Fate Mate

Chapter 51

"Moon Goddess! Charlie, you look beautiful!" Lizzie squealed.

I stared into the floor length mirror that had been brought into the packhouse guest room for one purpose alone. Lizzie, Moon Goddess bless her, had wanted me to see the full extent of my Mating Ceremony dress. I'd told my long-time closest friend that she needn't fuss. I could judge the dress just fine in the vanity over the bathroom sink.

And yet, as I gazed at my reflection in the floor-length mirror, I knew that Lizzie had been right. This dress deserved a room full of mirrors on every wall, just so that every intricate detail could be properly appreciated. I was speechless.

The white dress appeared simple at first glance. A gown that cinched at the waist only to flow in rivulets of sheer tulle to the floor, with enough layers of tulle to only reveal the slightest shadow of legs beneath. But, upon closer examination, the dress became something out of a fairytale. It possessed a corset bodice with the skeleton of white fabric covering my breasts, only to expose my midriff beneath a thin layer of tulle.

The dress had no straps, and Lizzie didn't dare adorn my neck with any jewelry. She'd woven my chestnut locks into an intricate updo, with tendrils of curls framing my face. But my neck was bare—exposed.

"It's perfect," I breathed, twisting until the weightless skirts swayed and brushed the wooden floors.

"You look beautiful, Charles." Lizzie smiled. "I'm sorry your friend couldn't be here. Sophia, I mean."

Her condolences sent a pang of longing spiraling from my chest into the pit of my stomach. I knew that, out of everyone that I'd met at the Black Lupis pack, Sophia would have wanted to see this day the most. "She's here," I whispered. "We just can't see her."

Lizzie's throat bobbed, but she quickly complained, "You're going to make me cry and ruin my makeup!" My red-haired best friend ran her index finger beneath her lined lower lashes, just to ensure that everything was still in place. "When did you become so... Zen?"

I laughed. "Hmm, I think it was sometime between getting swept away on the night of the Summer Solstice and clawing my way back from the afterlife." This earned an eye-roll from my friend, who immediately set about painting a final layer of red lip-gloss on my lips.

It was true. In the months that I'd been at the Black Lupis pack, I'd changed. Gone was the nervous, accommodating girl that the Golden Walkers had created. I was a Luna, now. I'd faced trials that I never could have imagined and survived. My mate's initial rejection, a slow integration into a not-so-welcoming pack, close encounters with rogues and hybrids and death... I'd endured so much, faced so many trials.

But iron-clawed nerves still tore my insides to shreds as Lizzie took a step back, admired her handy-work, and said, "I think you're ready. It's about time, anyway."

My heart fluttered unreliably, like a butterfly with only one wing, and I clutched the tulle skirt of my dress with damp palms. "Right. Is everyone else already outside?"

Lizzie, who wore a beautiful emerald gown that accentuated her full hips and round bust, shuffled toward the window that overlooked the field behind the pack house. The pack had spent the last twenty-four hours turning the back of the pack house into an extravagant, elegant Mating Ceremony venue. I should have just walked over to the window myself, but my legs seemed to be glued in front of the mirror.

My friend peered outside the window, and a beam spread across her features. "Yep!" She popped the 'p,' and spun back to me. "It looks like everyone is in place!  Only thing missing is a Luna. And don't grab your skirt like that. You'll wrinkle it."