The first thing I saw when I opened my eyes was my husband.

My husband. I loved how it sounded in my head and I bet it would be a thousand times better to say it out loud.

He looked so peaceful and vulnerable while he slept, it was strange to witness Almec in such a state, even for me. In a way, it hurt me to know that his usual life brought him stress and pain to the point where I was surprised to find an expression different from his characteristic frown.

I raised my head, resting it on my right hand, and with the left one, I caressed his cheek.

Almec smiled in his dreams as I ran my fingers under his cheekbone. I was ready to do whatever it took to free him from his suffering and protect his smile, even if it meant starting a fight with the Moon Guardians Pack members.

I'm going to make you happy, I promised, watching my wedding ring shine against Almec's skin.

I caressed him one last time before dropping my hand to my side.

"Don't stop now, I was enjoying it," Almec told me, opening one of his eyes.

His hoarse voice sent shivers down my spine, no matter when I heard it it always had the same effect on me.

"I thought you were asleep," I replied, running my hand over his chest. "I didn't want to wake you up, you deserve to rest."

"I got enough rest." Almec put his arm around my waist and pulled me towards him, putting me against his chest. "How can I keep sleeping when I have my beautiful wife next to me?"

"Are you sure you're okay? You can sleep a little longer if you want, I'm not going anywhere."

He started to draw circles on my hip with his fingers and kissed the crown of my head. "I slept better than usual, having you by my side does wonders. I haven't felt this refreshed in weeks. What about you? How are you feeling?"

"I couldn't feel better," I told him before kissing his jaw. "I have to confess that I'm glad I don't have to make any more wedding preparations."

"Well, all your efforts were worth it, the wedding was wonderful. I'm sorry for not helping you more, I promise I'll try to make more time for you."

"You make enough time for me," I told him, resting my head against his neck. "When I agreed to marry you, I already knew I was marrying the alpha. I can't ask you to let go of your responsibilities, but I can help you with them, and maybe that way you can gain more free time."

"You're fucking perfect, you know that?" Almec asked me, before kissing my forehead. "I am the luckiest man in the world. I kinda feel bad for the rest because they will never know what it feels like to have the best mate in the universe."

I laughed and hit him lightly on the chest. "You're exaggerating, you're already starting to sound ridiculous."

"Me? Ridiculous?" He raised his right eyebrow. "I'm just telling the truth about my wife."

"What would the rest of the pack think if I told them how their big bad alpha behaves in private?"

"They'll probably think you're crazy." Almec covered my face with kisses, making me laugh. "But seriously, I couldn't have asked for a better mate."

"I say the same about you," I said, grabbing his hand. "I definitely won the jackpot. I have a wonderful husband and I had a perfect wedding."

"Almost perfect," Almec corrected me. His beautiful smile faded in a second. "It would have been perfect if the Moon Guardians members hadn't shown up. I should have been more careful about security."

I squeezed his hand and sat up. The cold of the room made me shiver a little as the padding slid down my torso, leaving my naked body exposed, yet at that moment I only cared about Almec.

"It's not your fault, they would have found a way to crash the wedding anyway. Besides, you can't kick them out if you don't want to start a war with their pack," I told him, cupping his face in my hands.

"That's what they must be looking for, starting a war. How dare they bring Ezra's body in the middle of the wedding? What would have happened if everyone had seen him?"

"What are you doing at the meeting today?" I asked him, dropping one of my hands to his neck and caressing his jawline with the other.

"I'm going to hear what they have to say first. I don't want to start a war with the only pack strong enough to take us on if I can help it. But I still want to get to the bottom of what happened with Ezra."

"Do you think it was an accident like they said?"

Almec grabbed the hand I had on his face and kissed my knuckles. "I'm almost sure they are lying, can you help me confirm my suspicions?"

I sighed. "If you're talking about my powers, I tried last night, the strange thing is that I couldn't enter their minds. It's the first time since I learned to use my powers that something like this has happened to me. I don't like them, it's obvious that they are hiding something."

"Is that even possible? Escaping your powers?" Almec sat down and held my hands in his. "I'm starting to think it's dangerous for you to be around them."

"I'll be fine," I said, smiling. "I have you to protect me."

"What if I fail you?"

I rested my forehead against his, looking directly into his eyes.

"You could never fail me. I trust you, and if you ever make a mistake, we can fix it together," I told him. "I want to go with you to the meeting, I can try to use my powers one more time, maybe yesterday I was too tired. Let me help you."

"Alright. You can come with me but I need you to be by my side at all times," Almec told me, before pecking my lips. "I'll have to get used to this, after all as my luna it's normal for you to be at important meetings."

"You know you can't keep me hidden from all the evil in the world, right?" I asked him, playing with a lock of his hair. "I appreciate the gesture but you already have too much weight with the pack. I can take care of myself."

"I know, but it doesn't mean I stop being afraid. Now that you are my wife I put you in the spotlight of the other alphas."

"I was going to be in the spotlight anyway, the hunters made sure of that." I got up from the bed and stretched my hand towards Almec. "Let's stop wasting time, we have guests waiting for us."

"I really wanted a day of rest," Almec complained, grabbing my hand. "Let's get this over with quickly, so I can have you all to myself again."

"If you're quick enough maybe we can get back before Wina brings Faustina back."

I never saw Almec get out of bed so quickly, causing me to laugh out loud. He surprised me by grabbing me by the waist and pulling me over his shoulder.

"Don't just stand there, every second counts," Almec said, carrying me to the bathroom.

***

I knew something was wrong as soon as we entered the inn.

Wina was running down the stairs with the biggest frown I've ever seen. The usually cheerful and calm innkeeper yelled at one of her waitresses for getting in her way to the kitchen.

"I think we're doomed," I whispered to Almec before grabbing his hand and dragging him towards Wina.

"You're finally here," she told us exasperatedly, handing me a bottle of wine. "They're in room number nine, you guys better make sure you get them out of my inn."

"How is Faustina?" Almec asked him, taking my words out of my mouth.

"She's fine, too distracted in the kitchen to notice what's going on," she told us, pushing us toward the stairs. "Now go up there and fix my problem. I want them out by today."

"How bad can they be?" I asked Almec while we were looking for the room.

"Apparently enough to make Wina angry." He shrugged and pointed to the warriors that were guarding room number nine. "I'll talk to them first, you can confirm what we said today."

Almec said hello to them and knocked on the door three times before someone answered us. And as soon as the young redhead appeared in our sight I understood what the problem was.

"Do you need something?" he asked us, leaning against the threshold, casually fixing his long hair as if he weren't completely naked. His green eyes locked on my hands and a smile appeared on his face. "Oh, the wine I ordered."

Almec stood in front of me, covering the Moon Guardians member. "I am the alpha of this pack. Your leader owes me an explanation."

"Of course, come in," he told us, moving to the side. "I didn't expect you to come so early. I'm Gaspard, it's a shame we couldn't meet last night. Congratulations on the wedding by the way, you have a pretty wife."

"Lead me to your leader," Almec told him, holding my waist firmly.

"Yaros, they're looking for you!" Gaspard shouted. Then he walked up to me, took the wine bottle out of my hand, and winked at me. "Thank you, sweetie."

"Stay away from her," Almec warned him, changing the color of his eyes to red for a second.

"There's no need to be jealous, she's not my type but you are." Gaspard brushed his fingers against Almec's arm before stepping into the bathroom.

"I'm starting to understand Wina." Almec let go of my waist and began to walk through the empty room.

It wasn't long before Yaros came out of the bathroom, after scolding Gaspard judging by the screams I heard.

"Sorry about him, he drank too much wine yesterday. Why don't you guys sit down?" The man said, pointing to one of the two beds.

"Is it just you two?" Almec asked him, sitting next to me.

"The other two are in the next room," Yaros explained. "I'm guessing you're here to finish yesterday's conversation."

"I'm here to find out what happened to Ezra and why you came to my pack," Almec answered, crossing his arms over his chest.

Yaros remained silent for a few minutes as if he were organizing his ideas, and I took advantage of that moment to try to read his thoughts.

Once again I failed.

"Ezra was highly respected in our pack, I can assure you that no one wanted to harm him. He used to participate in our hunting trips and one unfortunate day while the group was returning from the hunt they were attacked by the Hunters Order, only one of ours survived."

"I thought the hunters didn't come near your area, your land is too close to ours," Almec pressed the matter.

"Usually they wouldn't but they were very eager to get close to your wife." Yaros looked towards me. "You surely can't blame us for that. We also suffered the losses and we are grateful that you took care of the hunters. My alpha thinks it is time for a new era and we werewolves must be united, that's why he sent us here to make you a proposal."

"You want to ally yourselves with us?" Almec asked him.

"That's the idea. We are the most powerful packs, you are the only ones capable of starting a war against us and we are tired of fighting. I think we all deserve peace after freeing ourselves from the hunters."

"I don't know your alpha or your people," Almec told him. "It's too early for an alliance."

"But are you going to consider it?" Yaros stood in front of Almec. "It's the best way to avoid new bloodshed."

Almec stood up, looking down at Yaros. "Are you threatening me?"

"Of course not," the man chuckled, shaking his head. "I would never think something like that, but nothing can assure you that your pack will be safe if you don't have an ally. I'm not asking you to accept the proposal right now, but I would at least like you to consider it during our stay in your pack."

"I never said you could stay," Almec told him.

"I figured you weren't going to deny us showing our respects to Ezra after he spent so much time with us." Yaros took a step back. "At least we would like to be at his funeral."

"You can stay until the funeral, but that doesn't mean I'm going to accept your proposal." Almec grabbed my hand and guided me towards the door.

"Of course, I'm still going to insist." Yaros stretched out his hand towards Almec but he ignored him. "See you soon, I guess."

Almec left the room but I stayed a minute longer.

"It was nice meeting you," I told Yaros, extending my hand.

"Likewise," he replied, accepting the handshake.

"What was that?" Almec asked me as soon as we left the room. Clearly angry at my attitude.

"A test," I replied. "Not only is he immune to my mind-reading powers, I can't control his emotions either."