“It will all work out sweetheart, okay?” She pulls me back and looks me right in the eyes. “Be happy today, you are gaining a sister after being surrounded by overprotective boys your whole life.” She laughs and my tension cracks a little. I take a deep breath and nod, letting it out slowly.
“Thank you Aunt Beth. I’m sorry, today isn’t about me.” I look over at Rayna. “And I really am glad that there has been another girl in the house. I did not know how obnoxious those guys really were until you came along and they divided their attention between the two of us.” I made my voice loud enough to guarantee Jason and Bennet heard me. I swear I heard Bennet laugh and Jason respond with ‘shut up’ and something along the lines of ‘buckle up, she’s yours now.’ Asshole. I rolled my eyes and smiled at Rayna who was giggling at the exchange.
“Alright, it’s time.” Aunt Beth sings. I don’t know how the time is flying by so fast. It seems like we just walked out here, but it’s been at least an hour. “Kennedy and I will go take our places and we’ll see you soon.” We both hug Rayna again and head out of the tent.
Bennet walks just behind my right shoulder so I can see him in my peripherals. It’s the same way he walked behind me when we were in Dark Moon pack. Did he know then? Did they all know and just didn’t tell me? I take a deep breath in and tuck those thoughts away or I am liable to start a fight, but this discussion is?happening. Tonight.
Kennedy
My stance by Aunt Beth and Uncle James was already going to be a hot topic amongst the pack members who don’t like me, we had actually discussed, at length, whether I should stand up front with them or be given a seat. My vote was to sit, this day wasn’t about me. But Aunt Beth shot that down. I am Jeremiah’s sister for all intents and purposes and as a part of the family I will stand up by him while we welcome our future Luna into the pack. But, now that I have a bodyguard from Dark Moon also following me around, the whispers aren’t exactly whispers and Uncle James had to audibly growl to silence them as we made our way to the platform in front of the gathered crowd. Clearly people from the party last night have been running their mouths.
We each met Jeremiah and gave him a hug. He held onto me for a second longer. “I love you Ken. We’ll figure this out.” He whispers in my ear.
“Love you to Jer.” I give him one last squeeze and move to stand by my aunt and uncle, Bennet right behind? me.
So far I have avoided looking at the front row where I can feel Alpha Ryker’s presence. I knew the moment he was outside, like a pressure pushing on my skin letting me know he’s here. The closer I am to him the stronger the pressure and it changes as I move around. I could tell which direction he was in without looking. His stare is making my skin heat up too. I feel flush all over, like the summer sun is beating down on me in the late fall air.
The ceremony is beautiful. I’ve never seen one before since they only happen once a generation typically. The elders give some pack history and describe the lore that brought Alphas and Lunas into power and their roles as the leaders of the pack. He uses a ceremonial silver blade with all kinds of jewels embedded into the handle to slice into each of their hands. When they clasp them together, mixing her blood with his, I hear all the pack members gasp as she becomes a part of the Silver Crescent pack.
An instant sadness and longing fill me. Is that all that it would take to become a pack member? A nick of the hand and a few pretty words? I have always felt like an outsider and jealous of the bond that these wolves have through their Goddess. Now I really don’t understand what all the fuss has been about keeping me out of the pack. There is no way that simple little action could harm me. I get cuts and scrapes all the time when we train or when I run in the woods. I have to fight the tears back. Am I really that unwanted because I am human? Deep breath in and out slowly. Did the elders just make up an excuse to keep me out because of that? Preying on Aunt Beth’s unreasonable fear of losing me after losing my mom. I take another slow breath in and out. I can’t get upset here, it’s not about me I remind myself. I blink away the moisture behind my eyes.
I feel a light touch of fingertips on my back and my emotions instantly settle and it takes me a second to realize it isn’t Aunt Beth’s hand from my left, but Bennet’s from my right. Another breath in and out, along with more questions to ask.
A few more words are spoken, but I don’t really hear them. All my focus is on my best friend as he gently sweeps a loose lock of hair from Rayna’s face. Then he leans in, fangs bared and marks her as his Luna and mate. When she marks him even I feel the surge of power as they are blessed by the Goddess. The whole pack cheers and breaks me out of whatever trance I was in during all of that and I smile and clap along. I feel?fuzzy and numb. So many emotions and none of them the happy ones that I should be feeling for Jer and
Rayna.
Thank the Goddess for Aunt Beth’s seating arrangement. She had the head table set with Rayna and Jer in the middle, Uncle James and Aunt Beth on Jer’s other side, followed by Ben, Tommy, Jason and me. On Rayna’s other side were Ryker, Josh, Danny and Bennet. Unfortunately, the gammas must have had some sort of understanding and they switched places as everyone was sitting down so no one could protest without causing a scene, sneaky bastards.
At least it was Bennet and not Ryker sitting next to me though, that would have made for even more awkward conversation, if he talked at all. This left no doubt in anyone’s mind who I am to the Dark Moon pack and the pointed stares and whispers started up again.? kept conversation surface level with Bennet through dinner and Tommy is always super chatty so I didn’t have to engage much. Once the DJ starts playing music and drinks are flowing more freely I began to loosen up and enjoy myself with Rayna and my guys. I actively avoided Ryker and just pretended that Bennet wasn’t following me around like a shadow. I have to watch how many drinks I have though. Not having a wolf’s metabolism, alcohol affects me so much worse and I need to be clear headed to follow through with my plan.
When it looked like all of my guys, Ryker and most of his guys were occupied, I hugged everyone and said goodnight, claiming the long day and night before on being tired. I know Ryker is watching me, he has been all night, but hopefully he will continue to keep his distance and pretend like I don’t exist. The same hope is nonexistent for Bennet. He glued himself to my side the whole way up to her room.
“I’m going to sleep, Bennet, go enjoy the rest of the party. Today was probably not much fun for you. Or go to sleep, I know you were out here all night last night.”
“Not happening, Lu…”
My hand shoots up in front of his mouth. “Don’t you dare call me that!” I took a deep breath to calm down, he’s just doing his job. A job he is forced into. It’s not his fault he was assigned to me and clearly feels like I am so weak I need to be protected inside the packhouse that currently has three alpha males roaming around and countless warriors. “It’s just Kennedy, nothing else. And I have been perfectly safe in the confines of this room for my whole life. Go rejoin the party, or go to bed, but don’t sit out here all night.” I don’t give him a chance to answer. I walk in my room and close the door, then I lock it for good measure. It wouldn’t keep any of them out if they really wanted to get in here, but it sent the message that I wanted to be left alone.
I quickly stripped out of my dress and hung it up in the closet switching to black leggings, black tank and black long sleeved shirt, sock and tennis shoes. I am not going to stay here if the plan is to just ship me back to Dark Moon without even having a discussion first. Clearly more people knew about me being Ryker’s mate and no one thought to tell me or ask how I felt about the situation. Ryker barely talked to me when we were at Dark Moon and didn’t even try to approach me to talk today. Asshole probably thinks I will just fall at his feet like all the alpha chasers do. Well he has another thing coming if he thinks he can just pack me up and dismantle my whole life at his command.
Kennedy
There is an apartment above my mom’s studio. I have been having it renovated over the last couple years. Even Aunt Beth doesn’t know that. She’s been trying to find reasons for me not to leave the pack for school since I got here. She thinks I don’t know about her plans, but her fear of me leaving has become a bit over the top as we all come into adulthood. I know it’s the first place Jer will look, but I’m hoping his loyalty to me is strong enough to keep everyone away for a little while. The studio is thriving and I have been working with Mark for years learning the business and helping it grow. He’s another one to worry about since he’s one of Jer’s pack warriors, but I’m putting a lot of faith in the fact that he understands as much as Jer why I need this. But if an Alpha or Lama command is put on him, he won’t be able to go against it like Jer.
I pack a couple days worth of clothes, my laptop and a few other small essentials and move toward my door listening. I can hear Bennet breathing on the other side and smell his cologne from the crack under the door. He must be sitting next to the opening again. Stubborn ass. Well, me too. I smile a little at the idea that the Moon Goddess got one thing right. I moved to turn on some music and set the little bluetooth speaker as close to the door as I could without being too obvious and for good measure, I turned on the shower in my bathroom with a bathbomb, letting the strong fragrance mask my scent, before opening my window. There is a small section of roof that juts out from the first floor, I toss my backpack onto it. I have to time this right, I need to leave while the party is still going on and scents are everywhere out here. It will be harder for them to start tracking me. But I need Bennet to believe I showered and went to sleep to buy me as much time as possible. Once I am in the woods I will be able to use some of the tactics Ben’s dad has been showing me for hiding my scent on the run. None of the guys or Aunt Beth know I have been doing this, but after being taken, Beta Daniel and I thought it would be good to know since I’m not as fast as a wolf. I actually understand my limitations being human and just wish that they could all see I’m not as reckless as they think, but it has helped me stay under their radar. I spend more time at the studio than they know and I haven’t been targeted since. There have been a couple times when it has helped me avoid rogues camping in the woods, but I’m not telling anyone about those close calls or they would lock me up for sure.
I move back to my bathroom, and notice my blonde hair is like a freaking beacon against my black clothes. I braid it and find a stocking cap I wear when I run in the winter, that will have to do. When I’m done I shut the water off and move around as if I were getting ready for bed, then I turn off the light and ruffle the covers around. The memory foam mattress is soundless. I slowly and quietly move to my window and listen. I hear Bennet take a deep breath in and huff it out. I’m not sure if he is frustrated or relieved, I kind of feel bad since I’m disappearing on his watch, but I tried to get him to leave. It’s on him now. The music picked up a bit and I took my chance to climb out the window.
Here goes nothing. I throw my back pack on and climb down the short drop to the ground and listen again for any signs that I have been caught. The party is still going on in the backyard and I can hear the laughter and chatter coming from all the happy partygoers. I should still be there with Jeremiah and Rayna, living it up and celebrating their matebond, but I just can’t handle all of the conflicting emotions going on right now and I need my space to get my head on straight. I move toward the forest, tighten the straps of my bag? and run.
It takes about 40 minutes to get to the studio if I am jogging at a steady pace. My goal tonight is to get there more quickly, but I also have to be careful to not leave my scent all over the forest too. I found the nearest cedar tree and started pulling off small ferns and rubbing them between my hands to let off the?fragrance. I tie a few in my braid too since those are the two places my scent is the strongest. I then tuck several ferns into the outer pockets of my backpack and in my leggings. I will continue to crush them as I go to mask and lessen my scent. I also have to be careful about where I step. If any of them are good trackers they will be able to see broken branches and freshly moved dirt from my footsteps, even in the dark of night. It’s too bad there isn’t a stream or any other body of water near here. That would allow me to lose them completely.
About 30 minutes in and I think I am making great time and pace, when I hear it. The unmistakable sound of a howl, and it isn’t a happy or playful howl. It’s pissed. I try to move more quickly, but I can’t just start running in a panic, that will erase all the work I did to stay hidden. Ten more minutes and I finally make it to the clear walking path that leads into the city, where I hope all the smells there will hide my scent and I can run more quickly. It’s not much further to my mom’s studio. I can do this. I start running, hard. I can almost hear the pounding of paws on the ground in my panic. I know it’s my imagination, the blood rushing in my ears from adrenaline. None of them are that fast and I have almost an hour head start. But J don’t take any chances and put on a burst of speed I didn’t know I had. Just when it starts to feel like my lungs are going to burst and I can’t go any further a snarl rips through the air and the ground shakes as a massive black wolf lands in front of me.
“Oh, f*ck!” It’s my good luck wolf statue come to life. And he looks ready to kill.
New Book: Back Home to Marry Off Myself
Loredana’s father left the family for his mistress, leaving them to fend for themselves abroad. When life was at its toughest, her father showed up with “good news” after 8 years of absence: To marry off Loredana to a paralyzed son of the wealthy Mendelsohn family.