Chapter Ninety-seven

Claire didn’t remember dozing off but when she came to again, she was curled up on the passenger seat, Lukas’ suit jacket thrown over her. She opened her eyes to find Lukas staring down at her.
“Awake?” Lukas asked, he had a hand on the steering wheel and was currently driving them back to the mansion.
Claire sat up straighter with a tired smile, “Yeah,” She whispered, clutching Lukas’ jacket tighter so that she could be properly enveloped in a cloud of his cologne.
They had cuddled in the backseat after sex, that was right when Claire had fallen asleep. Lukas had settled her into the passenger seat and then started the journey back to the mansion.
“You know you could keep sleeping if you want,”
Claire knew that but she could also keep sleeping when they got to their bed, for now, she wanted to share the quiet space with Lukas.
The high gates of the mansion came into view after a short time, and this time, Claire reached out her arms to Lukas for him to pick her up out of the car. She wasn’t doing it to be a nuisance, Lukas had rid her of the ability to walk.
She didn’t realize how late it was till they got to the privacy of their bedroom, it was well past eleven which meant that they had spent literal hours at the cliffside.
They took a quick shower and tumbled into bed. Sleep came swiftly and they fell asleep in each other’s hands.
Claire woke up bright and bubbly, easily laughing whenever Lukas teased her. She could really get used to falling asleep next to the man she loved and waking up with him as well.
She expected that they would have breakfast alone together like they often did and was pleasantly surprised to find Alec, Rosie, and Senite seated at the table.
Pleasantries were exchanged as maids brought trays of food in. Thankfully, their duties were kept from the dining table this time. Just like she had done, Lukas must have tackled pressing issues so there was no need to have to deal with any impending issue at the table.
Before they started their meal, Lukas held out a hand to Claire, and without thinking she placed her hand in his, an infectious smile on her face.
"We'll be getting married," He announced in a level voice, shocking everyone at the table, his fiancée inclusive.
Claire hadn't been expecting him to say it right then, her smile bloomed nonetheless as she let Senite and Rosie excitedly hug her. Well-wishes were generously shared with them and the entire time, Lukas didn't let go of her hand.
Claire had already been in a good mood, now that their upcoming marriage was official, she was in a bubble of happiness.
"So when is the wedding going to be held?" Senite asked with the biggest smile on her face, her eyes glassy like she might like to tear up.
Lukas looked at her, the proudest look on his face. "When do you want?" He lowered his voice to ask her.
Claire thought about it, if she could have her way she would get married that very weekend. "In two weeks? Is that too far?" She replied in a soft voice as well, tenderly smoothening Lukas' hair.
Lukas leaned forward to press a kiss to the corner of her lips, "I don't mind waiting, I already have you."
The rest of the table's occupants found themselves smiling fondly at the show of love that the couple sitting across from them wasn't even aware they were doing.
With that, the date for the wedding of the American Alpha King and his human Luna Queen was set. They were already mated so this was merely a formality.
Claire would be an active participant in the preparations of her wedding so she would be meeting with Senite and Lola the next day to do some groundwork for the wedding. It would be a small affair though so there would be much to prepare for.
After breakfast, she headed to her office with Rosie. She needed to inform her parents about her upcoming wedding and also invite them over.
She had been keeping in touch with her parents but she had been careful not to tell them about her kidnapping or Lukas getting shot because she didn't want them to needlessly worry, seeing as everything turned out alright in the end.
She wanted to be the first to let them know so before getting started on her daily schedule, she took out her phone and rang up her mother.
Her mother picked right away and Claire could hear the smile in her voice as she spoke. "Sunshine! How nice to hear from you."
"Hi, Mom," Claire murmured, suddenly shy.
If the Claire from a year ago could see her now, she would be so concerned. It was never Claire's plan to marry someone as influential as Lukas, but she could see herself living the peaceful life she always dreamed of.
"I called to tell you that Lukas and I will be getting married," She said awkwardly, realizing that she never planned to get this far with Lukas.
"Oh, I already know, Lukas just called me." Her mother said happily, "And I told Matt that I would be getting a call from you soon as well."
Claire let out a breath that she didn't know she had been holding in, "I didn't know that," She said lightly with a fond smile as her mother happily recounted just how Lukas had broken the information to her.
"So when will you and Dad come over?" Claire asked a little impatiently, she wanted to see her parents again although it hadn’t been very long since they left.
"I really want to help you pick out your wedding dress so we'll be there at the start of next week," Her mother was quick to say.
Claire expected this, although the wedding was to be a small affair, there was no reason for her to go for a simple dress. After a few more minutes of conversation with her mom, the call ended with her dad showing up to congratulate her.
She placed her phone on the table with a smile, daydreaming for a little bit before realizing that she still had a lot of work to get done.
She called out to Rosie who had ducked into her cubicle earlier, her assistant returning with the biggest smile on her pretty face.
"Yes, Luna Claire?" She spoke politely.
"Don't stand, Rosie" Claire said absently, gesturing at the seats in front of her table. "What's on the schedule today?"
Rosie sat down as she was directed, "You do have a couple of appointments but they could be moved indefinitely."
Claire thought about it, she didn't want to postpone so many appointments because they would only swarm her in the near future. She understood why Rosie wanted to postpone it but her wedding was two weeks away, at the very least she should be able to get a few things done before this week ended.
"I'll attend to them, is there anything else I should know?" She asked absently, putting on her laptop.
"Well…" Rosie cleared her throat, "You made headlines for the evening news with Alpha Lukas."
Claire looked up at this, she had almost completely forgotten about the day she had yesterday, too preoccupied with her upcoming wedding. "Let me take a look?"
Rosie rose to her feet and went around the table to show Claire, an inscrutable look on her face.
Claire took a look at the screen of her assistant's pad and blanched. The heading written in bold font was talking about her suspected pregnancy.
While reading through the article, she noticed that there was hardly any mention of the letters she had sent to the news agencies, at least, not till the very end of the article where it took up a measly two lines.
What filled up the article however was speculations and vague reports from the staff at the elite restaurant that they had gone to the night before who were generous with sharing how Lukas couldn't keep his hands off his mate during their dinner.
Enlarged photos of her being carried out of the restaurant were placed generously throughout the article - that would explain why the paparazzi were all too eager to take pictures of them.
Claire massaged her temples after she was done reading, it was always one thing after another with the media. The ruckus the public had raised after finding out that she was absent from Lady Vaschell’s exclusive dinner party had been buried by this new fad of her being suspected to be pregnant.
"Will I be required to put out a statement for this as well?" She found herself asking Rosie who looked troubled at the sight of her Luna Queen looking stressed.
"Absolutely not, that would be an invasion of your privacy," Rosie said tartly.
Claire sighed, she had truly never thought about getting pregnant although she probably should start to do so. But it was strange nonetheless to have so many people interested in her getting pregnant.
She decided to push what the tabloids had to say about her to the back of her mind, at least there wasn't a single jab or news agency slandering her name. They were just genuinely curious about the birth of the heir to the throne and Claire could understand that.
It had shaken her up nonetheless because she hadn't expected things to take such a drastic turn. With her upcoming wedding and the talks of pregnancy, Claire realized that she had waited too long to learn everything about werewolves from their social cues to their history, she would have to do something about that quickly.