Page 2 of The Careless Alpha

"When will you complete the mating?" someone called out, and I felt my face flame red.

"When she's of age," Alpha Orion said firmly. "Until then, Annalise will move into the Alpha house permanently. Luna Etta will oversee her training as future Luna of the pack."

Luna training. I was going to learn to be a Luna, the mother and heart of the pack. Me, the girl who could barely manage to arrange flowers without dropping them.

"I'll take good care of her," Luna Etta promised, squeezing my shoulder. "She'll learn everything she needs to know."

Marshall's thumb brushed across my knuckles, and I looked up to find him watching me with those intense amber eyes. "Five years," he said. "Then you'll be mine completely."

Five years felt like forever, but also like no time at all. Five years to grow up, to become worthy of someone like Marshall. Five years to learn how to be the Luna our pack deserved.

"Yours," I whispered.

His smile was blinding. "Good girl."

The pack continued celebrating around us, but I barely heard the laughter and conversations. All I could focus on was Marshall's hand holding mine and the certainty that my entire life had just changed. I wasn't just Annalise Sloane anymore, the orphan girl living on the pack's kindness.

I was Marshall Kane's mate. Future Luna of the Cascade Pack.

I was chosen.

Later that evening, after the gathering had ended and the pack members had gone home, I sat in my new room on the third floor of the Alpha house. It was bigger than my old room in the pack housing, with a window that looked out over the forest and a private bathroom I didn't have to share with anyone.

Luna Etta had helped me move my few belongings from the small room I'd occupied since my parents died. It hadn't taken long. Everything I owned fit in two cardboard boxes and a duffel bag. They looked small and sad in the middle of the spacious room, a stark reminder of how little I truly had.

"This will be your home now," Luna Etta had said, smoothing the quilt on my new bed. "You're family, Annalise. You always were, but now it's official."

Family. I tested the word in my mind, rolling it around like a piece of candy. I'd been alone for long enough that the conceptfelt foreign and wonderful at the same time. It was like a word I’d only ever read in books, and now I was being asked to speak it aloud, even though it had only been twelve months since I’d lost my parents.

A soft knock on my door interrupted my thoughts. "Come in."

Marshall stepped into my room, and suddenly the space felt much smaller. He'd changed out of his nice clothes into jeans and a t-shirt, but he still looked impossibly handsome. My mate. I was never going to get used to thinking that.

"How are you settling in?" He leaned against the doorframe, hands shoved in his pockets.

"Good," I said, then felt stupid for such a simple answer. "I mean, it's really nice. The room is beautiful. Thank you."

"You don't have to thank me. This is your home now." He studied my face, and I wondered what he was looking for. "Are you scared?"

The question surprised me. "Should I be?"

"No." His voice was firm, certain. "You never have to be scared here. I'll protect you. Always."

The promise wrapped around me like armor. Marshall would protect me. Of course, he would. He was going to be Alpha, and I was his mate. Nothing bad could happen to me now that I was under his personal protection.

"What happens now?" I asked.

"Now you learn. Mom will teach you everything about being Luna. You'll sit in on pack meetings, learn about our finances, and our alliances with other packs. You'll train with the she-wolves, learn to fight." He paused, his eyes growing serious. "And you'll wait for me."

"Will you wait for me?" The question slipped out before I could stop it.

Marshall's expression softened. "You're my mate, Annalise."

He pushed off from the doorframe and walked over to where I sat on the edge of the bed. When he reached out to touch my face, I held perfectly still, hardly breathing. His hand was so big that his palm covered my entire cheek.

"Sleep well, little mate," he said, pressing a gentle kiss to my forehead. "Tomorrow your life begins."

He left me sitting there with my heart hammering and my cheek tingling where he'd touched me. Through my window, I could see the forest that surrounded our territory, dark and protective under the star-filled sky. Somewhere out there, the pack was settling in for the night, secure in the knowledge that their future Alpha had found his Luna.