Beloved

29

The ceremony was taking place at the far end of the garden behind the pack house, where a large clearing made such gatherings possible.
Florian and Dante waited at the French doors of the three season room to escort the women to the stage where the alpha and luna titles would be formally passed to Dante and Gaia. They watched the garden fill with members of their pack, as well as a few alpha visitors from neighboring packs.
Both men exchanged a look and turned to greet their respective mates when they heard the clicking of heels approaching.
Florian smiled at his mate, taking her hand, "You look divine, my love."
"Well worth the wait," Arianna winked. She hooked her hand in the crook of his arm and flashed a smile over her shoulder at her son and Gaia.
Dante's breath hitched and his eyes widened when he caught sight of Gaia. He very nearly lost control of his wolf as his eyes roamed over her body, only barely covered by the strategically placed solid portions of the otherwise sheer dress.
"Wow. You look incredible. Can I touch you? I want to kiss you, but I don't want to mess anything up."
Gaia smiled, "You clean up good, too. I think a small kiss might not hurt anything."
"No. Absolutely not," Arianna hissed. "I'll not have you mess up hours of work just because you can't keep your hands to yourself!"
Dante whined at his mother.
Florian snorted, "Well, let's get this over with then, so he doesn't have to suffer too long." He winked at his son.
Dante sighed and offered his arm to Gaia, and she slipped her hand into the crook of his elbow. As soon as Arianna's back was turned, she tugged on Dante's arm, crooked her finger so he'd bend down, and gave him a small peck on his lips.
"You're so naughty," he breathed against her mouth, "I love it." He then straightened and led her outside onto the stage.
Gaia kept her eyes from looking over at her pack mates, knowing she'd freeze in panic if she let her eyes wander over the crowd. She was able to hear the clapping and cheering, though. She was also able to hear a few insults aimed at her, mostly regarding her lack of physical prowess.
Florian and Arianna walked to a small table in the middle of the stage, upon which a chalice and a box rested. They took their places and flashed encouraging smiles to their son and his mate before facing the gathered crowd.
Dante and Gaia stopped a few feet away, and waited. Florian would open the ceremony, then call Dante forward first. After Dante's swearing, it would be Gaia's turn.
Florian spoke to the crowd, his voice penetrating to the farthest edges of the clearing, commanding a hush over the pack. "Tonight is a very special night, a night for celebration, for this night we celebrate the ascension of your future alpha, my son, relieving me of title and duty, and him claiming his Luna." He gestured toward the young couple sharing the stage and gave a slight nod to Dante.
Dante patted Gaia's hand and kissed her cheek before taking the two strides to stand in front of his parents as Arianna opened the box.
"Dante, my son, the year of your seventeenth birthday you began to take on the duties and responsibilities as future Alpha of Cedar Grove pack. This night you are eighteen and have found your true mate. Though you are young for it, I deem you worthy and ready for the position and title I have heretofore held in escrow, as you will for your heirs. By right of were law I hereby officially pass the title of Alpha to you. Do you accept?"
Dante answered solemnly, "I accept."
The audience clapped and cheered.
Arianna lifted the knife from the box and first sliced the palm of her mate, then that of her son. The two men clasped their hands over the chalice so their blood mingled and dripped into the cup.
"Alpha Dante, call forth your true mate you claim as your Luna," Florian said.
"I, Dante Black, Alpha of Cedar Grove claim Gaia Miller is my true mate and Luna," Dante announced, turning and holding out his hand to her.
Gasps of shock and a few insults could be heard through the intermittent clapping. The grumbling continued through the ceremony, escalating near the end.
Gaia swallowed the lump at her throat and made her way to Dante's side.
"Gaia, I have claimed you as my true mate and Luna. Do you accept?"
Gaia's voice rang clear, "I accept."
Arianna took over. "A Luna's duties are many. As the physical representation of the moon goddess for her pack, she is matriarch to her pack, partner of her Alpha mate, and mother of any children she herself may bear, and to all the children born to and accepted into the pack. Do you accept?"
Gaia felt her wolf stir near the surface of her mind as she answered, "I accept."
"The well being and safety of all pack members rests on the shoulders and in the care of the Alpha and his Luna. Do you accept?"
"I accept."
Arianna held up the knife, "By right of were law, I hereby officially pass the title of Luna to-"
"Objection!" The word rang loudly from many mouths in the crowd, drowning Arianna's voice. "She's weak!"
Paying the outcries no mind, Arianna quickly sliced her own and Gaia's palms, then clasped the younger woman's hand over the chalice.
"This is an outrage!", "Stop this nonsense!", "She's no warrior!", "A real Alpha would choose a warrior!"
Arianna lifted the chalice up in offering to the moon.
Gaia gasped as she sensed a raw energy enter and consume her body, and suddenly she was aware of every wolf in the pack. The warnings she'd been given didn't adequately prepare her for this effect. She could sense the pride of her friends, the curiosity of many, and the animosity of a few.
"Goddess, we accept the blessing and duties you have bestowed us, we thank you for the gifts that are our mates."
Dante bent to whisper in Gaia's ear, "Are you okay?" When she nodded, he turned toward the audience. "And now we invite every wolf able to shift, to join us on a run." He whispered, "You need to shift first, little mate. Show them who you are."
"I hate to ruin the dress, though."
Dante chuckled, "That dress is meant to be ripped from your body, but I'd rather be the one ripping it off you, too."
Gaia side-eyed him before taking a breath and shifting into her wolf, her dress ripping and falling to the floor at her feet, her shoes mangled under Gray-star's paws.
The audience erupted with cheers peppering the gasps and shocked exclamations.
Dante shifted, ripping his tuxedo and landing beside Gaia. His ebony black wolf towered over her silvery gray form and affectionately nuzzled her neck.
"Behold your Alpha and Luna," Florian announced. "Arianna and I will stay here with anyone unable to participate in the run."
As the majority of the crowd shifted, Cordut lifted his head to howl, Gray-star adding her voice to his. Soon their voices were joined by all their pack who'd shifted. Cordut nudged Gray-star and together they bounded off the stage and into the forest, their pack following close behind.
While the majority of the pack ran the circuit, all who stayed behind helped in whatever way they could, from watching the very small children, to setting up tables. Florian and Arianna had everyone who remained assist them with opening boxes of bundled shirts and sweatpants. Arianna garnered volunteers among the children to pass out the clothes to the returning wolves, while Florian oversaw barbecue pits roaring to life for the many platters of food to be cooked.
Dante and Gaia led the pack to a clearing that served to mark the median point between the center of the territory to it's boundary, where they would continue running an arcing circle around the midway radius of the territory, a path that took two hours to run in wolf form. Reaching the meadow, they were stopped short by intruders.
Three trios of different species appeared or landed in the path of the leading wolves. Dragons swooped down, shifting upon landing, Fey stepped forward from the tree-line, and Vampires emerged from animated fog, all of them eyeing each other and the wolves menacingly.
Dante's wolf reared and pushed Gaia's wolf behind him, quickly opening a mind-link with his father. His betas and gammas were quickly by his side, all protecting their Luna, growling low at the intruders.
The largest vampire bared his teeth in what might be construed as a smile, looking down at Gray-star peering from behind her protectors. "The rumors are true. Your goddess' most beloved blessed once again walks the earth."
"Calm your troops wolf boy," A beautiful female Fey smirked, "we're not here to harm your pretty little mate."
She and the female dragon eyed Dante appreciatively when he shifted into his human form to speak with them. "What are you doing in my territory?"
"Perhaps we should take this meet and greet to a more discreet locale," the shorter of the male dragons suggested in a thick brogue accent. He tightened his hold on the female he was clutching to his side, "let wolf boy find his trews and shirt, he's gi'ing me mate ideas." The female dragon rolled her eyes, but kissed his cheek. Dante clenched his jaw, giving a quick order for the gammas to escort the Luna and rest of the pack back to the pack house. Colton's wolf darted into the trees, Randal's wolf rounded up the rest of the pack.
Gray-star stalled, torn between Gaia's fears and not wanting to leave her mate's side.
"Oh, the beloved blessed should stay," the female fey purred, "this does concern her, after all. Or do you mean to keep her history and significance a secret from her?"
Dante growled, but he nodded at Gaia. She and Darla darted into the forest line just as Colton walked out dressed in shorts and a shirt, carrying similar for Dante and the dragons. The women would find shirts and sweatpants for themselves easily enough.
Gaia and Darla soon emerged from the tree line, drawing eleven pairs of eyes. Darla glared at the strangers and did her best to block their view of her friend as they made their way to their mates. Dante and Colton emitted low growls at the murmurs of appreciation from the unmated strange males, pulling their mates beside them protectively.
Gaia openly stared at the strangers, peering up at them as she wrapped her arms around Dante's waist. She'd never seen vampires, fey-folk, or dragons before, only reading of them in the library.
The fey were smaller, closer to her size, even the males. With their large eyes, heart-shaped faces and small statures, they could easily be mistaken for children. They were dressed in muted grays and browns that would easily help them blend and hide in any natural setting they might find themselves in.
The pale and brooding vampires were of a size with Dante, which made sense, and appeared to have been chiseled from the whitest marble. Cold and distant, a sickly sweet odor reminiscent of death rolled off them, making her nose twitch in distaste.
The dragons were massive in stature and specimens of perfection. Their scales were visible over their exposed flesh, their eyes gleamed like precious jewels. The female dragon stood as tall as Colton, while her mate towered over Dante by a good few inches, and he was broader in bone structure and thicker with muscle as well, and the taller dragon was a good head taller than him!
Gaia shuddered involuntarily, snuggling gratefully into Dante's warmth.
The larger male dragon chuckled, "She is a pretty little thing, but I promise we really aren't here to harm her."
Florian arrived, having driven, he burst through the tree-line, and jogged toward the group. "I got here as quickly as I could. What's the meaning of this?"
"Oh," the larger vampire arched a brow glancing from Dante to his father, "we weren't aware you aren't the Alpha yet, wolf boy."
Dante's voice was gravelly as he answered, "I am the Alpha. My father is an Elder with a seat on the council. I thought it would be best if an Elder were present, so I invited him."
"Arrangements were made to meet with the other species in two week's time," Florian asserted, "Again I ask what is the meaning of this?"
"Yes, a Wicca clan are on their way to that meeting as we speak," a fey male nodded.
"We can't wait that long," the other fey male said. "The gates are collapsing. We have perhaps a few months, but every second counts."
"We don't have time for your council to deliberate with the Wicca, we need to begin planning now," the larger dragon insisted. "We heard a rumor the beloved blessed once again walks this plane and knew it was time to take the matter in hand."
Images from her dreams flashed through Gaia's mind as the second fey spoke. "The gates?" Glancing at Darla she felt better knowing she wasn't the only one confused.
The larger dragon knelt so he was eye level with Gaia. "The gates between the worlds, little one. It is because of these gates we supernaturals are able to flourish on this world, because the gates keep creatures far darker than even the vampires from crossing."
The vampires hissed and glowered at the dragon, who ignored them and continued.
"Should the gates collapse entirely, the dark creatures will be able to cross and wipe out all life as we know it across all worlds, including this one." He kept eye contact with Gaia as he straightened to his full seven foot height, "it is up to us guardians to keep the dark ones from crossing at all costs. We dragons are the guardians of the skies and the gates themselves. The fey-folk are guardians of the lands where the gates can be found on every world remaining to be protected. All were-folk are the guardians of the lands beyond the gates, and the Wicca are guardians of the native species. Follow me?"
Gaia exchanged a wide-eyed look with Darla, answering, "I think so?" She peered up at Dante, her eyes locking with his. He cupped her face in his hand and kissed her forehead reassuringly, whispering he'd be beside her no matter what.
Darla asked, "What do the vampires guard?"
"We are of this world, little wolf, we aren't guardians."
"But we'd be destroyed right along with the rest of you, so in this matter we are allies."
"What does this to do with our Luna," Colton asked.
Florian had been silently staring straight ahead as the dragon spoke, his brows pinched together in concentration, but now he looked around at the group, saying, "They... We all need Gray-star to reinforce the gates. That's it, isn't it?"

Stunned, Gaia asked, "How?"
"With your wolf's gifts, little one. She alone has the ability, as she is the one who erected them."
"How will the affect her," Dante asked.
"We don't know," the male fey shrugged, "we aren't the record keepers."
"We need to know," Dante growled. "She's pregnant."