Charlie's POV

Presley held onto me that night; I had spent a majority of the evening scenting everything inside of his apartment. He didn't interrupt me, knowing that it was vital to me to claim the area as mine, just as it was his. I was a nervous wreck, today was too much for my senses, and it was almost as if he could tell. Once I had finished rubbing my scent into everything in the apartment, he pulled me to his chest, letting me breathe in his calming pheromones.

Presley kissed the top of my forehead and rubbed his hand on my shoulder; our limbs entwined with one another, and my head rested on his chest. His steady breathing and the thrumming of his heart lulled me to sleep.

My mate getting out of bed early in the morning is what woke me up. My eyes shot open, trying to grasp onto the fabric of his shirt.

"I've gotta do my rounds, angel." He grabbed onto my hand, making me release his shirt, giving me a gentle smile. I whined at him, pulling his arm, trying to get him back into bed with me. "I'll be back in a little bit." Presley pulled his hand from my grasp. "I'll be back when the sun rises. We'll have breakfast together? Hmm?" He spoke to me as if I knew a word he was saying to me.

I whined in response, sitting up, letting the covers fall into my lap. "Stay, please?" I pleaded with my eyes.

"I'll be back in a little bit." He sat down on the bed, cupping my face in his hand. I leaned into his touch and nodded my head.

I knew this wouldn't be the first morning, nor the last. He was the Alpha of the pack, and he needed to make sure we were safe at all times. But it didn't mean it didn't hurt or that it didn't worry me that he was going out there. Presley pressed his lips to mine. His stubble tickled the top of my lips, making me shiver.

He pressed his forehead to mine, his green orbs meeting mine. "Now rest, I'll be back."

When he left, the apartment filled with silence. My lips trembled, and I wanted to let out a cry. I pulled the duvet up to my face, inhaling the scent of Presley that still lingered. Our bond was still too new and too fragile for us to be apart for too long. But I knew he had to catch up and do his regular duties as the pack's alpha.

I lay in the bed for a bit longer, unable to fall back asleep. When the sun began to peek above the horizon, I decided to get out of bed and start getting ready for the day. I flicked on the light to the bathroom, cringing at the bright white light. I went to the restroom and washed my hands and face. My hair was a mess; I ran my fingers through my white locks, trying to tame it and make myself look presentable.

Once I was ready, I wandered into the kitchen, deciding to make breakfast for Presley and me. Unfortunately, I came up short when I looked through the cabinets and the fridge. I rolled my eyes. It didn't shock me that Presley didn't have food in his apartment. He probably ate with the pack or at his family's house. He probably didn't even know how to cook other than instant ramen in the microwave. I chuckled at the thought, closing the fridge that only had a beer and expired condiments.

I decided to get some items from the packhouse's kitchen. My stomach growled, ready for some form of substance to be in my body. I walked down the several flights of stairs, passing pack members who only gave me a half-hearted smile or just ignored my existence altogether. I knew many people probably didn't even know who my mate was, as I'd only been there for a day, and he planned on introducing me to his pack- our pack- at the next full moon ceremony.

Although I didn't know where everything was inside the monstrosity of a packhouse, I was able to find the cafeteria with ease. Pack members were eating breakfast with their families and friends; the low roar of people talking and laughing filled the air. The ambiance in the room almost made me feel at home, making me miss home. I was only gone one day, and I missed eating with my pack, with my mama and papa.

I bit down on my lip and started walking through the cafeteria, and slipped into one of the doors to the kitchen. Other omegas and submissive wolves were working together to clean up the mess they had made while cooking breakfast for the pack.

"What are you doing back here? Go back into the dining area." Someone shooed me. I furrowed my brows.

"I was wondering if I could get some ingredients?" I tilted my head, knowing probably not one of them spoke my native language.

The person who had tried to get me out of the kitchen area furrowed her brows and looked back toward her coworkers as if they knew what I had said. "What?" She turned her head back to me.

I hummed, thinking of the main word I needed to say. "Ingredient?" I asked.

"We don't just give out ingredients willy nilly kid. There's plenty of food out there for you to choose from." Her eyes flicked from my eyes down to my neck. "Maybe talk to your mate about getting their own things."

With the way her tone was, I let my shoulders sag, knowing I was being told no. I pursed my lips and walked back out into the dining area. I decided to grab a cup of coffee versus eating without Presley. Everything else seemed a little too hearty to me, but it didn't shock me, seeing as there were many dominant wolves eating plate fulls of meat and eggs. That brought me back to wonder, what did Presley even like to eat? Was he picky? Or did he scarf down all of his food like most dominant wolves? I wondered when I talked to August if he would tell me more about my mate.

Persephone's hair stuck out among the crowd. I clasped my hands tightly around my paper cup of coffee. The liquid inside warmed my hands. I took in a deep breath, making my way toward the pack's beta. She was sitting next to a petite woman with curly black hair. She had glasses on, and her makeup was perfectly done. Adam, Presley's brother, sat next to his mate that I had met the night prior. Mateo sat at the table with an empty seat next to him, as if he were expecting me.

"Oh, Charlie, over here." Persephone smiled, waving her hand over to the table they sat at. I gave her a gentle smile and nodded, quickening my pace toward them.

I sat down, placing my cup of coffee on the table.

"Are you not going to eat?" Persephone asked me, wrapping her arm around my shoulders.

"She asked you if you're going to eat?" Mateo translated for me.

"I'm waiting on Presley." I nodded. "I wanted to make us breakfast, but the ladies in the kitchen wouldn't let me get ingredients." I pouted.

Mateo repeated what I said in English.

"Well, hopefully, he gets done soon. He decided to take over the warrior training this morning. Knowing him, he's probably trying to kill our warriors. We might've gone a little easy on them while he was gone." Persephone chuckled. "By the way, this lovely woman right here is my mate, Sophia." She pointed to her mate.

"It's nice to meet you." I nodded. They were an adorable couple.

"Likewise." Sophia grinned at me.

---

After a while of us chatting, Presley's scent entered the cafeteria, bringing my focus away from his entourage and solely onto him. He looked around the room, trying to locate me. When his eyes met mine across the room, his lips turned upwards into a smile, making me return the gesture.

He walked up to the table and stood behind me, hugging me from behind. "Nice of you to join us." Adam quipped.

"Well, there was training this morning, and you guys didn't make everyone do their full sets the entire time I was gone, so people were finishing slower than usual."

"Way to swing that shit back around on us," Persephone mumbled under her breath, rolling her eyes.

"I mean, there's a reason for a routine, guys." Presley patted my shoulders, rubbing them.

"You'll know exactly why we did it now that your mate is here," Adam said, quirking his eyebrow.

"We'll see about that." Presley huffed. He tilted my head up to look at him. "Have you already eaten?"

"He was waiting on you," Persephone answered for me. "I dunno. Wanna make a bet Adam? I think he'll end up cutting morning practices in half before the end of the week."

"I give it one more day." Adam pulled out his wallet. "Somehow, I knew my brother would have a soft spot for his mate when he found them."

"I'm right here. Charlie's right here too. You're kidding me, right?" Presley scowled at his Beta and Delta.

"Nope, we know you're weak for Charlie; honestly, I don't blame you, boss. He's quite precious." Persephone reached across the table, pinching my cheek. Mateo tried to keep me included in the conversation. His eyes would flicker up and down at my mate and me, observing the two of us. I fidgeted in my seat, placing one of my hands on his.

"I was going to make us something to eat, but you really didn't have much in your apartment...." I finally spoke to him.

His cheeks reddened when Mateo was finished repeating what I said in English for him. "Oh shit, I'm sorry about that." He apologized. "We'll go shopping probably sometime next week when I have free time."

I frowned, "A week?"

"I'm sorry, Angel, I'm pretty booked this week. I'll be busy well into the evening every night." He gave me a sorrowful look.

"Oh Presley, shut up, one of us can cover for you." Adam furrowed his brows.

"It's the paperwork I need to catch up on, though. I also have to submit the audit report to the supernatural council before our next full moon ceremony." Presley sighed, pulling an empty chair up to the table to sit beside me.

"I could take him with me?" Mateo put his hand up. "It probably would be a good place for us to do a lesson?"

"Would you be willing to do that?" Presley questioned.

"Sure, I would just like dinner as payment." Mateo smiled at me, repeating himself in Italian.

"I could do that!" I smiled. "That seems fair enough."

"Alright, then it's settled. We'll go this afternoon after your first lesson." I nodded in response.

---

Mateo spent most of the afternoon for our first lesson, teaching me the English alphabet and simple words to begin speaking my mate's native language. Some of the words he taught me were hard to pronounce with my accent. Mateo would just chuckle and correct me. He would then reassure me once I knew how to speak English fluently, my accent wouldn't butcher some words. Mateo mentioned that it was all a learning curve, and it would take time to learn everything. He went over some problematic words with me that were spelled similarly but were pronounced differently, and some that sounded the same but had a different meaning.

Through, throw... There, they're, their... Your, you're... and many others. I knew learning English would be hard to learn. But whoever invented the English language could suck it.

"So tell me a little more about yourself?" Mateo rested his head on the palms of his hands.

"Like what?" I raised a brow.

"Like, what are your interests? What do you normally do for fun?" He shrugged nonchalantly.

"Why are you asking? Aren't you supposed to just be teaching me?"

"Well, I am, but sometimes it's nice to know who I'm teaching. You're technically my student, after all, and depending on how quickly you learn, I'm probably going to be at your side translating for you upwards of a year. So wouldn't it be nice to know just a little bit about me?" He pursed his lips.

"What do you want to know first." I copied his posture, resting my head on my palms.

"Well, what do you like to do for fun?"

"I can play the piano really well; I love to read," I hummed in thought. "I also really love watching the pack pups. It makes me feel closer to the families in the pack."

"I'm sure you'll be doing plenty of that now. When you take over as luna, you'll be blessing the pups with fortune and love of the pack."

"I've done that before! When my brother lost his mate, our luna, my mom and I took over the luna role of the pack to help him out and keep our pack afloat. Nothing is worse than the fear of the Alpha of your pack going rogue or dying."

"It happened in my old pack. The alpha went rogue, killed his mate and their newborn pup. It was hard to see. I still have nightmares about it." He shivered.

"Oh, goddess." I put my hand over my mouth.

"Yeah, I don't talk about it often. The only people who know about where I came from are Alpha Presley and Luna August, and now you, Luna Charlie." He gave me a solemn smile.

"Is that why your eyes look kind of red?" I asked.

"I was almost rogue when Alpha Presley found me in the woods outside his borders. I would do anything to repay the debt for him taking me into his pack." I nodded my head.

"I'm glad he found you then. I have you as my teacher because of my mate's kindness."

"I'm honored." He reached across the desk, grabbing onto one of my hands. He brought it up to his lips and gently pressed a kiss to my knuckles. "To help such a beautiful Luna."

My face heated up, and I nodded my head. "Thank you." I pulled my hand pack, placing them both on my lap. 

A/N: 

*leans back in chair*

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