Tamer Of Wolves

~Coronation~

5:15.

The taxi stops in front of the huge house. I read the address, making sure I have it correct.

3279 Willowcreek Drive

Yup. Got it right.

"This the right place, miss?" The cab driver asks me. His question snaps me out of my nervous af trance.

"Oh! Oh yes. Uh, thank you, sir," I respond. I will myself to open the door and step out. I pay the man and he drives off, leaving me standing awkwardly alone on the sidewalk.

Nothing and no one can make me not nervous.

Oh calm down, would ya? For once, I'm calmer than you, Aruba gently tells me. When we find our mate, he'll protect us.

And if he's not here?! I scream at her. Once I hear the words echo throughout my mind, I instantly regret them. I inwardly sigh. Look, I'm sorry. But I'm the only Rogue in the middle of a coronation with one of the continent's most malicious packs. And what if our mate isn't here? And what I'd Garrett Foxx decides that, for some reason, I'm a threat and gives the order to kill me? I ask her question after question, waiting for her barrage of frustrated and impatient threats to me that I know, love and am used to.

But it doesn't come. Harvey will protect us. You heard him. He said he'd protect you for as long as he knows you. And he's the Alpha's kid brother. That's gotta count for something, Aruba gently informs me. And don't forget about the Beta, Logan. He seems nice and about as good a friend as Harvey.

I calm myself down. I take several deep breaths. You're good; you're chill; you're cheddar; if anyone stops you, don't freak! Just show them the invitation and say Martin gave it to you, I tell myself over and over.

Before I can take a step forward, a throat is cleared behind me. I freeze, and slowly pivot in the direction of the noise. I instantly relax, seeing it's Logan. Dressed in a slim fitting tuxedo and black dress shoes, the Beta looks just as raggedly handsome as ever.

"Well, he-llo Marina," Logan greets me jokingly. He comes over to me and embraces me in a warm hug. I return it, thinking, I could get used to this.

"You look...beautiful," he chokes out. I pretend not to notice as he holds his arm out. I loop mine with his and he leads me up the quartz and slate walkway. I see my reflection in one of the many windows of the huge pack house, and Logan's right; I do look beautiful, if I do say so myself. It's a full moon outside, and the light compliments the heels and sets the royal blue dress's shine free. I give myself props for finding this kick-ass dress.

We walk up to the door which is guarded by a huge man. And I mean huge. The guy's about 6'8" or something and he's looking down at me with accusing eyes that stare into my soul. I shrink into Logan's side and hand the guard my invitation. When the guard finishes reading my invite, he looks at Logan for clarity.

"She's with me. Martin invited her," Logan clarifies. And with that, the guard nods and steps aside to let us through. Logan nods, and I smile at the guard as warmly as I can as we walk past.

The Black Spades Pack house is gigantic. The hallway Logan leads me down is adorned with photos, likely of past Alphas and Lunas. As we get close to the end of the hallway, I hear a lot of talking, laughing, and music. Once we get there, there are two double doors with a man dressed in a tuxedo standing on either side. They both smile at us and open the doors.

The moment the doors are open, light, music, and chatter hit me full-force like a giant tidal wave. The small and narrow hallway that leads to the giant wooden double doors then open up into a ballroom. Yup, a ballroom. The roof is made of glass, and smack dab in the middle of the roof you can see the moon, surrounded by millions upon millions of stars. On the ground, there's tons of people scattered everywhere, all dressed in their best attire. Tuxedos and dresses are everywhere. On the opposite side of the ballroom from the doors where Logan and I are, there's a stage with a microphone set up. To the left of said stage, there's probably about 10 or so musicians playing away on a variety of string instruments. Damn, if this is how they treat their Omegas, I can't imagine how they treat their Alphas, I think. I realize that all this is happening below me, and I look straight ahead of me and see that there's a set of dark mahogany steps leading down to the ballroom floor with all the people.

Logan looks at me. "Ready?" He whispers.

"As ready as I'll ever be," I respond with a shaky nod of my head. And slowly, we begin to descend the steps.

As we get to the bottom, males everywhere begin to notice my presence. I start to freeze as their stares turn into something animalistic, but Logan keeps walking. With each passing second, more and more males turn to the stairs. They say and do nothing, but just continue to stare. When we reach the bottom, I'm ready to fucking piss myself. Maybe it wasn't the best idea to come here after all, I wonder.

I look up at Logan, who's giving each and every male looking at us a warning glare. Soon enough, every male who'd been looking at us turns back to either chatting or dancing. Yet they still sneak glances time and time again.

"Thanks Logan," I whisper.

"No problem. I gotchu, Marina," Logan nods and reassures me.

I smile at my friend. I'm scanning the room until I see Harvey and Martin talking with a couple other men. When the two brothers see me, they wave and start to come over. Logan sees them, and grumbles. He turns to me and says, "I'm gonna leave you to the Dukes of Hazard, alright?" Logan then turns around and disappears into the fray of party-goers.

Martin and Harvey then come up to me. Harvey scoops me up into the most hilarious hug I've ever had. He's holding me by the waist as he lifts me up off the ground and starts to spin me around. I'm laughing hysterically as he puts me down. Martin then takes it upon himself to bow and kiss me on the hand. I can't help but smile at them as they argue about who was more gentlemanly.

Then, a fanfare of trumpets is sounded. Everyone looks to the stage to see Logan and two other men climb up the stairs to the stage.

Someone puts a hand in my shoulder, and I realize Martin's snuck up behind me.

"Get ready to see your first coronation, Marina," he whispers in my ear.