Chapter 34

HUDSON

The moment Boston had said that everyone knew Alexis was marked, I knew my mother was going to go crazy with excitement.

But this.....this was beyond what I had expected from her.

Of course, Boston thought the whole situation was amusing and was even giving his input on my mother's plans.

"What do you think, Boston? Red or pink roses?" My mom asked, holding up both flowers to his face as he tapped his chin in thought.

"Red," he nodded, "They would look more formal with the white decorations."

My mom looked back and forth between the two roses, and I took the moment of silence to get my answers, "Mom, what is this?"

She glanced up momentarily and frowned, "What's wrong, dear? This is for the Luna ceremony."

"Yes, but I was under the impression that we wouldn't have it for a few more days. There's so much planning involved."

She dismissed my words with a wave of her hand, "That's nonsense, Hudson. You should know by now that I've been waiting for this moment for years. I have everything planned out and ready to go."

I opened my mouth to protest but she walked away to yell at some poor wolves who had stopped working.

"You would think this was my damn wedding or something," I muttered, giving Boston a deathly glare when he started laughing. He shrugged and patted my back, "Well, you know what they say. The Luna ceremony is like half a wedding for an Alpha."

I groaned quietly and watched my mother race across the room excitedly, "I just hope that Alexis is okay with my mom taking over the planning."

***

I was hoping to walk home to a nice quiet house where I could just spend some time with Alexis before the ceremony, but of course, it was like the Moon Goddess was against me today. Instead of shock, I felt an overwhelming need to puke and gouge my eyeballs out at the outrageous activity taking place on my living room couch.

Breydon and Lucy.

My poor couch.

I slammed my keys on the table and the sharp sound of the metal clanging snapped them from their make-out session. Lucy blushed and straightened her shirt out as Breydon fixed his hair and gave me a smirk.

My glare intensified, but he didn't flinch once. Lucy cleared her throat and mumbled incoherently before rushing up the stairs like her pants were on fire.

Breydon got up and sauntered over to me, "Nice mark you've got there. It seems like Alexis really dug her teeth in."

I rolled my eyes, "I get it. You're my sister's mate and all but don't do stuff where I can see. Especially not on my couch."

"Hey, at least I didn't mark my mate in the kitchen for the whole world to see."

I growled lowly, but that smug smirk didn't drop from his face.

"Hudson?"

I turned around to face my beautiful mate who was staring at me with a bit of concern and confusion.

Her dark brown eyes looked back and forth between the two of us as if she was expecting us to break into a fight at any moment.

"Is everything okay?" She asked softly. I wrapped an arm around her waist and tugged her into my chest, pressing my lips to her sweet-smelling hair.

"Everything's fine. Breydon was messing around." I mumbled, trying to ignore the sounds my wolf was making inside my head. He was shaking his fur excitedly and purring at the scent and sound of his mate. The marking made him even more attached than before.

"Breydon is still here," he coughed, "Please keep it G-rated, Brielle is still walking around the house."

"Speaking of Brielle," I asked, "Did anyone talk to Matthew and Lacey after the meeting? I hope he's cooled down."

"I talked to Lacey. She said he's still not happy about her plan but he trusts her to take care of herself," Alexis said, staring at the clock in a daze.

"I doubt any of us would be thrilled if our mates volunteered to go up to the mountains alone with no protection whatsoever," Breydon muttered, raking a hand through his hair.

I had to agree with him. If Alexis had volunteered, I would have done something stupid like handcuff her to her bed or something.

That would have been interesting. Imagine all the things–

Do you ever think about anything other than mating?

I think about food.....and how beautiful mate is.

Good to –

And how it would be to pull her tail

You already did that.

It's funny.

"Hudson?"

I snapped my attention away from my wolf and blinked, "What?"

Alexis raised an eyebrow, "I was just saying that your mom wanted me to go over so I could start getting ready for the ceremony."

"Oh, well I'll walk you there. I need to go check on the training."

Suddenly, the sound of someone stomping down the stairs echoed through the hallway and Lucy appeared beside Alexis, glaring at Breydon. She huffed and looked away pointedly, making him chuckle.

"You can't get mad at me because we got caught. It takes two to tango, love, " he pointed out.

She narrowed her eyes, "It's all your fault. You keep trying to seduce me."

"Mhmm, that's exactly what happened."

"I hate you."

"What was that, love? You want to kiss me again? Why, I'd be happy to!"

He pulled her into his arms before she could protest and dipped her dramatically. The moment their lips touched I made a disgusted noise and tugged Alexis towards the doorway.

"I don't want to watch that," I muttered, opening the door for her. She laughed and waited for me to lock the door before we started walking towards my parents' house.

As we walked, I couldn't help but wonder if Alexis was upset that my mother planned the whole ceremony for her. If she was, she didn't show it. I felt bad that she didn't even get a say on what she wanted. Everything just seemed so rushed.

"I hope you don't mind that my mother did everything for you. I know it means a lot to some she-wolves."

She frowned, "Did Dorothy not tell you that she ran everything past me?"

"She did?"

"Yep, that was why Lucy was over at your house. She said if I wanted to change anything, I could. But the plans she had were amazing, I couldn't have asked for a more beautiful ceremony."

I cleared my throat gruffly, "Our."

"What?"

"Our house."

"Oh...okay" she trailed off awkwardly.

Oddly enough, I felt a wave of heat travel up my neck like I was blushing which bothered me.

Alphas are not supposed to blush. Ever.

Suddenly, a pair of hands gripped my cheeks.

"Well, would you look at that. If you didn't have your stubble, I would guess that you're blushing."

I rolled my eyes and pecked her lips, "Be quiet. Someone might hear you."

"We're on an almost empty pathway who would hear us?"

"Alexis Rosabelle Carter!"

We turned our heads and my eyes widened at the man standing in front of me.

"Alpha Horris?"