When The Moon Rises
Chapter Twenty-Three

Sienna's POV.

“Good morning, Luna.”

Jax’s husky voice stirs me from my sleep, and I smile with my eyes still closed.

“Good morning, Alpha,” I mumble back, burying my face in the curve of his shoulder. I throw my leg over his body and tuck myself up against him.

“Last night was amazing,” he says quietly, and I peek up at him.

“It really was.” I kiss his cheek and snuggle further into his arms.

We take our time getting up, almost an hour later we finally emerge from the bed to shower, together.

After devouring breakfast, we walk hand in hand back to the house. We have only just got back in when there’s a knock at the front door.

“I’ll get it!” I call out and head down the hallway.

I’m shocked to see Cade standing outside.

“Come in,” I step to one side to let Cade in, he nods in thanks, and we go through to the kitchen.

“Hey,” Jax greets him, and Cade takes a seat on one of the bar stools.

“I’ve met my mate,” he says bluntly, and we both look at him in surprise, before we can say anything, he continues, “he’s a guy, obviously, and Mum and Dad are not happy. They refuse to accept him into the pack.”

There’s anger and hurt in his voice.

“But Dad is not Alpha, he can’t refuse to let someone join,” Jax answers.

I can hear how irritated he is having his Alpha title ignored.

“But Mum is still Luna,” Cade retorts.

Jax smiles, putting his arm around my shoulders.

“Not anymore. Sienna is Luna, now,” Jax says proudly.

Cade’s eyes go straight to the new mark on my neck, and he smiles.

“Congrats, guys. Ugh at least that means he can join the pack.” Cade groans and puts his head in his hands, his fingers knotting into his blonde hair.

“They won’t accept him, though, they don’t want me to be gay,” he tells us and his voice breaks.

I rush over and put my arms around him.

“Hey, we love you, it doesn’t matter what they think,” I reassure him and Jax nods.

“This is bullshit. I’ll speak to Mum and Dad,” Jax announces and storms out of the house.

Jax’s POV.

My fists clench as I storm over to the pack house.

How dare our parents try and control Cade’s life!

We have always been different to them, it’s only recently that I’ve been getting more independence, that I’ve noticed just how much they controlled before.

“A word, please.” I replace my parents in the kitchen and I hold my office door open for them to come inside.

They both take the seats in front of the desk, but I remain standing.

“Cade just informed me that you refuse to let his mate join the pack,” I tell them, my father scoffs at the word mate.

“That boy is not his mate, we were fine with him experimenting, but we all know that when it comes down to it he should be mated with a woman, like it’s supposed to be,” Dad scowls and my mouth drops open in shock.

“Don’t look so surprised Jaxon, what do you expect? We need you two to carry on our family name, produce new Alphas, how is he supposed to do that with another man? It’s impossible,” she huffs and crosses her arms.

“Who Cade has as a mate is none of your business, even you don’t agree with it, keep your mouth shut,” I argue and they both glare at me.

“Whilst I am Luna, that boy is not going to be part of our pack, corrupting Cade and getting his head filled with silly fantasies,” mother snaps and I smirk.

“Well, it’s a good thing you’re not Luna anymore, isn’t it?” I retort and her face drops.

“What? You marked her?” Mum splutters angrily.

“Her name is Sienna, and she’s your new Luna,” I say proudly and lean against my desk. My father puts his head in his hands and Mum leaps to her feet.

“She’s not worthy of you, Jaxon! She’s a fool, why on earth you couldn’t just mate Sophia, everything would have been so much better, you’ve ruined it.” She runs her hands through her hair in frustration and I stare at a woman I no longer recognise.

“I think you need to leave,” I order quietly, and she turns to face me.

“We can discuss this later if you need some time, you need to think about what you have done and how you’re going to fix this-” she starts but I interrupt.

“You misunderstood.” I take a step towards her. “I mean, you need to leave this pack.” I glance at my father. “Both of you. You are exiled from this pack; I don’t want to see you until your attitudes have changed.”

They remain shocked into silence as I walk over and open the door for them.

“You know how to contact me if you decide to change your minds, but I will not tolerate you insulting your Luna and my brother, it is not acceptable, I wouldn’t take it from any other pack member, I will not make excuses because you are my parents, leave,” I order, and my father begins to shout abuse at me.

“Leave, now!” I bellow and the walls shake. Neither of them can deny an Alpha order and they stomp out of the room. I close the door behind them and collapse into my chair.

I sit back for a few moments, thinking about what has just happened and trying to calm myself down. But before long, I’m back out of my chair and storming across the square to my house.

Sienna’s POV.

Cade and I both look at the archway to the hall when we hear the front door slam.

“Are you alright?” I ask Jax, he has a face like thunder and his fists are clenched.

“I’ve just kicked our parents out of the pack,” he informs us through gritted teeth.

I stare at him in shock and Cade lets out a whoop of joy.

He stands and fist bumps the air.

“Are you serious? Thank you, brother!” Cade gives Jax a brief hug and leaves the house, no doubt rushing to tell his mate the good news.

When we are alone, I stand and walk over to Jax, wrapping my arms around his waist.

“How do you feel about this? It must have been a hard decision to make,” I say, reaching up on my tiptoes to press a chaste kiss to his lips.

“It was actually the easiest decision I’ve ever made,” he pulls out of my grip, steps back and runs his hand through his hair, “I should have done it a long time ago, they wouldn’t accept Cade,” he pauses, and I complete the sentence for him.

“Or me,” I say quietly, and he nods once, with his lips in a tight line.

“They don’t deserve to be part of this pack when they can’t respect the Alpha’s decisions, or those of their family,” he reaches out and pulls me into his arms again, kissing my forehead.

I worry that he might regret his choice, Jax senses my nerves and tightens his grip on me.

“I made the right choice, Sienna. I made it for my brother, but I also made it for us,” he takes my face in his rough hands so I meet his eyes, “I love you; I will choose you every single time, always,” he promises, and I feel tears of happiness prick my eyes as I squeeze him tightly.

“I love you too, Jax,” I reply, and he kisses me. His lips mould against mine and our tongues meet in an excited tangle.

“My parents might return,” he says abruptly, pulling back to look down at me. “They might apologise, or they may bring trouble, but it’s nothing we can’t handle.”

The confidence in his voice reassures me, I trust him implicitly.

“Seeing as you’ve had such a successful day with your parents, do you want to meet mine?” I offer to him with a laugh.

Jax considers it and then shrugs.

“Go on, then. We might as well kill two birds with one stone.” He grimaces. “Poor choice of words, sorry.”

“Really?” I respond, surprised that he has agreed.

“I need to meet them eventually, Sienna,” he responds. “They’re your parents.”

“Okay, I’ll call Mum and see if they’re free.”

Ten minutes later, I’ve spoken to my mum, and she has arranged for us to come over for lunch.

Cade calls his mate and updates him on the news, he invites him over for dinner with us tonight to celebrate him joining the pack.

We leave early for my parents to make sure that we arrive on time.

“Good luck,” Cade says as we lock up the house. “I’ll see you this evening and you can finally meet my mate.”