Gill
I bit my lip anxiously as I eyes the hundreds of pack members beginning to arrive.
"So many people." I said simply in a whisper. Comforting sparks began shooting up my arm as a familiar hand grasped onto my own.
"You'll do great, love." Tobias assured me. I turned my head to look up at him. He looked incredible. His hair was a bit messy, which told me as assuring as he was trying to be, he was just as nervous as I was. He was wearing a simple tank top and shorts, with no shoes, clearly showing off his golden skin and defined muscles.
"How come you didn't have to dress up?" I frowned, tugging at my bowtie. "I feel drastically overdressed." Toby chuckled and kisses my cheek.
"You're beautiful. And it's because when the ceremony is complete, it's tradition for the new alpha and luna to lead a run along the territory with the whole pack, so it's easier to just wear comfortable clothes that would be easy to take off quickly." I pouted my lip.
"I hate dressing up." He laughed and shook his head at me.
"You two ready?" My gaze shifted to the other side of me, as Toby's father approached us.
"A little nervous, but yes." Paul smiled at us and pat his son on the shoulder with a proud smile on his face.
"I am so proud of you son. I've dreamed of this day, when I'd see you, my little boy, all grown up with his mate and take over this pack. And you, Gill." I blushed and smiled at him. "You've been the best future son in law a father could ever ask for. I couldn't have picked a better person to stand beside my son as luna. Welcome to the family, son." I felt my eyes water and I quietly thanked him.
"So here's how it's going to work, Gill. I'm going to say a few words, and then we'll do the transition of power ceremony, you both will say a few words, and then we'll do the same thing for the beta position, and then we'll do the run. Got it?" My eyes widened and I turned to Tobias.
"You never said I had to give a speech! Toby, I don't have anything prepared!" He squeezed my hand.
"You'll be great, I promise. They love you. Just say a few words, how you're feeling. I'll be right there with you. I took a breath and nodded.
"Now, let's get this show on the road, shall we?" I nodded again at Paul and Toby held my hand a bit tighter.
"I wish Jax was here." I admitted sadly. Toby sighed.
"I do too."
An entire month had passed since the events that had taken place at the abandoned cottage. We waited with baited breath for Ajax to return, but he didn't. Toby and I both wished we could have waited longer to do the alpha ceremony, so Jax could claim his rightful place as beta, but we couldn't. Toby offered the position to Holly instead, and she accepted, with the only condition being that when...if Ajax came back, the position would become his once again. Holly loved being a part of the pack, but she never wanted to be in a position of power. She was honored at the invitation, but she knew she didn't want it to be permanent. As for the hunters and the Steele Ridge Pack, it took a week or so to find all the camps of hunters, and without the guidance of Alpha Steele, they were taken down quite easily. Alpha Steele was captured and Tobias and his father decided to leave his and the pack's fate to the council. Alpha Steele remained in their custody in a high security prison, along with any of their pack members involved in the plans. Any of their pack who were unaware of the sinister plot were relocated to other packs across the country.
Paul made his way to the podium and he cleared his throat.
"Silence!" He called out to the pack. The crowd hushed. "We are gathered here today to honor an ancient tradition among our kind. This pack was founded by my great great grandfather James Greene, our first alpha. When his son became of age, our second alpha, Lewis Greene took over. Then our third alpha, Matthew Greene, my grandfather. He then passed the title onto my father, our fourth alpha, Thomas Greene. And almost forty years ago, I, Paul Greene became alpha of this incredible pack. Together, we've faced numerous challenges and countless celebrations. We've fought enemies and welcomed allies. We've welcomed nearly one hundred and fifty new members into our pack, and today, we welcome one more as we, like my ancestors before me, pass on the responsibility and honor of being this pack's alpha and luna." Paul paused as the crowd clapped and cheered. "Gill, would you join me up here?" I swallowed my nerves and Toby kissed my cheek.
'You've got this. I love you.' He said truthfully through our link.
'I love you too.' I answered as I hesitantly made my way to the podium, standing in front of Bethany, Toby's mom.
"Gill, raise your right hand and repeat after me," she instructed. I nodded and raised my hand, taking a deep breath. I felt a small tingle on my wrist, making me smile. "I, Gilberto Mendoza,"
"I, Gilberto Mendoza," I repeated in a shaky voice.
"As I become the next luna of the Crimson Lake Pack,"
"As I become the next luna of the Crimson Lake Pack,"
"Promise to honor its rules and traditions to the best of my ability,"
"Promise to honor its rules and traditions to the best of my ability,"
"And protect its land and its members,"
"And protect its land and its members,"
"Under the guidance of the Goddess above."
"Under the guidance of the Goddess above." Bethany smiled widely and took my hand.
"Gilberto Mendoza, I am proud to announce you as Crimson Lake's new Luna!" With those words, I felt a buzz beneath my skin, I gasped as my entire body was covered in tingly sparks. It only lasted a second before it stopped and something inside me felt...different. I wasn't sure what the feeling was, but it was comforting. The crowd erupted and Bethany dropped my hand to clap along with them. I saw my father in the front row with tears in his eyes and the widest smile on his face.
'Welcome to the family, Gill.' I heard Paul inside my head. I smiled at him and thanked him. Paul turned back to the podium and waited for the cheering crowd to settle down. I looked across the sea of wolves and people and my heart swelled with pride. My family.
"Settle, settle. I'd now like to ask my son, Tobias to join us." Toby stepped toward us and stood right next to me, sneaking a little peck on my cheek, making the crowd chuckle.
"Tobias, please raise your right hand and repeat after me." Toby did as his father said and took a deep breath. I watched with proud and happy tears in my eyes as he repeated the same vows I had said, the only exception being the word alpha exchanged for luna.
"Tobias Greene, I am honored to announce you, my son, as Crimson Lake's new alpha!" I cheered as loud as I could.
Toby pulled me into his arms and hugged me tightly. He pulled back far enough so I could reach his lips with a sweet kiss.
"I love you, Alpha Toby." I teased. He laughed and rolled his eyes.
"I love you, Luna Gill." Paul and Bethany stepped away from the podium, allowing Toby and I to approach.
"My beautiful mate and I are honored to be your alpha and luna," Toby began. "I grew up in this pack. When I was younger, everyone would tell me 'you're going to be a great alpha someday', and I would always say thank you, and roll my eyes when they walked away because I never really knew what that meant. As a kid, you don't really think about those things, but as I got older and I paid more attention to my father and the things he did for this pack, I knew that was exactly what I wanted to be. I love this pack, and I consider each and every one of you as a part of my family, and I can assure you that I will do everything in my power to keep this pack strong, happy, and safe." The crowd cheered, and Toby stepped to the side so I could speak. I latched onto his hand, holding it tightly.
"Um...hi everyone! I'd just like to start out by saying thank you. Thank you for accepting me into your pack and embracing me for who I am. I know this is a new thing, and I can't promise you I'm always going to say the right things, but I can promise that I'm going to do my absolute best to honor this pack. I am so proud to be your luna...or I guess technically your second alpha?" everyone laughed and Tobias squeezed my hand. "I'm beyond thankful to be a part of such an amazing group of people and wolves. Thank you."
The rest of the ceremony went smoothly. Tobias and Jax's father, the current beta, performed the ceremony with Holly and I cried like a baby. I received dozens of hugs and 'congratulations' from people I'd never spoken to.
"Ready?" Toby winked as he pulled his tank top over his head. I blushed and covered my eyes.
"Toby!" He laughed.
"What? Nothing you haven't seen before," he teased.
"Just shut up and shift." I felt a kiss on my forehead, shortly followed by a wolf snout nudging my arm. I uncovered my eyes and childishly stuck my tongue out at Toby while I picked his clothes off the ground. I climbed on his back and held on, smiling as I looked around at everyone around us. Wolves and humans alike cheered and howled as Toby and I led the run through the forest, and as sweet and amazing and beautiful as it was, there was still a small pang in my chest, knowing there was someone missing.
"Hey, Jax... Hopefully this works, I haven't tried linking with anyone that's not Toby yet. We did the alpha ceremony! I wish we could've waited. I really miss you, Jax. Everyone does. I hope you're okay wherever you are, and know you'll always have a place here. Come back soon." I sniffled and wiped a tear from my cheek.
"Everything okay, Love?" Toby asked.
"Yeah, just worried about Jax. I wish he was here for this."
"Me too, love. He'll be okay, though. He's a very strong wolf. Losing your mate is the most difficult thing a wolf can ever go through, on top of how he lost his, but I know if anyone can get through something like that, it'll be Ajax. He'll be back when he's ready." I nodded, though he couldn't see me.
"I know, it just makes me sad knowing he's out there by himself hurting so much. I just want to give him a big hug."
"He knows he's not alone. He has all of us here waiting for him. All we can do now is be here for when he gets back." I noticed we began to slow down, letting others pass us. I smiled as Toby turned down a familiar path, knowing exactly where we were headed.
"Everyone run ahead, Gill and I are going to rest here for a bit." Toby ordered through the pack link. I jumped at the amount of responses bouncing around in my head, making my mate laugh.
"That's definitely going to take a while to get used to." I admitted aloud. Toby trotted us over to the lake shore, crouching down so I could hop off his back. He shifted back and I, of course, blushed like a tomato. He shook his head in amusement and took the bundle of clothing I'd been holding on to, dressing quickly.
"Are you going to blush every single time I have to shift?" He teased, pulling me into his arms.
"Hey, don't act like it's an unreasonable reaction! Of course I'm gonna blush when my boyfriend strips naked in front of me. I'm sure you'd blush too if I had to take off my clothes all the time." He raised a brow.
"Is that an option?" My eyes widened and I playfully smacked his arm.
"We sleep together one time and now you're a proper horndog."
"Excuse me, I seem to recall a steamy shower session the next morning? So wouldn't that be twice?" I rolled my eyes and shoved him away lightly. He laughed and followed me as I stepped closer to the water, sitting down on the grass. He sat down beside me and snaked an arm around my waist. We sat in silence for a while, just watching the sun set and the moon begin to rise above the shimmering lake surface.
"How are you feeling?" I asked him. He thought for a moment before responding.
"I feel at peace. I'm worried about Jax, of course, but for a while I felt like I was running out of time. Like I was running out of time to find my mate, and then I found you and I thought the feeling would go away, but then with all the attacks and the war it felt like I was running out of time to become alpha to protect you and everyone else, and now that we're here, I don't think I'm running out of time for anything. I feel like we have all the time in the world. Like I don't have to rush anything anymore. I can just sit back and enjoy life with you." I grinned and laid my head on his shoulder.
"And what would that look like? Enjoying your life with me?" He kissed the top of my head.
"Graduating, you going to art school, if that's what you wanted of course. Getting married in a couple years, having a few babies-"
"A few?!" He chuckled.
"We can talk about how many babies we want later, love. Like I said, we have all the time in the world."
The End
Thank you everyone for reading and sticking through my terrible upload schedule. This may be the end to Running out of Time, but this is not the end to Gill and Tobias. They might not be the main characters of my next installment of the Crimson Lake Series, but they will still be heavily featured. Hope you're all as excited as I am to continue this journey â¤ï¸
I do have part of the next book written, along with a title and an entire plot. However, to prevent the same thing happening to that story that happened here, meaning my falling of the face of the earth for months with nothing to share, I'll be holding off on posting anything about it or revealing too much until I have a decent amount to start posting.
It won't be long, as I'm sure you've noticed by my sudden chapter a day schedule, I've been doing a lot of work lately lol.
Stay tuned!