Chapter 15

Luna

-Horatio-

At first, I freeze; the feeling of something- someone, holding me down whilst I was asleep putting me on high alert, in case Karn finally captured us and-

“Morning, sweetheart,” growls a husky voice in my ear, and I let out a sigh of relief. It’s Xabien. I’m in his arms, I’m safe. Turning around, I smile at his sleepy expression, his golden curls all over the place whilst his neck and chest are littered with love bites.

I smirk at the sight, before gently touching my own mating bite. “We’re really mates now,” I sigh contentedly as I bury my face in Xabien’s chest, listening to the comforting thud of his heart. “Mm, we really are,” he says, and I can hear the smile in his voice.

We lie there for a bit, before I realise what the rather unpleasant and sticky feeling is. “I really need to take a shower,” I say with a laugh when my mate blushes, hiding his face behind his hands. “Sorry, I was going to clean up, and then I fell asleep instantly,” he says embarrassedly, but I only laugh, prying his hands away to kiss his lips.

“Do you have time to have a bath with me, or do you have to start working right now this minute?” I ask, snuggling into his hold more. “I’m sure I can make time to have a bath with my mate,” he assures me, kissing my temple.

After a nice and relaxing bath, Xabien finds some clothes of his for me to wear whilst he dumps ours from last night in the laundry basket. “I’m just going downstairs to get us some breakfast, and then I’ll be right back, ok?”

I nod, giving him another kiss as he grins at me, before heading downstairs. Now that I’m not trying to strip Xabien, I have time to actually focus on looking around his room in more detail. The walls are all a dark brown wood, with thick, fluffy curtains over the windows, blankets heaped on every chair, and several rugs on the floor.

Just how cold does he get?!

Smiling fondly, I tug on the black turtleneck knitted sweater of his, which is massively too big on me, but deliciously cosy. My hands are just peeking out the ends of the sleeves, so I have to keep pulling them up as I go around picking up and putting down several of Xabien’s ornaments.

He has many photo frames with what I assume are his family- I still haven’t met them, which is going to be awkward: ‘Hi, so I know I never made the effort to get to know you, but I’m your son’s mate! Surprise!’

He also has a picture with another wolf, who isn’t nearly as big as Xabien, but still gives off an unmistakably alpha vibe. He has light brown hair and brown eyes, and a big smile as Xabien slings an arm over his shoulder. Maybe this is his rumoured best friend?

There’s a few pictures with Myles in, from a range of stages throughout his life; apparently he and Xabien have been close since childhood.

I don’t think I’ve ever taken a picture. Or no, I did once. Just after Harli was born, when we had that house briefly. But I don’t have that picture anymore, dad carried our only copy; treasured it with his life in a little locket around his neck, so he wouldn’t lose it even when shifting.

But, it’s still on his body, out in the woods somewhere.

Taking a few deeps breaths, I inhale the lingering scent of Xabien in the room, calming myself down and slowly pushing those thoughts from my mind. Maybe I should accept Caro’s offer to be my therapist?

—————

-Xabien-

Strolling downstairs happily, I go into the main hall, where breakfast is served. Everyone keeps looking at me strangely- they can’t have known I mated, right? I mean, my mark is hidden under the collar of my shirt, and most of the pack doesn’t even know about Rat and I.

My parents seemingly materialise next to me, grabbing my arm before I can even get a tray. “Son, we should talk about last night,” my dad says in what seems to be intimidating at first, but then I realise he and my mother are trying not to laugh.

Letting them lead me to a table in the corner, I sit down, fidgeting anxiously. “What’s up?” I ask, like I didn’t just mate with someone. My parents share a look, before my mum leans back in her chair, raising an eyebrow at me.

“A noisy one, wasn’t she?”

I stare back at my mother, trying to figure out what she means. “Huh? Who’re we talking about?” I ask, trying to think back to who I was talking to last night, who was being noisy.

My mum only smirks, whilst my dad begins to laugh, slapping his thigh. “Xabien sweetie, you do realise our bathroom is right beneath your bedroom, right? We know all about what you were up to.”

I freeze, not sure if my face has lost all colour, or gone extremely red. “Oh- sorry,” I say awkwardly, not entirely sure what to say to that. My dad only keeps laughing, before abruptly stopping, and staring at me.

“Who is she? She pretty? Her scent is all tangled with yours, but I don’t recognise it,” he muses, and I realise now would be the perfect time to tell them about Rat. I only hope they won’t be angry when they realise I knew who my mate was and didn’t tell them.

“Uh- well, you see-“ I begin, before my mother cuts me off. “I’m surprised though, after that girl a while ago; you know, the one you were sleeping with - after she found her mate, you were so sad that you were alone again. I’m just surprised that you’re letting yourself available for that loneliness again, even if this is only another physical, rather than emotional thing.”

I stare at my mother for a moment, contemplating what to say. “This isn’t only physical, if that’s what you’re asking?” I say, wanting my mother to know that I mated with Rat because I feel very strongly for him, not because I was horny. Well. I was horny but that’s besides the point.

My dad stops laughing, looking me dead in the eyes. “Oh- that’s- I’m glad you found someone you like,” my mother says, although I know she’s getting the wrong end of the stick: my parents would never expect me to mate with someone I didn’t like, but they still believe that our fated partners are the ones best fitting us.

However, their views on that have been changing since getting to know Harriet, - she truly loved Rat and Harli’s father, whilst Karn is evil incarnate. My parents would never look at Harriet and expect her to mate with a monster like that.

“Mum, dad. I think you’re misunderstanding something here. I mean, first off- let me clarify some things first. Yes, I did sleep with someone last night. However, that person was a man, not a woman, and also, he is uh, my mate. As in like, we mated, but also…he’s the one I’m fated to be with.”

My parents stare at me in silence for a moment, before my dad squeals and starts slapping his leg again. He does that a lot; no one is quite sure why. My mother smiles surprisedly, before reaching out to take my hand.

“Congratulations, Xabien. I hope you’ll introduce us soon, I can’t wait to meet the new luna!”

I freeze instantly.

Oh.

Shit.

I completely forgot that because I’m an alpha, my mate is automatically the luna. And Rat isn’t even part of our pack. Yes, he’s staying with us, but he’s recognised by the Hunter Association as a rogue; if he’s even in their databases at all, which honestly? He probably doesn’t have a birth certificate or anything like that.

Which also means, that he can’t legally join our pack.

Or be my luna.

Why didn’t I even think about this before?! 

yo it's me nev :) LOOK AT THIS INCREDIBLE FANART I'M LITERALLY AHHHHH SO HAPPY :') Dark_Horse did an incredible job, my son looks so good <33 the detail is incredible and seeing him in colour is just like so awesome :')