"We should arrive at the airport within 20 mins Alpha", said the beta from the front passenger seat.
"Thank you, Gregory, please introduce yourself to my mate".
Gregory looked at me and bowed his head straight away in respect, and with a slightly hushed tone, he said hello. "Luna, I cannot express my feelings of excitement and awe in meeting you. When Alpha told us yesterday he had found his true mate, we were so happy. And now we get to see you and if I may be permitted."? He glanced at Jonas, who nodded slightly, "I must express to you how beautiful you are, and I just know that you will only strengthen our pack and enhance all our lives".
All this was said in a rush of words that had me blushing and Jonas chuckling lightly. "Thank you," I said shyly. "You can call me Genni if you want to" and I gave him a small smile.
Gregory bowed his head and said, "I must address you as Luna. You are special to us, and I would never disrespect you in any way."
I looked into Jonas’s face, my brow slightly furrowed. "But I’m not the luna of your pack yet". Jonas smiled softly at me, then laid a gentle kiss on my temple and said "Genevieve, my pack has been waiting for me to find a mate for a long time. But when the men that came with me to your territory saw you in your wolf form, and then turned out to be my true mate, my love, they are in awe of you and have already accepted you as luna of our pack".
He was holding me to him now, and I could feel the strength in his body. I leaned into it and tried to calm the nerves starting to surface. I smiled at Gregory and said shyly, "I hope I can make you proud". Gregory looked at Jonas and then myself and said,
"You have already made me proud, Luna. I can see the way your heart is linked to my Alpha's, and that makes me proud already. Thank you, Luna". He said quietly, like a prayer.
I looked into Jonas’s eyes and saw open love shining from them. How could he love me so quickly? How could I love him? I had only known him for 40 hours, but I knew that I loved him nonetheless. It didn't make sense. But we were wolves, and when a true fated mates pair was created by the goddess, you didn't question it. You simply trusted in her. You trusted the mate chosen for you. The thought filled me with such emotion that I couldn’t help the tear that fell from my eye.
"My love", said Jonas, looking slightly alarmed at the tear trickling down my cheek. "My love", he said again, "what is wrong? Why are you crying?" He held my face in his hands as if I was porcelain, and gently wiped the tear from my cheek.
I smiled up at him, "nothing is wrong, I’m so happy at this moment, they are happy tears".
He whispered "You are so adorable" and kissed my lips with a quick peck. That was all it took to start my heart rate to speed up. As he still held my face between his hands, he pulled me closer, until our faces were mere millimetres apart. He stared into my eyes, asking for the permission I would gladly give. Then his lips were on mine. What started as a chaste kiss soon deepened into an earth-shattering one that made my head spin and my toes curl. I was in heaven, I could stay in this car for the rest of my life and never have my fill of this man.
I could hear a soft cough, and again, when Jonas and I finally pulled apart, I realised Gregory was trying to get our attention as we reached the airport. He grinned at us both and informed us that our bags had already been placed onboard. Jonas let out a small growl and frowned at his beta, trying to chastise the man. This only made Gregory grin even wider, and with a laugh, he told us the plane was ready to take off.
I was still holding Jonas’s hand as we got out of the car. I looked around confused, we were already on the tarmac and were standing by a private plane. Frustrated once more, and feeling slightly apprehensive, I looked up at Jonas. "I don’t understand", I said, "is this the plane"? "A private plane"?
Jonas hugged me to him and said the plane was indeed a private plane and his. Normally he would be the pilot, but as I was with him now, he had handed that roll to his 2nd Beta. A large blonde man with a charming face and pleasing presence. "Tobias will fly us today, I don’t want to be away from you for a minute more than I have to". My breath caught in my throat at the words, and I quickly told Jonas that I felt the same. He gently guided me to the steps of the plane, and we climbed onboard. The interior of the plane was very luxurious, it was all white with splashes of grey. The seats were puffy white leather, they were so large you could easily set two please in it. I was ushered to one of the seats. In front of us, there was a large screen that currently displayed a welcome Luna message. I’m sure my chin hit the floor seeing all this. Jonas took the seat next to me and immediately held my hand again. It was wonderful to know that his touch could calm me so easily. The other men that had accompanied Jonas were dotted around the plane strapping themselves in.
Every one of the men had similar smiles on their faces as they looked at me, and one by one they bowed their heads and introduced themselves.
I was sure I would only remember Gregory’s name as the other men started to speak to me. They all spoke in a quiet respectful tone that I was unsure I deserved, but they freely gave it anyway.
Once we were in the air and the seatbelt sign had been turned off, I motioned to the flight attendant and asked for the restroom. Again, with the same respectful smile, I was led to the back of the plane and shown into a bedroom area. After being shown where the en-suite was, the attendant left, and I was suddenly and painfully aware that I was on my own. The enormity of the last 48 hours hit me like a bowling ball to the stomach, and I could feel my legs buckling under me. I made it to the edge of the bed and sat down. I had started to shake and try as I might, I couldn’t stop. I had gone from waiting for my wolf to being heartbroken at not having one, then to coming to terms with being human and then having it all spun on its ass when I bumped into Jonas at the door to my home, and all hell breaks loose as I started to shift and found my mate. And now, with all the men on board treating me as if I were the goddess herself, I reached for my head as a migraine started to take hold. My head was spinning and my heart rate was rising with every breath. Just as I thought I was about to have a panic attack, there was a soft tap tap on the bedroom door. "Come in", I said shakily. And watched as Jonas slipped in through the small door. For such a large and impressive man, he managed to fit through the door with a fluid grace that spoke of the power he possessed.
"Genevieve, are you alright, my love?" He strode over to where I was sitting and knelt down between my knees so that he could look into my eyes. What he saw in my eyes must have troubled him greatly as I watched his own eyes darken with concern. "What is it?" he said again gently. "What has happened". I looked at him and laid my open hand on his cheek. "I'm just a bit overwhelmed I think", I said softly. "Everything that has happened has been so fast I fear my head is spinning out of control. I don’t want to disappoint, any of you. I know the men with us on this plane have accepted me, but what if they are the only ones?" "I don’t want to put anyone's nose out of joint. I'm missing my brother and my father, of course. I didn’t have a lot of friends, but the ones I did have I’m missing too". I looked at Jonas with a silent sort of desperation on my face and finally broke down. Jonas was rocking me gently back and forth, and just held me and listened to me as I poured out all my worries.
When I had quietened a little, I could feel Jonas pick me up and lay me on the bed. I was about to protest when he quickly got on the bed, pulled me to his side, and laid my head on his chest. We were silent for a while, with Jonas gently stroking my back. I could hear the rhythm of his heartbeat, and I found it comforting.
I started to fall asleep, but when I tried to push myself up, Jonas held me tighter and told me to close my eyes.
"Sleep for a bit, my love. We have 4 hours on this plane and I think you could do with some sleep. After all, we didn’t get a lot of sleep last night, plus leaving your friends and family today to start your life with me? "I'm sure you are overwhelmed but know I am here for you. I will always be here for you".
And with him speaking gently to me, I could feel the tension slowly leaving my body as I drifted off to sleep.
When I awoke, I could still feel arms around me, and I could still hear the beating of his heart. When he knew I was awake, he gently kissed the top of my head and asked how I was feeling. I paused a moment, wondering why I was so stressed earlier, as I now felt completely relaxed and protected.
''much better, thank you'' I said quietly. I sat up, releasing Jonas as I had used him as my pillow. I felt his hand on the small of my back, patting me gently. I turned and smiled at him, trying to ease his worry. When he saw the smile he returned it then place a quick kiss on my cheek and bolted for the en-suite. I stayed on the bed for a few moments absolutely mortified that I had stopped my mate from going for a piss. Sapphire was laughing at me in my head, which didn't help, and then Jonas returned to me. Seeing my guilty look and guessing why he burst out laughing too. Great, they were both at it, I thought to myself. so this is what it's going to be like. Two against one. I swear I could feel Sapphire sticking her tongue out at me. My wolf was nuts!