Chapter 30: Aria

Chapter 30: Aria

On the first day of September, the Silent Shadows Pack held a ceremony in the park in the center of the village. Bright yellow and white, and blue banners were strung between the trees, gorgeous and luminous flowers adorning the aisle as I walked toward my future mate in the sunshine yellow dress of my dreams. Lucas Black stood dressed in a dark grey suit with a boutonniere of blue and yellow flowers, his black hair styled back with that handsome silver lock streaking above his left ear. He smiled the instant he saw me. I’d been smiling since I woke that morning. But only once I stood by his side did I feel the happiest I’d ever been.

“Aria Gunn, do you accept Lucas Black, your chosen mate, to be your rightful mate in the eyes of the Silent Shadows Pack?” asked the Shaman officiating our mating ceremony.

“I do,” I said softly.

“And Lucas Black, do you accept Aria Gunn, your chosen mate, to be your rightful mate in the eyes of the Silent Shadows Pack?”

There was a jolt of nervous electricity in my veins as I remembered the rejection I had faced before. But to doubt Lucas, at this point, I knew was foolish. I had no reason to fear what would happen next. “I do,” he said proudly, clasping my hands.

The Shaman smiled at us both. “Then the mating bond is sealed. I am happy to present the Alpha Male and Alpha Female of the Silent Shadows Pack, Lucas, and Aria Black. Congratulations.”

The pack roared in celebration, teeming with joy and delight for the union of their Alpha with the girl he loved. At long last, the Silent Shadows Pack would have two leaders equally invested in each other as they were the health and success of their pack.

“So when can we expect to see little baby Blacks running around?” Esther asked during the reception later.

Lucas turned his eyes to me, and I could only laugh. “Let me enjoy some time with my mate first before we start adding babies into the mix!”

But I knew the subject lingered on Lucas’ mind. I could feel it through our bond, how his thoughts would continuously tug back to the idea of family.

Drunk off of wine and each other’s company, at the end of the night, Lucas carried me in his arms to our bed, dropped me on the mattress, and showered me in kisses. The way his arms braced above me sent a sizzle down my spine and into my groin.

“I think I want to put a baby in you,” Lucas rumbled into my neck.

The primal implications of his words awoke hot arousal in me. I instinctually wrapped my legs around his hips and drew him in. “I want that too,” I murmured, “but not yet.”

“Then how about we just practice?”

It meant a lot to me that Lucas was willing to be patient. A desirous growl bubbled up in my chest, urging Lucas to have his way with me right there. He didn’t hesitate to run his hands all over my body, slipping his fingers between my thighs in tantalizing foreplay. In the couple of months we’d been together, he already knew all my tender erogenous zones and favorite rhythms.

His talented fingers quickly brought me to the crux of bliss. I stopped him before it became too much, leaning forward to kiss him once, then straddled his hips. Lucas watched me with greedy hunger, licking his lips as his eyes washed over my body. It made me feel powerful. Liberated. Like I was in control of not only my life but Lucas too; with his hands on my waist as I bounced up and down, dishing out the pleasure for both of us.

Our panting intensified, hands wandering to the most appealing tracts of skin: my fingers in his chest hair, his hands squeezing my breasts. Again I felt pleasure welling up inside me, a volcano brimming with heat, but this time it was Lucas who stopped us. “Bend over the edge of the bed,” he said breathlessly, guiding me off of him. I didn’t even think, relinquishing my position of control for whatever tickled my mate’s fancy the most. All that mattered to me was making him feel good, and I was assured that he felt the same thing. Leaning over the bed, I propped up one leg and purred when I felt his cock rub between my thighs, under my ass cheeks, and finally push inside. The magnitude of his member drove a satisfying tingle up my spine.

But even that wasn’t enough. Lucas pounded against me, wrapping his hand up in my hair and pulling it back, bending over me and groaning—then, for the third time, as we both approached the peak, he pulled out and kissed my spine. “I’m not done with you yet.”

“Lucas, please,” I sighed with a smile. “You’re going to make me burst just by looking at me.”

He growled, rolling me onto my back and pressing me into the bed. “Not yet. I want to feel it.”

As much as Lucas had opened my eyes to the various positions our bodies could twist into, we both seemed to favor the simplest, most intimate one: me lying beneath him, our bodies pressed together until every inch of ourselves was merged, kissing, thrusting, moaning. It was only then, finally, that he allowed us both to succumb. Hot, delirious pleasure locked us together in an orgasm that took our breaths away. He released inside me, giving pieces of his soul in the act, leaving us both suspended in the lingering afterglow, entangled and at peace.

I loved him with everything I had. And I would give it all back, no questions asked.

A ringtone blared through the morning’s tranquility, startling us both from a hazy, hungover cuddle. Lucas quickly recognized his phone and rolled over to answer it. “Hello?”

On the other line, I barely made out the familiar voice of my cousin Dax.

“Good morning, Alpha Black. Sorry to disturb you—and congrats, by the way, I heard you and Aria tied the knot—it must have been a crazy party! I don’t mean to put a damper on the celebrations, but can I see you and Aria right away? It’s urgent.”

Lucas groaned. “Urgent usually means bad.”

“Well, it’s... something you’ll want to know about, for sure.”

“Okay. We’ll meet you at the border in an hour.”

After he hung up, I leaned over Lucas and kissed his cheek. “Any idea what that could be about?”

“Not a clue.”

As much as we both would have liked to spend the morning lazing and enjoying each other’s company, duty didn’t rest. We were dressed and approaching the borders within the hour, tracking down Dax’s scent in the air.

My cousin appeared as a wolf, his mottled black and brown fur looking almost gold in the morning light. Dax dropped the bag he carried in his mouth, transforming back to his human form and swiftly getting dressed. “Thanks for meeting with me,” he said. “I know bad news is probably the last thing you want to hear right now...”

“Definitely the last thing we want to hear right now,” said Lucas. He folded his arms as if his displeasure would dissuade Dax from speaking and prevent the bad news from happening at all.

It was ineffective. Dax’s brows furrowed with serious uncertainty. “Remember how the Crescent Moon Pack was attacked? Well... it happened again.”

“What?” Lucas and I both blurted.

“This time, the Rogues took prisoners. Half of Archer’s packmates are gone. They were dragged away by force, and the trail leads north but just ends abruptly. He doesn’t have the numbers to go after them on his own.”

Lucas tensed, his blood turning hot. “The Silent Shadows Pack will send reinforcements.”

Dax nodded. “The Moonstone Pack will too.”

Their eyes turned to me. I sighed. “If anyone can convince the Grey Creek Pack to help, it’s probably me. We’ll find the missing shifters, Dax.”

“I hope so. Their lives are in our hands.”

My hand went straight to Lucas’. The conflict with the Rogues was daunting, but we could overcome it as long as we had each other. We had to, in the wake of what was unfolding.

The darkness over Alsa Stone was spreading.