Chapter 3

The music was blaring, and the loud laughter was jarring, but for Marian, the room might as well have been silent.

There, on a low stage set toward the end of the hall, a raised platform just two feet off the ground, and twenty feet wide, were seated Alpha Dax, his two mates, and her father, former Alpha, Corien.

A dark-haired, green-eyed man in his early forties with chiseled features and a neatly groomed moustache-beard. A handsome man by no mean measure.

A rush of warmth filled her chest and her stomach.

Why have I been avoiding him? She mused, angry at herself and yet happy as she laid her eyes on him, her only living relative, a man she had fought for, bled for, and nearly died beside, four years ago.

She caught her father’s eye, and his green eyes lit up. He smiled lightly at her just as Dax leaned in to whisper something in his ear.

Marian turned away from the sight.

Dad...she mused to herself, and right at that moment, a gong went off.

It was five minutes to midnight; the main event was starting – the mistletoe ball drop.

Everyone on the floor pulled out black eye covers and tied their eyes. The tradition was simple, when the music stopped, you stood wherever you were, and the mistletoes dropped from the ceiling. Whoever was under one was to kiss whoever was closest to them.

You couldn’t run, and you couldn’t refuse the kiss.

Of course, couples would be together, so part of the game was to spin around vigorously between all bodies while a gas that muted the wolf's sense of smell was released into the room.

The Alphas and strongest soldiers were not part of this game, just in case something dangerous came up.

Their pack, ever vigilant, would not allow such laxity in their security, not even at Christmas.

Marian was blindfolded by some young omegas and made to join in the fun. She had not fought them off, as she knew who had sent them.

Dad…she mused again, letting herself be pulled into the stream of spinning bodies.

Lone wolf she may be, but tonight, she had something to prove.

From the time her father was deposed, she had attended this ceremony every year.

The last one she attended was last year’s celebration, after which she had been rejected, just weeks later, during the New Year Moon party, and had fled into exile.

Today, she was back, and she was out to prove that the rejection that had made her run away from the pack was behind her.

She was not diminished.

She was not ashamed or afraid.

She was alive.

Her father was still her own.

She was adorned in the beautiful outfit he had prepared for her, a bright, shimmering gown that showed his thoughts toward her.

That she was his daughter, that she should shine.

==========

Marian spun around, bumping into some people and narrowly missing others, laughter and giggles sounding off everywhere.

This was the one time pack members, mated or not, could try being naughty – whether to tease their mates, push lovers’ buttons, or simply take a chance on a love interest.

Cheating was not allowed during the spin, but some tried anyway and were pulled out by designated guardians, who were the only ones on the hall floor not blindfolded.

The sound of the music increased, the spinning continued and with a resounding clang, right at midnight, the music stopped.

Everyone pulled off their blindfolds and eye masks and looked up as one to see who was under a mistletoe and who was closest.

Growls, groans, and snickering filled the hall as wolves saw where they were and who they were privileged to kiss first thing on Christmas morning.

Marian looked up and glanced around with a small smile on her face.

She was under a mistletoe, and that meant one thing – someone was going to be really embarrassed, real soon, for getting a kiss from the deposed princess.

There were people nearby, Roxanne, the golden-haired she-wolf, Juniper, the hybrid wolf, and…her smile froze on her lips as her eyes fell on the wolf behind her.

Wolf...?

Can he be called a wolf...? Marian mused as Dinka whined quietly in their mind space, backing away in her mind, with disdain.

Right behind Marian, the closest person to her, the one she would have to kiss, was the pack outcast; the largest, fattest, weakest pack member; an unranked pack member with no scent and no known wolf within – Reyland Garrant, Alpha Dax’s biological son.

He smiled shyly at Marian, backing away as he flushed deep red.

Reyland was tall, the tallest pack member, but he was also overweight, ungainly, and without any wolf traits to boast of.

He never went out on hunts and never trained or fought with the pack members.

He was the weakest of the pack. At best, due to his size, he may be stronger than some omegas, but even a handful of them were stronger than him.

He was an embarrassment to the pack, a shame no one spoke of, about, or against, and he should have been an embarrassment to his family, but his father kept him close.

He glanced around sheepishly, nervously searching for someone, seeming lost at sea.

Marian pulled back slightly, mirroring Dinka, but as she watched his eyes and his increasingly sweaty brow, she recalled how she had felt at the New Year’s feast not eleven months ago, when all eyes had been on her as Dorien rejected her in front of the pack.

Marian recalled how her chest had tightened and the world had spun.

Her hands tightened into fists.

What’s the big deal?

It’s just a kiss.

Before Reyland could turn away, Marian grabbed his soft cheeks and stood on her toes, pulling his head down to kiss him and get it over with.

Who cares who it is? She mused as she pulled Reyland’s round face to hers.

Let them watch!

Her eyes were closed, but her ears were not.

The silence in the room was deafening.

Alpha Dax had stood up. Marian heard his chair scrape back, and she felt the pack stiffen as they sensed their leader’s unease.

They could all feel his apprehension as his heart pounded in his chest – the ousted princess, his enemy, was standing before the entire pack, and their guests, with her hands on his son; his firstborn.

Marian felt Dax’s sky-blue eyes on her from across the hall, but she was not concerned about him.

She was supposed to keep her head down. To stay out of sight.

But circumstances had brought her here, and by this time in her life, she and circumstance were sisters.

No matter what she gave Marian, Marian took it and ran.

You can watch too, Alpha!

My father is your pet monkey?

Fine!

We won’t be the only ones on display today!

She swore at Dax in her mind.

Reyland grabbed her arm to pull away, to stop her but, she was an alpha, a warrior wolf, and he was wolfless, with the added bonus of being unusually weak; he had no chance.

She kissed him fully on the lips.