Luna

10

It felt as if I had been asleep for days but when my eyes opened, it was still dark. My eyes burned and muscles were still tight but I felt rested, almost too rested. Moving to pull myself closer to Josh, I came up empty handed. Groaning, I opened my eyes and looked around the room. The shower was going and I snickered - time for revenge.
Finding one of his ties, I moved to the door and tied it around my eyes before pushing the door open. "Morning."
He stumbled in the shower, surprised, "What are you doing in here?"
"Payback."
He burst into laughter. A wet hand touched my face and I froze, "Only one difference, you don't need to be blindfolded for me." He took the tie from my face and kissed my forehead. My eyes were pinched shut tight.
This was backfiring on me.
He laughed, "So when are we telling your family?"
"We?"
"Yeah. I'm not making you do it on your own."
Taking a seat on the counter, when I was sure he was back in behind the shower curtain, "It might be better for your safety if you hide. My father and brother aren't going to be too happy."
"And your mom?"
"Wants me to go with you."
"Really?" He sounded genuinely surprised.
"Why are you surprised she trusts you?"
"No one trusts me Josie - no one outside my pack at least."
"Well now you can't say that and I'm pretty sure Maya trusts you anyway."
He scoffed, "I wouldn't call it trust."
I was intrigued, "What would you call it?"
He sighed, "A mistake you don't need to be concerned with." I suddenly felt like he was hiding something from me as his heart began to race.
"I'm gonna go get dressed for the day."
He stuck his head out of the curtain with a creased forehead, "I'm sorry."
"You have your reasons to hide things, as do I." Kissing his cheek, I walked to my room a little confused.
Josiah was sitting on the edge of my bed, holding my stuffed animal wolf. He had the same exact one, they were a present when we were children. He looked like he had been crying, "You're going to go with him aren't you?"
Sitting beside him, I rested my hand on his shoulder, "He's my mate Siah."
His eyes were watery, "We've never spent more than a few hours apart JoJo."
Crying, I wrapped my arms round his neck and blubbered into his chest, "This is the hardest thing I've ever done. I'm so scared Siah. I hardly know him but I know my wolf wouldn't be able to last a day without him. What if he rejects me? What if..."
Josiah wrapped his arms around me and began to rock me, "He loves you JoJo. There's no way he could ever reject you."
Crying into his shoulder, I wasn't sure how long he rocked me and rubbed my back. I was going to miss my brother. All my life we had been so close and it was going to break my heart to say goodbye to him. He kissed the top of my head.
"This is a happy thing JoJo. No more tears. You found your mate!"
Wiping away my tears, I took a deep breath. "Think Dad will kill him?"
"No." He tossed my hair, "Everyone trusts your decisions JoJo and Dad knows Darrow can keep you safe."
"He's keeping something from me."
Josiah frowned, "Do you know what it's about?"
"Maya."
"What?"
Hiding my eyes, I looked at the floor, "They were together, together when they came here."
Josiah gasped, "I'm going to kill him."
"No. He says it's over with them and I believe him, I just feel like I'm missing part of the story."
"Maybe it's something you don't need to know."
"You know me." I shrugged.
He chuckled, "Yes I do and if Darrow knows what's good for him, he won't hold on to his secret much longer."
Mom pulled open the door and smiled, she looked tired with big black circles under her eyes. I had never seen her tired before.
"You okay Mom?"
She smiled softly, "Just need some rest. I came to get you two for dinner."
"Dinner?"
Josiah nodded, "You two were asleep all day."
I hadn't realized how much time had passed, "I need to get dressed."
Josiah nodded and kissed my forehead before sulking back to his room.
Mom nodded, "It's the final dinner before everyone leaves for their homes. Do you need help?"
Beth burst into the door, "I'm on it." She had a floor length, dark blue, lace dress with a nude satin piece underneath it. It was beautiful on her, showing off her curves in a very appealing way. The unmated males would be drawling over her tonight.
Mom smiled at her, "Alright."
Before Mom could get away, I reached out and held her hand, "Do you need some help?"
She frowned, "You know it won't work after the full moon." You can only share your energy with your mate now until you have your daughter."
I frowned but nodded and kissed her cheek, "I love you Mom."
"I love you too baby girl."
Beth moved to my closet, "What did your mom get for you this year?" She squealed in excitement as she looked for my dress for the formal dinner.
"I think it's silver."
She laughed and pulled out a long, silver, liquid satin dress, "You think right."
I smiled, "I think it looks bad on me. It clings to everything. You can see every curve, every muscle line, every scar, everything."
She laughed and laid the dress out on my bed, "Poor Alpha Darrow."
I rolled my eyes, "Not funny."
She smiled, "How are you doing? You look the same."
"I still feel achy but stronger somehow. It's weird."
She nodded, "I'm sure it will pass. Can I help with anything?"
"You are helping." I smiled and pulled her into a hug,
She hugged me tight, "I'm going to miss you."
"I'm going to come visit you more and maybe you can come see me too."
She sighed, "I doubt Daddy will let me go to Alpha Darrow's territory."
"Who told you I was going with him?"
She smirked, "You just did."
Shaking my head, I couldn't fight my smile, "Well played."
"So you're goin with him?"
"I think so. This is all so much to take in."
She nodded, "I can't imagine. Are you sure he's trustworthy?"
"Yes." There was not even a second of hesitation in my response.
She laughed, "Good. Hurry up and get dressed."
Taking my dress to the bathroom, I laughed, "Okay but I'm not wearing shoes."
She just laughed and shook her head. "Why would I think I could get you into a pair tonight."
"Because you're delusional." I teased as I closed the door and stripped off the clothes I was in. Not bothering to take a shower, I slipped on the dress and was disappointed when I realized I would yet again not be able to wear underwear. The dress had a scoop and boat neckline, with thick straps, making the dress much more modest than my white dress. The material still clung tight to me, showing off everything, about mid thigh it relaxed and loosened - flaring a little and pooled on the ground with a small train. Thankfully, the back of the dress went up high enough to cover my new mark, giving me the ability to put my hair up.
When I came out of the bathroom to Beth, she squealed in delight, "Oh my gosh! You look so amazing!"
My cheeks blushed, "Really?"
"Yes." She pulled me to the bed, "What are you doing with your hair?"
"Braid."
She just laughed, "Why change what works?"
I nodded and began to braid my hair into an ethnic-braided hairstyle. The braid went around my head in a circle and ended in the center. It was actually beautiful and didn't look as wild as it normally does.
Beth smiled as she did my makeup and I did hers. I was actually pretty good at being a girl and enjoyed it but I hadn't really had the time to get all dolled up and be a girl because of my training. As we worked, we talked and laughed about the year and what we had been up to. It made me sad that I had missed out on catching up with her because I had spent all my time training, avoiding Josh, or being with Josh. It had been a crazy, up and down week.
When we were done, Beth pulled me down to the main dining area that had a massive dancing floor. When we came through the doors, I was greeted by my mother and father, who eagerly stole me away from Beth and dragged me to the front of the room.
Mom smiled proudly at me, "You look perfect JoJo."
Father nodded and kissed my head, "We are so proud of you."
Alph Alder smiled at me as he stood beside me with my parents on the other side. Technically it should have been Josh who introduced me to the Alphas as Luna for the first time. It was tradition that the Alpha with the most land had the honor of introducing the Luna on the night of the celebration.
Alpha Alder smiled down at me proudly. I had grown up with him, he was like an uncle to me and had taught me a lot about tracking and hunting. Slipping under his arm, I gave him a half hug as I looked for Josh in the crowd. Unfortunately, I couldn't find him.
Looking over to Mom, I opened a link with her, Where is he?
She chuckled, Don't worry, he is coming. He didn't know about tonight, I only told him a few minutes ago when I went to speak to him.
Alpha Alder looked down at me, "Should we wait?"
"Maybe a minute longer."
He nodded. Like my father, he was a fair man. He was one of the more even tempered Alphas and held a lot of power among the packs. This gave him a lot more understanding to my situation with Josh.
After a few minutes of waiting, I knew we couldn't wait any more so I nodded up to Alpha Alder, signaling him to proceed. Smiling apologetically at me, he cleared his throat and looked out over the crowd.
"Welcome friends!" He shouted over the noise, instantly silencing everyone. "It is my pleasure to introduce to you all, our new Luna."
The crowd clapped for me as Alpha Alder continued but my attention was stollen away when the doors flew open and in walked Josh, just in time to hear Alpha Alder's speech. He looked so handsome in his suit, my desire instantly sprang to life and it was stronger than it had ever been before. When our eyes locked, I could feel his own need for me. In the two hours we had been apart, I had missed him and that scared me.
The room all looked at me and I knew Alpha Alder was done talking and I had to rip my attention back to the task at hand. Smiling, I looked out over the pack leaders, "Thank you Alphas and family." I thought I was done but my sight went white with Goddess as she spoke through me, "Throughout the night, I will find each alpha and you and your pack will be given a blessing." My vision was returned and I wiped the blood from my cheeks and smiled.
The room was dead silent and everyone looked up at me with wide eyes.
My cheeks blessed but I stood up straighter and smiled, "You heard her."
The crowd erupted into excitement. This was a first.
My mom pulled me to the side, where it was a little quiter. "What happened?"
I shrugged, "Goddess just completely took over me."
She smiled, "That was amazing JoJo. It took me almost five years to interpolate like that."
"What do you mean?"
"Goddess only speaks in Latin baby girl and that was English."
I hadn't even noticed, I was too focused on finding Josh. "Is that good?"
"You are going to be very strong." She kissed the top of my head, "Now go find him."
Eagerly, I lifted up the train if my dress to keep it from dragging and headed toward where I had seen Josh. When I got there, he was gone and I frowned as I looked around.
Feeling him behind me, I turned around smiling.
His face was still hard but his eyes were sparkling, "Do you ever wear shoes?"
I let the bottom of my dress fall as my cheeks blushed, "Only when I have to go out into the world."
Leaning down, he wrapped his arms around me and pulled me to his chest. Moving his lips over my ear, he whispered, "You look so beautiful."
My cheeks flushed bright red as a shiver ran through my body, "I missed you."
"I'm right here." He kissed my cheek before pulling away and leading me to the table.
"We sit at the head now." Scooping up his hand, I led him to the head of the table where my parents used to sit.