The Hybrid’s Second Chance
Chapter 64

Julianna's

POV

After the events of last night, Alex and I decided to have a lazy morning together. We were sitting in the large soaker tub in our bathroom, Alex was behind me and I had my head resting against his chest. "Did you say your mom was coming to visit today?"

"Yeah, I thought it might be nice to have lunch with her and Cornelia. Let them get to know each other."

"I think that's a great idea. I can have something set up for you guys in one of our gardens if you don't want to be here or in the dining hall."

"I'd love that! I think it would be a good idea to have a little privacy for their first official meeting."

"What time were you thinking?" He asked.

"My mom's coming around 12:30, so maybe 1:00 would be good?"

"Absolutely, I'll have them make something really nice. You should ask them to help you start planning your Luna ceremony."

"I could do that, yeah. Now that everything has calmed down, I don't see why we shouldn't have it soon. Have you heard from Elijah or Hannah today?" I asked.

"Not yet, but with the amount they both drank, I wouldn't be surprised if we didn't see them until tomorrow."

"It's getting late, I should probably start getting ready," I told Alex. He tightened his grip on me, while he kissed my neck.

"Are you sure?" he cooed. With all the willpower in the world, I said,

"Yes, I don't wanna keep my parents waiting. We can finish this later," I said, twisting around to kiss him. His face fell as I got out of the tub and wrapped myself in a towel. Alex followed me after a minute or two, wrapping the towel around his waist. Sofia was drooling at his muscles, as water dripped down his chest.

"Pull it together, we have sh*t to do!" I told her. She gave me an annoyed look, not amused by what I said. Alex and I got dressed, and looking at the clock, I saw my mom would be here in about fifteen minutes.

"I should go find Cornelia," I told him. She was staying in a guest room on the second floor, so after saying goodbye, I headed in that direction. I knocked gently and waited for her to answer. After about a minute, the door opened.

"Julia, hi!" she said happily.

"Hey, my mom's coming for a visit in a couple of minutes, and I thought it might be nice if the three of us had lunch together, if you're not busy. Maybe start planning my Luna ceremony or something. Alex was gonna have something set up in the garden." "No, I'm not busy. I'd love to come have lunch with you." She stepped out of her room and gently closed the door behind her. The two of us began walking to the stairs to head outside.

"How have you been liking it here? I'm sorry I haven't seen that much of you."

"I understand. Plus, when the elders were here, I wanted to stay out of sight. I wasn't sure what their stance on witches was."

"Not good, at least for some of them. They tried to order Alex and I to reject each other and take chosen mates."

"Are you kidding?"

"I wish I was. We managed to convince them otherwise thank the Goddess."

"The prejudice these men have is beyond anything I can imagine."

"You're telling me." When we got outside, I saw a car pulling up into the driveway. They parked and my mom got out of the backseat. "Mom!" I yelled, running to hug her. "You've got a driver now?"

"Nice upgrade from where we were a couple of weeks ago, wouldn't you say?"

"Definitely!"

"Hello Cornelia," my mom said, going in for a hug from her as well.

"Hi Sandra, it's good to see you again. How are things going at October Moon?"

"They're crazy, but it's been going okay. I think it's gonna take time for people to adjust to Marvin as the Alpha, but they'll get there. Now tell me about you. Julia filled me in briefly via mind link about what was happening." "It's been crazy, as you said."

"Why don't we go sit down for lunch, and we can tell everyone everything then?" I asked both of them.

"Alex, is everything ready?"

"They're just finishing setting it up now. Go to the garden to the right of the pack house."

"Thank you so much!"

"Alex said things are ready for us in the garden," I said.

"Lead the way!" my mom declared. The two of them followed me, as I led the way to the garden. Coming around, into the clearing, I saw a beautiful garden before us. I had never been over here before, but Hannah had mentioned it a couple of times. There was a fountain, with a statue of a Lycan, and the water was sprouting from its hands, and cascading into the pool below. There were rows and rows of wildflowers, roses, and very neatly trimmed hedges lining the area. In the center sat a round table, graced with a white tablecloth and place settings for three people. On a smaller table, there sat a few bowls, one full of some kind of salad, one with a pasta dish, and another with bread. There were also multiple pitchers of water on the same table. "Wow, this is beautiful," commented my mom.

"They certainly know how to make a first impression," Cornelia added. "Just imagine the grandeur of your ceremony."

"Yes, when are we having that?" asked my mom.

"I don't know. When should we?"

"I would imagine soon, since you two have already marked each other," she said. The three of us took the plates from the table and began loading them with food. Alex and I had skipped breakfast, and opted to sleep in, so I was famished. Once we all sat down at the table, Cornelia and I told my mom about everything that had happened when we went to her coven. I then explained to both, what had happened when the elders showed up. "I still can't believe what they tried to do," my mom said.

"Alex said Elder Marcus still isn't happy about our mating but doesn't think he'll be able to do much about it without the support of the other elders."

"Exactly. Now that we have the heavy stuff out of the way, let's talk about your ceremony," said my mom, excitedly.

"What do we need to do?" I asked, having no idea where we were supposed to start.

"I guess we can start with your dress. Do you wanna draw something up? What do you envision yourself in?"

"Oh, I've never really thought about it, but I guess I could try. I can have someone bring me some paper, or we could go to my office. Alex bought me all kinds of art supplies." "Let's go to your office," Cornelia said. "I'd love to see it."

"Me too," my mom added, pushing her chair out.

"You might not have thought about it, but I certainly have," Sofia said, flashing me images of different styles of dresses, all in a light blue. I took my mom and Cornelia into my office and took a seat at my drawing table. "Alex bought all of this for you?" my mom asked.

"Yeah, as a surprise. He and Elijah went out while Hannah and I were shopping to pick it all out."

"That was very sweet of him," Cornelia added. I spent a few minutes sketching out my favorite dress that Sofia had shown me. As I was about to finish, there was a knock on the door, and my senses were flooded with Alex's pine scent. "Are you three busy in here?" he asked.

"Yes! We're planning Julia's ceremony, and don't look, we're working on her dress."

"I won't spoil anything, I promise. I just wanted to stop by to say hello and ask how lunch was?"

"It was amazing," my mom told him. "Thank you."

"Yes, thank you Alexander. You've been wonderful."

"Happy to help. Is there anything else I can help with?"

"No, leave the planning to the mom's," said my mom. Cornelia smiled at hearing my mom include her as a mother.

"Alright, just mind link me if you need me," he said.

"Okay, I will. I love you," I told him with a smile.

"I love you too." He exited the room and left the three of us alone again.

"It's so nice to see you so happy," Cornelia said.

"I agree," my mom added. "It's a welcome change."

"I wish your father had been able to see you grow up," Cornelia said, slightly crestfallen.

"Didn't you say you could take me to see him if I wanted?" I asked.

"I could, he'd love to see you."

"Do you think he'll be upset you lied to him about how I was doing for all these years?"

"Most likely, but now that you're safe, hopefully he won't stay mad at me for too long."

"You wanna take her right now?" my mom questioned.

"I can go first, give him a bit of a heads up," Cornelia told her.

"I think that's a good idea."

"Okay, you guys wait here, and I'll be back in a couple of minutes," she added.

"You just know where he is?"

"Since we were mates, I can usually get a good sense of where he is. Even though we rejected each other, we had a daughter together, so in some way our souls are still bonded." Cornelia closed her eyes and was gone with the all-too-familiar soft pop.