Neither of us had slept, having spent the rest of the night talking as we lay on the bed together. It was weird to have him still fully clothed, lying over the covers while I was naked under them. But it had been the most intimate night we’d spent together. He laced his fingers through mine, kissing the back of my hand, “Are you still sure you want to do this? It’s not too late to change your mind.” I shook my head, “I’m not going to change my mind, no matter how many times you ask.” I gave his hand a light squeeze. “Maybe you just want me to back out because you’re having second thoughts now.” “There isn’t a force on earth that c
I’d asked Sophie to help me pick out the right outfit to wear. There was an expectation for the Alpha to dress in black and his Luna to wear all white at formal events. It was a visual representation of their duality. I still hated wearing white, always afraid it would get dirty. She’d picked this blouse for the bare back and sleeves that were slit open from my wrists to my shoulders. The open spaces showed off the necklace and cuff they’d given me. She let me swap out the tight pencil skirt for a pair of dress pants. Being able to shift should keep my body running hot enough for the crisp winter air not to bother me, and if I got cold, she teased that I could always snuggle with Dmitri. She’d pinned my hair half up with opal set pins, my curls cascading over the shoulder opposite of the cuff. We kept my makeup simple, just trying to highlight my green eyes. “I wish you guys could see how good you look together!” Her beaming smile brightened the whole
Mostly everyone had cleared out of the stadium, following the parade of the champions into the tent to feast or the fairgrounds too celebrate. I wished that I’d been able to see Nathan’s face when he found out that Sophie had won their bet. Better, I wish I could’ve seen her face when she rubbed it into his. Instead, Dmitri and I were heading into the flurry of chaos at the center of the field. It was taboo to do a Mating Ceremony on Lupercalia, even though it was considered a celebration of fertility; it was like human’s who get married on Valentine’s Day. The ceremony was a lot like a wedding, but wolves weren’t usually extravagant about it. It would have been nice to make it a private affair, but he was the Alpha and I was essentially royalty, making it impossible to do a quiet ceremony. There was no way to know how much time we had before word spread, beyond the pack, of my lineage. Fortunately, my celestial ties seemed to be a secret that only I k
I thought it would be impossible for anyone to beat us to locker room bunker in the woods, until I saw the rows of motorcycles and dirt bikes parked among the trees. It seemed like most of the shifters in the pack could be mistaken to the outside world as a biker gang. I’d have to remember to have Dmitri teach me how to ride one on my own if I managed to survive through the night. Without a wolf of my own, I didn’t know if I could form a link with the pack. How was I supposed to accept anyone’s pledge of loyalty or challenge for that matter if I couldn’t communicate with them? I could feel the moon, as it lifted into the darkening sky, beckoning my body to shift the same way they did. But I didn’t have a second consciousness, at least not the same way they all did. Mine wasn’t constant; I could feel her just out of reach, but she only seemed to commune with me when it suited her. Dmitri and I had tried a few times last night to link together through his bond to me, but
I let myself fall slightly behind; then kept the pace to maintain the gap. Dmitri, Blake and the female wolves kept pace with me as the rest of the enforcers ran together ahead of us, Nathan at the head of their charge. It was a long way to the rocky shelf that they ran up the hillside too every run. Dmitri had pointed it out on a map for me the night before, and I was just enjoying the feeling of wind in my fur and dirt beneath my paws as we ran. ‘You’re toying with him,’ Dmitri accused. ‘Only a little bit,’ I teased and picked up my pace for a moment to close the gap a few feet. ‘He’s going to be very grumpy for days,’ He teased back. ‘I warned him, you warned him,’ I mocked. ‘6, Princess,’ he warned, but I could feel his amusement. We continued through the trees, racing up the slope, closing the gap a little more every so often. When our group was a few feet behind the enforcers, Na
The sun peeked over the edge of the horizon just before we started making our way back down to the clearing. Nathan and Dmitri had been quiet the last few hours. I assumed it was because they were having a conversation the rest of us weren’t meant to hear. I didn’t know if I could listen in, or even if I should try. It wouldn’t be fair of me to keep my own secrets but intrude on theirs. ‘Anyone want to race down?’ Blake found new enthusiasm as the sky changed to a bluish-pink. ‘I’m game,’ Lalita challenged, his cheerful attitude seemed to perk her up as well. They set off down the hillside, followed by a handful of enforcers and most of the females. The
To much time had passed and he was still just staring at me with a blank expression as I knelt there holding his hand in mine. One of us needed to say something eventually. I had a limited number of options before me, and I’d need time to prepare either way he decided. A knock on the main doors derailed my train of thought. His face was still blank, “I’ll go see who that is, and what they want,” I whispered, setting his hand on his thigh. Still nothing from him, sighing, I climbed off the floor and made my way to the sitting room. I opened the door to a very cheerful Sophia, “It sounded really quiet, so I thought I wouldn’t be interrupting,” she gave me a wink with a cheeky grin, “I planned for us all to have brunch instead of breakfast since the morning after a full moon tends to run a little later than normal, aaaaannnnnnd…” she wiggled her eyebrows at me suggestively. “Oh, um…” I quickly pulled her inside and shut the door behind he
I feel asleep with a sense of serenity I’d never felt before. Waking now and stretching my arms, I can’t help but worry if I’d dreamt it. Blue eyes, not black pools when he said he loved me. I jerked upright when my hand found only empty space beside me. ‘Dmitri?’ I tried to picture his face as I reached my thoughts out to him. Relief settled over me like a warm blanket, ‘Welcome back to the land of the living, Princess.’ I could feel his relief as well, ‘You looked so peaceful. I didn’t want to disturb you. I’ll wrap things up here and be up in a few minutes.’ I settled back into the pillows, feeling like I could float up to the ceiling at any moment. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen you look so content,” his adoration washed over me, with a tinge of jealousy. My cheeks hurt from smiling so big, “You love me,” butterflies swirled in my stomach as he looked down at me. He frowned, “Have I really made you question that?”