Rescuing His Captive Mate: Saving The Future Luna

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Star

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  As we all stared at that adorable little baby made out of yellow light there was a loud chiming sound that filled the room. It sounded like a dozen wind chimes blowing in the wind all at once.

  "Oh pixie dust." The Queen spoke as if she were frustrated and nearly swearing. The words though made me want to laugh.

  "Pixie dust?" I asked her with a giggle.

  "I was just being silly and slightly rude. It's like a human saying fiddlesticks or something like that." She pulled her hand away from me and the magical baby disappeared instantly. "I am afraid that I have an important meeting with the nobles that I can not miss. I need to call this lunch to an end. I will, however, be seeing you again later. You both will be my guests for dinner tonight. Don't worry, it's not a major dinner with everyone, just us again and maybe a few other family members."

  "Auntie Glory, please don't invite the whole family." Acacia nearly shouted.

  "Oh, for Faerie's sake I wasn't going to invite them all. I was going to have her father here for dinner. I wanted it to be a surprise though, you silly girl." The Queen looked a little sad as if her wonderful surprise had been ruined but I felt happy. I couldn't believe she was going through so much trouble for me.

  "That is wonderful news, Queen Gloriana. Thank you so much for thinking of me." I couldn't think of anything else to say to express my gratitude.

  "Oh, please Star, call me Aunt Glory when we are alone. I would love it so much if we could be just as close as I am with Acacia." She had gripped my hands and was holding them to her chest as if she was holding onto something precious to her.

  "Yes, of course Aunt Glory, that would be wonderful." I grinned at her.

  "And you too, Artemis, we are going to be family someday soon as well, right?" Aunt Glory was smiling at him where he stood next to me.

  "Yes, Aunt Glory, we will be. And please, call me Artem."

  "Yes, Artem and Star. The moon and the star. You two definitely belong together." She looked so happy as she regarded the two of us. I was happy to have come here now, and I felt as if all my nerves were fading away completely.

  Once we were out of the room Acacia turned to me and smiled.

  "Would you like to meet my family? My mom is your aunt since your dad's dad is her brother. It's all confusing but you will figure it all out some day. I just know they are all dying to meet you though." She was grinning at me with eyes that were practically dripping with excitement. How could I refuse her when she looked so happy about it?

  "Of course. I think that would be lovely." I grinned at her and held her hand tightly.

  "Excellent. Come with me."

  Acacia guided us to a part of the castle that we had not been to yet. She took us through so many hallways and corridors that I felt dizzy just trying to keep up. When we finally came to where we were going there was a large door with the name Aspen written on it.

  Once we went through that door it looked as if we were in a house. A private house meant for a family. The house still looked massive though. I guess it was technically, since it was inside of a castle and all.

  "Is this your family's house?" I asked Acacia as I looked around the room.

  "In a way. It's a private residence within the castle. Only certain families that are in close relation to the Queen are allowed to have these family homes inside the castle. Aunt Glory likes to keep her family close to her since she is a pushover when it comes to babies." Acacia was grinning as she rubbed her hand over her belly.

  "I can tell that she has a soft spot for children. We do as well." I laughed. "We're going to have a large family soon. Probably too big for most people to understand."

  "Oh really? How many?" Acacia was still excited.

  "We are adopting most of the children at the house. There are thirteen of them. Our baby that is on the way will make fourteen." I explained to her, waiting for the shock to come.

  "Oh, then you just need to couple more to reach my family." She was laughing. "I am one of eighteen children. Only my parents didn't adopt, we were all natural, and we were all multiples." She patted her belly. "Like these ones here, I am having three if you remember."

  "I had forgotten actually." I laughed.

  "You said eighteen?" Artem looked curious. "I am sure we can beat that. We will only need five more children after this one. Then we will have nineteen. Though I am not a fan of the odd number. Perhaps we should have six more so we can have a rounded out twenty."

  "Artem?!" I squealed as I looked at him in shock and horror. "What exactly are you thinking?"

  "Sounds to me like the boy has his mind firmly focused on family. That's a good thing." A man came into the room then and he looked similar to Acacia.

  "Daddy." She yelled as she ran to him. "I am so happy to see you again." She was hugging him tightly.

  "I missed you too sweetheart." Acacia's father hugged her back firmly.

  "Star, this is my dad, Ash Aspen."

  "It's lovely to meet you sir." I held a hand out toward him.

  "Don't act all formal young lady. I will only answer you if you call me Uncle Ash." He was grinning at me. "Same goes for you young man. I know you are my niece's mate so you're my nephew now. I will not answer either of you unless you speak to me properly." He crossed his arms and turned his head away playfully as if he was trying to look angry and indignant.

  "Oh yes, I am so sorry Uncle Ash, where were my manners?" I joked with him. 

  "Now that is better." He looked at me then right before he pulled both me and Artem into big squeezing hugs. "I am so happy to meet you. None of us ever thought that Aaron was ever going to have a family and here he's had one for eighteen years now and didn't even know it. That fool. He needs to get his head on straight."

  My Uncle Ash seemed to be a very nice man. I could tell that we were going to get along just fine.

  "OH MY, is she here? Is that her?" I heard a lovely voice and a woman who was the spitting image of Acacia came running into the room. "Oh my, the mystery niece is here and she is gorgeous. I can't believe that my good for nothing nephew Aaron made such a lovely daughter. He is such an idiot for not being there with you."

  The woman, who I could only assume was Acacia's mom, had run right up to me and hugged me right after Uncle Ash had let go of me.

  "Star, this is my mom, Lotus. Mom, this is Star and her mate Artem."

  "Oh my goodness, oh my goodness, I am just so happy to meet you both." Clearly, this part of my family was very happy to have me around. Why couldn't I have a family that was like this when I was little? If only my wolf side was as nice as my Fae side. That would have been perfect. Then I might have been able to be a happy kid and still have Artem as a mate when I grew up.

  We went into the parlor of the house next. That was where I saw seventeen other people that I could tell were related to Acacia. They had been introduced to me, and I tried to remember all of their names: Willow, Birch, Hickory, Hawthorn, Poplar, Sequoia, Redwood, Spruce, Elm, Magnolia, Fig, Bark, Maple, Walnut, Cottonwood, Oak, and Fir. Acacia really did have a big family. That was fine, I didn't mind, I liked seeing such a large and close knit family. It was exactly what I wanted to create with all the kids back home.

  I had a feeling that if I paid close attention to this family and learned how they did things, then I might be able to accomplish that goal quite easily.

  We spent a few hours just sitting there listening to Acacia's family tell us stories about the past. They told us some of the things that all of the kids got up to when they were younger. And I guess they were still considered young too, the youngest of the kids was around sixty, but when Fae live for hundreds and thousands of years that was considered young.

  It was quite an amazing afternoon and I wouldn't trade it for anything.