CATRINA - A few weeks later

Caressing Rieka's cheeks as my baby sleeps, I take in her baby scent. My body calms down when her sweet scent enters my body, settling my frayed emotions after that nightmare.

"I'll never let anything happen to you or her," promises Connor from behind me. He has his arms wrapped around me, my back resting against his chest as we look down at our daughter's sleeping form, watching her body fill up in good health.

"I know and I want to be able to help you in that," I murmur, finally able to sort out my life. When one aspect of your life falls into place the other things also shape into a fit.

"You are already helping me a lot. Starting from keeping me calm and sated," he teases earning himself a swat on his arm while I struggle to come up with the proper words to make him understand my need.

I turn around in his arms, while he presses his face in my hair and I bury my head in his chest, breathing in his soothing scent. "I want to feel useful," I whisper, my words muffled in his shirt. The way he squeezes me tells me that he heard me however he doesn't reply to my statement.

"Let's get ready. I want you to meet the pack today," he says and that soon all my nerves go haywire. Panic threatens to take over when I think that they might not like me. From what I have seen in Fenris's pack I know that the pack system is like a very big family.

All the pack members behave as if the families are distant cousins and neighbours, always trying to help each other, especially the ones with no males. I had seen how all the pack members helped Tamara's mom because she had lost her mate long back and had been traumatised. Under Fenris's watchful eyes, his pack members built their own lives out of captivity. The females always sought help from Sierra to know about the modern instruments or any basic needs since they had no idea about it.

The interaction had been fun to watch, especially when the pack members were shy like me to engage in a conversation. It made me feel less like an outsider.

However, Connor's pack is going to be different. This pack has thrived together for a long time. They might not want someone whom they don't know or someone who's not like them to be a part of their pack.

What if they verbally refuse to accept me?

"Hey?" Connor's question pulls me out of my stressful thoughts and I blink a few times to bring him into focus.

"Yes, fine," I whisper suddenly, not wanting him to know how weak I feel. He's an Alpha, surely, he wouldn't want his mate to show such weakness.

"You are overthinking, Catrina," he says, detecting my fear so easily. I frown at him but he just flicks at my nose once before dropping a kiss on my mouth, growling before deepening it.

Before I can pull him closer, he pulls back from the kiss and shakes his head, shifting his gaze towards Rieka. We confirm that she's still sleeping and head out of her room, not wanting to disturb her.

"My pack is going to love you, baby. I have already informed them that I have a mate and that I had gone to Crimson Shadow to bring you back," he says and pushes a strand of my mussed hair behind my ears. "They also know that my father manipulated you."

I sigh, not really having any other valid reason to push this meeting for some later date. It's now or never. Looking at Connor, I know that he won't change his decision if his pack doesn't like me. The realization eases me a little.

"Okay, I'll go get ready," I whisper, kissing him once before heading towards our bedroom.

~~~~

"May I?" asks the woman standing in front of me. Her grey eyes look straight into my soul as her lips widen in a smile at me, her skin crinkling in the corners, showing her age. Yet, she has a regal air around her.

I look at Connor once and catch him smiling at the lady in front of us. He looks at me and then nods at me, so I put my hand in her upturned one and watch in shock as she lifts my hand to kiss on the back of it.

"No, no," I say, not wanting such kind of treatment. I am not someone different from them even when all of them believe it to be true.

The moment we stepped into the packhouse as Connor called it, all the people of his pack went down on their knees to bow in front of us. Only when Connor ordered them to relax did they stand up.

When Connor introduced me to his pack, all the males bowed their heads while the females smiled at me and then one by one came forward to welcome me as their leader.

Lots of "welcome home", "Vy kraseevaia", and greetings were showered upon me yet this woman's greeting is different. She's different.

"She's my paternal aunt, Aunt Denali," says Connor from beside me. We both smile down at her. "Aunt Dena, meet my mate Catrina."

"Connor is a very lucky man," she whispers in her wobbly voice. She then motions for me to bend closer. I do, and then she kisses me on the cheeks and then once again squeezes my hand before releasing me.

"Take good care of each other. You are the pillars of this pack," she whispers before walking away silently.

"She's different," I say, not because it's bad but because she has a different aura around her. She was standing away from all the other people and she came to greet me after everyone was done.

I look up at Connor and he smiles as if knowing that I am waiting for him to tell me more about his Aunt Denali, whom I had never heard about before.

"She lost her mate in the war, two decades ago. My father didn't know what to do with his mate-less sister. My father ruled with a tight fist, not allowing females to be independent. She suffered isolation at his hands and she was also barred from attending family functions. That's why she came to greet you after everyone else," he explains.

"Then why didn't you ever object to this?" I ask, knowing that there's something he isn't telling me.

"My father used to beat me if I ever objected to him or if I ever showed any emotions towards the pack members," he says and my heart breaks. Imagining little Connor getting hit by his father, the image rubs me the wrong way so I push it out of my mind.

"I told you that our pack would love you," he says, changing the topic and I smile, nodding at his words. We look towards the people who are all scattered around, enjoying the bonfire set-up outside the packhouse while some people linger inside the hall, waiting for us to move out.

"Yes, I was just nervous," I say and shrug causing him to laugh. I smile, looking at his carefree face, his laugh lines now visible. He's usually a very carefree person, always maintaining a cool attitude towards everyone. However, he tends to get growly with me, always pulling me by his side, and glaring at anyone who tried to flirt with me. His carefree laugh eases me but I secretly love his possessive attitude. I wonder what he would do if he realised that?

"Where's Rieka?" I ask instead, looking around to see if Ivory's arrived. A few minutes ago, she started sleeping in our arms so I had to put her to bed letting Ivory be in the house if she woke up.

"She's still sleeping. Yuri's watching over her," replies Connor while pulling me closer to press a kiss on my lips. I grin up at him, feeling cherished by this man and finally letting the relief seep into my bones.

Connor's with me. Reika's with me. His, no, our pack has accepted me. Now, only the claiming ceremony to go.

"You are doing it again," says Connor, his smug grin telling me that he knows what I am doing. Still, I ask him.

"What?" I ask, sweetly, not accepting that I am being silly.

"You are checking off on the mental list of to-dos'," he says and also makes the sign of ticking the checkbox. I punch him in the stomach but he just grunts, unaffected by my abuse.

"Why are you so hard?" I ask, rubbing at my knuckles.

"You make me hard," he says, the lust clear in his eyes and the innuendo evident in his words.

"Shut up," I hiss, not wanting the lingering people in the room to overhear us.

"They know that I am aroused, Cat. They can smell it. However, they would never comment on it. Such things are ignored," he says and I breathe in a sigh of relief.

"That's good."

"Come on, I want you to meet someone," he says and then pulls me out of the hall.

"What is it?" I go with him, looking around to get a hint of where we are going. The snow crunches beneath my feet whereas, I can't even hear Connor's footsteps, they are so stealthy.

"Patience, Solnyshko."

Frowning and somewhat delighted that he is giving me so many surprises in such a short period of time, I happily follow Connor. We walk slowly, his arm around my waist and covering my hip as I snuggle into him while walking to where he leads me.

Soon we reach an older looking couple. The moment we reach there the couple looks at us and smiles. I recognise them as the pack doctor and her mate who's the tracker of the pack.

"Hello Alyona," greets Connor while I just smile at the couple. "Are you ready?"

"Hello Alpha and Luna. Yes, I'll be privileged to help Luna Catrina learn about the healing of werewolves and the eternal healing," she says, shocking me.

For a moment, I look from Connor to Alyona and then back at Connor, not believing my ears. I had been so stressed about doing something. At one point I had also considered working at the Blue Moon's town hospital but Connor had politely refused to allow me out of the pack grounds saying that it would be risky.

I had sullenly agreed, understanding that I have a responsibility towards the pack, being Connor's mate and the Luna. Also, I have to think about Rieka too. She can't even be in someone's arms for a long time before panicking.

So, considering all of this, I had somehow thought that I would be the stay-at-home type of wife but this news has floored me. This opportunity to be useful and help our pack members during emergencies is like a blessing in disguise.

"So, you like the idea?" Connor asks, looking down at me and I just realise that I had been bouncing on my feet for a minute.

"I love it," I laugh as I hug Connor, squeezing him. He squeezes me back, kissing the top of my head and chuckles as the elder couple watches us in amusement.

"When can I begin?" I ask, rubbing my palms together in excitement. Alyona laughs at my expression of utter glee.

"We can begin whenever you want, Luna."

"Not tomorrow."

Both Connor and Alyona speak at the same time, and I watch Connor frowning at Alyona before looking at me. I look at him my question clear in my eyes which causes him to shrug.

Now I am curious.

"I have a surprise for you tomorrow," he says and then shakes his head before I can ask him about it. "Let's go get dinner."

With that, Connor whisks me away from Alyona and her mate and towards the table which already has a plate filled with hot delicious food ready for us to dive into.

~~~~

I raise my left hand in front of me, turning it to inspect the ring that Connor slid on my finger when I was asleep.

I can't believe he did that.

The heaviness of it only registered in my mind after our morning hunger was satisfied. Giggling at the memory of being woken up with his mouth on my breast, I shake my head and sit up on the bed, pulling the blanket around me.

"You know you don't need to cover yourself. I quite enjoy the view," says Connor, smugly while I am still staring at the ring. It's a brilliant round cut ring with lots of small diamonds surrounding it, fitted in between two thick golds bands that have tiny diamonds sandwiched between them.

"When did you get it?" I ask, not taking my eyes off the ring. It's heavy on my finger and I am sure it'll catch the attention of any person, especially the ones who are not looking because Connor wants everyone to know that I agreed to marry him as well on top of being claimed.

Is it too much? Yes.

Do I love it? Hell, yes.

"When you and Ivory went out with Rieka to buy her clothes," he says and then settles on the bed beside me, nuzzling into my neck. A shiver runs down my spine when his teeth graze over the mark that he's given me.

"And you told me that you went out to patrol the borders," I say, raising my brows in question. He just shrugs not at all lifting his head from my neck.

"I did that too and then I bought that ring too," he answers, moving up to kiss me softly. I enjoy the soft and slow kiss which is very rare as we end up going fast and hard because of the sparks.

Just when his fingers make their way to my thighs, we hear the loud wail of our new daughter. I moan at the loss of his warmth over my body and he growls at being interrupted but doesn't complain as such.

"I'll get her," he whispers and plants a kiss on my head before walking out of the room.

Did I mention that he's taking up the duties of a father very well? Well, yes.

Sighing at the tingling feeling in my clit, I get out of the bed and head into the shower.

Quickly washing, I wrap my hair in a towel with another towel wrapped around myself and walk out of the room only to scream in shock at the sight of my mother and Sierra sitting on the chairs beside the bed. The bed looks very rumpled and clearly, they can smell the sex in here.

Oh god! I might die out of embarrassment.

"Calm down, girl. My ears are bleeding," exclaims Sierra as she motions for me to shut the hell up.

"What are you doing here?" I ask, breathing erratically at the shock that slows goes away. Sierra looks at my mom and they share a secret smile as if they know but don't want me to know.

"Well, we brought you these clothes. And we are here to get you ready for the ceremony," she says, once again shocking me with the news. What ceremony?

"Your wedding ceremony," she answers my loud thought in a duh tone and then rolls her eyes as if I am some idiot.

I just nod at her, allowing her to hand me the bag containing my bra and panties, along with a few other things that I might need.

It seems my sister-by-mating has come here, all ready for my wedding, and I am going to kill Connor for giving me this mind-boggling surprise. 

~~~~~~

Thank you for reading. Only one last chapter to go. Then I'll be posting an Epilogue too. Please let me know your views. 

Please vote and comment your thoughts about this book.