Page 131 of Freeing My Alpha

I rise from my chair, dropping to my knees beneath Noah. Softly pulling at his hands, I reveal his contorted, agonized frown. It rips through my chest.

But I close my eyes, pressing my lips into his quivering mouth. Noah, I’m choosing to be your Luna. To me, that means I want to be by your side, no matter what life throws at us. I’m right here, and I’m staying.

He sucks in a sharp breath. I open my eyes, holding his wet cheeks in my palms. Noah stares back, his reddened eyes shining a vivid blue.

“But what if I’m right? What if you’re—” He shakes his head, choking through a sob.

Noah rubs his hand over my back as guilt throbs through our bond. His emotions are so powerful that I can feel the reasoning behind them; he wishes he could take this all away, and let us start our family in peace.

I catch his tears with my thumbs. “I know. But if you don’t make it through this, our possible-baby won’t anyway, and neither will I. So no matter what it takes to support you and the other packs, I’ll be right here, protecting you too.”

Noah drops his forehead against mine. “Fuck... Thank you, sweet Omega.”

The air burns between us, ignited by stress and worry. But deep in my heart, my wolf settles us both. Like Noah’s wolf affirmed for us outside the Pack Doctor, she thinks we’ll be okay, and I want to trust her. Especially if Noah is right about this possible-baby.

29

My favorite women surround me outside Noah’s cabin, organizing themselves as we prepare to hop into Amy’s car. Kira wrestles Lexi’s car seat into place, my niece is safely tucked into Amy’s arms, Yasmine and Rainn giggle quietly about something as Lilian raises a skeptical eyebrow, and I pull up my phone’s map, inputting the address Noah gave me for today's outing. In a few minutes, we’ll be off to find my Luna Ceremony dress.

I have no idea what this Lycan ceremonial dress shop is like, but when I asked Noah what would be best to wear, he suggested something on the fancy side. It’s over 90 degrees here, so the best I could do was a thin white button-up tank with lace framing my chest and collar. The shirt tucks well enough into my black pencil skirt, but it won’t fit for long if I really am pregnant; I’m already a bit too bloated for it.

Kira pops up behind me, resting her head on my shoulder. “So what is this human tradition, exactly?”

I smile at her puppyish head tilt. “Usually the human bride’s best friends and family shop together for a wedding dress. You’ve all been so welcoming to me in your traditions, so I thought it’d be fun to find a Luna Ceremony dress together.”

Rainn hops on her toes with rapid little claps. “I love that! I’m so excited!”

Amy puts her chin on my other shoulder, prompting us into a giggle fit.

As we break apart, Amy picks off a stray hair from my cheek, tucking it behind my ear. “I'm curious why we had to look extra nice, though. Did you say Noah gave you an address?”

“Yes. Noah said it was a pack dressmaker living on the territory outskirts, and it’s not too far of a drive, thankfully. But still a couple hours.”

Yasmine straightens her back at this, breaking into a sly grin. “All the more time to talk about Noah behind his back.”

I sputter out a laugh. “Yas! That's not exactly the point—”

Lilian looks over my shoulder at our destination's address on my phone screen, refocusing the group with her stoic stare. We await her reaction in a frozen silence, even little Lexi gaping at Lilian.

The current Luna hums in approval when I show her the shop Noah recommended, but she doesn’t comment further.

We pile into Amy's new minivan with three rows of seating. Yasmine and Kira smush in on either side of me in the third row, making me feel even smaller. Cuddling in like the wolves they are, they look at my phone screen without permission.

Kira grips my arm. “Girl, what the fuck?!”

My eyes bulge. “What?!”

“Language!” Amy plops into the front seat with a scowl.

But Yasmine’s eyes are just as wide as Kira’s. “Holy ship, though! That’s where we’re going?”

Lexi breaks into giggles. “Holy ship!”

“Wait, where am I taking us? What do I need to know?” Amy whips around to face us, waiting to start the car.

Her mate shakes her head, still gaping. “Noah’s sending her to the heckin’ Celestial Couture Shop.”

Amy’s jaw drops, gripping her car’s center console until she can turn around far enough to look me in the eyes.

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