The White Wolf of the Crescent Moon Colony

Chapter 9- The Banquet

The women enter the hall and are greeted by Mr. Sunshine, himself Alpha Jace Matthews. "Ah, there are all the lovely ladies." He took Esmeralda's hand and kissed it. Esmeralda smiled.

"Ladies, feel free to mingle. You're among the top officials of the colony tonight. I hope we make a good impression." He smiled and was about to greet more guests as they arrived.

"Are you sure I don't know you?" Aspen says meekly. "It's just that you feel like family."

Mr. Sunshine actually gets misty eyed over Aspen's comment. "Well kid, then we're family." He tilts her chin up. "Welcome home." And with that, he steps away to greet more guests. Standing off to the side was a woman with black hair and green watching the whole interaction. She wore a pretty lilac dress that she looked uncomfortable in.

Esmeralda ushers Aspen away. "That is Jace's very protective Beta. Come girlie." Once further in the building Leena spun around to stand in front of the girls. "Here's the plan. If you two stand together, neither of you will get the courage to meet your mate." Leena looked at both her girls. "Marlowe, you're with me. Aspen you're with Esme."

"Whoot! We're about to get drunk!" Aspen grabbed Esmeralda and took off before her mom could object.

Esmeralda and Aspen flagged down a waiter and grabbed some champagne. "So what's the plan of attack, girly?" Esmeralda said to Aspen.

"I'm gonna find him and kiss him!" Aspen said practically jumping up and down.

"Bold!" Esmeralda said "I love it. See, I didn't need to worry about you kid! I should have taken that sister of yours. She needs some coaching." They both giggled.

Aspen started to look around "I can smell him. He's here." She used her nose. She maneuvered through the crown until she saw him. This man that had the same face as Jace, but different aura completely. He looked like Jace's evil sexier twin! He had jet black hair. His hair was shorter than Jace's but the face was almost exactly the same aside from Noah's green eyes. He looked like a suave super villain dressed in an all black tailored suit. He had a stoic look on his face as he chatted. As if he knew she was staring at him, he turned to look at her. The two stared at each other for a long moment. He started to smirk as his eyes took in every bit of Aspen.

"Go girl!" Esmeralda pushed Aspen. Aspen handed Esmeralda her champagne glass, took a deep breath, and walked over to the tall man staring her down.

Noah was in the middle of a conversation with Alpha Perry, the Alpha of Idaho, when he smelled Aspen. He tried to focus on the potato shaped man, from the land of potatoes, but the smell just kept getting stronger. And he was told in advance not to approach her, so he had been enduring the physical pain of not going to her the moment she entered the banquet hall. And when his brother mindlinked him to tell him that Aspen called him family, it left her pulling at his heart strings too. Thankfully, while Alpha Perry was talking he saw her. The most gorgeous creature to ever walk the earth. "Excuse me Alpha Perry. But it appears that I have met my mate." He said not even making eye contact with the man. His eyes glowed blue and Noah began to walk towards Aspen.

Aspen started to run when she saw him walking toward him. Weaving through the crowd of people with ease, She ran up to Noah and jumped on him. He caught her effortlessly. Aspen didn't hesitate. She kissed him immediately. Noah was stunned by her boldness and kissed her back hard. Aspen had never felt anything like it. It was like her body was filled with fireworks.

Noah slowly lowered her to the ground and broke the kiss. "Hi there, Mate." He said politely as he watched her caramel brown eyes glow blue as his did.

Aspen laughed, "I prefer Aspen." She said sweetly.

"Well, Aspen. You look gorgeous this evening. I'm Noah."

"You're pretty." Is all Aspen could get out. Noah laughed. He noticed everyone around them staring and he glared at everyone. He mindlinked:

"And what is everyone staring at? Business as usual."

Sensing everyone stares and then their sudden disinterest in them, Aspen looked up at her mate. "Did you just tell everyone f off." Aspen asked.

"More or less, yes. I don't care for attent-

"Attention, yes I know." Aspen says as her eyes continue to glow and Noah can feel a slight pulling of his energy as she continued to talk. "You are naturally introverted. You prefer reading books on war strategy as opposed to being at events like this. And you are pretty grumpy most of the time. You are only truly happy in the redwood forest." Aspen's eyes return to brown and Noah is rendered speechless.

"Would you like to join me and talk to my friend, Alpha Perry. I can feel like staring."

"Sure! He does want to meet me. He feels lucky that he will be the first to talk to us." Aspen said, relaying the information to her mate.

Noah took Aspen's hand and brought her to the table where Alpha Perry was standing. "Alpha Perry, may I introduce Aspen, my mate." He smiled at the alpha. "Aspen, this is Alpha Perry of the Idaho territory."

"Nice to meet you sir." Aspen said politely.

Esmeralda walked up and nudged Aspen, "Way to go kid!" She cheered.

"Esme!" Both men shouted. They both took turns giving her hugs.

"You're awfully popular." Aspen whispered to Esmeralda as she handed Aspen back her drink.

All of them were chatting away meanwhile on the other side of the room Marlowe was trying her hardest to avoid Fletcher.

"I have a feeling you are smelling Fletcher and leading me further away from him." Leena suspiciously looked at her daughter.

"Okay." Marlowe groaned, knowing she was caught. "I am."

Leena looked at her daughter wearily. "sweetheart. There is nothing to be afraid of. What's bothering you?" Leena questioned her daughter.

"What if dad was right. What if I tell him I'm a white wolf and he treats me like I'm some sort of weapon. Or worse, he's just pissed that I kept such a big secret." Marlowe said nervously. She knew she couldn't prolong the reunion any longer though. Her headache was worsening. She was attempting not to look like she was in as much pain as she was in. And she knew if she got any further from him she was going to keel over in pain. Marlowe was starting to think those injections weren't going to work on her anymore.

"Did you get the vibe that he would do something like that? And you both are hiding things. Let's just rip off the band aid, swallow any pride, and accept each other for who you both are." Leena reasoned. Marlowe shook her head. Before Leena could speak again Alpha Jace was at the podium at the front of the room. They turn to listen to what he had to say.

"Good evening everyone. I am Alpha Jace Matthews of the Southern California territory. I'm so happy everyone made it here safely." He flashed his award winning smile. "To start the evening, we are going to start with a word from Alpha Crane. He is excited that the Harper pack from New Mexico is joining us this evening. I'm going to hand the microphone over to Alpha Crane now." Jace stepped down and Fletcher now stood at the podium.

Marlowe felt like she was going to throw up. Fletcher was Alpha Crane! The head honcho up the whole operation. The one probably looking for the white wolf. Marlowe started breathing heavily. She didn't know if it was anxiety or her wolf's need for her mate. Leena looked over at Marlowe.

"Sweetie, are you okay?" Leena said, concerned. Marlowe felt like she couldn't breathe. She was getting lightheaded. And the last thing she could hear was her mom calling her name as it all went black.