The Alpha's Scarlet Heart

Chapter Nineteen

A/N If you have any questions for me I would be happy to answer them quickly and truthfully! Thank you so much for reading! I hope you all had a great Thanksgiving!
Cole and I walk into the convention center, a local space where they have concerts and big performances. Apparently this is where all the meetings are held because it can fit everyone in the pack, even the people that live out of the pack house. Cole told me that they can have access to it whenever they want because the man who owns and runs it is a werewolf in his pack. Cole leads me towards the back of the stage, behind the curtain. I take a deep breath, trying to calm my nerves. I can do this. Cole wraps his arms around me from behind, pulling my back against his chest.
"Are you ready?" Cole asks. I nod.
"I think so." I say, trying to make my voice sound strong. Cole hugs me tighter.
"Don't worry, go out there and show them who you are and I promise they will love you." Cole says. I nod and take a deep breath. Cole let's go of me. He smiles at me and kisses me on the cheek. He pushes back the curtain and walks through it. He's going to introduce me and then I will walk out. I pace back and forth.
"Hello everyone, I know you are all curious why I called you here tonight. I have some great news." I hear Cole say. I shake off my nerves and take a deep breath.
"I have met my mate." He says. Everyone cheers and some gasp. I take that as my cue to walk out. I open the curtains and walk out, standing next to Cole.
"Everyone, I would like you to meet Scarlet Paine. My mate and your Luna." He says, smiling widely. I gulp as I see everyone looking at me in amazement. I smile at the crowd. Almost everyone cheers but I can see a few girls glaring at me. I chose to ignore them and smile brightly at the crowd. Cole moves away from the stand, indicating it was my turn to talk. Cole told me that the pack would like if I said a few words. I agreed even if I was slightly afraid.
"Hello everyone. I don't know most of you but I plan on changing that. All I have to say is I may not know how to lead a pack, I may only be human, but I promise that I will do everything in my power to be the best Luna I can be. You are a family and if you will let me, I would be happy to be apart of it. Thank you." I say. Everyone cheers and I blush. Cole grabs my hand and intertwines our fingers, kissing my hand softly. He pulls me back behind the curtain.
"You did great." He says. I smile widely.
"Thank you." I say. We walk off stage and are instantly surrounded by people. Everyone starts to ask me questions and telling me how happy they are to have a Luna again.
"Please, you all believe this? There is no way this fat bitch is his mate! He's way too hot to be her mate! He's an Alpha for goddess sake!" A shrill female voice yells. A sharp pain hits me. One of the pack members doesn't like me. I knew they couldn't all like me but it still hurt. Cole growls beside me and we both look in the direction of where the voice came from. I see Makayla standing there. I am surprised to say the least. I didn't know she was a werewolf. Cole steps towards her, growling loudly. I grab his arm, shooting sparks through the both of us. I see Cole relax from my touch. He takes a few deep breaths.
"Makayla, I suggest you you stop talking bad about my mate before I put you in your place." Cole says in a low threatening voice. Goosebumps crawl up my arms at his tone, even though that tone isn't directed at me it still gives me chills.
"Babe, she's just a fat human. Even if she is your mate, she is not worthy of being your Luna, I am!" Makayla yells. Tears threathen to form in my eyes but I hold them back. Cole growls loudly and starts to shake. Oh no, he's going to shift.
"Cole no!" I yell but it's too late. Cole's clothes tear off and he shifts. One minute Cole is standing there and the next a huge wolf is launching itself at Makayla. I watch in horror as Roy, Diego, Jacks, and Nathan try to pull Cole away from Makayla. I rush forward and grab Roy's arm. Roy looks over at me.
"Get Makayla out of here, it will calm Cole down." I say. Roy nods and let's go of Cole. He rushes to Makayla and drags her out. Cole doesn't calm down at all. I sigh. I have to do something.
"Guys keep him still." I say. I walk around everyone and kneel in front of Cole's snapping and angry wolf form.
"Scarlet! Get away, it's not safe!" Nathan yells. I look up at Cole's friends who have slightly afraid looks on their faces.
"He won't hurt me." I say with confidence in my voice. I look into Cole's big black wolf eyes.
"Cole," I whisper. He looks at me angrily.
"James, it's me. I really need you to give Cole back control." I say, calling Cole by his wolfs name. Cole's eyes soften.
"I'm okay. I'm okay." I whisper. His eyes soften a little more. I stretch out my hand slowly. Out of the corner of my eye I see Jacks start to move towards me in case anything bad happens. I smile at James/Cole. I inch my hand more towards him. He growls and I freeze. I stare into his eyes.
"You're not going to hurt me, are you Cole?" I ask softly. Cole's eyes soften and he whines. I lay my hand on top of his head. He instantly calms down but his eyes are still black. I move forward and look Cole in his dark eyes. I lean forward and press a soft kiss to his head, his fur tickling my lips. I pull back to see Cole's eyes back to normal. I look away from Cole to see everyone staring at me in amazement. I look over to Nathan.
"Can you please get Cole some clothes?" I ask. Nathan nods and runs off to get Cole clothes. I sit on the ground and continue petting Cole's head. Cole whines and lays his head in my lap. I look up at the pack and smile at them.
"I apologize everyone. It was a pleasure to meet you all." I say, not looking any of them in the eyes. Everyone smiles and starts leaving. After several minutes Cole, Jacks, Diego, and I were all that's left. I run my hands through Cole's fur. Roy rushes back in the room.
"That girl is something else." Roy says, breathing heavily. I smile at him.
"Thank you." I say. Roy smiles.
"Of course." He says. Nathan rushes back into the room with clothes, he sets the clothes down next to Cole.
"Thank you Nate." I say.
"We will be outside if you need us." Jacks says. They all walk out. I look down at Cole, his big green eyes staring up at me.
"This is all so new to me. You're a werewolf, I'm your mate, and I'm a Luna. Am I good enough for this pack? Do I have the strength to protect this pack when you're away?" I ask. I sigh. I am so used to telling all my problems to Mr. Wolf and now I am telling them to Cole. I know they are the same person but it's different knowing Cole is the wolf instead of Mr. Wolf just being a normal wolf. Cole whines, pulling me out of my thoughts. I smile down at him and stand up.
"I'll be outside with the guys." I say. I walk outside and to the bench where the guys are sitting. They all smile widely at me.
"What?" I ask. They smile more.
"You did great in there, calming Cole down." Diego says.
"You took control of the situation, you handled it amazingly like a real Luna." Nathan says, smiling. I look at all of them, shocked. All I was thinking about in that moment was calming Cole down, I didn't care what was happening around me, all I cared about was calming Cole down.
"Thank you guys. I appreciate your help in there too." I say. They all smile.
"Of course Luna." They say and bow. I laugh.
"I told you to call me Scarlet." I say. Jacks walks towards me.
"You were amazing Lettie." He says. I smile.
"Thanks Jacks." I say. Arms wrap around my waist and pull me against a strong chest. Sparks fly through my body.
"Could you guys give us a minute?" Cole's rough voice asks. They nod and walk away. Cole turns me around I his arms. I gasp as I touch his naked chest. He's just wearing basketball shorts. How am I supposed to concentrate with my hunk of a mate half naked?! I tear my eyes away from his chest and look into his eyes. His eyes held admiration and sorrow.
"Angel. I'm sorry. I didn't mean to shift but she made me so angry, saying those hurtful lies to you. I couldn't help shifting." Cole says.
"I'm not mad Cole, it's just embarrassing what that girl said." I say, looking down in shame.
"What if she was right? I'm nothing but a human, can I lead this pack well?" I ask. Cole lightly grabs my chin and tilts my head up.
"Angel, you just calmed down an Alpha wolf in front of the entire pack. You took control and showed everyone you weren't afraid to confront an angry wolf, that's dangerous even if he is your mate." Cole says. I look at Cole and smile slightly.
"I knew you would never hurt me." I pause and reach my hand up to cup his cheek.
"Behind those angry black eyes I still saw my sweet Cole who was just trying to protect me." I say. Cole smiles and leans into my hands. I giggle as his scratching cheek tickles me. Cole looks at me confused.
"What?" He asks.
"Your stubble is tickling me." I say. He smiles and feels his face.
"I need to shave. Hey! You can't distract me that easily Angel." He says. I sigh. He pulls me against his chest again.
"You do know that everything she said was a lie, right? You are amazing and you are going to be the best Luna this pack has ever seen." He says. I smile widely and wrap my arms around his neck.
"I have the best mate in the world." I say. I stand on my tip toes and press my lips against his, sending sparks through my body. He kisses back immediately and pulls me closer. My hands move to the back of his neck, pulling him closer to me. As we kiss I know that there's no way I could ever be without him, he is amazing, kind, caring, loving, protecting, he is my boyfriend, he is my everything, and he is my mate. I kiss him with so much passion I feel as if my heads going to explode. I pull away and take a deep breath. I look into his dark green eyes.
"Angel, I-" He starts to say.
"Alpha!" Someone yells. I look over to see Jacks and the guys running towards us with urgent looks on their faces. Fear rushes through me.
"What's wrong?" Cole asks.
"Rogues passed our borders, they're headed to the pack house." Jacks says. Cole lets go of me and looks at them.
"Get the women and children to the safe house." He says to Roy.
"Assemble the Warriors and the men that can fight." He says to Jacks.
"Nathan, Diego, take Scarlet to the safe house and protect her with your lives." He says. I look at him shocked.
"No! I'm not leaving you!" I yell. Cole smiles sadly at me. He kisses my forehead.
"I'll be back before you know it." He says. Nathan grabs my waist and pulls me but I thrash in his arms.
"No! Cole!" I yell. Cole looks at Nathan and Diego.
"Take her. Now!" He yells. Diego and Nathan grab me and drag me away. I continue to thrash.
"I'm sorry Luna." Nathan says. I feel a sharp pain in my head and everything goes black.