Lazarus

Chapter 28

I stared at myself in the mirror, feeling somewhat stupid in the black dress. It's a gorgeous dress, but I had chosen it when my hatred for Lazarus was guiding me. Going against the custom white during a Luna ceremony. Though, with how he has been acting, I think black suits this one.

Ever since that night a week ago, he has been more standoffish with me. He would say a simple greeting in passing, but other than that it was silence on his end. I have tried multiple times to attempt a conversation, even apologize for overstepping, but he didn't want to hear it. He would only stare at me, those blue eyes burning right into my soul. And now, after avoiding him for the past two days, I have to complete this ceremony with him.

Taking a deep breath, I turned to face Alex, "He hates me."

She frowned at me, her eyes holding sympathy as she made sure all of my hair was in place. "No, he doesn't. He was like this with me and Azrael too. He just...he becomes closed off. It's a very difficult thing to talk about, it's his way of coping with the question and somebody new knowing. It takes time for him to come around."

"It was also out of line for me to ask. I've only known him for a month or so. Most of it we hated each other."

"More like he didn't trust you and you both were hurting. Emotions can be a hell of a thing."

I smiled, "Ain't that the truth."

"You ready?"

Glancing back at the mirror once more, I nodded, "Yeah."

Stepping outside introduced an entirely new feeling of anxiety. My eyes immediately found Lazarus standing in the center of the pack, dressed in an equally black tux. It almost had me smiling, it looks like we both had the same idea at the time. Normally, the males wear a white tuxedo and the female wears a white dress. However, we both went against tradition.

I guess we aren't as different as I had thought.

His scent filled my nose as I stood beside him, causing me to feel a little dizzy. My heart felt as though it's fluttering in my chest, causing me to stumble a little once I got close to him. Clasping my hands together, I glanced at him once before focusing on the pack surrounding us.

"Is the council coming?" I whispered, needing to say something to get rid of this awkward tension between us.

He shrugged, his jaw set as his eyes stayed trained on the pack. My shoulders slouched a little in defeat, knowing it's useless to try and get through to him again. He was just beginning to open up a little to me and I go ahead and step over the line. I looked up as Monroe walked towards us with Azrael, both of them dressed in suits as they stood before us. I caught Monroe's eye as I looked at them, he was giving me a worried look before I decided to look away. I instead looked down at my hands, watching them shake as Azrael began reciting the lines for the ceremony. My mind blanked out for the rest of it, their words falling on my deaf ears as I thought over what I had done.

I'm not entirely sure why I feel so guilty about it. Maybe it's because I actually care about him now, that I can understand the pain he's going through. He knows I have fought depression as well and hell, I still have my moments where I wonder if ending it would be the better choice. I know it wouldn't be, but that never-ending torture in my mind never ends. And I know that is what he's feeling, but I rushed into it, I didn't try gently bringing it up. I scared him away because I was too eager to talk about his problems.

I was too eager to bond with someone who's dealing with a similar disorder.

"Persephone, do you take Lazarus as your mate and Alpha?" Monroe questioned.

Gulping down my guilt, I nodded, " I do."

He then looked towards Lazarus, "Do you, Lazarus, take Persephone as your mate and Luna?"

"I do."

As we drank from the same cup, our eyes connected for once. My legs went weak and my heart raced as I attempted to appear confident before him.

Gods, I'm falling for him.

A/N: Help, she's falling and can't stop