Chapter 73

Married bliss was completely underrated. I didn’t think that I could ever be this happy. I really felt like I was floating around Arthur’s house on a cloud. Or I guess it was my house now too. That was a weird thought.

But I honestly couldn’t see how it could get any better. At least not until Arthur came running into my art studio, a wide grin on his face. I barely had time to stand up to greet him before he pulled me into arms and swung me around.

I giggled, wondering what had put him in such a good mood. When we stopped spinning, he dropped to his knees and put his head against my baby bump, listening to the baby’s heartbeat.

“Guess what, Princess? Everyone’s going to find out about this weekend. Are you ready to kind of meet the pack?” Arthur asked, murmuring the words against my stomach. My eyebrows rose.

“We’re finally announcing the pregnancy?” I asked, stroking Arthur’s hair as he continued to whisper to the baby and give my stomach kisses.

“Not just announcing. We’re going to do the gender reveal too. I figured it’s about time. You’re really showing now. We can’t hide it anymore,” Arthur answered, finally standing back up.

“Do you think the pack will be mad that we had a baby out of wedlock?” I asked, a bit nervous thinking about that archaic law. Maybe that’s something else I would change. If wolves were getting pregnant, they shouldn’t have to be married. It literally didn’t make any sense.

“Even if they are, there’s not much they can do. We’re married. If they want to comment on it, they’ll be risking the wrath of their alpha and luna. I don’t think anybody would willingly do that over something that small,” Arthur said, giving my cheek a quick kiss of reassurance.

“Let me guess, you have everything already planned out and I don’t have to worry about anything except for showing up?” I asked, teasingly. That’s exactly what had happened at our wedding.

As happy as I was in our marriage, it wasn’t exactly what I had dreamed about as a little girl. I thought I would be the one cooking and cleaning and taking care of the babies. But here I barely lifted a finger to do anything. After working my entire life, it felt surreal not to have chores when I got home.

“That’s right, little wolf. Just show up. You’ll have plenty to do at the party anyway. Everyone is going to want to come up to touch your belly. An alpha’s heir is as good as a blessing,” Arthur said, rubbing my belly for emphasis.

I grimaced. That did not sound like fun. I still hadn’t met the entire pack. I barely knew any of them. I definitely did not want a bunch of strangers touching my bump, but it was one of my duties as luna. I would have to find a way to deal with it.

“Don’t worry. If anyone gets too handsy, I’ll cut them off,” Arthur said and I honestly couldn’t tell if he was joking or not. I did not want any bloodshed at a party for a baby. It just didn’t seem right.

“Can I at least choose a theme?” I asked, changing the subject. I wanted some say in the baby announcement and picking the theme seemed like a safe bet. I didn’t think Arthur would have an argument against it.

“Sure. What do you want the theme to be?” Arthur asked, giving me a warm smile of encouragement.

“What about ‘Under the Sea’? It seems fitting since we met on a cruise ship literally on the sea,” I said and was rewarded with one of Arthur’s heart stopping grins.

“Consider it done. I’ll let Dana know,” Arthur said and gave me a quick peck on the lips before turning around and leaving. He practically skipped out the door. His excitement was infectious, but the mention of Dana had my expression souring.

You need to do something about her, Lily said and I agreed, but I had no idea what. She was Arthur’s beta. Even as luna, I couldn’t mess with an already established hierarchy. She had been in the pack far longer than I had and that meant something.

Hopefully she won’t cause anymore trouble now that I’m official, I thought but even to me it sounded like too much to hope for. Dana didn’t seem like the sort of person who would give up. Not when she was already so close to the seat of power.

The day of the baby announcement arrived quickly. When I walked into the venue, I was instantly mesmerized by all the blues, purples and aquas. Life sized jellyfish balloons were floating everywhere along with green streamers that resembled seaweed. It really did look like we were under the sea.

As much as I didn’t like Dana, I had to hand it to her. She did her job really well. Everything that she had planned out for us had always been perfect. And this was no different.

There was a stage at the far end of the room and Arthur led me straight to it. “This is where we’ll be standing for the announcement. We have to wait backstage though. We don’t want anyone in the pack seeing you before then. They won’t be able to keep their mouths shut.”

“Got it. So when do you expect everyone will be here? Will we be waiting for very long?” I asked, mostly because I could already feel my nerves gearing up for their usual meltdown. In other words, I might end up puking up everything I had eaten that day.

Arthur wrapped his arm around my shoulder. It’ll be okay, little wolf. I’m here for you. In more ways than one.

I shivered. I still wasn’t used to hearing him in my mind. It wasn’t unwelcome in any way, but still a little weird. I took some comfort that he would be beside me the entire time. Even if he wasn’t, I would never be truly alone again.

Thirty minutes flew by entirely too fast for my liking. Before long we were walking out onto the stage and into a spotlight. The light was so bright that I couldn’t really see past it. I had no idea how many people were out there.

“Members of the Hurricane Pack, I’m sure you’re wondering why we have brought you here tonight. As you can see from my wife’s belly, we are expecting our heir!” Arthur shouted into the microphone, throwing his fist into the air.

A cacophony of howls and cheers went up. It was so loud that the floor shook beneath our feet. I almost thought it was an earthquake at first.

Arthur held his palm out and the shouting died down. “Not only are we announcing that we are expecting, but we’re also here to tell you the gender. Are you ready?”

The cheers started up again and Arthur gestured to someone to do something. I wasn’t sure what, but then two loud pops echoed throughout the room and pink confetti fell around everyone from the ceiling. It was so thick, I could barely see Arthur through it.

Arthur twirled me around as the confetti continued to fall and a waltz began to play over the speaker. We danced amid the pink rain and to the never-ending howls of excitement from the rest of the pack.