Omega Bound Chapter 163

Ayla

“As you have heard, the trafficking ring is aware that I am free and who freed me. I want to make a promise to you all today, that no matter what, I will stop at nothing to protect every single shifter here with everything I have. I want you to lay your heads down at night knowing that you are in the safest pack around and that safety is something we will defend until our last breath. Thank you all for coming and I hope you enjoy your celebration welcoming Raven into our home.”

The crowd applauds loudly as Thane helps me down and I wave before sitting. I made it through my first official luna speech and it wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be. Thane bends down and whispers that he is proud of me in my ear. His voice is low, and husky and I know that he plans on showing me how proud he is later. I can hardly wait.

“I would like to end the ceremony with one more pack announcement. This one is a celebratory one but also ties together the importance of taking down the ring. Your Alpha and Luna would like to announce that we are expecting our first pup.”

Thane completely shocks me with his surprise announcement and the smile on his face as he turns and shows me those giant dimples is priceless. In this moment he isn’t the alpha of this pack. He is a shifter, announcing to those he loves that he is starting a family with his mate, and you can see how excited he is for it.

The pack members rise to their feet, and the applause along with the whistling continues for what seems like forever. I walk toward Thane and get back on the stool to give him a big sloppy cheek kiss, but he turns his head and plants a very hungry one for all to see. The pack laughs at my stool and my reaction as Thane starts peppering kisses randomly all over my face.

“Now, with all that being said, please join us…” Thane is interrupted as Cyrus hops on stage. My eyes go wide as I can only imagine how this is going to go. I turn to Raven who is shooting daggers in his direction.

“I have an announcement to make.” Cyrus states as he is walking up to the mic.

“As my beta, I would know if you had an announcement to make because you would have needed to run that by me and you did not. Therefore, I know you have no announcement to make.” Thane grits his teeth, and I can see that little vein Cyrus talks about now.

“Oh, here we go..” I hear a shifter state from the now very quiet crowd.

“Relax. I want to give my warm wishes and all that stuff.” Cyrus states as he steps in front of the podium. Thane looks up to the sky with his hands on his hips probably praying that Cyrus doesn’t bury himself in the grave I heard he dug earlier today.

“I as the beta of this pack would first like to congratulate Thane on rescuing his mate and of course scoring someone much hotter than himself.”

The crowd laughs as Thane and I shake our heads in unison.

“I would also like to publicly state the following: 1. Not only is Ayla better looking than Thane, but I also like her better. 2. Raven was rescued from the last raid, and I am forever grateful for that. And C. Raven is my fated mate….”

“Annnnd there it is.” Thane groans and sits down, holding his hand across his forehead, I hear murmuring in the crowd as well and can feel Raven tense net to me.

“We may not have claimed each other yet because we are working on our situationship and my girl has some trust issues from the ring but let me make this crystal-fucking-clear. She is mated. If I catch any shifters touching her, looking at her, or even breathing the same air as her, I will kill each and every one of you and probably slap your mom too.”

“Okay…” Thane stands up heading toward Cyrus.

“Also, no let me finish….let me finish….also I am done with the heat clinic. I don’t do community service anymore. So don’t call me. Don’t try to plan anything with me. Don’t hit me up…I am looking at you Laura..stop it…I am a mated alpha now….”

“I thought you weren’t mated.” I hear from the crowd.

“You shut your damn mouth Larry, you are already on my shit list, but your mom is exempt.” Cyrus informs Larry, who I doubt cares but then I hear “Thank you hunny.” From a she-wolf somewhere that must be Larry’s mother.

“As I was saying..I am mated now. None of you bitches in this pack matter to me and you all can bang each other because my orgy days are over. But just so we are clear, she’s off limits unless you don’t value your….”

Thane wrestles the mic away from Cyrus’ mouth and points for him to sit down, which thankfully he does. I see him wink at his mate from the front row, but Raven seems to be emotionless. I hope the embarrassment isn’t too much for her to handle. My face is red for her.

“Thank you, Cyrus, for your public announcement of murderous intent. Luckily, we are all accustomed to you and will no doubt stay far away from your mate. As I was saying, please join us in one more round of applause and then let’s eat!”

The crowd stands and claps, and we do as well before ushers start dismissing seats to go eat. There is a large feast planned, bonfires will start shortly and there are games amongst live entertainment. This will truly be a fun night.

I turn my head to Raven to see her picking her nails again. “How do you feel about everything you just heard?” I ask her quietly.

“I feel….annoyed and hungry.” Raven shrugs as she leaves the stage and heads toward the food. I see Cyrus following her moments later and he attempts to place his arm around her shoulders and she shoves it away, but he grabs her wrist in time and pulls her to the food. She doesn’t pull it away.

“Are you going to kill him?” I ask Thane as he walks over to me and places a hand on my stomach where the tiny bump has formed, not that you can see it as I purposely wore a loose fitting bouse and dress pants for the occasion thinking I was needing to hide it.

Thane stars laughing as he continues to stare at my stomach through my shirt. “Yep.” Is his only reply.