Chapter 16
Chapter 16
Ch 16 Future Luna
When she walked by him at the dining table, Kai pulled Thea onto his lap. She expected a reprimand from their parents, but when she glanced over at them, they were all smiling and sharing knowing looks.
“I want to lick the sweat from your body,” Kai whispered in her ear. All text © NôvelD(r)a'ma.Org.
“You’re making me wet,” she whispered back in his ear.
“Mmm, I can take care of that too,” he whispered. Kai kissed her neck, turned Thea’s head to face him, and trailed kisses up to her mouth. In a good and generous mood, Thea followed his lead, submitting to him in front of everyone at the table. A few gasps sounded, followed by excited chattering.
“My turn,” Conri said, pulling her onto his lap. Thea laughed, wrapped her arms around him, and kissed him. Conri squeezed her ass under the table, and she bit back a moan before Alaric pulled her over and kissed her too.
The dining hall erupted in applause. Alaric broke the kiss and smiled at her. He kissed her again then set her on himself and Conri, each leg draped over one of theirs. The triplets grabbed their peaches off their plates and twisted them in half. They each put a hand somewhere on Thea as they ate with the other one.
Thea blushed when she saw everyone in the room staring at them and cheering. The kids at school and in training may have seen them together, but the older pack members hadn’t yet. She braved a glance over at their parents. To her surprise, they were all beaming with joy and pride. The Alpha stood up and raised a glass. °
“It’s about time, huh?” Everyone banged the table and howled happily. “Let’s bring out the wine. Tonight we celebrate!” |
More cheering. The people who worked the dinner service passed around wine bottles and glasses. Thea looked at the triplets, confused.
“We’ve been telling you we’re mates, and you’re the future Luna. Everyone knows it,” Kai said. He leaned over and kissed her.
When everyone had a glass of wine, including the servers, the Alpha raised his glass into the air.
“To young love and the future of this pack!”
“Hear! Hear!” The whole pack roared in unison then took a drink of the wine. Thea belatedly joined them, sipping from her glass.
“Everyone loves you,” Alaric whispered against her neck.
Pack members came by, congratulated, and wished the four well throughout dinner. Thea was overwhelmed. The older she-wolves pressed their cheeks to Thea’s to show they accepted her as their future Luna.
“I’m so proud of you, dear,” Thea’s mother said as she pressed her cheek to her daughter’s.
Proud that she just kissed three boys in front of her? What? 1
“I’ ve been waiting for this since the day you were born,” Luna Ada said as she rubbed her cheek against Thea’s. “You’ve always been the best thing for my sons. ] can’t wait until you shift, and we can hold the mating ceremony.” She gathered all four of them into a hug, kissed each head, then walked back to her seat, tears in her eyes.
Beta Walter, Thea’s father, took his turn and congratulated them. “I couldn’t ask for better men for my only daughter. Congratulations, Alphas, Luna.”
Thea started at the title. She never expected to hear her father call her Luna.
Alpha Ulric came over. “Congratulations. I’d like t0 see you all in my office first thing tomorrow morning.”
“Yes, sir,” they said.
As soon as it started to die down, the triplets took Thea up to her room.
“What just happened?” Thea said.
“The pack accepted you as their future Luna,” Conri said.
“But we haven’t shifted yet,” she said. Her heart was racing, and she felt like she couldn’t breathe.
“This is a good thing,” Kai said. “This should bea happy night.”
“What if we’re not mates?” Thea whispered.
“Don’t you feel it?” Conri said.
“We can’t know until we shift!” Thea said. She was hyperventilating.
“Hey,” Alaric said. He gathered her in his arms. “ We are mates, beautiful. We are.” She looked up into his eyes, tears pooling in hers. “Thea.” He cupped her cheek with his hand. She leaned into his touch.
“There are stories of couples who think they’re mates, and when they shift, they find out they’re not,” Thea said. “It happens all the time.”
“That’s not going to be us,” Alaric said.
“You can’t know that,” Thea said.
Conri and Kai joined Alaric around Thea.
“Let’s get you into a hot bath,” Kai said.
They led her to the bathroom. Kai turned on the water for the giant hot tub and added calming oils and salts. They undressed and got in the tub.
Kai turned the jets on then swam over to Thea. He placed her between his legs, leaned her against his chest, and reclined.
‘Just relax, darling,” Kai said.
He started massaging her shoulders. Alaric massaged her feet, and Conri worked on her hands and arms.
“There’s nothing to stress about, darling.”
The fear that they weren’t mates was intense, but their touch felt so good. Alaric moved up to her calves, and Kai worked down her back. Conri started caressing her stomach.
Soon, she was relaxed. Maybe she should just enjoy the time she had with the triplets. If they turned out not to be mates, she would at least have these memories, right? If she could will it by wanting it, they’d be mates, but it was entirely out of her control. Somehow they wanted her now. That could be enough.