Betrayed Luna's Fated Mate

-Celeste-

Lips traveled down my neck, exploring my skin as I slowly left the dream world. I smiled, knowing exactly who was kissing me. It made my whole body ignite with fire. Slowly, I opened my eyes, finding my mate behind me, gazing down at me with so much love in his eyes. I reached for him, pulling him to me and crashing our lips together. I moaned as he slipped his tongue into my mouth, and then his hand began sliding down my naked body. We already mated last night, so I was completely naked, but before his hand reached the place where I wanted it, there was a knock on our bedroom door.

“Alpha, we have an important meeting to get to,” his beta called on the other side.

Zack tried to ignore his beta, kissing me again and sliding his hand lower, touching my bare thigh and pushing my legs further apart.

“Alpha!” he called again, knocking harder.

Zack groaned, and I began laughing.

“We are sleeping awfully late,” I reminded him.

“So? We can’t take some time for ourselves?” he teased me.

We were fated mates, and the love we had for each other was immense. I could feel the way his heart beat only for me, and it made me feel incredible. I would want nothing more than to just lie in bed with him, but duties called.

“You know we can’t stay,” I told him.

“I would rather dive beneath these covers and lick my Luna until she is screaming for me,” he growled deeply in my ear before biting my neck playfully, making me giggle.

“Alpha, either you’re coming outside or I am coming in.”

Zack let out a powerful growl, warning Mike not to enter. I heard laughter on the other side, letting me know there were more than one out there, waiting for their alpha.

“I need to go,” Zack sighed and got out of bed to get dressed.

“What is the meeting about?” I questioned.

“I want to expand,” he told me as he pulled a shirt on.

“Expand?”

“The territory, of course.”

“Isn’t what we have enough?”

My question was met with a frown. Zack gazed at me as if I had said something stupid, and I tightened the sheets around me.

“I just think we have a great place. More territory means more work,” I reminded him.

“We can handle it,” he assured me.

“That’s not what I am worried about. I just think we should be grateful for what we have.”

“Our pack is tiny, Celeste. The smallest there is. It never grew because none of my ancestors were ambitious enough or mated right,” he told me, making me look away. It felt as if he were pointing out the fact that I brought nothing with me as well.

Zack noticed and came closer to me, grasping my chin so I would focus on him.

“I’m not talking about you,” he assured me.

“Are you sure? It’s my older brother who is inheriting, not me,” I said.

“No, I know, but I wouldn’t change you for the world.”

His words made my heart beat faster in my chest, and Zack leaned closer, pressing his lips to mine.

“I will see you later,” he said.

“See you later.”

He left the bedroom, and I heard him playfully scold the others, eliciting their laughter as they went away. I felt a bit worried about this meeting. Zack had always been ambitious, of course, but expanding was a difficult matter, especially if you weren’t conquering it or getting it through a union. It meant a lot of negotiation with other alphas in the area, and alphas were very territorial. They did not give up land without a fight. Why was Zack so interested in this now?

I shook my head, pushing away the thought as I went to get ready in the bathroom. When I was dressed and prepared, I walked outside to go downstairs to eat. Pack members greeted me along the way, smiling at me and bowing their heads, and I nodded back to them in respect. As I reached the dining room, my friends were already waiting for me.

“Luna!” they called, making me roll my eyes. They knew they could call me by my name, but they refused to just tease me.

I went to find my seat, and the others began chatting away.

“So, why are alpha and the others acting so secretive lately?” Mara asked.

“They are having a meeting about expanding.”

“Expanding the territory?” Sara questioned.

“Yes, they seem to be working on a lot lately.”

“That’s wonderful,” Bea exclaimed.

“Wonderful?” I questioned. “It’s so much work.”

“Yes, but how can we be intimidating with so few numbers?” she pointed out.

“I don’t think I want to be intimidating.”

“Of course we do. It’s for our protection. To keep the rogues out.”

I rolled my eyes, Not wanting to have the discussion about being intimidating or not was a wise choice. Luckily, my phone let out a notification sound, and I picked it up, seeing that my brother had texted. He asked if I wanted to come by. I smiled and replied that I would be over. It had been a while since we last talked, and I wanted to hear if he knew more about this expanding project.

After eating, I told my friends goodbye and left to go see my brother. The drive wasn’t far, and he was there in the doorway, waiting for me when I arrived. He wore no shirt, only running shorts, and when I left the car, he sprinted to me, picking me up like I was the little sister again and swinging me around.

“Okay, put me down!” I told him, yet I was laughing.

He finally let me down before he led me inside. Unfortunately, we weren't as alone as I had hoped. As we went to the living room, all my brother’s friends were there—those he was closest to and those who would help him run the pack soon enough as our father was stepping down. Most of them I was close to, except one. I hated my brother’s best friend and best warrior. Brendon had always been an ass to me, even when I was a kid, but I never understood why. Even now, he barely glanced at me, looking away as I entered. I didn’t let it bother me, at least he barely talked to me anymore, and I was thrilled about that.

“So what should we do today?” my brother asked, the others looking expectant as well, as if I had promised to spend my day with all of them.

“I was hoping to talk to you,” I told him.

“About what?” he asked and sat down on one of the couches, the rest looking just as intrigued.

“I see it won’t just be you and me then,” I teased.

“What you need to tell me, you can tell all of them,” he said, gesturing to the rest.

I chuckled a little, but it wasn’t a huge secret, and so I took my place beside my brother.

“Zack is trying to expand the territory.”

“What?” my brother asked, the rest leaning forward as well.

“Have you heard anything about it?”

I hope you will enjoy the story!