Chapter 4: Emerson

Why the fuck hadn’t I figured out how to tell Quinn that I was her mate? Oh, right. I hadn’t planned to tell her at all. I was going to wait until her eighteenth birthday, when she called me mate, and until then, I’d planned to threaten anyone who even looked at her with interest.

But after talking to my mother and also seeing how sad she looked at dinner, I want her to know that she’s here for more than just protecting the pack. She’s here for good. I want her to know that she’s mine.

Uncle Liam picked up on what I was saying earlier, and he basically threatened me to be a good mate to his daughter. I’d like to say that’s what has me flustered, but it’s not that at all.

It’s the absolutely stunning woman in front of me who smells like mandarin oranges. I had walked in, knowing that she’s going to be mine in a couple of months, and all I had wanted to do when I saw her standing there in that gorgeous dress that brought out the color of her eyes was to strip it off of her and make her mine now, today.

I was instantly hard and there was no possible way for me to adjust myself without being obvious, so now I have to suffer with this fucking hard on while I try to explain to her that I’m her mate.

I begin pacing, trying to get my body and hormones under control.

“Emerson, do you want to sit down?” Quinn asks me in her sweet voice.

No, I absolutely do NOT want to sit down. If I do, I know I won’t be able to control myself. I need to maintain appropriate boundaries with her, show her that I respect her, that I care for her and that I will be a perfect mate for her. Shoving the dress up while pulling her under me and kissing her until she’s moaning and screaming my name won’t accomplish any of those things.

“I know you’re worried about being alone here, and losing your family,” I begin.

She stands, and begins walking to me. The twins have always been extremely graceful. It's effortless for themn, they do it without trying. Besides being beautiful on the outside, they’re both beautiful on the inside and call me biased, but I definitely got mated to the better twin. No one, not even Malin is as beautiful as Quinn.

She glides towards me, the gentle flair of her hips swaying as she gets closer to me.

“Emerson, you don’t have to worry, truly. I’ll be a good acting Luna for this pack,” she says. There’s a little frown between her eyebrows and my fingers twitch to rub my thumb over it and wipe it away.

“I have no concern about your ability to be a good Luna for this pack, Quinn. You were made to be a good Luna, for me, and for this pack,” I say gently, watching her reaction.

“For you?”

I nod. “Don’t you feel it, Quinn?”

“What?” she asks, her voice barely above a whisper.

“Don’t you feel the mate bond between us? I know you’re underage, but you’re a Guardian. I would think that Minka can feel it,” I say.

“Does Clovis?” she asks about my wolf. He practically throws me aside so he can answer her himself.

“Yes,” he says in his deeper voice, making her smile. She reaches up her hand and cups my cheek.

“You’re my mate?” she asks, tears in her eyes. Are those good tears or bad tears?

“Yes,” I say, trying to understand her emotions. I’m really bad at this.

I see her grey-green eyes rimmed with the gold of her wolf, the gold of a Guardian, letting me know that Minka is forward.

“We had hoped you were,” she says to me, smiling a smile so beautiful that it should be illegal.

Her smile fades a little and she steps up to me, putting her hands on my chest. The little control I have over my body goes out the window and I’m hoping that I don’t scare her with the force of my erection. There’s absolutely no hiding it from her when we’re this close.

“Are you disappointed?”

Now it’s my turn to frown. “Disappointed in what?”

“Having me as your mate?”

“Quinn, no. I’m the opposite of disappointed. I’m thrilled. You’re beautiful, intelligent, strong, and of course, a Guardian, which is why I’m telling you now, rather than waiting for you to find out on your birthday. If the war is coming, you need to be prepared that Minka might feel the need to protect me.”

“That is our job,” she says and I can hear Minka’s voice overlaying with Quinn’s.

“I’m an Alpha, Quinn. I can protect myself. It’s my job to protect the pack.”

“And it’s my job to protect you so you can protect the pack,” she says.

“Quinn, I already don’t like it that you’ll be in this war, but I don’t want to worry that you’ll put yourself at risk to protect me. I want you to promise me that you won’t do that.”

“You know I can’tdo that, Emerson. That’s not a possibility. It’s not who we are. You’re mated to a Guardian, recognizing that my role is to protect you comes with that.”

I take her chin between my thumb and finger tilting her head up to me. We don’t have time for this right now. The entire pack is waiting for us to arrive so we can have her acting Luna ceremony.

“We’ll talk about this later, for now, I’m making you my acting Luna. After your birthday, after I leave my mark on your pretty neck, then we’ll have your true Luna ceremony.”

“Okay, Emerson,” she says, her eyes glittering in the light. I desperately want to kiss her, but again, I know the moment my lips touch hers, that will be it. All self-control will go out the window.

“Let’s go then,” I say to her, stepping back and taking her hand.

I’m pretty sure I see disappointment flit across her face before she covers it with a smile. I escort her down the stairs and to the back entrance. Usually, I’d be on the stage waiting for her and when it’s time for her true Luna ceremony, that’s how we’ll manage it, but for today, right now, I’m going to escort my mate, my future Luna to the stage so I can announce to the pack that she is their acting Luna, and the pack can swear their loyalty to her in front of me, her family, and the Moon Goddess.