Chase's POV
*** 3 Years Later ***
"You seem really nervous baby." I told Juno in his ear lowly as more guests began to enter the ballroom hall that was in the pack house.
Instead of it being used for dancing, it was being used to hold a very important pack announcement tonight.
It's been three years since Juno and I bonded, so he's been out of college for about a year and a half now.
Their dad suffered a grave injury from an accident out side of pack territory late last year, so everyone speculated this meeting tonight was going to be an announcement about who was going to take over the pack in his place as Alpha.
The suddenness of his injury caused a lot of wolves in the pack to go into a slight panic when the news first came out, and they've been mumbling amongst each other ever since.
Juno's entire family has been stressed out since the injury happened too, even if his father tried to keep them all calm.
A lot of wolves in the pack had their favorite heirs that they supported, some favored Alexis for her strength, some liked Julio for his compassion, and a lot of them liked Juno for his brains and strategical abilities.
It could be anyone's game, but those were the three in the running to be Alpha for sure. Juno's younger brothers didn't really have an interest in taking over as Alpha, and even if they did, he needed someone to step up now and they were still in school.
Then there was his older sister Carmen. She finally found her mate so she took herself out of the running about two years ago since she moved packs to go live with him.
So it had to be between just Juno, Julio and Alexis.
Juno was nervous as hell and no matter what I did to try to calm him down, nothing worked. He was anxiously awaiting the news and his leg was bouncing up and down so much I thought he was going to make a hole or dent form in the floor.
He had his hands over his face as he leaned his elbows against the table for support while I looked over at him sadly.
"Look at me, you got this. If he calls your name, you can't walk up there shaking like a new born horse can you? You have to be confident and strut over there." I told him in his ear again as more and more people walked in.
Everyone was dressed up for the most part but here and there you spotted some wolves in casual attire.
Juno was wearing a really good looking navy suit so I matched him with one of my go to elegant outfits. It took me about two hours to get ready and dressed since I couldn't find anything to match, but then I found a hidden navy gem in the back of my part of the closet.
I put it on and got all cute and dolled up just in case this was the announcement everyone was waiting for. Because if it was, I would not be caught wearing something casual for a day as important as this one!
It could be my mates big day so I had to look my best for photos.
"You do know if he calls me up there, you'd be going up too right? If I'm the next Alpha of this pack, you'd be the next Luna." Juno whispered with his hands still on his face.
He was still bouncing nervously, a habit I saw he just couldn't grow out of after all these years. His words made my sad smile turn into a happier one as I rubbed his back.
"It's a little scary to think of it but we'd be by each other's side every step of the way right? You worked hard all these years, you deserve to feel accomplished and recognized for all that work and time you put in Baby." I cooed and that made him finally take his hands off of his face.
His face was super red now. I don't think I've ever seen him look this nervous before. He had sweat on his forehead forming and he looked like he was about to pass out any second now.
I took a napkin off of the table and folded it a bit before I started to wipe away the sweat from his forehead.
He closed his eyes while I helped him and began to take deep breaths in an attempt to relax.
"I don't think I've ever seen the boss man look this stressed out." I heard Jose's voice say as I looked over at him.
Jose, Romeo, Juan and Diego were all finally taking their seats at our table. They just got here but they were all dressed nicely in simple black suits and ties.
Romeo smiled at me widely and I returned his smile as he sat down. After all these years, he still hasn't told us what happened with that mark on his neck and it doesn't seem to be fading either but we all came to terms with his wishes.
They all grew a lot over the years, in terms of strength and maturity, so I was pretty confident that Juno's father would pick him and his team.
They did a lot of volunteer work within the pack and began practicing more with elder members to strengthen their fighting techniques and so much other stuff.
If they didn't get picked, I'd honestly be really sad but that didn't make them failures. That just meant his father picked one of his other siblings instead and thought they'd just be better at another position.
Being the Alpha was a huge deal but there was so many other possibilities and positions in the pack that they could be suited for just as great.
After Juno finally calmed down, he leaned over and kissed me gently.
When he kissed me, my eyes widened at the sudden affection and it made his friends whistle.
I glared at them and they cut it out quickly as Juno pulled away from the kiss and took another deep breath.
"Thank you for helping me calm down my love." Juno told me before he smiled at me.
I smiled back at him but then all of our attention was taken away by everyone starting to clap as his father walked onto the stage.
There was a huge stage they had set up in the front of the room with huge spot lights and speakers surrounding him, but the clapping all came to a stop when he placed his right hand up.
"I know a lot of you have some speculations on why I held this meeting today, and I can sadly confirm a lot of you were correct" Juno's father spoke into the microphone as he lowered his hand, "tonight I will be announcing my successor but that does not mean I don't care about this pack. I am only resigning due to the constant pestering from our great pack medical staff and my wife, but I will still do my best to help the next in line Alpha to succeed and lead this pack even greater than I have."
At the sound of his father's words, I saw Juno's face grow serious as he reached down and locked my right hand in his left one.
"After talking this over with my wife and beta, I can say honestly that this choice took us hours to make. We had a hard time reaching a decision because of how amazing each of my children are. It was a choice between my two sons Julio and Juno, and my equally talented daughter Alexis." The Alpha admitted as his wife walked onto the stage and began to rub his right arm.
Everyone could see how broken he was to have to retire so soon, so it was kind of sad to watch. Ideally an Alpha wouldn't pass on the title until he was a certain age but Juno's dad still was young and was only doing this because of his injury.
It was just hard to watch how hard this was for him to do but his wife was helping him get through it and finish his speech by being at his side.
She wore a beautiful white dress that was sparkling and just so breathtaking that I almost forgot the Alpha was wearing an equally dashing suit.
"So...the heir that we chose to take over as the next Alpha and leader of this pack...was Juno." His dad confessed and everyone started to clap and cheer loudly.
Juno seemed to be in shock because he just froze as he heard his father call out his name instead of Julio's or Alexis's so I had to get up and lead him over to the stage.
Once we were finally up there with all the lights on us and cheering from the pack, he finally came to realization that this was really happening and I watched as his eyes began to tear up.
His father smacked his back happily and Juno let me go to hug his dad tightly.
I stood back, next to his mother who hugged me and kissed my cheek in congratulations as well.
After Juno finally stopped crying, he gave the pack a short and sweet speech and promised to protect them with all his might.
I looked across the room happily and saw just how glad a lot of wolves were to see Juno get called to the stage and even saw that at one point during this, Jose ended up fainting so his friends were trying to get him conscious again.
That sight made me laugh to myself as everyone continued to cheer, then I saw that Juno's siblings
didn't look sad to lose. They were all smiling widely at their brother on stage and Julio seemed to be really proud of him.
My eyes were pulled off of them when Juno extended his hand for me and I grabbed it without thought.
"And my beautiful mate Chase is to thank for getting me to where I am today. Without him in my life, I doubt I would be standing here as the next Alpha in front of all of you. I'm sure either my brother or sister would've been here in my place, so I wanted to say a special thank you to him." Juno announced into the microphone and I shook my head at him.
I didn't really do anything. I was acting bratty and delusional when we first found out we were mates so I don't see how that made him change but he gripped my hand tightly.
"And I also wanted to use this spotlight and moment to tell him just how much he means to me." Juno continued before looking away from the crowd and looking down at me.
I was confused since I didn't think he'd be mentioning me up here this much but then the realization hit me when he bent down on one knee.
The crowd went crazy when this happened and I saw that each of my friends had their jaws on the floor, especially Jean as Mimi quickly began to record this moment on her cellphone.
I guess this was a surprise to everyone including me because now it was my own dads turn to faint into my mothers arms.
"Chase...I know I haven't always been the best mate to you...or the strongest...but I'd love it if you allowed me to continue to be by your side as not only your fated mate, but as your husband. Will you marry me and help me lead this pack as my next Luna? If you don't have any objections, I'd like for you and I to finally have that wedding now." Juno said loudly and now I saw what was really making him nervous as he shakily pulled out a tiny black box.
When he opened it, I didn't mean to but I audibly cursed loudly as I looked at the shiny gold ring.
I nodded and started crying as I told him yes repeatedly and dropped to the floor to hug him tightly, not even bothering to grab the ring as I kissed at his cheek.
"I love you so much! Yes yes yes." I cried into his neck as I hugged him super tightly, earning a groan to escape from his lips.
Everyone's cheers started to get louder now and I felt so felt happy in this moment. I soon felt his father and mother's touch on my back and was grateful for their accepting smiles.
My life with Juno was about to change drastically but we would get through this journey together and not alone. My days would be eventful every day now and I was tasked to stay by his side and help keep this pack safe and grow.
His warm smile and soft cheeks made me feel the immense amount of love I had for him as we stood back up and looked off at the crowd. Being by his side made be feel no fear and made my heart beat speed up as I thought about our new future...
*** The End ***
A/N: I think this was the longest story I've ever written so hopefully you all enjoyed reading it just as much as I enjoyed writing it. It took me about six months to write and edit alone since my editor left me, so hopefully my English wasn't too bad or my grammar. Thank you all for the support!