Chapter 80

Aurora

I haven’t been able to calm down since the reveal of my pups has been made. It frustrates me to think that I cannot protect my babies in the womb, being as weak as I am. Jaxson hasn’t been anything but excited. He paces the hut at my every beck and call, and he hasn’t been able to stop grinning, though the moments where I am weak I do see him flicker with concern. He needs to settle in the middle somewhere, but not today.

Eyeing the gown on the bed, I feel so protruding in pregnancy that the mere thought of being seen in a gown so precious and beautiful makes me nauseous. Jaxson reminds me through the link that today is the special day, and while he slept on the couch in preparation, I can’t help but still feel my wolf perk up by the sounds of our mate in my head.

Whenever you are ready, he says, his footsteps leaving the hut for the small ceremony space outside adorned in flowers.

I eye the dress and finally cave, slipping into he flowy, lace gown and almost feeling pretty enough to step foot outside in something like this. It’s not overdone, and it’s nothing like a gala dress, but it is simple and beautiful and perfect for me. I turn in the mirror, seeing my stomach so large, so early, that the thought of having three pups at once could seem feasible. I have to accept the truth and right now, that means meeting my mate at the altar.

I leave my shoes behind, my feet swollen and puffy and useless. Walking outside, the smell hits me first. I can’t ignore his sweet, honeysuckle smell any longer. My eyes grow wide, my wolf howling in my head, and the truth comes clear all at once.

Jaxson Knight has always been my mate.

I pick up the pace until I meet him on the altar, feeling him reach for me, helping me up onto the wood planks, just his touch electrifying my body in chills. I can’t handle the excitement of my wolf any longer. I dare to kiss him, feeling his lips meet mine somewhere in the middle.

The small pack of Dawn watches us as we watch other. I can’t get past the feeling of pride, seeing my mate and feeling the bond seal once and for all. He grins down at me, his smile wide and cherubic. He has kind, gentle eyes, his hands soft as they hold mine, not in possession, but in peace.

“Aurora Hunter,” Jaxson hums, his voice like silk against my bare skin. “You have brought me new life, bondless love, and utter acceptance. I cannot picture a life without you as my fated mate, nor would I accept anything less as pure and untethered love.”

I feel the tears cover my cheeks now and watch as he strokes them off of my face. His touch is carefully soft, slow and steady, and I can’t help but rest my cheek into his gentle palm.

“You are my world, Jaxson. You are my mate. I love you endlessly.”

He smiles back in reciprocity and we greet each other for another kiss. Roses are thrown onto the stage and cover the ground around us. The shore pulls some of them out to sea and Jaxson and I both watch as they are tugged further and further toward the horizon. We watch as they disappear into the world, together and unharmed, unrelenting against adversaries.

Jaxson holds me upright as we leave the stage and find our way to the dining table on the beach, already covered in plates of food and dozens of delicious delicacies. It makes my stomach ache in hunger at the smells that invade my nostrils but the one that sticks out the most is that of my mate. He is like warm sugar, liquid gold, and it pulls my focus every time.

Our wolves mingle in our link, finally able to connect like they never have before. It makes me feel steady in our mating bond. This was all truly meant to be, even after I fought it for so long. I can finally accept it as the whole truth.

Jaxson grins, picking at his plate of food, nudging me to do the same as we sit at a table around a small bonfire where the smaller members of the pack play instruments as best as they can. I applaud their effort and they blush at their Luna. They remind me so much of myself, so desperate for approval, for affection, and I hope they never fear being insignificant in this world that has despised their bloodline for many generations.

“You are Luna, and I am your fated Alpha,” Jaxson says, nodding with his words as he speaks them. “That sounds pretty perfect to me, sweetheart. Do you agree?”

“It does,” I hum. “We can finally be fated mates, Alpha and Luna, awaiting their pups.”

“I am happy,” he says, kissing my cheek once. “I couldn’t imagine being happier.”

I lean into his hold, his arm slung around my shoulder, and the pack begins leaving their seats to dance around the bonfire it joy and celebration. It makes me laugh to see such a small pack, so content with being insignificant to the world around them and finding such pleasure at their accomplishments of their Alpha and Luna finally fated to one another.

Our bond is stronger now together, as well as the pack’s bond to us as well. Jaxson is the mighty Alpha, strong and brute, and I am their new Luna, delicate and kind. I feel like a single organism in my pack, like the perfect puzzle piece left to our lives here.

My wolf is buzzing still in joy, feeling like once we may have doubted this love, this partnership, and now we relish in it all. Jaxson wolf is the same way, so tired of fighting for our acceptance and finally resting easy that the universe was correct, the moon goddess did not make a mistake, and the commoner and royal did finally get their happiness.

But our happiness has never come peacefully.

Jaxson perks up at the woods nearby, his eyes solid black and his pulse rising. A few of his warriors follow suit in their suspicion, hearing a faint noise of paws hit the ground in the distance, running straight toward our Dawn pack. My heart aches in fear, in terror, and Jaxson stands before me, his warriors shifting and facing the sound head-on.

I can’t handle the idea of an ambush now, after our perfect ceremony. It will break my heart, and my spirit, but I don’t get the chance to consider that fate for long.

In the distance, protruding out of the woods, is a line of soldiers, unshifted, and in uniform of the Royal pack. Jaxson dares to send his fighters forward to attack but seeing the royals stand at attention, not even close to shifting and running a war on this beach, I can’t imagine Jaxson allowing a slaughter without some form of clarity first.

The wolves of Dawn wait, watching, and Jaxson merely does the same, all of us watching intently as a single wolf in uniform approaches the front of the line. He is unfamiliar, holding a white, damp scroll, staring directly at me and my mate.

“We declare Jaxson Knight, first son of King Alpha Kennedy Knight, cleared of all treasons!”