Break Me, Mate [Extended Sample]

{twenty two}

© 2015 by Nique Joaquin. All rights reserved.

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"Okay, so we've gotten your nails cleaned and polished, gotten you a facial... Should we get you a new hair cut?" Celine asks and I shake my head.

"I'm done." I say with a sigh.

"Oh come on! You didn't even put nail polish on!" Celine exclaims as my mother laughs.

"It's a mating ceremony, not a wedding." I say as I roll my eyes. "Besides, it's not like Maddox will get all 'pretty', why should I?" I ask and my mother giggles.

"Let your sister make the choice, Celine. She just isn't the type to do much on things like this." Mother says and Celine rolls her eyes.

"Whatever."

"How about we go get some coffee and then we can talk." Winter suggests and I nod my head.

"Sounds great." I say as we walk away from the shops.

We were at the Bridgeport again in Portland and I swear, I could've just made do with a small shop closer to Maddox's territory. But my sister had whined and Winter had to run a few errands. In fear of anything bad happening today, Maddox had the whole place surrounded with pack members that were very discreet in their roles in guarding me.

I did, however, pick them out of the crowd. It was pretty fun. Everyone would always widen their eyes when I approached them and told them they were doing a good job. It was only awkward when they bowed their heads and called me Luna Elair. I don't think I'll ever get used to that.

We entered the Bridge City Cafe and waited as Celine and Winter ordered their drinks.

"Are you ready for tonight?" My mother asks and nod my head.

"Ready enough... I guess." I say with a shrug.

"Well, at least you'll be a part of his pack now." She says and I sigh.

"It's probably the only thing I'm looking forward to."

"Oh don't be like that, sweetheart. I'm sure Maddox will treat y-"

"Mom, please. I don't wanna hear anything about that kind of stuff." I say, cringing to myself. My mother laughs and I groan as Celine and Winter bring over our drinks.

"Sounds like you guys are having a fun conversation." Winter says wit h a smirk and I roll my eyes.

"Kill me." I say with a sigh as I take my coffee.

We spend a few hours in the coffee shop talking about things other than the ceremony like my family and how Ender was doing. Ender and I had never gone without communicating for so long. We normally kept in touch with letters despite my far away locations during my time in the squadron. Ender had always been the clingier twin, and as his older twin sister, I always tried to make sure that he was comfortable. Now he was leading most of the meetings and handling the Bloodmoon Pack as the Alpha for most things. My father was ready to step down and I was glad to hear Ender doing well.

"Oh crap! I forgot to get something!" Celine says as we exit the cafe and I raise my eyebrows.

"What?"

"O-Oh yeah! I forgot about that too!" Winter exclaims and my mother chuckles.

"I think I should help you two with that." My mother says and she looks to me with a smirk. "We'll only be away for 10 minutes, do you mind being alone until then?" She asks and I nod.