His Reluctant Luna

Olivia -

"Hi!" The tall, blonde and devastatingly handsome guy said to me, as he sat opposite to me.

"He won't hurt you," Alice consoled me.

The green-eyed, handsome man was probably the Alpha, he exuded power, and the way Alice, and he looked at each other. It was obvious they were a couple.

"Ok, the show is over, get back to work everyone!" Their alpha commanded, and almost immediately everyone dispersed. My heart was pounding hard, I couldn't stand the sight of men, but Zaiden wasn't scary. He seemed genuinely nice, just like the others here.

'What the fuck is wrong with me? Why am I so nervous around this man?' I yelled at myself internally.

"Hi" I answered back.

"What is your name?"

"Olivia Volpe," I replied softly.

"Olivia....that's the loveliest name I have ever heard." He replied, still staring at me oddly.

"Really? Statistically, it's the most common name in the US," I blurted out.

Alice snorted.

"Is it? Well, it's the most beautiful and unique name for me." Zaiden smiled. "Do you feel scared or threatened, Olivia? I will ask Zaiden to back off if you don't feel comfortable." The Alpha said to me.

"No, he can stay," I replied, for some strange reason I liked his presence.

"Great! Now that you two are friends, is it fine if I can leave you here with Rain? I have some important work to do, but I can stay if you wish." Alice said to me.

"I will be fine, I am sorry for creating a ruckus," I said sheepishly.

"It's ok, Rain, please don't say anything stupid and Zaiden stop gawking at her like a creep." Alice admonished them.

"Do not touch her unless she permits. If I hear about you overstepping the boundaries, I will forbid you from seeing her," Their Alpha commanded to Zaiden.

"Yes, Sir." Zaiden bowed.

Alice squeezed my hand affectionately and then left with her partner. I turned back towards Zaiden, who was now smiling.

"Great! He is your mate, you know what that means?" Rain said.

"That he likes me?" I said, trying not to blush. I couldn't understand why a man like Zaiden would like a girl like me. He was so handsome. I noticed almost everyone was fit and good-looking Alice and her man were the most striking ones. I was the damaged one here.

"It's much more than that. When Damon had declared me his mate, I thought he was some creep trying to get into my pants. Which he eventually did," Rain giggled. "Because he was so hot! But your mate is not just your physical companion. He is your soulmate, your other half. He would love you, and protect you."

"You should eat more," Zaiden whispered, passing me a muffin, "the food will help you get stronger."

I took the muffin.

"So all of you have mates?" I asked.

"Most of us do, finding our mates is the objective of all wolves. They are a gift from our Goddess Luna."

"How do you know I am your mate?" I asked Zaiden.

"My wolf said so. our wolves choose our mates. Right now, he is super excited and wants to claim you. But we will take it slow....like really slow." Zaiden said.

The mention of his beast filled me with dread. Every so often I woke up at night in a cold sweat. I saw their shapes in the dark. I could barely stand the touch of any

man.

"I will never hurt you and will kill anyone who tries to hurt you. Trust me." He gave

a reassuring smile.

I wanted to trust him.

"Don't worry, you will realize it eventually, we all did. It's hard to resist the mate pull. Even our Luna couldn't resist. No matter how much she tried to run away from our Alpha." Rain stated, giggling. I had realized she giggled a lot.

"Alice didn't like your Alpha? But why? He seems nice, and he is so good- looking." I was surprised.

Even Zaiden looked surprised.

"Oh! Their mating was pretty interesting. It's a pack legend. I'll tell you all about it.

It's storytime children!" Rain replied, rubbing her hands gleefully.

******************

Alice

"Stop worrying Alice, Zaiden will take care of Olivia," Lucian assured me for the Nth time.

We were about to reach Jade moon pack. Now I knew why Lucian wanted me to join him. The Alpha meeting was happening here, so I would be able to meet my brother, Emma, and family. He had sensed that I was overwhelmed by the pack responsibilities. His gesture touched me.

"I know, but Olivia is not ready for a relationship, she is skittish around men. "

"It's not just any man. Zaiden is her mate. She cannot hide away from men her entire life. He will help her come out of her trauma and heal her..........what?" Lucian said when he noticed my smirk.

"I didn't know you thought so highly of him. You do like him." I smiled mischievously.

"This has nothing to do with my like or dislike. That's what mates do. Zaiden is her mate, he will protect her." Lucian said flatly, though a smile played at the corner of his lips.

"Aww come on, you do love him a Lil bit? My darling coconut."

"Coconut?" Lucian looked at me baffled.

"Hard outside, soft inside...this is how you are, my darling mate. You might be

harsh on that kid, but deep inside you do love him." I grinned at him.

"If you keep fluttering your eyelashes, sometimes else might become hard as well." He said mischievously.

I burst into peals of laughter. I loved him when he acted naughtily.

*******

The meeting had been scheduled for five o'clock. That would give me enough time to catch up with Emma and Linda, so we headed over to Rick's house. So far, his sitting room was filled with Emma and Bobby, the betas Jacksons, Linda and Rick, Daniel and Lenora, Lucian and me.

We discussed how Lenora and Linda survived the rogue attacks, Linda was still shaken by that. Not being a natural-born wolf. The rogue attack was still a new thing for her. No one knew how long this was going to last. Questions no one had any answers to because it was all so new.

Emma was cradling her daughter Arya in her arms when I asked about Aunt Flora.

"Oh well! She is back, just not living in the pack. Rick wouldn't allow her vampire boyfriend into the pack. The wolves would get agitated."

"What! Did she get a vampire boyfriend? When did that happen?" I asked.

"Soon after her ghost boyfriend passed onto the afterlife, she started dating some count," Emma replied, rolling her eyes.

"Oh! Is that count from England? He owned the estate next to her. Pretty decent fellow. He is safe. Not like other vampires."

"Yeah, but it's hard to convince the whole pack who hate vampires. So, she is living in the city. You must call her. Must say your aunt has a quirky taste in men." She laughed.

"Yeah, the previous boyfriend was a dead guy, this one is also dead but with a functional body. It's quite an improvement." I joked.

Emma and I giggled. Then I remembered the prophecy, Crimson Shadow didn't have an oracle, but Jade moon did. Samantha had been our oracle for years. Perhaps, she would know something about the prophecy.

An hour later, I was sitting facing the 20 Alphas, while they discussed attack plans and strategies. Most of which flew over my head. When they started a discussion about the leader, Stuart, that caught my attention.

"This Stuart fellow claims to be a scientist, right?"

Lucian nodded.

"Well, then he must be having an advanced degree in biotechnology, or something similar. I reckon a rogue wouldn't go around experimenting. They would just bite humans to turn them." I said.

"You have a point," Rick said.

"It's possible this rogue is not a wolf at all, but a human who knows about us. "I stopped, not sure if I was making sense.

"Keep talking, you are making sense," Lucian reassured me.

"You should check on all the keepers, their contacts. Someone with an advanced degree, like a PhD. There won't be many wolves with such degrees who turned rogue. You might catch this, Stuart." I finished.

There was pin-drop silence in the conference room, and I contemplated if I had said something stupid.

"Your mate is not just beautiful, she is also smart." One elderly Alpha said, finally.

I felt Lucian's hand snake around my waist, possessively.

"Of course! That's why she is my Luna." He said, making me blush.noveldrama

I was glad the meeting was finally over. I rushed to meet Samantha. She lived a

few houses away from Rick's. Samantha was around 50 but thanks to our slow ageing she looked 30. I found her in her garden tending to flowers.

"Hey, Alice! It's good to see you. I had a feeling you would come to see me." Samantha said, wiping her hands.

"Hi Samantha, I am good, hope you are well. I wanted to talk to you about a certain prophecy." I said.

"The obsidian prophecy?" Samantha smiled.

I was dumbfounded, though she was an oracle. What else was I expecting?

"Yes, how do you.....never mind. Can you tell me something about it?" I asked.

"Sure, come in. It caused a lot of trouble in the past."

I followed her.

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