005. The Silver Wolf!

~NORA~

After hours of prowling through the pack's shopping malls and searching for the perfect dress, my feet were roasting. Plus, coming back to see that everything was put in place for the Luna howl: catering, arranging the sacred ground, and all.

It was my night, and I didn't want to mess it up.

Now standing in front of my vanity mirror, clad in the silver dress I had specifically picked. I loved the color. I didn't know why, but I just did. Something about it matches my ocean eyes, or should I say it beautifully contrasts them?

Either way, the dress hugged my skin, the pearls cascading down the length of my knees. I let out a smug smile.

"Dexter would so love this."

Just then, the door of my room was thrown open, and Hillary, my best friend, strutted in like the queen bee she was, already dressed in a blue dress that made her sapphire eyes pop.

"Girl... you're really rocking that silver dress."

I chuckled at her words, my cheeks flushing at her admiral gaze that trailed over my body.

"Damon will surely drool over his tie." She added, letting out a soft chuckle.

The mention of Damon made my heart skip. For a second, I had forgotten that he was here, and that he would be attending my Luna Howl.

"I suggest you get used to me being around..." His words earlier kept resounding in my ears, sending weird chills through my spine.

With a loud hiss, I grabbed my silver clutch purse and turned to face Hillary. "He can drown in his own saliva for all I care." I snapped, brushing past Hillary and heading straight to the door.

"Hey," Hillary caught my arm before I could make it to the door. I whirled around. "I don't want you carrying that negative energy to the marking ritual. It can mess up everything."

"I mean, I can feel your energy spiking."

I let out a deep breath. "You're right. I shouldn't let him get to me. Tonight's my night." I chanted, squaring my shoulders.

She touched my chin, smiling proudly. "That's my girl."

Mirroring that smile, we both walked out of my room, my silver heels clicking against the tiled floor.

But they screeched to a halt immediately as I stepped out and saw him standing right outside my door.

Clad in a black tuxedo that nicely filled out his broad physique, he was looking—

Seriously, Nora? I caught myself before I would compliment him in my head... again.

"You're looking gorgeous as always, Ora." He muttered, voice dripping sensuously and gaze trailing the curves of my body.

I shook off the heat that threatened to curl in between my legs, walking past him.

"I can't say the same about you."

That was an obvious lie. And from his throaty chuckle, I'd say he thought so.

"Come on, give this Alpha a minute." He muttered, catching up with me in two strides, despite giving him a head start.

Fuck those long legs.

"Not interested in whatever you have to say," I replied icily, increasing my footsteps.

"Save it for whoever is keen on getting their heart sliced and—" I wasn't able to complete the last word when his fingers found my elbow, whirling me around.

"I have already apologized, Lily." His gaze was soft, eyes almost misty. Could have fooled me.

"And I said, I'm not interested," I muttered with a humorless smile. "I have somewhere important to be."

That said, I pried my hand out of his hold and turned to leave.

"If I were you, I wouldn't carry on with this marking ritual." He continued, following me again. Goddess, does this guy ever give up?

"There's a lot at stake if you let him mark you..." I blocked out the rest of his words, but I couldn't help the jolt that shot through me at the ones I had just heard.

"Nora!" He called out as I continued walking, his voice slightly high-pitched.

Just as I was about to scream into his face, Dexter appeared through the adjoining hallway, also clad in a tuxedo, his murderous glare fixed on him.

"Stay away from my Luna, Damon." He bit out, his aura rolling in waves, and so did Damon, and both of them stood a few feet away from each other, me standing in the middle and alternating my gaze between the two brothers.

"Why don't you go ahead and make me, Dexter? Or you're worried I'll spill your little secret."

My eyes widened as they rested on Damon. And for a minute, my thoughts started wandering around the cryptic words he kept dropping.

Dexter's growl hit my ears, and I could tell he was fighting to keep his wolf from coming to the surface.

"Guys..." Hillary's voice cut through the tension that was threatening to swallow me whole. "We'll be late for the marking ritual."

That was enough to snap Dexter out of the stare-down.

"Let's go, baby." He took my hand as we walked down the hallway, leading outside the mansion. But my mind was already in overdrive.

What little secret?

~~~~~~~~~~~

My restlessness grew with each spell chanted by the pack's priestess as Dexter and I stood in front of each other on the podium of the sacred ground, which was filled to the brim with the members of the Moon Howl pack.

My gaze darted around, finding Damon in the midst of the crowd and surprisingly staying on him.

What secret was he talking about? And why didn't Dexter say anything to refute it?

I had been preparing for this day ever since Dexter rescued my heartbroken self and had been there for me after Damon left, but why did it suddenly feel so wrong?

"By the power vested in me as the pack's golden eye..." The pack's priestess raised the white staff that would grant Dexter the go-ahead to mark me; my heartbeat intensified, breath suddenly hitching.

There's no coming back from this. I had no problem with it. But why was my entire body revolting at that thought?

"Are you seriously going to let him mark her without telling her about—"

Damon's voice sliced through the air like a whip, my eyes darting sharply towards him. He had left where he was sitting and stepped closer to the podium.

"You don't want to start what you can't finish." The pack's priestess interrupted, glaring murderously at him. A murmur tore through the sacred ground as confusion etched itself in my bones.

"Okay, this is seriously getting creepier," I muttered, glancing around, my gaze finally resting on Dexter. "Care to explain what your brother is on about? What do I need to know?"

"Nothing, honey bee. Just carry on with the ritual." My Dad responded from the front row, flashing me a warm smile that didn't do anything to calm me down.

"Forget his dramatics, babe." Dexter leaned closer, placing his hand on my waist. I could feel his power rolling through as his wolf neared the surface in readiness for the marking.

"You're a bloody joke for wanting to mark a she-wolf who has no idea who she was." Damon started again, halting Dexter's movement.

His eyes flashed at Damon, fangs already in place. "Breathe another word—"

"Or what?"

"Damon!" My father thundered, and all but flinched.

"What the hell is going on?!" I couldn't help the outburst that escaped my lips as everything suddenly stilled.

My gaze was now fixed on Damon, icy and demanding. "Talk, Damon."

Nodding, he stepped forward. "A few people in this room know about your identity and the risk your ignorance of it might pose to your powers and to the throne, should he go ahead and mark you."

My brows immediately furrowed. "Wait, what Identity? What powers?"

"You're a silver wolf; the first millennium Alpha female to exist in centuries." His words dropped like a bomb in my ears, stilling the entire room.

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?"

"It means, you're—"

"Damon!" Dexter growled, rushing through him, but a blinding light came from nowhere and struck him, causing him to stagger.

"Dex..." I rushed towards him, just as he was about to fall. My eyes searched for the source of the power.

But I didn't search long because standing at the entrance of the sacred ground was a woman, clad in a silver robe, her silver hair glittering.

I instantly felt her aura wash over me, but not enough to shake me. The entire room instantly fell to their knees as she walked through the aisle towards the podium.

Everyone except for me.

How and when Dexter reached the ground, I couldn't tell. Even Damon was leaning on one knee.

My gaze was fixed on the woman that had gotten close, her silver eyes darting around the room, laced with disgust.

"How dare you morons let a millennium silver wolf be marked without telling her who she is?" Her voice boomed across the stilled room before she spat out in disgust, her gaze finding mine.

"My child, you're very powerful, and should you have been marked, the alpha kneeling next to you would have gone feral." Another round of gasps filled the sacred ground, a louder one from me as I covered my lips.

"That's not even the crux of it."

She went on with a smug smile, oblivious to the shivers that crawled through my spine and the blood that roared in my ears.

This must be some joke, right?

"You won't only be marked by one, but by the two Alpha brothers..."

My breath caught.