Chapter 13

Spencer

It was the day of the wedding and after we took a shower together that took way too long, I went to my parents' house to get ready. Lore was also there to help me get ready. I was getting married in a few hours. It was all insane really if you thought about it. A week ago, I was engaged to another, and Axel was married to a horrid woman. But the truth was out now. And even if it wasn't, I never stopped loving him. I tried. I had tried for years, but I couldn't forget him. The way he made me laugh, the way he made me feel. How his lips felt against my skin. I fell in love with him well before we thought we could have been Mates. And that was something I cherished because sometimes Mates don't get a happy ending, something they don't love each other and grow to resent each other year after year. Axel and I had friendship first, then love and then the bond. And I loved that that's the way it happened for us because we are together for love and not the bond. I couldn't wait to marry him. We've lost five years because of those she-wolf bitches and I wouldn't miss one other day without him. Figuratively speaking because I still need to go back to England for two weeks to settle my affairs, while he remained behind.

Lore finished with my hair and placed her hands on my shoulders. "I'm so happy for you, Spence. For you and Axel. It's nice to see him happy again. And I'm thrilled you're back."

"Me too." I squeezed the hand on my shoulder. I looked at her through the mirror. "Was it really that bad?"

Her face turned grim. "It was. When we met up, he never spoke of her, like she didn't exist. It was nothing like with you. He never shut up about you back in the day. And I figure now isn't going to be much better." She chuckled a little. "Every time we went to the house, and she was there -" Her brows pulled together. "It was like he was zoned out, a statue of sorts. He didn't seem happy or in love. He seemed lost." She kneeled beside me and looked up. "Nobody knows, not even Miles, but he asked about you. At least once a month he took me apart to ask about you. How you were, what you were doing. If I knew if you had plans to return. Every time he spoke of you, life came back to him. At least until he returned to her."

"Is that how he got the picture of my graduation?"

"Guilty." She said a grin on her face. "Now let's get you into your dress."

Lore disappeared from the room to get the dress and I looked down at the ring on my finger, to the pendant on my neck. Lore helped me into the wedding dress and when she slipped back out to get the shoes, I slipped out of my window and disappeared.

Baby, where are you?  Axel's concerned voice filled my head. Lore said you disappeared when she went to get your shoes.

You can't sniff me out? I said with a teasing tone.

I can, but I didn't want to in case you wanted to be left alone or you changed your mind.

I will never change my mind, love. You're stuck with me. I glanced at the stone before me. I'm with your mother.

He didn't answer me, but I knew he was already on his way here. I had loved Axel's mother. She was sweet and funny. She always baked when I or the others came over. She always had a soft spot for me and was like a second mother to me. I missed her so much, that I couldn't fantom how Axel, Andrew or Benji must feel.

A few minutes later, Axel sat down next to me and pulled me into his lap. We gazed out at the scenery behind the headstone. Adaline was laid to rest on the top of the mountain with a view of the pack's home below.

"I wanted to talk to her. It's been so long since I've been here. And now I'm about to marry her brilliant son, I just needed to be here." I said, twirling her old ring around my finger.

"I get it, baby." He tucked a strand of hair behind my ear. "I went here this morning. Told her everything that happened. I think she would be happy that we found each other again."

"I think so too." I leaned my head against his firm chest. I closed my eyes and thought back to her. "I think she was the first to know or think we were Mates." I felt his gaze on me, rather than seeing it as I kept my attention on his white shirt. "It was a few weeks before she passed. We were stargazing in your backyard. Our heads together as we stared up at the star-filled sky. Talking and whispering about whatever nonsense. We fell asleep right there. I woke up as your mum carried me up the stairs to your room. Your dad was in front of us with you in his arms. You slept right through it all. Your mum tucked us both in and kissed our heads. She smiled at me. I can still picture that smile perfectly in my head. As she brushed my hair back, she said, 'You will make my son very happy one day, little Spence. It's been written in the stars the moment you were born.' She kissed my head again and I fell asleep. I was still so young, I couldn't fully grasp what she meant." I looked up to my soon-to-be-husband.

He had tears in his eyes, but he cupped my cheek and smiled. "She loved you like her own. She chased Idris and the others out of the house when it got late, but not you. Never you. Even though you just lived across the street. I wish she was here. It aches so badly that she isn't, but I know she would be thrilled, over the moon that we have each other. That whatever she saw in the stars has become reality."

I kissed him then. Not in passion and need like the past week. But of love, of loss and pain. I kissed him with a promise. A promise that I will be right by his side until the end of our days. We stayed there for a little while longer. Not caring if we were late for the wedding because they couldn't start without us anyway. It was Idris who send u a nudge through the mind-link to come back. Axel had probably informed him where we were. Axel didn't let me go as we made our way to his house, his strong arms holding me up easily. In other circumstances, I would wiggle my way out, but now I just held onto him tight. When we reached the house, he finally lowered me to the ground.

He leaned down and kissed me softly. "I'll see you at the altar, fiancé." He winked before he walked to the garden.

Lore came rushing over with my heels in her hand. I looked down at my bare feet, my dirty feet. I grinned at her. "I don't need them."

"Of course you don't." She rolled her eyes playfully. "Doesn't matter we spend over an hour choosing them." She muttered. She was the one who insisted on trying out dozens of shoes. But I loved walking barefoot, especially in grass or in the woods. Axel wouldn't be surprised to see me come up to him barefoot. "Let's get you married then."

Axel

The entire pack was here. I was standing at the altar with Idris on my left as I waited for my fiancé to walk up to me. When she disappeared my heart nearly stopped until Idris confirmed that Marianne and Eveline were on the other side of the country. King still following them. He shouldn't have been surprised to find her with his mother, they always had a close bond. And I figured she wanted to talk to her before the big day. I never knew that my mum told her that. I had never heard the story. I wondered if my dad knew. We've been so young back then; it didn't surprise me that Spencer didn't think any of it. And probably just thought it was because they were best friends. He wouldn't think any more of it back then either. I knew if my mother was still alive none of this would have happened and Spencer and I would he bonded the moment she turned eighteen. Because then Eveline never would have been in our lives. Icy went through my veins.

Axel? Two worried voices filled my mind. My Beta and my Luna. "What's wrong, love?" Spencer asked.

It's just... since we were talking about my mom earlier. We never knew how she died, or what caused it. She was a healthy young woman. She was only twenty-seven. What if – What if Eveline had something to do with that too?

Silence filled my head. Spencer didn't answer, nor did Idris. Maybe I was seeing things, looking for any excuse or reason behind her death.

Eveline did always stand in the shadow of your mother. She was a friend. Idris said.

A jealous one. Spencer snorted. She never mated and was jealous that she mated so quickly and with the future Alpha, nonetheless.

So, do you think it's possible? That this was going on even longer than we thought? I asked.

My mum used to say she always had a thing for your father and that after all these years she finally got what she wanted. Him. Idris said. It felt like icy water was thrown over me. We will look into it, Axel. We will leave no stone unturned. But I think now, we have more pressing matters at hand.

He was right and when I blinked, clearing my mind, I saw her standing at the door. Her blue eyes were already on me. I didn't really notice her dress before but gods, she looked gorgeous. The dress fitted her body perfectly, showing off every curve of her. I wanted to rip the dress right off her.

Not yet. She purred in my head. She smiled up at me, a knowing look in her eyes. My smile broadened until my cheeks hurt and I devoured her with my eyes. I held out my hand as she stepped up the dais. I intertwined our hands together and whispered.

"You look breathtakingly beautiful."

Her eyes roamed over me. She bit the side of her lip. "And you look so handsome I want to drop to my knees and -"

My father cleared his throat and looked a little uncomfortable. Spencer and I shared a glance before laughing. "Sorry." We said in unison.

"I think we all waited for this moment for over a decade." He said and the crowd howled. I squeezed her hand softly. She tilted her head and beamed up at me. "And seeing my son, our Alpha truly happy again, fills me with so much joy it's ready to burst out." His smile was proud, joyous and filled with love. "Before we join these two lovebirds in their union, have you prepared vows?"

We nodded and Spencer gave me a sign to go first. "You've been my best friend since we were babies, even then we were inseparable. We grew up together, my girl next to the door." I smiled. "I was fifteen when my idiot brain finally noticed how beautiful you were. It wasn't even a year later when I figured out that I loved you. That I loved you like I never loved anyone before. Like I will never love any other like that. But we kept our distance, knowing things could get complicated if we found another Mate. But the night I turned, I knew you were my Mate. I just had to wait until your birthday." My voice started shaking. "Then everything happened and I -" Spencer stepped closer and cupped my cheek. "I thought I lost you forever. I was restless for five years. I felt like something was missing for all that time. Now I know why, because you were always it for me, Spencer. Even if you weren't my Mate, I don't think I could have ever let you go. And from this day on, I will never let you go and there won't be a day where I won't show you how much I love you, there won't be a day that I won't try to make it up to you, the pain I caused you, the time we lost. You are the love of my life, Spencer."

It wasn't time yet, but she kissed me. And I kissed her back, I could never not kiss her back. When she pulled back, she wiped away a few tears from my cheek.

"You don't need to make it up to me, love." She said quietly. "I've loved you since we were little, I've been in love with you since I was sixteen. And I continued to love you when I was gone. There wasn't a day when you didn't cross my mind. There wasn't a night when you didn't fill my dreams. You are the one for me, Ax. It has always been you. I wanted to hate you, but I never could. Because I know you." She placed her hand over my thundering heart. "I know you are kind and generous. You are smart and funny. You are an amazing Alpha. And when you love someone, you love them with your whole heart. You don't give out pieces, you give it all. You can be a stubborn pain in the ass." The pack laughed and my lips tilted upwards. "But I'll take it, I'll take it all. The good, the bad. The history. The future. Because you're stuck with me now, Axel Henning."

I laughed again with the crowd and now I couldn't help myself and kissed her. We pulled back and I saw the men around me wipe their eyes. Idris, Benjamin and my father all subtly tried to wipe away the tears.

"Well -" My father cleared his throat. "Now that all that emotional stuff is over." Another round of chuckles. "I think it's time to make this official." He turned to me. "Axel Henning, do you take Spencer James as your wife, as your future and as the one to keep you in line."

"I fucking do!"

The beaming smile she gave me, made my head a little dizzy. Her eyes were clouded with tears.

"Do you, Spencer James, take this grumpy Alpha Axel Henning as your husband, as your future and as your burden." My father was grinning, and I rolled my eyes. Spencer was laughing.

"I do, with my whole heart."

"Then you can kiss your bride, again." I didn't hear the others laugh as I wrapped my arms around her waist and kissed her with everything I had. I didn't notice I had lifted her from the ground until I broke the kiss. "May I introduce you, Mrs and Mrs Henning."

Spencer and I turned to the crowd. Then I kneeled before her. Her look of confusion was adorable. "To our true Luna," I spoke loudly. Everyone in our pack kneeled and held out their fist in respect with bowed heads as they responded in perfect unison.

"To our true Luna."

She blinked at the crowd, at her parents, at our friends. Then to my father, brother and Beta. They all kneeled before her. It wasn't something I did with Marianne. I never wanted to. But with Spencer, she was real and true and would be the most gracious and kind Luna that has ever been. I knew it and our people knew it too. That's why they all knelt before her without hesitation. I stood back up.

"Ready to celebrate, wife?" I whispered in her ear. She shivered against me.