Luna Cherry

18. free woman before a mated one

The half hour passed faster than I would have liked, Levi running in pouring covered in sweat from his run. He doesn't talk to me grabbing the first thing he could off the hangars to throw over himself after a quick shower, "Levi, please."

No words come from him, the keys shaking in his hand when moves about the room grabbing everything that he needs. I shift my focus to tossing on a pair of shoes trying to avoid the heartache his silence brings me.

"Ready?" He calls out from across the room, I nod walking over. He doesn't bother to wrap his hand around me like he normally does but takes the time to hold the door open for me so I can enter the hallway.

Pack members fill the spaces, all giving me a warm smile, "Hey Luna! Smelling great!"

Smelling great?

"Watch it Andrews, she's still adapting." Levi grunts behind me. Andrew's snickers running off before a different female runs up to me.

"You're going to Death Hole tonight right? My name is Tiki, I'm Beta Jackson's wife and mate." She gives me a wide smile the gap in her front teeth showing, "He was the one that called the Alpha earlier."

"Uh, yeah. Levi said we were game. I'm excited. Seen Mary?" I mumble looking around at the gathering people. She snorts looking around with me.

"If you see her let me know. I need her to sign off on something for me, but she is most likely already at the bar pre-gaming before the real party gets there."

"Oh." I didn't have much to say to that, and Tiki didn't seem bothered by it. I catch the eyes of Sanders across the room, his more formal attire replaced with a hoodie and sweats.

"Hey Luna!" He calls out walking over with a beautiful blonde under his arm, "This is my mate, glad to see you and the Alpha getting along enough to go out."

"I'm Yasmine, nice to meet you." She stretches out her hand and I take it. Her hand is warmer than I expected, but she didn't seem to weirded out. Tiki laughs at us focusing on covering her mouth.

"Sorry, it's just so formal!" She huffs moving a piece of hair behind her ear, "Yasmine is amazing. She's a delta with her mate. Both good people. Jackson should be ready to go soon. Are you and Alpha driving yourselves?"

Levi speaks up for me apparently appearing out of nowhere, "I'll take her, I won't be drinking tonight."

Tiki scrunches her brows, "But Alpha!"

"Tiki, come on, you know how new mates are. She's still adjusting."

The brunette growls in return, a nod from her ending that segment of the conversation. I can't get over how normal everyone looks, all the ladies in their bar dresses and men dressed comfortable preparing to deal with drunk women. Levi throws an arm over my shoulder, and I let it stay. I could feel his surprise a small smile coming over me.

"Fine. Fine." Tiki groans turning to Sanders, "Come on, Freddy. You're drinking right?"

He nods, "Oh yeah. Yaz and I have had a long week, we both plan to have a little fun. The kids are driving me up a wall!"

My head tilts, "How so?"

Freddy laughs, "Their mates are being mates. With the Heat coming soon their males are bugging for pups, and both are having trouble deciding if they are ready. They like to call their mother and I when stressed, this week being a particular phone call filled one."