Chapter 414

Olivia

With the twins all bundled up in their cozy little outfits and all set in their stroller, Nathan and I set off for the festival. Levi and Angela, who showed up just as we were leaving the house, greeted us with waves and grins.

“Oh my gosh!” Angela cooed as she saw Elliot and Aurora in their matching snowflake outfits—Elliot in a blue sweater with white snowflakes and Aurora in a white sweater with blue snowflakes. “Look at how cute you two look!”

I couldn’t help but giggle a bit as I pushed the stroller toward them. “You like the outfits?” I asked. “They were a gift from Layla.”

“She’s the sweetest,” Angela said, stooping down to boop Aurora and Elliot on their tiny button noses.

Nathan and I exchanged warm glances. Layla had become a permanent fixture in our odd little family, along with her son and fiancee. In fact, they were supposed to be at the festival today.

I couldn’t wait to see them; it had been a little over a month, and I always enjoyed Layla’s company—as well as getting to see Nathan interact with his biological son.

We arrived at the festival grounds, and the excitement was palpable. Everyone from the pack had gathered, eager to celebrate the return of the festival after so long. Nathan would be doing the ribbon-cutting ceremony to officially open the festivities, and I was there to support him.

As we stood at the entrance of the festival, a crowd had gathered, waiting for Nathan to speak. He stepped up to the microphone and cleared his throat.

“I won’t make you wait for long,” he announced as he looked out over the crowd. “But I must say a huge thank-you to everyone who has made the First Snow Festival possible. It’s been an honor, and a reminder of the community that our pack holds. And now, without further ado…”

Nathan pulled out a large pair of golden scissors from behind the podium. The crowd cheered, and Nathan smiled, his charisma shining through.

With a flourish, Nathan cut the ribbon, and excited people flooded into the festival grounds. The atmosphere was electric, and I couldn’t help but feel a surge of pride for my mate.

“Nathan! Olivia!” a familiar voice called out. Nathan and I looked up to see Layla and her fiance, Cade, walking toward us, their son, Alex, wrapped up in a baby carrier on Cade’s chest.

“Someone’s gotten big,” I said, reaching out to pinch Alex’s chubby cheek when they stopped in front of us, eliciting a breathy giggle from the little boy.

“He eats like a horse,” Cade said with a chuckle. “Now that he’s on baby food, it’s like all he wants to do is eat.”

“I keep saying that means he’ll just grow up to be big and strong,” Layla interjected. “But Cade seems to think that he’ll just get too fat.”

“Ford babies are always fat,” Nathan said with a laugh. “It’ll turn into muscle soon enough.”

Nathan’s words were met with a collective laugh. I never would have expected that Nathan joking about his genes coursing through the veins of his ex-fiancee’s son would have elicited laughter from Cade, but things were different now.

We were all in this together, just as lost and confused as anyone could be in this strange, beautiful family. But we were happy.

As we ventured further into the festival, I couldn’t help but be amazed by the wondrous sights and sounds around us. The festival was everything we had imagined, with colorful stalls, delicious food, and joyful laughter filling the air.

Even though today was supposed to be the first snow, and the snow hadn’t come yet, everyone seemed pleased with the festivities nonetheless.

As we walked through the bustling crowd, a lady passed by me, and she paused to offer a warm smile.

“Luna,” she said, “I just wanted to say that I support you finding a job outside of the home as a mother. It’s refreshing to see the Luna breaking stereotypes and showing that a mother doesn’t have to solely focus her entire life on her children. Keep up the good work… No pun intended.”

I was taken aback by her words, but a warm smile spread across my face. “Thank you,” I replied. “I’m glad to hear that.”

As she walked away, Nathan nudged me with his elbow and shot me a surprised look. “How about that,” he said under his breath. “Maybe this whole tabloid thing isn’t the end of the world, huh?”

I drew in a deep breath. Maybe he was right; maybe there really was no such thing as bad press.

“That reminds me,” I said, “should we visit the bakery stall?”

Nathan nodded, and we split off from the group temporarily to visit James and Petunia, who were busier than ever at their booth. As we approached, I was shocked to see a long line already forming while they rushed to keep up with cookie sales.

“Olivia!” Petunia said, glancing up to see me approaching. “Come here!”

“Looks like you guys have got quite the handful here,” I said, eyeing the long line. “What gives?”

To my surprise, James and Petunia exchanged a knowing look and smiled. “Business has actually boomed since… you know what,” Petunia said. “People are excited to visit the place where the Luna works. We’ve had more customers than ever before. We might actually need to hire an extra cashier at the shop.”

“Actually,” Nathan said, “you might want to hire two. Olivia and I would like to do a photoshoot today. With you, of course. It’ll only take about ten minutes.”

James and Petunia exchanged surprised glances. “Really, Alpha Nathan?” Petunia asked, her eyes widening. “You’d do that?”

Nathan nodded. “We’d like to take some photos and have an official article published in the local newspaper. Your bakery has been a staple in this town for years now, and maybe it’s about time we start recognizing our local businesses, huh?”

For a moment, James and Petunia just stared at us with shock written on their faces. I almost wondered if they were going to refuse and say that they didn’t want to get involved with the press.

But then, to my surprise, they both nodded in unison.

“That sounds fantastic!” Petunia exclaimed.

With everyone on board, we set up a makeshift photoshoot right there at the festival. Nathan and I posed with James and Petunia, and we even got the twins involved. The twins looked adorable in their little winter outfits, and the photos turned out to be incredibly cute.

As we posed for the photos, a small crowd gathered, and people couldn’t help but ooh and ahh at the pictures.

It was at that moment that something clicked inside of me. I realized that my influence as the Luna was significant, and I had the power to use it for good. Maybe I shouldn’t be so put off by publicity; perhaps it was an opportunity to make a positive impact.

Perhaps it was the start of something new. Something that meant something to me. Something that I could take pride in, not just as a mother and a wife…

But as the Luna.