Truly

Chapter 31

3 MONTHS LATER

~Toni

Max and I had announced the news to our family a couple of days after my birthday. My dad and brother looked like they could have killed my mate there on the spot but everyone else was happy for me. Ruby kept on wanting to speak about it in public but I made sure she didn't. In the first three months, anything could happen so we didn't want to jinx it. Now, we were three months into my pregnancy and we were deciding on the right time to announce the news to the pack.

"KEEP ON RUNNING!" I shouted as I watched the pack warriors as they ran around the field. They were currently doing fitness as I had caught a lot of them laying around in the summer. It was now autumn and I couldn't have them slacking.

"Hello, beautiful." Max whispered in my ear as he snaked his arms around my waist.

"Goodbye, handsome." I smirked as I wriggled away and called the warriors in. "All of you go and get ready for the pack meeting tonight. I want you all here tomorrow, 8 am sharp. Off you go." They all nodded to me. Josh (who had recently become one of the best warriors we had) and Jace stayed behind with me.

"What is this meeting about?" Josh asked.

"I can't say. You will find out soon, you impatient person." That was when I noticed Roxy by the edge of the forest. "I think Roxy is waiting for you." Josh smiled and ran towards his mate.

"Roxy and Josh are going to kill you." Jace smirked.

"What are you on about?"

"I know you and Max are going to announce to the pack. You only told family so your best friends don't know. Pregnant or not, they will kill you." With that, Jace walked off, leaving me thinking if I had done the right thing keeping the news from Roxy and Josh. 

Walking into Max's office, I was shocked. Max was sat behind a pile of paperwork and was hidden from view. He din't even know I had walked in.

"Why didn't you tell me it was getting this bad? When was the last time you did any of this? What even is half of these things?"

"People coming and going from pack to pack. Treaties. Things." He shrugged quickly making the paperwork into many small piles. "There we go, all sorted."

"Of course it is. Come on, we have to go get ready." I grabbed his hand and pulled him away from his work.

Walking into our room, I sat on the bed while he sat in front of me. He sighed as he ran his hands through his hair.

"We are doing the right thing aren't we? Telling the pack?"

"They will only find out when my bump starts showing. Baggy clothes can only hide him for so long." I smiled.

"Him?"

"Mother's instincts." I shrugged. "I have a feeling he will be handsome like his father."

"Well I think she is going to be beautiful like her mother." He laughed before standing up.

He quickly but on some jeans and a shirt - dressing smart-casual. I then put on some jeans and a crop top, putting one of Max's hoodies over the top. I took my hair out of the ponytail I had put it in for the training session with the guys and let it fall down my back in its natural curls. I parted it at the back and let it fall either side of my face and put the hood up.

"Excuse me, why are you, the Luna, going to a meeting like that? Come on, Toni. We agreed, smart-casual for ordinary pack meetings."

"But they're comfy!" I whined.

Max pulled the hoodie off me and handed me a see through top that was white, matching the crop top. I grabbed my Nike jacket from the chair that was in the middle of the room and smiled at Max. He sighed before grabbing my hand, rubbing circles into the back of it with his thumb.

"Are you ready to tell the pack?"

"Yes." I said reluctantly.

"Why do I sense a but?"

"I am ready to tell the pack but I am not ready to tell Roxy and Josh. Roxy and I used to dream of our future families. She will feel betrayed that I didn't tell her and Josh...... I don't know what he will think. He is my best male friend, almost a brother."

"I am sure they will understand." Max kissed the top of my head. I leaned into him, burying my head into his chest.

"I hope they do." I whispered.

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

In the hall that the Royal Pack host the meetings, I could hear the whispered rumours going round. Why are we having this meeting? Is it the rogues? Are the Alpha and Luna fine? I could hear people being curious and worried at the same time. Right at the front of the hall were our families, most probably knowing what the meeting was about. Looking out, I tried to find Josh and Roxy but couldn't see them. That was when I looked right to the back and sure enough, Josh and Roxy were sat together, acting casual, not paying attention to anyone else. If I hadn't been blessed with Max, that would be me, sat with my best friends at a pack meeting, not wanting to be there. But I knew today, they did. It was the first proper pack meeting since Max and I came to power and everyone was anxious to hear our news. Hear us reveal why the meeting had been held.

Max was stood next to me, looking serious. I knew what was going through his mind because I was thinking the same. What is telling the pack about the pup, tells the rogues? It would always be in the back of our minds after we were told that the rogue leader would be coming for us. That was one of the reasons why we were starting the meeting about the rogues. The guards had finally given up on the rogue wolves who weren't telling us anything and told Max that they wouldn't break. The meeting was being held on Wednesday and by that Saturday, the rogues would be gone. They had served their time, some being helpful, some not. On Saturday, they were being killed. All of them. We had offered the choice of our pack to Daisy because she had helped us a lot. However, much to our surprise, she had refused. Her mate was the rogue leader and apparently he hadn't just hurt our pack. Daisy told us she wanted to never see her mate again and death would give her an exit from this horrid life that she had been given. Also, due to the mate bond, her death would hurt her mate. Daisy had told us she wanted to help us so she told us information we wanted to know and then her death would weaken her mate. I could only help that it would weaken him and not anger him further. Because of everything Daisy did for us, Saturday morning, we were letting her roam around the pack. See the outside, maybe even run around a bit as a wolf. Max was apprehensive about this but agreed to i as long as Daisy was well guarded. It wouldn't be the best final morning someone could have, but it would certainly be the nicest a rogue attacker would get from a pack.

It was then time for us to go into the pack meeting. Max grabbed my hand and sighed.

"Here we go!" 

A/N - Cliffhanger! Oops, sorry. Some of you may hate me but the chapter would be too long if I left the meeting in so I am writing it in the next chapter which should be up later tonight, if not, early tomorrow morning.