51

~Arian Storm~

Dreamily, I looked outside, where the sun was shining strongly on the flower meadow and this made the freshly blooming flowers shine because it was finally spring again.

Sitting in the middle of this was my beautiful mate, her blond hair sparkling in the sunlight. With her patterned floral dress, she blended in almost completely with her surroundings. If the large blue picnic blanket weren't an eye-catcher, she would probably be completely lost in the blaze of colour.

Her eyes shone with happiness as she looked down at our daughter sitting in front of her, waving her arms around. She also wore a cute dress with a floral pattern to match her mum.

Watching my two favorite girls was my favorite hobby.

My gaze continued to Lou's stomach, over which she put a hand that kept stroking her barely discernible bulge, which she had again after I, out of alpha instincts to pass on my genes, covered her again 4 months ago.

It filled my chest with pride to see her out there. And this time something was different, I just felt that this time it will be a boy, my alpha successor.

Lou also had no problem getting pregnant again. While she was concerned that taking care of two young children would be exhausting, she also wanted our children to be close to one age.

A smile crossed my face. I already loved my family so much more than my life. You were the most important thing to me.

I grabbed the doorknob and went outside. When Lou saw me she beamed even more.

"Hello, my angel.", I greeted her and bent down to give her a short but loving kiss, then I bent down to Thilda and took her on the arm.

She was only six months old and yet she has gone through a lot of development in the last few months. She's grown a lot taller and looks more like her mom every day. Even if her dark blonde hair was just beginning to curl.

"Come on, I'm sure your brother and sister are already here." With that, I held out a hand to the beautiful woman in front of me to help her stand up. Although her stomach was barely visible, she was already having problems it will be funny again when she is heavily pregnant.

"Thanks," she said a bit strained after standing up. She kept her hand in mine and so we walked together through the forest to the village.

Once there, we then headed towards my parents' house, who hosted a big lunch for the whole family today, as Felia is coming to visit us today.

On the way there we met the beta couple, which made me smile. Anna was heavily pregnant and Seb hadn't left her side for weeks because he was afraid that something might happen to her or that he'd miss the birth, which should be just around the corner at any moment. Since he acted out his protective instinct so blatantly, Alex took over the tasks of a beta. So it wasn't a mistake to have made him the Gamma.

When Seb saw me he gave me a short nod and then continued with his mate in the direction of the hospital. There was probably a check-up or something.

My gaze swept further over the area. A little further away I saw the warriors training, among which Elvira stood out with her slightly smaller size, but I knew that she was doing well. The lack of strength against the men she put in speed and technique, which is why she was even superior to many of the other warriors. So there was no mistake in training them.

Finally, my gaze settled on my mate again, who had her head forward and did not take her eyes off her goal, my parents' house.

After knocking and without waiting for an answer, we entered this and went into the living and dining area. The large table that stood between the living area and the kitchen was set and almost everyone in my family sat around it.

My father sat at the head end. The seats next to him were vacant because there were seats for me and Lou on one side, and the seat on the other side belonged to my mom, who was still tinkering around in the kitchen. Also I could see Felia there helping our mom.

"Lou!" Lucian stood up, arms outstretched, and hugged his sister. I let out a small growl, which he ignored.

It still bothers me when other men get close to her, even if it's just her brother.

After he finished cuddling, his gaze fell on her stomach.

"And do you already know what it's going to be?" he asked and touched the bulge briefly. As if our son were already moving in it. And if he does, I'm sure to be the first man who's allowed to put my hands on her stomach.

"No, not-" my mate wanted to say, but I cut her off.

"A boy," I said proudly. I just felt it deep in my genes that I was passing on the alpha line.

"A boy," Lou agreed with a smirk and an eye roll.

Because I said something, Lucian's attention finally fell on me. At least I thought so. My inner alpha was almost offended that the other alpha wasn't paying any attention to me, but I understood that my little princess was just too much of a distraction for him.

"Mathilda, my sweet niece. You're getting bigger and bigger." He came up to me and gently stroked my little daughter's sweet cheeks. Then he finally greeted me with a nod and "Arian". Go then.

"So now finally sat down. The food is ready." My mother made us all sit down in our seats. Mathilda sat on my lap as always. I just couldn't let her go, unless she was hungry herself, then for better or for worse I had to take her Leave it to Mate, because I couldn't give her milk, even though I'd love to lay the world at her feet otherwise.

Hopefully she never grows up and moves away.

The roast venison was distributed and we began to eat.

My gaze went around. Steven sat next to my mom, next to him his mate he found almost two years ago. Next to them sat the twins, also with their mates. Twin sisters from the former Shadowlake pack who found them after I took over.

That got me thinking about Luan. He did his job over there wonderfully and with the utmost concentration. He hasn't found a woman, but thanks to his gamma position he finally has a task in life again that he is enthusiastic about. In the meantime I was even able to convince him to take part in the mate balls, so that he might find his luck at some point.

After everyone had finished eating, Felia and Lucian, who were sitting at the other end of the table, suddenly stood up.

Everyone looked over at them with curious looks.

"We want to bring you some news." Felia started excitedly and looked lovingly at her mate. I heard a grunt from my father next to me and this time I understood it very well.

If I imagine that Mathilda would be in Felia's place-

No, I couldn't! She's just too small. She will always be my little princess.

"Well then." Felia was so excited that she paused to catch her breath. Her mate reassured her by grabbing her hand. "I'm pregnant."

WAS?!

This guy got my sister pregnant?

Bah, is…

No wait, I got his sister pregnant too, twice already. So I couldn't blame him.

Fuck!

A heavy fist hit the table next to me. My father was beyond tense and riddled Lucian with his eyes, which were red with anger. My mom, however, tried to calm him down by his side.

While the rest of my family was congratulating the alpha couple of the Darkforest pack, things were strained to the breaking point with my father.

But a message through the Mindlink loosened it up a bit.

"Anna and my son , Joshua Palms, the Beta successor, have just been born." everyone in the pack heard the Beta's voice as he shared another piece of good news.

Lou suddenly squeaked.

"Yayyyy" She pushed her chair back and stood up. "Come on Arian, we have to go see her!"

Lou grabbed my hand and tried to pull me, but I wouldn't let myself be pulled from the chair.

"Give them a moment first."

She thought about it for a moment, but then she agreed and sat down again. She didn't take her eyes off me though.

"What?" I asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Nothing." Her cheeks flushed. "I'm just so looking forward to meeting our son and how Mathilda will react when she becomes a big sister."

I smiled.

My little princess as a big sister?

It's harder than you think to imagine.

"Me too."

I briefly kissed my daughter's head, who has since fallen asleep again. Then I grabbed Lou's hand and blew a kiss there as well, but didn't take my eyes off their stormy gray ones.

"I love you.", I leaned closer to her. I would have liked to kiss her now, but there were just too many looks at the table for me.

"Me too." She leaned closer to me for a moment and then closed the gap between us to kiss my lips.

It didn't last long and actually wasn't anything compared to the other kisses we usually exchange and yet it meant so much.

It was a promise to spend eternity together. A promise to love each other even after death.

A mate connection meant forever.

-End-