The Shadow of Stars

Eleven

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"Hey," I greet when I get to the door and he shakes the look on his face, returning my smile. "I'm so sorry about being late, I completely stuffed up the dates and yeah—my mistake."

"It's fine, don't stress. Everyone is just inside getting to know each other, you haven't missed much," he reassures. I notice immediately as we enter the foyer the sheer size of the place and the extravagant decorations lining the walls. It makes me inhale a sharp breath. "It's just through here, we were going to just eat at our private dining room but my mom insisted on using the pack house one. We aren't usually so extravagant," he says lightly but it makes me gulp.

Extravagant isn't exactly the word I want to hear right now, not while I'm dressed for a backyard barbecue. I notice his suit then, and how damn good he looks in it. His hair is styled back and he's cleanly shaved, everything about his appearance screaming fancy. I mean he'd probably be dangerously attractive in a potato sack but still—it doesn't make me feel much better. 

I don't want to take off the leather jacket. Revealing a t-shirt under all this is like pouring salt in the wound.

"It's just in there," he says, pointing to a room a short walk down a hall in front of us. I can hear the music playing through the closed doors and the chatter of voices. "Oh, right. Um is there somewhere I can put these?" I ask, holding out my bag and helmet.

He stares at the helmet a moment longer than the bag and I can see the multitude of questions forming beneath his eyes. I should've just gotten a taxi or something, a thought that didn't even occur to me until right now. "Yeah, you can just chuck them down there. No one will move them," he says, pointing to a small table next to the entrance and I smile.

"Cool, thanks." I put them down and unzip my jacket, feeling the warmth of the building immediately on my bare skin. I place it all together bundled in a heap and when I turn back to face Micah his eyes don't meet mine like they usually do.

They are trained on my shirt, his nostrils flaring slightly before an icy look fills his eyes. His jaw tightens as the cogs of his mind turn and I feel a stupid amount of guilt and fear at the fact I'm in someone else's—another mans—shirt.

I squirm under his intense gaze. "Should we go in?" I ask and he loosens his jaw, letting out a regulated breath before giving me a tight-lipped smile.

"Yeah, of course. After you," he answers, waving towards the door and I have never not wanted to be somewhere so much in my life. I'm about to face his whole family. Like this.

I open the door, biting the bullet to enter slowly, the attention of the whole room shifting towards me. Everyone is there, my parents, my younger siblings, his younger siblings. The Alpha and Luna.

All dressed extremely nicely eating off silver starter plates that are all basically empty with calm classical music playing in the background.

The Luna looks me up and down, the judgement naturally passing over her face in shock before she smiles, catching herself. My own mother just looks deflated, all hope on me given up and my father looks like he's trying to conceal a laugh.

Micah walks in behind me and the reminder of him being here makes me move forward with him. We walk to his parents first. "Mother, Father, this is my mate, Athena," he introduces, his voice formal. I brush past his use of the word mate, try to ignore its implications.

I smile at them both though nerves consume me. "Hi," I say, waving at them before I hear my mom cough pointedly, her eyes going wide. "Alpha and Luna, I mean. It's a pleasure to meet the both of you, finally. Um, sorry about being late I," I chuckle nervously. "I don't know what happened there. Silly me."