m wonderful.”

I leaned forward, and kissed her on the lips quickly causing that blush I love so much.

“Do you want to come watch a movie in my apartment tonight?” I mind linked Chastity. “Sure. We didn’t

really finish Transformers last time.” She responded through mind link.

“True. We can try again.”

“Alright.”

She smiled at me, and went back to eating her meal. Seeing her eating more made me happy too. In

the beginning she barely ate a thing. I was glad to see she had a full appetite. It showed nicely on her

as well. She was already sexy before, but now she was drool worthy, at least to me.

“Will your new schedule be a little less busy, pip-squeak?” Jax asked Chastity.

“No. The classes are going to get harder moving forward. When this next semester ends we’ll be

moving into hands on classes. We need to be ready for that.” Chastity responded.

“Does that mean there will be less visits?” Molly asked with a pout.

“I will be able to come home some weekends, but Lexi, and I won’t get another week long break until

Independence day Unfortunately Some colleges do a week or two in spring, then a few months in the

summer. This program doesn’t allow that as it’s such an intense program.” Chastity explained.

“OH. That’s kind of sad, but we’ll make it work. It’s only for another year, right?”

“Yes. That’s part of why it’s so intense. There is a lot to learn in a short time.”

“So you, and Lexi will be official midwives when you graduate?”

“Yes, and no. We’ll have our degrees, but we need a certain number of practice hours followed by

passing the license exam before we’re full fledged midwives.”

“So you won’t be moving home next winter?” I asked, suddenly really disappointed.

“No. I am, and Lexi will be when Colby finishes school.” Chastity answered.

“So how are you going to get your hours?”

“I’ll be getting my hours working with midwife Wanda. She’ll clock my hours, what I do, and my skills

and abilities. When I reach a certain number of hours, and my skills are on par, she’ll contact the

licensing board, and schedule my exam. I’ll have to go to Dark Moon to take the test. Once I pass it

they mail me my license.”

“I’ll start doing my hours at Dark Moon’s hospital. When Colby, and I move here, I will continue them

with Wanda.” Lexi added.

“I’m still adjusting to the idea of my sister leaving home.” Darren grumbled.

“I know you are Dare, but this is where my mate is, and I want to be with him.” Lexi stated.

“I know.”

“I’ll only be 4 hours away, and since our packs have such a strong relationship, we’ll see each other

plenty.”

“Don’t worry man, I’m not stealing your sister, and I’ll never keep her away from you.” Colby added.

“I know.”

“So did you hear the king has decided to do a mating ball this spring? It will be at the beginning of

April.” Lexi’s mom asked.

“I did hear that. How is Dark Moon planning to handle so many guests?” My dad asked.

“Very carefully. Robert may be reaching out to you to discuss assisting with security over that

weekend.” Lexi’s dad stated.

“We can help with that.” I said.

“Oh good.” Lexi’s mom sighed.

“Where will all of those people stay?” Chastity asked.

“We’re still trying to work all of that out.” Lexi’s dad answered.

“Do they expect a lot of people?”

“They’re not sure yet, but it’s possible. Invites go out the 1st of the year.”

“Who all gets invited?”

“An invitation will be sent to every Alpha for all of their over 18, unmated pack members. The Alpha’s

will send back a list of all the members that will be coming.”

“The last time there was a mating ball it ended up being in the thousands.” My dad said.

“I heard about that.” Lexi’s dad said.

“Have any of you been to one?” Melissa asked.

“Pete, and I went to one, once. It was definitely not for me. I’m glad I found my Jane as I did.”. My dad

answered.

“Same with my Brinna.” Dimitri stated.

“I could only handle one of those. I met Naomi two weeks later.” Uncle Pete added.

“Quite a few of our generation met their mates at one of those things though.” Lexi’s mom said.

“Why did they stop doing them?” Chastity asked.

“Human Social Media had just started taking off, and very large groups of people, gathered for an

unknown reason had the potential of drawing a lot of unwanted attention. To protect our race, the king.

put a stop to them. The last one was almost caught by some humans. We just couldn’t risk it.” Dad

explained.

“Won’t that be a risk this time too?” Molly asked.

“The king was the one who insisted on the creation of the wolf web, and they figured out how to keep

us hidden from social media or any media of any kind. I don’t know how, but he’s done it. We’re a lot

safer now than we were back in those days. The humans will never notice a large gathering because

they’ve figured out how to hide it, well.” Dimitri stated.

“Oh. OK.” Molly said with a shrug.

“I’ve heard those tend to turn into one big orgy though.” Melissa stated.

“They have in the past. I’m not sure how they plan to prevent that this time, and I’m glad I won’t have to

find out.” Uncle Pete said.

“Dad, will you and Joe go since you’re both able to find second chance mates?” Chastity asked

tentatively.

“No. I’m not ready for that.” My dad said.

“With all of the trouble I’ve had, and the fact that I never really faced the loss of your mom, no.” Dimitri

answered.

“Oh. I understand.” Chastity gave a small smile, and a nod.

Some how I knew she hated seeing both of our dads alone, but I also knew she wanted them to be

comfortable before they searched for their second chance mate. I had a small feeling neither ever

would though. Dad had been completely devoted to mom in every way. For Dimitri, losing Brinna as he

had, the fact that he ran from the loss, and all of the crap with Aurora, I didn’t think he trusted his

judgement. I think he felt he had too much to lose by trying again. I respected both of them for their

feelings, and would never question them. I knew Chastity would never push the matter either.

After dinner I followed Chastity into the living room. She sat on the floor in front of the couch, and

leaned back against it. She just stared at the Christmas tree. I sat down beside her, and studied her

profile. At some point Lilac wandered over, and laid down in Chastity’s lap. I knew she had something

her mind, but I also knew if she wanted to talk about it, she would. I sat quietly, and turned to look at

the tree with her.

“I don’t want it to end.” Chastity whispered.

“What?” I asked.

“Christmas.”

“It was a great day.”

“It was the best Christmas! have ever had. For me, Christmas meant making huge meals for everyone I

wasn’t allowed to share in. It meant listening as everyone else opened gifts, and had fun. Until Jax left

for

school he would give me a gift, and so did Luna Jane, but once they were gone those stopped.”

“Chastity, I am so sorry.”

“I didn’t tell you that to make you pity me or even apologize. It’s in the past. That is what makes me

appreciate days like today that much more. I told you so you could understand better just how much

today meant to me. It’s a memory I’ll treasure, and why I don’t want it to end.”

“I can’t say I understand what you are feeling, but I’m glad today was so good for you.”

“Sometimes I look at my life now, then remember what it used to be, and sometimes this all feels like a

dream I’m afraid to wake up from. I always hoped my life would be better than it was, but I never really

expected it to be as good as it is now or as good as I think it will be in the future.”

My heart went out to her. I really couldn’t understand what she was feeling. I was glad that her life now

was better than she expected. I would work hard to make sure her life exceeded her expectations,

always. I reached over, and threaded my fingers through hers. I lifted her hand, and kissed the back of

it. “This isn’t a dream Chastity. This is your life now.” I whispered.

“I know, and I’m truly happy. Please don’t ever think I’m not. Yes I struggle some times, but all in all I’m

very happy. In part I have you to thank for that.” Chastity stated.

“Why me?”

“Everything you have done for me. Everything you do everyday. Your patience when I’m having a hard

time, your care for me, your hard work in doing what you can to make me happy, and your support in

my reaching my dream even though it means being apart. You don’t have to do any of that, but you

do.”

“It has never been about having to, Chastity. It’s always been about wanting to. I WANT to do

everything I can to make you happy. I WANT to support you becoming everything you want to be, and

doing what you want to do with your life. I WANT to do my part in making you feel good about yourself.

I WANT to take care of you.”

“What if I didn’t want to be Luna or I just wanted to lay around all day, and do nothing? What if I didn’t

want to have pups? What if I never healed from my past?”

“We would work together to make things work for us. I’m not going to force you into doing things or

being things you don’t want to do or be.”

“Oh. Well just know that I do not want to lay around all day doing nothing, and I do want to be a mom,

some day.”

“I know you absolutely want to be a midwife. Can I ask if you WANT to be Luna someday?”

“I have thought about it a bit. Part of me does, but part of me worries I’ll be a terrible Luna.”

“I feel the same way about being Alpha. It’s scary being in charge. I don’t think you’ll make a terrible

Luna. I won’t go into why because I know how you feel about that. What I will say is we have time. I

won’t be made Alpha until I’m 25. That gives me about 2 and a half years. If, at that time, you aren’t

ready we’ll figure out a way to give the Luna responsibilities to someone else. You’ll still have the title

because you’re my mate, but that’s all.”

“You would do that?”

“For you, yes. I will do anything to make you happy.”

“….I’m not sure what to say.”

“Nothing. We’ll cross that bridge when we come to it. Right now you focus on being the midwife you

want

to be.”

“Ok. I’m going to let Lexi take midwife Wanda’s spot when she retires.”

“Why is that? Hasn’t that always been what you wanted most?”

“I only wanted it because midwife Wanda was our only midwife. I also think Lexi will have more

freedom to do so. IF I take the role of Luna, I won’t have the time to be head midwife, as well as Luna.”

“It’s not because you’re doubting yourself in any way, right?”

“Right. This isn’t because I don’t think I can do it. It’s all about not over extending myself.”

“I can understand, and respect that.”

“Thank you. Can……can I ask you a question? It’s a bit of a self centered question.”

“Of course you can.”

“How come you haven’t gotten me a mate ring yet? Colby gave Lexi hers today. Molly got hers the day

she, and Jax had their ceremony. Melissa got hers from Ross before their ceremony.”

“Well first, mate rings are a pretty new thing, as in the last 5 or so years. It was a tradition we picked up

from humans recently. Second, I wasn’t sure you wanted one. Third, and this is the big reason. I wasn’t

sure you were ready for one. I don’t want to push you on anything you’re not ready for. I know you want

to be with me as much as I want to be with you, but I wasn’t sure if that would be too much too soon for

you. I’m sorry I let you down by not getting you a mate ring.”

“You didn’t let me down.”

“I didn’t?”

“No. You’re right. I’m not ready for a mate ring yet. I was just curious.”

“Oh. It’s getting late. Did you still want to watch a movie in my place tonight?”

“I want to say yes, but I’m so tired I’m not sure I could stay awake. I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be sorry. You’ve had a very busy couple of days. Grab Lilac, and we’ll go to bed.”

I helped Chastity stand up with Lilac in her arms. Once the Christmas tree was turned off, I lead her up

to Jax’s apartment, and to her bedroom. She changed first, and by the time I was changed she was in

bed, fast asleep. I snuggled close to her, and drifted off remembering every amazing moment of this

day. I looked forward to many more Christmas’s with my sweet girl in the future.