Fated Mates

Chapter 2-Unexpected Visitors

I went inside the club house, and it already looked amazing. A lush tree canopy created a walkway from the door, large lanterns hung about the wooden beams that ran across the elevated ceilings, and string lights flowed down, creating a curtin My mom was sitting working on a eucalyptus garland at the table.
"This looks incredible," I said, looking around the room catching her attention. She grinned ear to ear.
"You think?" She said proudly, glancing around and smiling at her job well done.
"Uh, yes, haha. Did I miss something? Are we having the moon goddess herself joining us this full moon?" I said with a raised brow. My mom shrugged. "I was in the zone....annnnnd may have wanted this full moon to be particularly special....just in case," my mom smiled, and I immediately knew. She did it for me. I smiled ear to ear, and for the moment, my nerves were put at ease. Mom had that effect.
"Raine dear, come to help us with the finishing touches?" Luna Aeralia walked in smiling, carrying a box of various floral picks and sprays. Luna Aeralia is naturally beautiful and incredibly kind. She has dark, long, straight hair that flows to her hips and the greenest emerald eyes as if they reflect the soul of the forest. Gage has her eyes, but he has the Alphas brown muddy hair and strong jaw structure.
"Absolutely, Luna," I said enthusiastically. We spent the next hour talking and decorating. Mom told Luna about my recent "changes" and how she believes my shift is coming. Luna told me of her first shift and about how painful it will be, but how whole I will feel after it is done. "Finding your wolf is one of the most sacred experiences we wolves have. As if you found a piece of yourself you never knew you needed." She said, holding her hand to her heart, placing her other hand on my shoulder. Luna is always full of wisdom and understanding. She genuinely cared about the worries of others in the pack and always somehow knew exactly what to say. We were starting to finish wrapping up decorating, and it wasn't long before Gage came and found me. He greeted our mothers before turning to me.
"The lake?" He said, looking at me.
Anytime Gage and I needed to vent or talk, we'd say lake and go out onto the deck, and do just that. I looked around at the boxes that needed to be put away.
"Go on, we got it from here, dear," Luna Aeralia said with a knowing smile.
My mom nodded in agreement, shooing her hand at us.
We went out the back french doors that led to the deck and walked alongside before reaching the end of the deck and plopped ourselves down, legs dangling and our feet hovering over the water.
"David said you'd be dead," I joked.
He smiled halfway and stared out into the water, and I could see he was in deep thought.
"Everything okay?" I pushed my hair behind my ear, looking at him as his eyes remained focused his mouth parted slightly as if he was going to speak, but he didn't.
"Is it your dad?...You forgot Gage it's not the end of-"
"Do you ever think about us?" He cut me off mid sentence and turned his focused stare to me.
I felt my cheeks turn red as the question processed in my mind and looked down toward the water.
"Of course I've thought about us Gage." I practically whispered.
"And?" He asked.
"What is there to say? We aren't mates. Gage, you know this." I felt a heaviness start to grow in my chest.
"What if we changed that? If we could...would you?" He reached his hand out and gently gripped my chin to face him as his eyes softened when my eyes met his. "Would you Raine?" He repeated.
"I don't know, Gage. I guess I haven't really thought that would be possible." I said staring into his emerald eyes.
"We do have a choice. We can choose each other as mates Raine." He shifted, turning his body to face mine.
"And what about our true mates, Gage? The moon goddess chose mates for us. You're willing to throw that away? What if I'm not enough? We'd be going against the fates." I watched as his eyes studied my face, and he dropped his hand from my chin and clapsed it over my hand.
" I don't care, Raine. I love you. I always have. It could work. I know it could." His voice sounded sincere, and I knew he had given this more thought beyond today.
"How Gage?" I felt the heaviness in my chest grow.
"We will figure it out, Raine. We will plan. Look, I have a cousin who is an Alpha in a Northern pack he has been dating his girlfriend a while now, and he is choosing her as his Luna, they haven't had a ceremony yet but it's being arranged. Going back years and years, there are more wolves who have chosen their own mates than you'd think. We wouldn't be the first Raine and-" he was cut off mid sentence by Conan running up behind us.
"Gage, we have a breach in the south perimeter."
Gage jumped to his feet, turning his attention to Conan. "Rogues," Conan muttered, and Gage growled. He turned and looked at me, and I nodded. They both turned and ran to the south end of the pack, and I stayed at the lake a little while longer looking out at the water. The sun was starting to set and casted beautiful orange and purple hues across the sky, which the lake reflected.
"Moon Goddess, what do I do?" I pleaded toward the sky.