The Hybrid’s Second Chance
Chapter 66

Julianna's

POV

We were back in my office in a matter of seconds. Cornelia let go of my hand and I stumbled slightly to the side, catching myself on the back of a chair.

"Sorry," she apologized, helping to steady me. "You'll get used to it eventually."

"I'm not so sure about that."

"One day you'll be able to do it too," Cornelia told me.

"Really?"

"With being my daughter, absolutely! How are you feeling about everything?" she asked.

"I think I'm okay. It's a lot but I'm really happy I finally got to meet him." Something about what they had said bothered me slightly. "So, he took a chosen mate, correct?"

"He did, Vanessa. She's very nice and so are their daughters."

"Why did you never mate again?"

"I don't know. No one in my coven turned out to be my fated or second-chance mate. I just never went looking for anyone else because we were so isolated. I also didn't want to risk the heartbreak again if my second chance turned out to be another wolf." What she said made sense. The thought of losing Alex was unthinkable, so I can only imagine what it felt like to have to give up your daughter and then your mate. Her hand was still resting on my shoulder, I placed my hand over top of hers and squeezed it.

"We should go find my mom and see what she's getting into." Now that I was a member of October Moon again, I could mind link her.

"Mom, we're back. Where are you?"

"Hi sweetheart, I'm in your apartment with Alexander. He's giving me the run down on how Lycan Luna ceremonies work."

"Okay, Cornelia and I will be right there."

"She's with Alex in our apartment," I told her.

"Alright, away we go." When she and I walked through the door of the apartment, I saw Alex and my mom sitting at our island, papers covering the surface as she scribbled away. My mom spun around in her chair when she heard us walk in. "How did it go?" she asked.

"Sandra told me you were going to meet your birth father," Alex said.

"Yeah, sorry I didn't say anything to you about it. It all happened sort of fast," I said.

"No, don't apologize. How did it go?"

"It was good. We told him everything that happened."

"He wasn't happy with me for lying to him for all these years, but he quickly forgot about that once he saw Julia."

"What was he like?" my mom asked.

"He was really nice. Very apologetic for what happened, but I know he had no idea. He asked if I wanted to meet my sisters." "What did you say?" Alex asked.

"It was just a lot at one time, so we said we should wait."

"I can take you back in a couple of days," Cornelia said. "He wanted to give them a heads up about what was happening."

"That's understandable. Do they even know about you?"

"I'm not sure," I said, looking at Cornelia.

"I know Vanessa does, but I don't know if they told their daughters about it. They're young enough that I think they'd see it as something exciting."

"I hope so," I added.

"They're gonna love you," Alex told me, coming up and wrapping me in a comforting hug.

"Thanks. What have you two been doing while we were gone?" I asked, looking down at all the papers on the counter.

"Oh!" my mom breathed, turning her attention back to her work. "We're planning your ceremony!"

"Without me?" I laughed.

"Well, Alexander was just telling me about how they usually happen. I was taking notes and starting to make some plans."

"What have you come up with?" I asked.

"We were thinking of having the ceremony in two months. That should give us time to plan everything, have your dress made, and send out the invitations." "We could invite your father if you'd like," Cornelia said.

"Yeah, I think that would be nice," I told her.

"I'll add them to the list," my mom said, grabbing a very long piece of paper off the counter.

"How many people are we inviting?" I asked, looking at Alex.

"Well, it's customary to invite all the Lycan Alpha's, Luna's, and their families. So, that would be the Kings of the other three territories, their Beta's, mates, and so forth."

"That's a lot of people looking at us," Sofia said with concern.

"I know, but if we can take on the Lycan and witch elders, I think we can handle this," I told her much more confidently than I felt. Alex tightened his grip on me, as my anxiety started leaking out into the air and through our bond. "Don't worry, I'll be with you the entire time," he said, kissing my cheek.

"I think we got a lot done today," my mom said. "It's getting late, and I really should get back and see if Marvin needs my help with anything"

"Can you stay for dinner? We could give you a quick tour of the pack house?" I asked.

"Sure, I guess Marvin will just have to do without me for another few hours," she smiled.

"How's it feel, being the Beta?" I asked, as we all began making our way towards the dining hall.

"It's surreal actually. Going from the Gamma female, to nothing for so long, and now to Beta is mind-blowing. But Marvin is doing a great job as Alpha even though he never wanted the title. I think as soon as he gets the pack squared away, he'll give the title to someone else. Since his daughters are already settled in their packs, he'll have to pick someone from the pack."

"There's got to be one wolf there who's qualified and doesn't have the same mind set as Gregory and Logan," I added. My mom's eyes went wide when we entered the dining hall. It was nearly three times as big as the one at October Moon. "They do it like a restaurant here. They have menus at the table, and you can order whatever you want," I told her. We took our seats at the head table, and I handed one of the menus to my mom. Looking at it myself, I saw we had the option of steak, chicken, potatoes, couscous, and a variety of vegetables. An omega came to our table to take our order.

"Good evening, Alpha, Luna," she said with slight hesitation.

"Good evening, Hilary," Alex said. "I'm sure you're aware that Julia's mother Cornelia is staying with us." He gestured towards her.

"It's nice to meet you," Cornelia said kindly.

"You as well," Hilary replied.

"And this is Julia's other mother, Sandra. The Beta of October Moon. She's visiting for the day."

"Hello Beta Sandra," Hilary said, bowing her head.

"Hello Hilary."

"What can I get you to eat this evening?" We all put in our orders and Hilary left to go relay them to the kitchen.

"This is beautiful," my mom said, taking it all in. "The detail in the stonework and the wood carvings are incredible."

"This castle was built back in the 1700's when our pack first moved to the area. We've updated it since, but they always tried to keep the character," Alex explained.

"I love it," she commented. A few minutes later, Hilary and a couple of other omegas brought out our plates.

"Thank you," I said as they set my steak down in front of me. "It looks amazing!"

"Thank you, Luna," a small black-haired omega said with a smile.

"What's your name?" I asked. I wanted to make it a point to get to know everyone's name in the pack.

"Genevieve, Luna."

"It's nice to meet you, Genevieve." She smiled at me timidly and walked away.

"Why do all the omegas look so scared all the time?" Sofia asked.

"I don't know. I understood at October Moon because Logan and Gregory treated them like sh*t, but here I don't know why."

"We should talk to Alex about it later. Maybe there's a way we can make them feel more comfortable."

"I like that idea," I told her. When we were about halfway through our meal, Elijah and Hannah came walking into the dining hall looking tired.

"Look who finally rolled out of bed," I said when they approached the table.

"We might not get hangovers like humans do, but da*n, I can't believe how much we drank last night," Hannah said, plopping down at a seat, and pulling my plate towards her, which still had some food on it. "It's nice to see you again Sandra," she added with a smile towards my mom.

"You too, Hannah, I heard you guys went out last night."

"We did. To celebrate the elders getting fu*ked," Hannah laughed.

"Hannah, a little decorum would be nice," Alex huffed. Hannah just shrugged her shoulders and continued to eat off my plate. Moving on to Alex's once she finished. It felt good to have everyone around the table, laughing and eating together. This seemed so natural and right, like this is the way it should have been all along. All that was missing was Marvin and my father. I looked next to me at Alex who had a wide smile spread across his face, as he shared in my happiness.