Chapter 3 - Long forgotten memories

The Alpha and his Luna were sitting at the entrance, doing the honor before the guests entered their house. They both remained with their smiles frozen on their faces, looking at Selene with widened eyes. Even though she felt that she managed to relax, the anxiety hit her hard once more at the looks on their faces. She could see that they were in a bit of shock seeing her.

Kevin, Selene's dad, cleared his throat, trying to overcome the weird moment,

"Your highness, " he leaned down to give his honor, "We are most pleased that we have been honored to celebrate this blessed moment with you".

Selene could see that both Alpha Richard and his wife, Gilly, were fixing on her with a surprised gaze. They looked like true royals sitting in front of them. The Alpha had a gorgeous Armani blue suit while she was wearing a long pale blue chiffon dress with long flared cape sleeves. The dress itself had nothing bright, but she was wearing all blue emeralds with gold chains and a gorgeous tiara. All in small blue diamonds were reflecting all the lights in the room.

Luna Gilly pushed her hand for Selene's parents to kiss, and they did. Selene knew that she was only a human, not with the right to kiss Luna's hand. And she wouldn't have done it in any way. She did not like the custom, and she clenched her fists and hid behind her dress, trying to control herself.

"Tabitha..." Luna Gilly said,

"Your highness?" Tabitha answered.

"Is this your daughter?"

Tabitha looked at Luna like she was seeing her for the first time. She answered, but her voice was trembling.

"Yes, she is..."

"She is a human!" Luna stated. 

They were all open-mouthed.  

Selene could not believe what Luna was stating! They were almost humans, too, because they had lost the gifts that came with the werewolves! She was in a rage. But before she would burst, not caring anymore if she would be allowed to come back into the community, Alpha Richard cleared his throat,

"Please proceed. We have other guests to welcome. I hope you enjoy it," she continued, like she needed to take that off her chest, and changed the subject like she didn't say what she said.

They could not believe it, and rest froze for a few seconds, but somehow her father recovered faster, and she felt like he was gently pushing her and her mother, and they moved towards the ballroom. Not before Selene saw how Luna looked at her husband. She was feeling sorry for the poor man. 

Even if they had a certain age, you would not say. The way they looked would make a younger couple ashamed. But looking at Selene, she noticed that if in Alpha Richard's eyes she found only curiosity, in his wife's, Gilly, it was more than curiosity. Animosity. Selene tried not to be affected, thinking that, anyway, she could not care less what these royals were thinking about her because she wasn't part of their community. She was just a simple human. As the woman stated. She was worried a bit about her mother. She was white. But Kevin was already covering her shoulders and whispering in her ear some comforting words. By the time they went into the ballroom, she could see that her mother was feeling better. Now, this was something else. It was normal that, because of the grandiosity of the house, the ballroom was to be huge, but she did not expect it to be THAT huge.

There was a mass of people, suits of all colors, satin, silks, huge dresses, smaller pieces of jewelry, and a noise coming from all of that, so Selene had a moment of panic and wanted to leave. Curious was that when they arrived at the top of the stairs, some of that uproar stopped, and they were at the center of attention. It was just like time stood still for a minute. She could see the same look that Luna Gilly had on her appearance from all the women, with jealousy, and the most interest mixed with curiosity in men's looks.

Her father cleared his throat, making his mother make a funny commentary while he was leading them down the stairs, and from everyone's appearance,

"You should go have that neck checked, my dear," she said softly.

He looked at her with a spark in his eyes, meant just for her. Probably he wanted to say something, but the place was full of people. They even had the impression that the conversations had stopped for a brief second when they entered.

Even in the moment the conversations stopped for a few seconds passed quickly, Selene was trying not to look around the ballroom to see anyone from her previous colleagues. She could not shake the feeling that a gaze was on her, a hot gaze that was making the small hair on her neck rise. She assumed that most of the guests were deranged by the fact that she was a human. A silly thing after her, but anyway, she tried to look from the corner of her eyes who was looking so insistent...and then she spotted him! It was Raphael! She almost fell on her nose looking after him. He looked the same as four years ago, but not quite. He was sitting near that awful future Luna of his, who, by the way, was looking astonishing in a cream-long satin dress and with her long black hair let loose, but he was looking at her, at Selene. With hunger in his eyes, she turned her face from him because she just wanted to believe that what she saw was wrong. He was wrong. She blushed while remembering his looks. The man was not ugly in high school either, but now he was a walking sack of pheromones. With a glimpse of her eyes, she could see that the suit he was wearing was barely covering his large shoulders. He looked fit, a sure sign of the long training he was doing. A masculine face with powerful jaws covered in a small, arranged beard, and his arranged hair was making her knees tremble a little bit. His lips were as plump as she remembered, but his eyes were like the depths of an ocean you would want to dive into. The way they were exchanging looks was so wrong that Selene felt chills. The man never had a kind word or gesture for her, but why the hell she was looking at him like he was the cooked turkey after a long fast, she did not know.

She felt the blush covering her cheeks, so she tried to take those thoughts out of her head. She felt a little bit dizzy because she had never had this kind of feeling for any guy, especially not that asshole who treated her like crap.

She saw Robert approaching them, and she could not have been happier. She was safe from all impure thoughts. With a big smile, he approached them, shook hands with Selena’s father, and gave a bear hug to Selena’s mom, who was delighted because of his appreciative comments. Both her parents loved him, and he was the main reason they agreed she would go to another state to study. They knew she was in good hands, and he did not disappoint them. 

He stopped in front of Selene and gave an arm's distance between them just to admire her. He whistled softly,

"You look gorgeous, my sweetheart! I will have to keep you close tonight if I still want to have a girlfriend when I live in this ballroom."

Selene laughed at his remarks, but she could not help from blush in her cheeks again.

"Don't be goofy, Robert. There are girls and women far more well-dressed than me. One of them is the future Luna," she could not help herself finish on a bitter note that she hoped only she noticed because of the music. But with her last statement, all four heads turned to where Luna and her mate Raphael were.

The moment they turned, they could see that Luna caught the move and looked at them with total disgust as if they were misery under her shoe. The thing that made her look at Robert from the corner of her eye was just to see his reaction. She could see the pain that flashed in his face for a second, making her clench her fists. She knew for sure the woman hadn't changed a bit. She did not doubt that, now he had the confirmation.

She placed a hand over Robert's waist, and he had done the same thing just when Raphael had turned in their direction.

She could overhear her mother whispering to her father,

" If she looks like this to us now, what will happen when she is queen and ruler over us?" was a question that made Selene shake from all the bad feelings that she was having. Her father remained silent, and Selene felt that her stomach started to twist painfully. She knew it was because of her that all these people were disregarding her parents. She was human; they were special. They were the elite of the werewolf's high society, and she was a thorn pinching them in their back. All of a sudden, she felt tired of trying to please everybody just not to see her parents hurt. Because they were. Selene was sure that they would never choose their pack over her, but she was hoping that they wouldn't need to do this, especially since she could stop this nonsense. She made up her mind, and they could not overturn it. She will leave forever this place, and never look back. Again, like he could hear her thoughts, Raphael was looking at her like he could see her naked underneath her dress.  She swallowed hard at the gaze that he gave her. Her parents were already talking with some friends, and Robert had changed his position, keeping her in his arms, kissing her forehead, and resting his chin on the top of her head. Also, Luna had turned back to the group they were in. Selene felt for a few seconds that it was just her and Raphael in the room. The possessiveness of his gaze shook her hard. She was incapable of standing anymore, and they had just arrived. She wanted to do something to escape from that place, but she had no way. Not for now, at least. She turned her eyes a second time from him. She did not want to widen these looks even further. She could not think of a reason why she was reading all those things in his eyes, or why she was so touched by them. It wasn't like they had any sort of connection. Selene was turning her head and checking ways to escape. Some big doors were looking like they were going out into the garden. She saw with the corner of her eye that Raphael was watching the direction of her look, and she saw him smiling! The bastard was under the impression that she was sending him hints to go and have a meet outside!

She turned herself from his side and pushed more into Robert's arms. She was thinking, 'That will teach him that I don't want anything with him!' but she was already trembling inside and could not stop thinking, what if he thinks it's a good idea to follow her outside? What would she be doing then? What on earth could he want from her that he sends her all those gazes and signals? 

She felt her palms sweaty, and she was hoping that all this was in her imagination. But her body was saying something different. She had no experience in the matter of desire, but she could swear her body was having a mind of its own, by the way, it was reacting to a simple gaze from a man she was hating...