The Hybrid Mate

Chapter Twenty Three

Liam's POV

After me and my beloved parted, I made my way to my room. I couldn't remember the numbers she gave for the help so I pressed '2' and got a male. I asked him to help me get in contact with someone from the design team that was designated to help with our outfits for the night. He sent someone right away. I gave them my request of wanting an outfit to match my mate's. Cheesy, I know, but chicks love couples outfits. After about 30 minutes a whole team of people showed up, three males and two females. They brought in a small rack of suits for me to choose from and took my measurements. Everything had a pink theme. Of course she would choose something pink. And a hot pink, at that. I've never worn pink in my life but the saying goes, 'Real Men Wear Pink.' So I picked the suit with the most black to combat the girly color and keep as much of my masculinity as I could. After making my choices for the outfit, the team left in a hurry, no doubt going to tailor the suit. After a quick shower I threw on some shorts and a t-shirt and laid across the bed staring at the ceiling wondering what tonight would bring. I decided not to overthink and checked my phone for emails. My alphas had sent me updates that weren't of particular importance and I made a few calls to get things squared away for the arrival of their new Luna. There was a lot of excitement about my announcement of finding my mate. Soon my phone was ringing nonstop. I answered for those who were important but ended up setting my phone to call-forwarding. It was frustrating the hell out of me.

It was around 7:30 by the time I switched my phone completely off. I got a knock on the door and it was the designer from before. I think he said his name was Mark or Marco or some shit. But he came with a lady with a big bag that I soon found out was hair products. She sat me at the desk and draped me in a cape. She evaluated my head and asked what I would like done. My hair was a little frizzy so I suggested a quick trim and to keep my hair the way it was. I don't like change. She obliged and did her business. When we were done, she left and I noticed the suit bag on the bed and went to change. I was ready in record time. They made the experience super easy in such a short amount of time. Alpha Artemis is very efficient. Like Tia said, he's thorough which I find endearing.

I made my way down the stairs and saw a young woman. I asked her to have Tia meet me in the foyer. After close to five minutes I heard the clacking of heels, I turned around to see Tia approaching and she was fucking gorgeous. My heartbeat immediately picked up. I swallowed hard as I realized how much I was practically drooling over her. I opened my arm and turned to ready myself for my mate. She came and linked herself to me and we walked to our destination. After slowing my heart rate I finally spoke:

"You look absolutely breathtaking."

She thanked me with a smile and said I didn't look too bad myself. I couldn't form any more words so we walked in a comfortable silence the rest of the way. Upon arrival, the guards opened the set of doors and bowed in respect. I saw servers walking with champagne and needed a good drink to calm my nerves so I asked if Tia would like something as well. She said she'd prefer a cocktail and led me to a separate room with bars adorned around the place. She chose the furthest one because it had less people. She's such an introvert. She ordered some fruity ass drink and I asked for something heavier with an extra shot of whiskey and made it a double. Shit, why are my nerves always on end when I'm around her? This woman does unexplicable things to me. She asked me if I thought I was getting lucky tonight, I responded from my heart and told her I was already lucky...lucky to have found her. She fussed about my teasing and made me laugh. We collected our drinks and were making our way out of the room when we ran into Tyler and her brother. He spoke and called me his brother-in-law. I almost freaking blushed and Tia seemed completely unphased. I got stuck in my thoughts about her being my wife and all of this happily ever after bullshit going through my brain as I followed behind her to a backstage area. I noticed an older couple and they turned to us. The female came rushing in for a hug. I was wondering what the fuck was going on until Tia called her mom. Oh shit, I'm meeting the parents tonight?

When she said her full, name I knew she was in trouble. I didn't know her middle name was Terra so I asked in confirmation. Her mom said her name means 'Goddess of the Earth.' I fucking love that! My name means 'strong willed warrior of the heavens,' Liam Nathaniel. She told her mom about all of the craziness that's happened in the last 24 hours so she apologized for fussing and brought her in for another hug. This is a really touchy-feely family, my mom was like that. Always huggy but she gave the best hugs. Tia's dad wasn't much of a talker and we would just glance at each other in humor at the two women. We made our way to a table just off of the stage and began consuming our drinks as her mom questioned everything about me and my kingdom. I answered them all, of course. I know she wanted to know who her daughter was mated to.

After a while, Alpha Artemis took the stage. He gave a short speech about what he expected from his pack, which I strongly agreed with. And then announced our mateship. I was gushing with pride and turned to Tia who was a bundle of nerves. I took her hand in mine and soothed her with small circles to the back of her hand. It seems to have worked and she exhaled a deep breath. Alpha Artemis asked everyone to welcome 'Luna Tia Hale, the future Queen of Wolves.' I was ecstatic to hear her rightful title but she started to cry. Her emotions are so confusing sometimes. She looked around the room and turned back to me. I was gushing with happiness and pride and it made her smile. I guess these were tears of happiness. Why does she cry with all of her emotions? I stood and pulled her up with me. I wiped away her tears and gave her an affectionate kiss. I turned so that we could both face the crowd and we gave a bow of appreciation. Wolves howled in celebration and clapped until the music started back. Loads of people came to give their congratulations and have small talk, which is typical in this type of occasion. I stood in place, chatted and clicked glasses with numerous pack members. Most of them embellished their skills to see if I would show interest in recruiting them into my packs. I just smiled and let them come and go in passing. After a while, I felt Tia tug at the hem of my jacket. I excused us from the group and asked what was wrong. She was slurring her words and hiccuped in between her sentences. She was wasted. I rubbed her back as she fell into me and said she was going to sleep 'right here, right now' and that was the last thing she said.

I picked her up in a bridal style hold and carried her out of the venue. She had a few stares and giggles as people gushed about how I was caring for my mate. I made my way up the stairs of the villa and saw the girl from earlier. I asked her to help me get Tia in some comfy clothes because I didn't want to violate her. She understood and I carried her to my room. She went to the other side of the villa and came back with one of Tia's nightgowns. I stepped outside to give them privacy and when she came out she nodded with a smile and left. I walked back in to see my drunk, sleeping mate. She was so beautiful and perfect. I got myself undressed and climbed into bed with her. Her steady breaths had the lightest snore, it was actually soothing. I covered us both, turned off the lamp, and fell asleep to her beautiful rhythm.