Our Luna, Our Mate by Linda Middleman

Athena's POV

When reaching the dining hall with Emily, I was both scared yet nervous as I wasn't sure if my mates would be there or not. But either way I felt like I was under dressed for a meeting. 'Relax,

you're over thinking again' murmurs Artemis as she begins to stir.

'I'm trying,' I tell her until Emily moves to help guide me into the hall. "Relax" whispers Emily as she stands close to me. "Your mates won't reject you.

"H-How do you know?" I ask, as we slowly move to enter, the sudden smell of chocolate, caramel, coffee and an ocean breeze wafting at my nose, the smell instantly calming me and Artemis to purr in happiness. "Mates".

"Because, they've been waiting for you for a very long time" admits Emily as we move to get some food, both of us suddenly hungry by all the delicious smells.

Once we had gotten what we wanted from the buffet, Emily moved to lead me towards a table where 6 men sat along with 1 girl. Panicking, I try to force myself to relax as the sweet scents grow stronger, easing my nerves the closer I get..

"Guys, Emma, please let me to introduce you to Athena," I hear Emily say, a smile to her voice, as a blush rises to my face as it did, not wanting to be the center of attention at that exact moment."Athena, please allow me to introduce to you Eros, Ares, Kai, Lucas, Seth, Sam and Emma" she says as she points to each of them in turn,

Blushing brighter I can't help but nod in greeting as I move to look at each of them. "H-Hello".

"Welcome, please have a seat" smiles Emma as she gestures to an open seat, a seat that was currently between her and Ares. Hesitating, the one known as Sam speaks up. "It's okay, we don't bite". Blushing even brighter I quickly move to take my seat next to Ares as Emily moves to sit next to her mate.

"No need to worry little one, your safe here with us" I hear Ares whisper to me as he moves to touch my arm, sparks rushing up and along my arm as he did making Artemis purr in delight as I finally relax fully, giving me the chance I needed to finally cat. With everyone eating and enjoying their meals, the rest of breakfast seems to go by smoothly, everyone chatting and talking with one another while others of the group move to talk with me as well until the annoying voice of my cousin enters the room. "WHY ARE YOU HERE?" screams Diana, as she approaches the table I had been sitting at making

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me

flinch. I had been hoping to stay clear of her today and yet it seemed I was wrong within that department all together. So much for trying, I grunt inside my mind, my eyes still low.

"If you must know, she's eating with us" growls Ares, who rises to defend me. "Is that a problem?"

"Yes it's a problem, she's supposed to be helping the kitchen staff this morning, not lazing about" sneers Diana as she turns her focus on me, her eyes seething in rage as she did.

"Um, excuse me, but who exactly are you?" asks Seth, annoyed. Groaning I knew Diana would go on this big huge tantrum of being the next Luna, like always, as she never missed a beat to tell any and all who dared to ask ever since sinking her claws into my ex-mate. Why? I groan mentally to myself, not understanding her need to torment me as I move to tune. everyone out, unable to process what was currently happening at that particular moment until she mentioned her father, Beta Collin. At the mention of him, I begin to panic, causing me to finally speak once more. "B-But Diana, Uncle already told me that I would be attending tonight's ball".

As soon as those words left my lips I knew she hadn't bought it. Her mind thinking of ways to find every excuse in the book just to get me into trouble with him, like always. "To hell she will" I suddenly hear Eros, who moves to stand as well. "Our mate will do no such thing". At the mention of mate, does confusion slowly take over, as if she hadn't expected me to find my second chance mate or mates in this case.

"Mate?" scoffs Diana, my heart sinking into my chest wondering what she could be scheming as I wondered why she couldn't just be happy for me as she already took my first mate. "She had a mate, but of course he rejected her, after all who could ever want a loser, a packless runt with no place to call home, a freak".

Ahh, and there it was, the famous five letter word. Freak. 'Don't listen to her, she's the freak'

growls Artemis who knew I was falling for her words. "I know but it's hard not to' I murmur, my feelings of being lost and insecure rising.

'Listen, when all else fails, and you find yourself doubting yourself, remember, always trust in your mates' whispers Artemis proudly.

'I will, thanks' I say just as I'm pulled from my thoughts by that of a hand as I'm suddenly tugged from the dining hall, Confused, I turn to see who it was only to see Ares. "Thank you" I whisper, a smile slowly rising.

"For what love?" asks Ares, confused by my words;

"For stepping up to my cousin... she's a bitch and won't ever hesitate for a second if it means

hurting me" I admit, averting my gaze.

"There's no need to thank us, your our mate and under no such circumstances should anyone be allowed to speak to you in such manner, EVER" admits Ares, all the while leading me up a flight of stairs, assuming he was taking me away from prying eyes that had gathered all thanks to my

cousin.

I wonder where he's taking me? I ponder, my eyes watching him as he and the others continue to lead me up flights of stairs. The pack house being built into four sections, each floor holding different areas for different needs as the lower floor or the main floor housed things like the living room, dining hall, ballroom, kitchen and things like that where as the second floor was strictly for the Omega's, a giant dorm room if you would, then past that as you approached the third floor, the third floor was made to be a guest wing where all visiting packs would stay while the fourth floor was for the Alpha and Luna. Now I'm sure you're wondering where the Beta; Gamma and Delta wings are, the truth is they don't have a place within the pack house, as each of them have individual housing within the pack lands.

Just then I can't help but notice that we've reached the guest wing of the pack house causing me to blink, that is until they lead me towards their room which causes me to blush once more. "Umm..where are we going?" I ask, unsure of their intentions.

"To our room, trust me, you'll be safer there than out in the open" replies Ares as he moves to

open the door, opening to what was considered the seating area of the suite as the guest wing was built to hold many different accommodations.

"Please, have a seat" and then like so, Ares moves to lead me inside, the others following close behind as he leads me to a chair. Upon approaching the chair I can't help but feel nervous as Ares gently takes the seat before swiftly pulling me into his lap, his arms wrapped gently around me as Eros moves to sit at our feet. The need to be close to me is weird but soothing.

Blushing, I try to hide my face as I've never been this close before to anyone, Artemis laughing at my expense. "Stop it, you're not helping' I scold her only for her to laugh more. 'Sorry... Okay, I'll stop, I'll behave myself' replies Artemus as she tries to contain her laughter. Growling, my attention still diverted. I don't realize that I now have a captive audience until someone clears their throat. "Love?" calls Eros, as he glances up to me from his spot on the floor.

"Huh? What? Sorry I was scolding Artemis" I say, my blush deeping with each passing second.

"I asked if you were okay?" Eros replies again, amused by my behavior.

"Yes, I'm fine" I answered, giving him a smile as I did.

"Artemis huh? Is that your wolf's name?" asks Kai, drawing my attention towards him as he sits on an adjacent couch from me. "Yes, you are correct" I say. "Cute" smiles Emma. "Thank you" I mutter, feeling flustered.

Then as if trying to be sneaky, I suddenly feel someone nuzzling me causing me to turn only to see that it's Ares once more. Smiling, I move to play with his hair, his raven black hair which causes him to purr.

"Someone's content" I muse, smiling more.

"Yes, most definitely" whispers Ares, his body relaxing at my touch. "I can't begin to tell you just how much we've been searching for you".

"Well, I'm here now" I whisper, unable to deny the feeling of longing as we sit, just enjoying each other's embrace until someone else speaks up. "Luna... why does your family hate you?" asks Emily, who was unsure if it was okay to ask that questiort or not. Sighing, I move to turn my attention towards her, knowing sooner or late my past would have to come to light.

"Honestly, I don't know. I've been asking myself the exact same thing over and over again and still no closer than I was before" I answer truthfully, not really understanding the reasoning behind their hate for me.

"Well, whatever the reason, we'll figure it out together" answers Ares as he moves to gaze into my eyes. Nodding in silent agreement I move to get a bit more comfortable before turning to look at the others, deciding it would be best to know those associated with those of my mates as I would be seeing alot of them going forward.

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