Crossing Paths With The White Wolf
Chapter 40

Natalia

POV

This is a strange new world I'm replaceing myself in, I think, as I take the pack oath last. I haven't been a part of a pack in centuries and now I'm mated to the Alpha of a warrior pack. The thought of not being alone again was something I hadn't allowed myself to hope Hestia? - Her ears perk up and I know I have her attention - I'm sorry I've been such a b***h.

in such a long time.

We have been together for 700+ years, Nat. It will take more than a couple of months of dealing with our trauma differently to break our bond.

Do you think we can handle this? Being Luna? - I asked nervously.

I can't think of a better way to use our gift than to help those that are protecting our species. We've got this. - She said

Together. I said as I felt Helios slice my palm. I felt the pack link snap in place as he smiled at me. He pulls me forward to his side and addresses everyone.

"We have all been given a second chance. To be part of something greater than ourselves. This is our chance to make sure the injustice that has occurred to you, doesn't become another shifter's fate. I hope each and everyone of you are able to replace their way back home, but for any of you that replace that path blocked, there is a place in my pack for you. It won't be easy, and there is a lot of hard work ahead of us to become a strong united pack, but we have the best example of what it means to be a great pack to motivate us just next door to us. Guardian Moon is lucky to have Crescent Moon as it's first and most cherished ally. I want Guardian Moon Pack to become the pack for anyone seeking a second chance to make things right. Even these pack grounds that Luna Celeste, my sister, has given to us. It is a place looking for a second chance to be something that serves a new purpose, new life. Our doors will be open to anyone looking to not be defined by their past. We have a clean slate and we will work to give anyone who crosses through the door an opportunity to become who they want to be, not who they once were."

I saw Helios' words transform the face of every shifter from reserved optimism to one of hope and fierce determination. I could feel the strength and power of his voice. I was so proud to be mated to this amazing man. His words resonated through my being as well. I was one of those that also needed a new chance to make things right. White wolves were a myth, because I'd hidden from the world instead of facing it. I could have used my gifts to save others so many times over the last 700 years and instead, I'd spent almost 300 of those years hiding and running. It took seeing the vulnerability and persistence to even the scales of a group of great men who thought themselves monsters to see that the real monster was me. A coward.

No more hiding Hestia. It's time we embraced who we are. We are the white wolf. We are mate to the god of sun and war. We are their Luna. - I told her.

About damn time. With you 100% of the way - She said and howled. I also threw my head back and howled when he was done talking and heard as everyone joined in and howled back in acknowledgement to their new Alpha and ally. 'Take your new pack on a run around the perimeter. We will set up the food for the party, Celeste suggested.

'Join us?' I asked her.

'We will join you in the second round. This one is yours and Helios. We are so proud of both of you! I could hear the pride and emotion in her voice and it made me want to cry too.

'You won't think that after I've talked your ear off with questions,' I teased.

'Bring it on sister'

'Let's give them a run with their new pack. Celeste said her pack would join us on the next one.' I told Helios.

'That's a great idea, amor. Helios looked down and gave me a quick kiss.

"Members of the Guardian Moon. Please make your way to the grassy area just behind us. Let us run." There was a lot of excitement over that as everyone made their way over.

At Hestia's urging, I said, "This doesn't get you out of Hestia's time with her mate. She still wants that chance to bond with Ezequiel." I said, and Helios' eyes flashed black before they went back to their beautiful brown. "Count on it," he said as he laced his fingers through mine and led me down the grassy area.

"SHIFT" he shouted, and I looked in awe as our pack began shifting. Tigers, bears, wolves and pumas all together. I nodded at Helios and shifted myself. He ran his fingers through Hestia's fur before doing the same. We ran around the perimeter of our new home and it was as if by the time we made our way back to join the party, we really were one pack. I could feel Hestia's joy at running next to Ezequiel. She took every chance to nip at his tail playfully.

The members of Crescent Moon were waiting for us with our clothes when we returned. We shifted back and dressed and I saw them congratulating all of us, genuinely happy for us. I knew there was still a lot of work to be done, but this really felt like the beginning of a new life.

We ate our meals with everyone and an hour later, Markus and Celeste gave us the tour of the place. I had to hand it to them. They thought of just about everything while not imposing any kind of décor on us. They really gave us a place to make our own. Celeste and Markus left us to explore the top floor as Celeste needed to go feed the pups. We entered the master bedroom and my jaw dropped. There was a gorgeous mahogany poster bed in the middle of the room with an indigo bedsheet set. The duvet had golden suns and white moons embroidered all around it. The significance of the embroidery didn't get lost on me.

"Your sister really doesn't do half-measures, does she?" I asked Helios, who looked at me and chuckled.

"I don't think that's in her vocabulary," he said before he tackled me onto the bed. I landed with a squeak that he very quickly muted by putting his lips on mine. I moaned into his mouth. He shifted slightly so he could dip his hand into the top of my shirt to knead my n****e. I could feel his c**k hardening against my leg as his thumb stroked circles around the areola. He started kissing down my chin and neck. When he got to the spot where he should mark me, I felt a shiver go down my body as I felt his teeth pressing onto it. For an instant, I thought he would break the skin and complete the bond and then I felt his body lift from mine. I sat up and noticed he was on the other side of the room, holding onto the wall for support. His teeth were elongated and he was breathing hard. His eyes kept flashing black.

"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. I almost lost control of Ezequiel." He said as he finally managed to retract his teeth.

"Oh," I said, disappointed. Ezequiel wanted to mark us. Not him. Hestia whimpered in my head.

"Natalia, I'm sorry. I wasn't trying to push you. He just wants his connection to his mate after seeing her earlier," he explained.

"Wait, what do you mean you weren't trying to push me?" I asked as I tried to make sense of his words while Hestia was howling in my head.

"I-I don't want to screw this up. You are giving us a chance and I'm willing to give you however long it takes to be ready to complete the bond. This was just an overwhelming evening and it got really hard to control Ezequiel. It won't happen again. I'm sorry." My eyes widened and Hestia stopped howling at his words. Then I couldn't help it. I started chuckling. I fell back onto the bed, holding onto my stomach and laughing. "Man, we really suck at communicating," I said.

"What do you mean?" he asked. I sat up again and patted the space next to me on the bed. There was an apprehensive and confused look on his face as he approached slowly and sat next to me.

"What I mean is..." I said, taking a deep breath to say what I needed to say. We were both so scared to f**k this up that we kept torturing each other because we thought the other person would reject us. We needed to stop that. If we couldn't talk to each other, how would we ever be in sync to lead the pack? "Hestia and I thought you needed time before you were ready to mark us. After we, well I, kept the bond secret from you, we thought we needed to make you trust us before you would. We are ready, Helios. Hell, we would have marked you that night at the lab if we thought you would have let us."

I watched as shock replaced the confusion and then joy replaced the shock as he absorbed what I said. "You mean, I could have marked you a week ago and we...just..."

"Suck at talking? Yep." I said, smiling at him.

He started chuckling. "So how are we going to fix this?" He asked seductively.

I flipped myself over so that I ended up straddling him. "For one, I think our wolves have been patient enough with our idiotic selves. We should give them the connection they've been denied. Don't you think?" I said, looking at his neck and licking my lips. "Hmm, yes, do you want...I guess you do" He ended with a growl as he grabbed my a*s as I lifted myself and licked his neck. I let my teeth elongate and felt the moan coming up from his chest as I teased the spot before I sank my teeth into his neck. I felt his hands tighten on my a*s as he crushed me into the hardness in his pants. I felt the torrent of his emotions crash into me. His gratitude, happiness and devotion as well as his determination to keep me safe, but above all of that, his and Ezequiel's love for us. I felt the tears stinging my eyes as I realized the depth of his love, feeling like the luckiest wolf in the world. I started kissing his ear, his cheek, his eyes, his nose, desperate to show him that we loved him even if we didn't deserve to be loved to such levels. I would spend the rest of my immortal life showing him. When I got to his lips, he grabbed my face with both of his hands and deepened the kiss.

When he pulled back, he looked into my eyes and wiped a tear from my cheek. He smiled at me with glistening eyes before he kissed me again. He started kissing down my neck and I moved my head to the side to give him more access and I could feel Hestia's love and excitement as she awaited to get her connection to her mate. Helios stopped at the crook of my neck and he sucked on the area, making me moan before I felt his teeth pierce my neck. I let my hands fall to my side as I went into a state of pure happiness as I felt our bond complete. I spent so long feeling incomplete and unworthy. Now I had him and it was the most beautiful and sacred feeling in the world. This was the most precious gift that Selene could have given me. One I had considered a curse for so long. I had my forever and I would fight every day of my eternal life to keep it.

"Natalia?" Helios' worried voice brought me out of my bliss. I lifted my head and saw his concerned features soften to relief. "You went limp. You scared me. I thought I did it wrong," he said.

I smiled and cupped my hand to his cheek. The sparks burst forth at twice their usual intensity. "Does this feel like you did it wrong, my Aztec god?" I asked. He closed his eyes and leaned into my hand, depositing a sweet kiss on the palm.

He stands us up and lays me down on the bed and then his eyes glaze over shortly before I feel a mind link pull.

'Yes?' I growled.

'Don't growl at me. We have a situation. We need our Luna and Alpha downstairs,' Theo says.

'What happened?'

'Two of our more feral shifters are super agitated. One is demanding to see you. The other is just agitated because his behaviour is overwhelming him. Celeste tried to use her Luna aura but it only helped a little. Markus doesn't want to make them submit. He said it could hurt them now that they belong to a pack. He needs to see you, Nat' he said.

'OK. I'll be right down,' I told him and ended the mind link. Helios's eyes were still glazed over. A few seconds later, his eyes cleared and he looked down at me. He puts his forehead to mine and sighs.

"Duties calls?" He asked and I nodded. Hestia had retreated to the back of my head, no doubt talking to her mate.

We went downstairs and I beelined for the clearly upset man at the edge of the tables. He was holding a butter knife, yelling something about being taken. When he noticed me coming towards him, he dropped the knife and rushed at me. I felt Helios tense next to me but I put my hand on his arm, asking him to wait. The man dropped at my feet and hugged my legs.

"Luna, I dreamt you were taken and I couldn't replace you," he cried. I remember reading the document he had filled out for us. He was one of the shifters from the lab, a bear. He had been experimented on for 9 years. He had been a rogue before that, which meant he had been alone for even longer.

"It's OK, Paul. I'm OK. See?" I said as I crouched to meet his eyes. He still looked slightly panicked. I looked up at Helios, "Let's go sit with him for a while. He'll be fine. He just had a nightmare. We'll give the rest a little while longer to enjoy the party before we head back."

I stood up and then froze when he hugged me. I patted his back a little awkwardly and when he pulled back his eyes went wide before he nodded happily and said, "Alpha marked you! You'll be safe now."

I was both touched and petrified as everyone started cheering at his words, my face heating up. Helios thanked everyone, then led us to where Gonzalo, Celeste and Markus were now sitting, all grinning at us. Paul seemed content to know that I was marked and ran off to mingle with the rest. I sighed with relief. The other shifter seemed to also have calmed down.

"Perhaps this was too much too soon?" Celeste said as she shifted guiltily next to her mate.

I shook my head and said, "I think it's a good sign that only two of them are having issues with this much stimulation and what you did for us is just amazing. I've never met another person with your ability to be forgiving and giving. You are one of a kind Celeste." Markus looked so loving and proud at his Luna that I half expected him to start peacocking around her.

We talked for a while before heading back. Helios and I let Hestia and Ezequiel have their fun, and by the time we got back to our room, we basically collapsed from exhaustion. Their happiness radiated through the bond and we went to bed after a much-needed quick shower.