CHAPTER ONE Emma

IT’S THE DAY of my wedding. I’m in our third-floor suite at the Lodge, looking at the dress I picked as it hangs near the window. The window overlooks where I will say my ‘I do’s’ to the love of my life. My fingers run over the soft fabric as I approach the floor-to-ceiling glass. When I tried it on, it was perfect, if not a little snug around my belly, but it flowed softly down my body. The lace is a beautiful floral weave that matches the wildflowers I love. I watch the trees sway for a moment, and the sun starts to move behind the enormous mountains that surround the Lodge. It’s June, and the flowers are in bloom. The purple beams of Lupine fill the valley painting the field in a beautiful hues of purple and blue. It’s my favorite, so of course, it's the backdrop to my wedding.

I see my man run from the forest and I watch in awe as Hunter, Jackson, and Will shift from their large wolf forms to humans as they approach the Lodge. The pack is back to normal, allowing everyone to shift when and where they want. Hunter always finds me, and even from this high up, I see him point to me and wink. I blow him a kiss just as the door to my room opens.

“Honey, you aren’t dressed yet!” My mom’s tone is pitched and worried as she holds my son in her arms. He is five months old now and the sweetest boy. His hair is curly and matches mine, but somehow, he got his daddy’s ice-blue eyes. He’s perfect. His grabby hands reach for me as he starts to bounce erratically.

I sweep towards her in my robe and scoop up Ash, short for Asher, and snuggle into his cheek. He lets out a squeal. “Mom, it’s my wedding day, and my husband just arrived home from his run, so I don’t think I need to be in that big of a hurry.”

“Please, Hunter could throw on a button-down and some jeans and be wedding-ready in under ten minutes,” Holly says as she pushes into my room.

“That’s true.” My mom adds, “Plus, have you seen all these buttons we have to do? I think you picked this dress to torture your poor mother.”

I laugh because she can be so dramatic. I did love the buttons. The dress is lace and has a string of buttons down the back to the peak of my booty. I’m pretty sure Hunter is going to curse them tonight when he goes to rip my dress off of me. “You’re right, help me put this thing on.” I set Ash in his playpen next to the wall.

My mother continues to coo over Asher while Holly takes a shift, using the crochet hook to pull the tiny thread over each white button.

“Honey, I have to say, getting knocked up before you’re married is poor form, but I really love this little boy.” Her voice drops into baby talk as she shakes a rattle over his playpen.

I nod. This is not the first time I have had the ‘we are disappointed with you chat.’ In reality, telling my parents about Fated Mates seemed like a harder conversation to have so I just nod along to their words. My parents quickly moved to Anchorage after I told them we were expecting. My mom was overjoyed to be a grandma, and she nearly lost it when I told her I was also getting married.

We then had to cross the bridge and tell them my husband is a wolf shifter; they handled it in strides and were sworn to secrecy. We never really crossed the fated mate's bridge and just went with the madly-in-love story.

To be fair, I was really anxious over the entire situation. I didn’t know how they would respond to any of it, seeing as I had only lived in Solaris for maybe two months. Ever the romantic, my mom swooned over Hunter from the moment she met him at Nan’s diner.

That morning was so funny. The entire town knew that my parents were coming, and it felt like they had all purposely filled every table in Nan’s just to be snoopy. The extra attention doesn’t bother me anymore. I loved that they wanted to support us through this event.

I can’t forget my mom's face as she came into the diner, pulling me into a hug. She looked at Hunter, who stood at my back, and her eyes went wide. She whispered in my ear, “Are you kidding me? He’s gorgeous, Honey.”

I nodded and felt Hunter’s body shift as he withheld his laugh cause I know he heard her.

My Dad was a bit more protective of me and asked Hunter to show him where we planned on staying and how he planned to take care of me. However, after a secret trip and meeting the rest of Hunter’s family, my Dad was swayed in his favor.

“Finished.” Holly finally says as she wipes her brow.

“You two are too much.” I laugh as I turn around. “Thank you, Holly.” I grab her hands and pull her into a hug. She’s gorgeous, as always, in a lavender silk dress that matches the flowers in the field. Her white blonde hair hangs in loose, full waves down her back, and now that she isn’t sick, she has a healthy glow.

“Anytime, Em.” She smiles at me while taking a step back to take in my dress. “You look wedding ready, should we go get you hitched?”

I nod. Then, I peek out the window one more time to see my handsome mate talking with Will and Jackson near the back of the chairs. It’s as if he has an Emma radar—which, let’s be honest, he does and always has—his eyes flick to me. I step back just enough so he can’t see my dress and smile to myself.

I’m ready to marry this man and swear my undying love to him. Everything that happened last year is behind us and we are making our own path forward. I struggled most of my pregnancy with my emotions, especially my anxiety over my assault. I ordered all the supplies needed to open a Midwife practice at the clinic, and Amy and I started taking online classes to be Midwives. I couldn’t stomach seeing a doctor or being checked, so Nan taught me all her midwife skills. We now have a modest Midwife Woman’s Care Clinic next to the Solaris Clinic.

I had started studying pregnancies before the clinic opened and now we have a dedicated space to have children safely I feel like the future is brighter for our little babes. One of my biggest concerns was my pregnancy versus a wolf shifter pairing and what I found is most wolf pregnancies are not so different from human ones. The biggest change is that the gestation period is only about six months, or twenty-six weeks, for a wolf shifter woman. My pregnancy went to thirty weeks, and I delivered a healthy baby boy.

The memory of the day makes me teary-eyed, “I’ll meet you guys downstairs.” I whisper, “I just need a minute.”

Both women leave, as I remember a few months ago when Asher was born.

“Oh, Hunter. I can’t do this.” I moan.

His hand squeezes mine once more. He’s kneeling in front of the giant pool that I’m sitting in. My contractions are so close together I know this baby is about to come out. My teeth clench again as the pushing sensation overwhelms my body.

“Hum through it, Emma,” Nan says from behind me. She has delivered many of the pack babies, and I trust her completely to help me bring mine into the world.

My soft hum turns to squeal, then a scream as I feel the baby move down. I let out a louder scream as one contraction pushes into another.

“Mate, look at me.” Hunter’s tone is serious. His forehead comes to mine, “You are an angel sent to earth. You are perfect. You can do anything you want, including saving an entire civilization.” His lips take mine in a passionate kiss that distracts me from the pain as the contraction ends.

“Honey, you’re doing great.” My mom says as she sits next to the pool.

The next contraction hits harder, “Emma, you need to push on this one,” Nan says from behind me.

“Mate, let's meet our son.” Hunter hums with me as I feel my son slip into the water. I quickly scoop him up into my arms, pull him to my chest, and rub his back.

“Emma, he’s perfect,” Nan says as his tiny cries fill the room.

“Once again, Mate, I am so blessed by you.” Hunter leans down, kisses my forehead, and then his hands cup mine as he takes in his son. Tears fill his eyes, and then tears fill my eyes as I watch him.

The mate bond is complete, and the blue energy fills the room as we hold our baby. “My son, Asher,” Hunter says.

Asher’s small cry pulls me from the memory, and I scoop the little guy up into my arms.

“Hey baby, are you ready to go see Daddy?” I coo as I carry him downstairs, where my mom stands, ready to take him during the ceremony.