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Chapter Twenty-Six

Aline

I was trying to hide my nerves as I listened to Helios talking. A month and a half of work boiled down to tonight.

“For now, it’s my pleasure to introduce you to Aline, our future luna,” he finished, waving a hand toward me.

“What the hell are you doing, Dad?” Xochil whispered under her breath.

I squeezed her hand to pull her attention to me, and I smiled as she turned to look at me.

“It’s okay. I asked him to say that,” I whispered back to her.

“Aline?” she asked, and I flashed back to the conversation I had with Helios six weeks ago.

“Come in,” Helios’ voice called, from where Nat had said he would be, when I knocked.

“I was wondering if I could have a moment of your time?” I asked.

“Of course. Is everything okay? Do I need to call for Xochil?”

“No! It’s you I wanted to speak with. I need your help.”

“Please, sit.” He motioned to the chair in front of his desk. “How can I help you, Aline?”

“I need you to help me correct a mistake,” I started nervously.

“I’ll do my best. What’s going on?”

“Before we went to Brazil, I had a conversation with Xochil about what being mates meant, and what she wanted from me. I made it clear to her that I wasn’t willing to move here, and that I wasn’t going to give up my restaurant,” I started, and saw Helios’ eyebrows rise in surprise. “I didn’t understand what I was doing at the time, or maybe I did, but I gave her an ultimatum without actually saying the words.”

“You think she’s going to leave you? For shif—”

“No,” I interrupted him. “I know she won’t leave me. She marked me. I know what that means for you, and she’s made it clear from the start that she’s willing to leave it all behind for me. That’s what I need help with.”

“You have a problem with her leaving everything behind for you?”

“I’ve seen her these last few days. She belongs with her pack. They respect and obey her. I can see how much she cares for them, and it’s clear this pack would do anything for each other. Hell, you all went to another country to help me, and you didn’t even know me. What she has here is a lot more than what I have in Phoenix. Don’t get me wrong. I love my restaurant, but it isn’t my destiny. I understand that now.” I knew I was rambling, but I needed to get this all out. “I’ve made a successful restaurant, and staffed it with chefs and people who helped me make it successful. Which means they should be able to keep it open while I become what I was truly born to be: her mate and this pack’s luna. I would also love some help understanding my powers and my heritage.”

Helios was silent for a moment as he digested my word vomit, then he sighed and sat up a little straighter.

“Forgive me, Aline. I’m following your train of thought, and I can honestly say I’m overjoyed and relieved that you want to be the pack’s luna at my daughter’s side, but I fail to see what you need my help with, outside of helping you understand your powers.”

Right. I forgot to say what I needed from him.

“In the next hour or so, Xochil is going to come in here and tell you that she’s stepping down as future alpha to go live in Phoenix with me.”

“But you jus—”

“I know. Here’s the thing. I haven’t spoken with Xochil about us not moving to Phoenix, and I need time to get my restaurant working without me on a regular basis. I was also kind of hoping for a month or two alone with Xochil so we could get to know each other.”

“You’re going to have to spell it out for me. Maybe it’s the jet lag, but I still don’t see what you need help with.”

“I don’t want to tell her I want us to move here until I’ve settled everything with my restaurant. Can you help me figure out a way to keep her thinking she’s going to step down, without anyone finding out? I hate lying to her, but I don’t have a timeline of when I’ll be ready. I’ve never left my people alone at the restaurant. I also need to hire a few more staff members.”

“You want me to tell her she can step down, but to keep a secret until you’re ready to tell her she doesn’t?”

“Yes. Please,” I answered, hoping he wouldn’t turn me down. I knew it was a ridiculous request, but this is what I felt I needed.

Helios rubbed a hand down his face and looked at the desk between us.

“How do I make her keep it a secret?” he asked.

“I’m not sure. That’s kind of where I got stuck, too. I tried telling her to wait to talk to you, but she didn’t want to lie to you.”

Helios smiled at my words, and I could see a bit of pride in his eyes.

“She’s a good girl,” he said with obvious affection, but then smirked. “At least, now she is. She used to lie to me about how she behaved whenever I went away on a mission,” he chuckled, making me smile. “Alright. I have to think about this, but consider it done.”

“Thank you, sir,” I said, slumping back in the chair with relief.

“Helios will work just fine, Aline. I hope we can get to know each other well over the coming years, and that you come to see Nat and me as a second set of parents someday.”

I swallowed the emotions threatening to overwhelm me and nodded. It had been a long time since I felt like I had a family, and it was another thing I seemed to have gained from meeting the love of my life.

“I asked your father to say that,” I told Xochil, trying to ignore the cheers and the eyes on us. I turned to wave at everyone and smiled widely. “Thank you, everyone. I hope I can do half as good a job Luna Natalia has done for you.”

Helios smiled widely at me and called everyone’s attention back to him.

“Can we go talk somewhere more private?” I asked her as he continued to talk.

She walked me through a door and into the private dining room, which was currently empty.

“What’s going on, Aline? Why did you tell my father to introduce you as the future luna? I thought we decided to focus on us?”

“I decided a while ago that I want to be your luna. I don’t want you to step down. I want you to be alpha. I want us to be who we were destined to be.”

“But your restaurant. I couldn’t live with myself if one day you come to regret this and resent me.”

“I couldn’t live with myself if I made you step down, and you lived to resent me, either. My restaurant is my business. I worked hard to make it successful, but that’s all it is: a business. Becoming alpha is who you are, Xochil. It’s a lot bigger than a business.”

“Bu—”

“I’ve been preparing Cassidy and Rosie to run the restaurant on their own this whole time. I even offered Rosie and Guillermo ten percent ownership of it, so they’re as invested to see it succeed as I am.”

“That restaurant is your baby,” she said, looking torn.

“I want to have real babies,” I told her, making her eyes widen. We talked about eventually adopting or doing in-vitro, but we hadn’t discussed a timeline. “Taking a step back, and becoming the person I was born to be, will allow us to grow our family. I don’t care when we do it or how. We can adopt. We can do in-vitro. Whatever you want, mate. I want it all with you. I’ve already talked to Nat about learning to be a luna, and Helios is going to keep helping me with my powers. Avó is going to come down in a few weeks, and I want her here.”

I took her hand again and brought it to my lips as I watched her eyes water. “I told you. I will always choose you, Wolfie. This is me choosing us.”

“I love you so much. I’m so thankful you’re mine,” she said, before bringing me closer and kissing me hard.

“Alright, o—oops!” Miguel’s voice made us break apart, making me chuckle.

“Don’t laugh at him,” Miguel chided, and pointed to Jacob in his bonfire costume.

“Marcie’s a s’more. She wanted to do a couple’s costume,” he defended.

“Makes sense,” I replied, trying to hide my grin at the blush beginning to bloom on his face.

“Don’t distract us. One of you has been holding out on us. I thought you were stepping down, Xochil?” Miguel asked.

“That’s what I thought, but my amazing mate decided she wanted us to stay,” she informed him, grinning up at me with eyes full of love.

“So, it’s for real? You’re really going to be alpha, again?” Jacob asked.

When I nodded, they both whooped and crushed us in a group hug that almost broke a rib.

“Hurt my mate with your bear hug, and I’ll demote you both,” Xochil warned, prompting them to let go.

“Sorry, I forget you’re still kind of… sort of human, sometimes,” Miguel said sheepishly.

“Don’t hold it against me,” I chuckled.

“Never! I think you and Ogum are pretty awesome,” he assured me with a serious face.

“We think you’re pretty awesome, too,” I chuckled. “Should we go back to the party?”

“Yeah, but first, when were you looking to move back?” Xochil asked.

“I’ve been secretly packing what I want to bring for the last couple of days,” I chuckled. “When we go home tomorrow, we’ll pack your stuff and bring it all back. I talked to Helios. We’re going to keep my house until the lease is up, and then he’s going to look at investing in an apartment near downtown so we, or someone with business in the city, can use it. I’ll still need to go in a couple of times a month to ensure the restaurant doesn’t need anything urgent.”

“How long has Dad known about this?” Xochil asked, cocking her head to the side, and looking a little suspicious.

I bit my lip and debated lying about it, but knew eventually she would find out.

“Since the day we came back from Brazil,” I admitted, making Jacob whistle.

“That lying jerk! That’s why he told me not to tell Damian!” Xochil huffed, looking like she wanted to go looking for him.

“I asked him not to tell you until I was ready to leave the restaurant. I wanted to get everything in order, and I didn’t know how long it would take,” I explained.

“Fine, I won’t yell at my father,” Xochil gave in and then pulled me against her again. “But you’re in so much trouble tonight, mate. I get to thank you and punish you for this,” she informed me in a sultry tone that made me clench my thighs close.

“We’re still here,” Miguel reminded us after clearing his throat.

“Yeah, well, go find your mate. It’s time, Miguel,” Xochil teased him.

Sort of. I think she was also serious.

“I haven’t beat Mom and it’s not even the full moon!” he huffed and left the dining room, but I saw the unmistakable longing on his face before he did.

“He really needs to give that promise a rest,” Jacob mumbled, making Xochil and me nod our heads.

I never realized just how lonely and unfulfilled I actually was until after I found and mated with my soulmate. He deserved to feel as loved and cherished as I did.

We returned to the party, talking to everyone and heading over to Crescent Moon at nine to go through the haunted house, which, while it was definitely targeted toward a younger audience, was still fun to walk through. As we exited, Xochil walked us straight to Cory to visit with the kids. I loved watching her interact with them. It made me wish that dream I kept having about a little boy of our own would already come true.

Very late that night, in the privacy of our room, Xochil showed me exactly what she meant by punishing and thanking me. I was here for all of it. In fact, it made me want to figure out a way to get rewarded and punished at the same time more often.

We were a mess of sweat and limbs, when I felt Ogum pushing forward as I kissed below her ear.

It’s time, was all he said before I felt a power rise within us, flowing from my lips, and into the skin I was kissing.

A deep moan burst from Xochil as she came beautifully for me. I pulled back to see an imprint of my lips shining a deep red on the spot I’d kissed before deepening to a burgundy, almost tattoo-like ink and spreading like tendrils, into patterns of different types of swords, bows and shields across her neck and shoulder.

She opened her eyes and looked up at me with a soft smile on her face.

“What was that?” she asked in a low, satisfied voice.

“I-I think I marked you,” I answered, and she sat up straight.

“What?”

“Ogum said it was time, and we marked you,” I repeated.

“How?” she asked, her hand going to her shoulder. “I didn’t feel you bite me.”

We’re not a wolf. We mark with our magic, Ogum explained.

“We marked you with our magic because we can’t shift. We’re not a wolf,” I repeated to her.

“What does it look like?”

She didn’t wait for me to answer. She was grinning widely and jumped from the bed to run to the bathroom. I followed her and wrapped my arms around her from behind as she examined the tattoo-like mark on her flawless skin.

“Aline, this is beautiful,” she stated with awe in her voice. She turned in my arms and hugged me back, the beautiful emotions flowing through the bond letting me know how much the mark meant to her. “I love you. Thank you for choosing me, my luna.”

“I will always choose you, Wolfie. I choose you today, tomorrow and for the rest of our days. However long that turns out to be,” I promised her.