4.

During our lunch time, Zara kindly took it upon herself to patiently explain everything to Carrie -now that we were all finally on the same page- starting with the hierarchy of a werewolf pack before anything else as she was about to be part of one soon enough anyways.

So she started with the Alpha, a.k.a her own mate, continuing with the Beta and Delta and then finishing with the warriors and omegas before finally moving on to the lone wolves. Me.

She told her the basics of what a lone wolf was; that we were exactly that, loner wolves having made the choice of living a life in solitude, away from pack grounds or rules and free to build their own families.

We were still bound by the universal laws though; of keeping away from any claimed territory and the vow of secrecy from the human world, generally forced to adopt a neutral stance if we somehow found ourselves tangled in a dispute between packs.

"Wow, that's actually cool. So you don't have to abide by anyone's rules. You can have a normal life, almost like humans," Carrie said with a hint of wonder from right next to me, making me express a saddened smile.

If only.

"Well, we do have to abide by the king's rules though. The king is actually the king of all wolves, lone wolves or not," I quietly explained whilst grabbing myself some food and putting it on my tray.

"Which is gonna be Nathan now?" She curiously asked as she piled up some food on her tray.

"He has to claim you in front of the pack and marry you first. A king cannot rule by himself," Zara answered with blunt seriousness, earning herself a deflated look from Carrie.

"But why me? Why does it specifically have to be me?" She whined out loud with annoyance, sounding rather like a stubborn child.

"Because you're his mate. You're the rightful Luna to the pack,"

"Am I though?" She questioned with a raised brow as she looked at Zara.

Wow. She really had a hard time trying to accept and digest all this.

"Yes, you are. We can feel it through the bond. Ever since he mated you," Zara explained to her as we finished getting ourselves food, carrying our full trays as we headed to the wooden tables scattered outside. It was nice and sunny today. Perfect for having our lunch outdoors.

"Wait, bond? What bond? You guys have that bond thingy too?" She suddenly asked with evident surprise at the same time as my gaze fell on the two males casually sitting several tables away, my heart jumping as I noticed that they were already looking in our direction.

"The pack is connected to their leaders through a special bond that helps them in so many ways. It helps them communicate, especially when in wolf form,"

A nice and candid smile tugged at David's lips as our gazes met, feeling myself blushing a little as I immediately remembered what he'd told me this morning.

"You look very cute today..."

Did I though? It didn't seem like it to me. I was only wearing my usual pair of denim shorts and a random t-shirt. Nothing special about that.

"Does that mean that you can talk in my head like he did?" I couldn't help but let out a surprised and amused giggle at the sound of Carrie's words interrupting my thoughts, noticing the way David's dark brown brow rose with curiosity as his gaze shifted between us.

They were eavesdropping on our conversation.

"You have to accept us first, for that to happen," Zara said as she placed her tray on a random table and sat down, coaxing us to do the same.

I averted my gaze to Carrie, noticing that subtle look of guilt creasing her features as she sat down, casting her gaze downwards.

Maybe she hasn't accepted them yet but she was definitely starting to care for them. That was pretty much obvious.

"It's okay, we understand that you're scared and overwhelmed. Anyone of us would be in your situation," Zara immediately said after having noticed that changed look on her face, making her raise her gaze to look back at her.

Zara offered her a kind smile, earning herself one in return from Carrie, all three of us falling into a comfortable silence as we started to eat some of the food from our trays.

My gaze however kept darting to that table where the Alpha and Beta sat, stealthily observing the way they kept glancing in our direction as they seemed to be engaged into a heated conversation.

Oh how I miss my super-hearing, I thought with dejection, pouting like a child as I threw the piece of fruit I'd earlier picked up back on the plate, blowing out a tired sigh.

You are so unbelievably stubborn, I mentally whined to myself as I wasn't even sure that my wolf could hear me anymore. But I had to keep on trying. I couldn't just give up on her. I had to keep trying to get her back out.

Maybe Care could try to help me, now that she knows our secret, I suddenly realized, letting that tiny and hopeful smile spread over my lips as I shifted my gaze back to Care. I was going to try. I just needed to ask her.

My gaze casually darted somewhere past her as I heard those giggles, noticing Dre approaching our table with Estefany and Brie (the other two warriors from the future king's pack) giving us a small wave and a smile before she ran and plopped her butt next to her sister, throwing her arms around her as she gave her a tight hug.

"Okay, okay, you can go away now you little ninny," Carrie teasingly mumbled, earning herself a laugh in reply before Dre let go, choosing to go and sit with her mate which happened to be Estefany, laying themselves on the lush and trimmed grass somewhere not too far away from our table, Dre using Estefany's thigh as a pillow as they bathed in the sun, smiling like two little lovebirds.

I felt happy for Dre. I really did. Even though her life had been pretty much fucked the moment Estefany found out that she was her mate -since she was only human and she obviously didn't know what being a wolf's mate meant for her; hell, she still didn't even know that her girlfriend was a werewolf yet as Estefany kept hesitating to tell her the truth for some reason- I still rooted for them. They seemed so genuinely happy together. And in love. It was so sweet to watch. Even though Andrea was completely clueless about her lover's true nature, they seemed so comfortable with each other, and incredibly infatuated.

They looked like the perfect epitome of a newly mated couple.

"Where's Kayla?" I heard Carrie suddenly ask from right next to me, followed by Zara's rather bored but amusing reply,

"Oh, she's probably fucking Christian in a broom closet somewhere,"

I let out a small and bashful laugh, remembering our conversation earlier this morning, including the part where she declared that she was going to have some more fun with him at lunch time.

"Yeah, they're kind of an item now," Zara confirmed with a shrug upon noticing Carrie's surprised reaction, my heart though suddenly jumping again as I noticed Beta David from my peripheral vision, casually approaching our table.

Both warriors immediately bared their pearly white teeth in response at the sudden oncoming threat, softly growling with warning as they evidently felt the pressing need to protect their Luna.

But she failed to understand what was going on, her frightened expression giving her away so I grabbed her hand into a comforting way, my gaze pointedly shifting to her other side as soon as she looked at me.

Beta David was standing just a few inches away from our table now, rolling his beautiful eyes in annoyance even though his palms were already raised into a mock surrendering manner.

I thickly swallowed, struggling to avert my traitorous eyes as they once again fell on the outline of his perfectly sculptured torso from underneath that flimsy shirt.

Damn. Why the hell couldn't I stop ogling him already? This has been constantly happening for some reason, ever since I firstly laid eyes on him! I couldn't seem to look away, even though he was basically scaring the living crap out of me.

"At ease, warriors. You know I'm not here to hurt your Luna," He calmly said, the warriors though still warily watching him as he took a seat next to Carrie, offering her that heart-stealing smile of his.

"Why are they acting like this?" She asked, still visibly freaked-out as she glanced between them.

"You're the luna, they feel the need to protect you now. It's in their instincts," He explained with a tone that made me almost sigh, my insides lightly tingling every time I dared lay my gaze on his handsome face.

Goddess... Pack wolf or not, he was just too fucking cute for his own good.

This dude needs to stop being so freaking charming before I lose my head completely.

"You might bear his pup now, we have to protect you from other males, him included. The pup needs to be safe, and our queen,"

I mildly cringed with sudden outrage and second-hand embarrassment upon hearing Zara's way too bold words, gaping as I watched both warriors cross an arm over their chests and bow their heads at their future queen.

Holy shit. Why did she have to say that? And out loud nonetheless!

"Wait, pup? What's a pup? What do you mean pup?"

Holy Goddess, Carrie, no!

I could feel my own face heating up so furiously as I watched David's clean-shaven cheeks bloom with colour, obviously feeling so uncomfortable himself as he rather shyly uttered out,

"It's what we call babies..."

Oh my Goddess, it's out there. It's out there!

I was mentally squirming from the sheer mortification, barely keeping myself from bolting away as I watched poor Care nervously shift her widened gaze between the three of us.

"I'm not...pregnant, okay? He didn't..." Her voice came out so weak and trembling, abruptly stopping herself as her throat bobbed, looking around herself like a cornered prey.

Shit.

"Excuse me, I think I need some air," She suddenly said and shot up from the bench as it it were on fire, running away before anyone could even try to stop her.

Oh no.

"Care!" I called after her.

"You guys are just cruel," I paused to tell them, the warriors and their Beta, earning their confused looks before I quickly shot up too and ran after her, feeling the overwhelming need to comfort her. I wanted to be there for her and I was going to, whether she allowed me to or not.