A Beta Before An Alpha
Chapter 29

Lauren's Point of View When 1 wake up, I'm still in Zac's arms just as we fell asleep last night. I have never slept so sound in my entire life. The clock says 8:04am. Zac's still sleeping, and I take a few minutes to enjoy the feeling of our skin touching. The sparks seem to intensify with our arousal. They seem calmer than they did last night, but it still feels good, and I love it. I love Zac so much, and I can't believe how amazing last night was. Completing the mating bond was powerful, and beautiful. I really do feel closer to him on every level now. I wish we could stay in bed all day together, but I know we can I also hate to wake him after the last few days he’s had, but he probably shouldn't miss breakfast this morning. All the ne Claw Moon members will be looking to hear from him. I look up at his face, looking so peaceful. I see his neck and my marking. 'm filled with pride, and I trace it with my fingertips. Zac lets out a groan and opens his eyes and smiles at me. “Admiring your handy work?” he asks. “Basically.” He lifts his head a little to look at my neck and smiles proudly, which fills my heart to the brim with love, and excitement. love the way he loves me. I see it, and I feel it. It's unlike anything I could ever have imagined. “We have to get out of bed, you have people waiting to hear from you, Alpha,” I remind him. “I just want to stay in bed with you all day,” he groans and then gives me a pout. I lean up on my elbows and kiss his pout lips. “That does sound appealing, but you have duties, Alpha" I remind him. He looks at the time, “We don't even have time for us,” he groans again. After we're showered and dressed we head downstairs. The kitchen has more people than I've ever seen. I can see the difference the extra 53 people make. When we make it to our table, I'm happy to see my Mom, and Julien there too. Red River feels like home now. My old home and my new one all wrapped up perfectly. We sit for a few minutes, before getting served and everyone takes a minute at the table to point out our markings. “Ym surprised you even made it down here this morning after that” Jenny chuckles. “I didn't want to. Alpha duties,” Zac huffs, with a shrug. I can tell he’s really not thrilled to be here, and I can't blame him. After the last few days, and all the new perks of the mate bond, it's basically torture to be here right now. Zac stands, waiting for everyone to quiet down, and listen. I try to stay seated, but he won't let me. He holds me close. When he has everyone's attention, he starts, “I just wanted to take a minute to thank everyone who made the journey to take a stand against the man that made an attempt on our Luna. Thank you for standing with me and fighting beside me. The ceremony to make Lauren Luna is just days away now, and I can't wait for everything to be official. For those of you who didn't travel to Claw Moon, you may not know yet but some of the pack members there were not okay with the actions of their Alpha, and they chose to not only not fight against us but to join our pack. I offered, and they accepted. So if you see new faces, introduce yourself. Let's welcome our new members and make them feel at home. Today at 4:30, I want everyone behind the packhouse. We will have a ceremony, making each of our new arrivals an official pack member. Anyone who was a member of Claw Moon tha was placed in the warriors building last night, see me after lunch and I will get you set up with more permanent accommodations. Thank you, everyone,” he finishes. Zac moves to sit, but I stop him. “I also wanted to take a moment to thank everyone who fought yesterday,” I start. I look zac and he smiles at me. “It's been a humbling experience to be a part of this pack. I have had such a warm welcome from so many of you, and I have to say that the loyalty, the love, and the honour that I have witnessed here is unlike anything I have ever seen befor To those who fought on my behalf, and to those who waited home, while loved ones did; Thank you. I know the sacrifice that was made, and I don't take it lightly. I am grateful, honoured and proud to be a member of this pack. I only hope tha can be the Luna you all deserve. Thank you again I finish, and sit. zac is smiling at me so wide. “What?” I ask. “Nothing. 1just like seeing the Luna side to you." “saying thank you is hardly a “Luna’ side," I counter. “You didn't just say thank you." “It was a long-winded thank you,” I smile and give him a quick kiss. “Luna, are you still going to play soccer with us today?” Sophia asks me. I completely forgot it was even Saturday morning with everything going on. “What do you say Alpha? You ready to get your butt kicked today?” I ask Zac with a cheeky smile. “Definitely!” he smiles. “Sophia, why don't you go and ask the new kids if they want to join us,” Zac says. “Good thinking," I smile, and she nods. He's always so sweet. “same time. 10 am!” Zac says and gives her his fist, and she “fist bumps’ it with hers. They are adorable. She runs off, and see her talking to the new kids from Claw Moon. As soon as we're finished breakfast, Zac, Paul, Malcolm and 1 all head to Zac's office. Zac tasks Paul and Malcolm with getting a crew of a dozen or 50 to clear out the basement of everything stored down there. If we don't need it, get rid of i “All gym equipment needs to go to the old warrior building. I was holding off, in case the snow came early this year and v couldn't train outside, but I'll get the contractors working overtime if that happens. They are almost finished anyway,” he points out. Paul and Malcolm get to work, and then Zac and I are calling furniture stores. All of the apartment buildings are empty, ar we need to furnish a few of them. We'll have people sharing apartments, but getting their own room, so we need to get 1 queen-sized beds, mattresses, bedding and pillows, and end tables to be delivered at 2pm today. We had to get a variety styles based on what was in stock and available in the local furniture stores. “They all have appliances; we just need to furnish the rest of the places ASAP. The furniture stores have their hands full filling this order by this afternoon. We'll go in on Monday, and we'll have to get couches and TVs and everything,” Zac says “It seems so wasteful, considering they won't be living there that long," I point out. Zac nods. “You can always use them as guest suites for when other Alphas visit or you can charge a little more to rent a furnished apartment or even do AirBNB," I say on second thought. “Not a bad idea,” he muses It's nearly 10 am, so we drop what we're doing, and head out back for our soccer game. As we're walking out, I'm surprise to see how many kids are here. There are 20-25 kids, so this is going to be a big soccer game. Zac introduces me to most ¢ the kids, and 1 introduce him to a few new Kids that I know from Claw Moon. I knew most of the kids from Claw moon because Sadie and 1 would organize stuff in the rec centre for the kids over the last few years. No one seemed to want to, and we both loved kids so we'd plan movie nights, craft days, and other fun st. “I want to be captain Sophia says. “You were captain last week,” her older brother cuts in. “Okay, who's captain this week,” Zac asks, cutting off their bickering. Lots of kids pipe up, but Zac high fives a little guy close to him. “Tobias, sounds good man,” he asks again and the kids are all raising their hands saying “ME; Zac looks to me... “On second thought, I think Luna should be one this week,” he cuts in. “she'll just pick you first,” Mack complains. “Well, actually Alpha isn't my top choice today.” I say, and give Zac a cheeky smile. He lets out a deep laugh, and I'm swooning. Hearing him laugh is my favourite thing. “Ladies first,” he says, as he points to me. I look out at the kids and Zac. “I want my girl, Sophial” She's excited as she runs up and gives me a high five. Then Tobias picks Zac next. “Lucy! I say next. Then I let each person last chosen on my team pick the next person so 1 only chose Sophia and Lucy. When the teams are chosen I have mostly girls and a few younger boys. Everyone is on the field at the same time. On the field, our team is getting crushed, but I'm still having fun anyways, and I love seeing Zac be so great with the kids. They really love him. I don't know how common it is for Alpha's to play with the kids like this, but I know I didn’t witness this type of behaviour from Nathan or Nathan's Dad. I remember as a kid, we were afraid to even talk to our Alpha. These kids get to run around and play with theirs. How lucky, and in the words of Malcolm, “What a dreamboat!’ When our game is over, Zac sits on the ground and holds out his hand to me, “babe.” he says, wanting me to come and sit beside him. I sit beside him and the Kids sit too, forming a circle. I sit with Lucy at my right, and Zac to my left, with his hand on my leg, and mine on his. It's like we just need to be touching each other any chance we can. I wasn't expecting tc have circle time with Zac and all these kids, but I'm excited about it. Right away Zac has all the Red River kids introduce themselves and then has the claw moon kids introduce themselves ar tell us about themselves. It must be scary for all these kids to come to a new pack, and Zac is doing a great job of getting them feeling comfortable and at home. It's a great way for the kids to open up a little, and hopefully, quickly make friends with each other too. When they have a went around and talked about themselves or introduced themselves, it goes to basically a group discussion. Some kids start telling Zac about things going on in their lives that they're excited about, or telling their problems or asking him questions, some random and some pack related. Some are even telling jokes they've heard. Everyone is just dying to get some of his attention. Some questions are directed to me too. Watching Zac interact with the kid like this, he in his element. He seems so relaxed, and the kids do too. He's giving them his full attention, laughing at their jokes and stories. I'm swooning... again. Seeing this has me even more excited about the thought that what we did last night, may have created baby. A baby could be starting to grow inside of me. I look down at my stomach wondering what's happening inside of there. I know Zac is going to be such a good father, and I can't wait. “Babe, you okay?” Zac asks, giving my knee a squeeze. “Yeah, great. Why?" “Simi was asking you a question,” he smiles. “Sorry, I was still thinking about Joey's question earlier, 1 lie. Joey asked Zac what his favourite superhero was. Simi is probably around 12 or 13 years old. “What was the question, Simi?” “I was going to ask you what you did at your old pack if you weren't a warrior, but now I'm curious who your favourite superhero is," he says brows furrowed. “Oh well I worked in the daycare at my old pack, and I'll start working in the daycare here too soon. As for my favourite superhero, that's what I was thinking about. It's a toss-up. I love guardians of the galaxy, so probably Rocket or Star-lord.. offer. “They're not superheroes,” one kid cuts in. My mouth drops, “Well Star-lord saved the universe and Rocket helped. What's more heroic than that?” I counter. He chews his lower lip, wanting to argue but drops it. “Plus, Rocket is hilarious... you can't deny that!” I press. “What's yours,” I ask. “Spiderman,” he admits. I nod. Not my favourite, but not my least favourite either. “Oh you know who else 1 love, Wolverine,” I say nodding with a frown. “Yeah, we should have picked him just out of respect” he adds. “Totally, I cried so much in “Logan it ruined me for like 2 days," I admit. He starts to nod, but realizes he’s surrounded by other boys, and straightens his shoulders, “Not me," he adds. “There's no shame in crying, my older brother is a warrior and he cried too," add. 'm not sure if julien would love me telling that story to the kids, but too late. I look to Zac and he’s biting his lips trying not to laugh at me. “What's so funny?” “No, nothing. 1just don't think superhero movies are supposed to be sad,” he adds. “You obviously didn't see it," I press, and he agrees. Which was obvious. We spend a half-hour or so chatting with the kids, and then Zac and I say our goodbyes. There is plenty of work to be dor and even though I am not Luna yet, Zac and I work together all day. I'm not sure if it's because Zac and I both had quite t scare for each other's safety in the last few days, or if it's the newly found mate bond but either way, neither of us want t be away from each other at all today.

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