Mating the Female Alpha
Chapter 98 – Jessie’s Ceremony

Bernice's POV

I could already hear the music from the ceremony booming through the city. This wasn't a place to take a baby. I turned to Caleb and handed him my pup. "Can you take him to the palace?" I asked. "I need to find Landry and congratulate Jessie, and then we will come home."

"Of course,” Caleb said with a fond smile as he gladly took my pup from me. "See you soon," he said, turning away and heading in the direction of the palace.

I smiled fondly as I watched him walk away. After a moment, I turned back in the direction of the ceremony and went toward the music.

I had to admit that it was incredibly overwhelming. There was no way I would ever get used to this many people in one place; there had to be hundreds of people at the ceremony. Not many noticed me as I shoved my way through them. A couple of them gasped as they got a glimpse of my face, and I heard some murmurs that I was Landry's Omega.

I certainly didn't like being called Landry's anything. I wasn't his property. But I ignored the murmurs and continued in the direction Julia seemed to be tugging me toward. She was eager to see Landry and she picked up his scent quickly. In the distance I could see Jessie on the stage; she was smiling fondly as she stared at the giant golden trophy that had her name engraved on it. The trophy matched the shimmering golden dress that I could tell was personally designed for her. She wore her hair down in large curly ringlets and pulled back with a golden headband that matched her dress.

She was easily the most beautiful she-wolf here, which was exactly why she was getting this reward. I wanted to see her; I couldn't wait to see her. But I had to wait until she was able to speak to others.

She glanced around the crowd all danced and cheered for her. She chuckled and gave the crowd a quick wave; she was used to this type of attention, and I admired her for that.

A long time ago, I would have thought she-wolves like Jessie were conceited and fake. But Jessie was far from either. I was glad to be able to call her my friend.

I couldn't smile but smile fondly at her, even though she couldn't seem through the hundreds of people in the crowd. I was definitely underdressed for this event. Everybody around me wore such elegant clothing and I was wearing an old shirt and jeans; my shirt had a little spit up on it. I took my hair out of my pony to make it look a little decent, but I certainly didn't live up to anyone else.

"Bernice..." Julia breathed. "Our mate... he's here."

My entire body froze at her words, our mate? I didn't have a mate. How could that have been possible?

"I can sense him... he's here..." she said again.

It must have been because of the cure; one of the side effects of the medication that turned me into an Alpha was that I couldn't sense my mate. But now that we were cured, I'm guessing we can sense. him. Has my mate seriously been here this entire time?

My heart weighed heavily in my chest; Landry's scent grew stronger and as soon as I heard Julia's gasp, I turned to face him.

Landry stood through the crowd; his eyes were already locked on mine. Tears instantly welled up in my eyes; I didn't expect to have such a reaction. I guess I missed him way more than I could put into words because tears were streaming down my face at a rapid pace. I could hardly contain myself.

My lips quivered and I had to bite onto them to keep from sobbing in front of everybody. Not that anybody was paying attention to me; all their eyes were locked on the beautiful Jessie who was about to take her reward.

"Our mate..." Julia breathed as she took in Landry's appearance.

Landry was our mate?

Of course, he was our mate. I was foolish to think overwise; this is why she felt drawn to him and loved being around him. Because he was our mate.

My legs remained unmoving; my entire body was frozen. He was the one who ran to me, opening his arms and wrapping me into his warm embrace. At that moment, I broke down. I couldn't stop the tears and I couldn't stop the sobbing. I cried into him, allowing my entire body to tremble against him.

I was so glad to be with him again; I couldn't get enough of him. Being away from him for 8 months destroyed me.

"My mate..." he whispered against my ear, kissing the side of my face gently. "I finally have you back."

"I missed you so much," I whispered to him.

"You're safe..."

"I had our pup..." I said, peering up at him with misty eyes.

"I can't wait to meet him," he breathed; he leaned down and gently pressed his lips against mine, sending my heart into turmoil.

"Congratulations Princess Jessie for winning this reward!" The announcer said, turning our attentions to the stage.

Jessie, with tears in her eyes, accept the reward as the announcer bowed to her. She turned to the crowd, taking the podium, and waved to the cheering fans.

"Thank you so much," she breathed as tears continued to fill her eyes. "I am so honored to be given such an incredible reward. I love all of you... and..." her voice trailed off as soon as her eyes landed on me.

She froze momentarily and I couldn't help the proud smile on my face; she looked utterly confused for only a second before she gushed into a huge, toothy smile.

"Oh, my goddess..." she breathed; she could no longer contain the tears in her eyes; they were spraying across her beautiful features. Cameras captured this moment right away. "Thank you again," she said into the mic, quickly, before rushing off the stage.

I couldn't help but laugh as she shoved her way through the crowd. The paparazzi were attempting to capture more pictures and ask her questions and the crowd was also eager to hear from their loving princess, but she ignored them all. She was rushing toward me with tears falling out of her eyes at a rapid speed.

"Bernice..." she gasped as she wrapped her arms around me tightly, pulling me out of Landry's embrace and into her own. "You're back!"

"Oh, Jessie. I'm so happy for you," I breathed, barely holding in my own tears.

"I can't believe you made it," she cried. "I'm so glad you are here. We have so much to catch up on!"

"Can it wait till later?" Landry asked, interrupting us. "I want to take Bernice somewhere."

"Of course," Jessie chuckled. "I must finish taking pictures with my fans. Will you be at Landru's palace later?"

"Yes," I answer. "And you can meet your nephew."

She gasped at my words and her smile widening.

"I can't wait," she breathed.

I pulled away from her and stepped into Landry's waiting arms. He draped an arm around my shoulder before pulling me away from the curious and eager crowd. As we made our way away from the ceremony it was getting less overwhelming.

I was glad to be getting away. Though, I wasn't sure where we were going. He didn't want to return to the palace just yet, despite our son being there.

I followed him, with his hand entwining through mine, toward a familiar area in the city. The city was quiet, which was odd because it was usually so lifelike. But I supposed that was because everybody was at the ceremony. We went through the gates of the memorial park, the same park he took me to on our first date where he showed me his father's statue.

We stood at his father's statue for a short while, soaking under the rays of the moon. I missed this city, and I was so glad to be back.

Landry kept his hold on my hand as we gazed up at his father's stone statue. It was certainly a glorious sight. But I wasn't sure why he wanted to come here. He turned to face me, his eyes were serious and yet showed so much love. My wolf was going crazy inside of me.

"You know... I think I always knew you were my mate," he said with a fond smile.

"You did?" I was surprised by this; I would have never even guessed that he was my mate.

He nodded once.

"There was always something about you that I was drawn to. I never knew what it was until now. But now that I know for certain, I don't want to waste any more time..."

"What are you saying?" I asked, raising my brows.

"I'm saying, I want to make you my Luna, Bernice. I'm asking you to marry me."