The Secret One

17

Chapter 17

The planning has already started. Training got more intense and longer. Jake plans to ambush the Dark Shadow back. I still need to have the chance to talk to him about the Luna ceremony. That is also in the loop of things. I feel like I am drowning. I need help to keep up. I am struggling to keep my head above water. Tegan hasn't said anything. I am lost.

"Are you going to come to training tonight?" Jake announces to me. I turn my head towards the door, and the look on my face says it all. "What is wrong, Ruth?" Jake asks, coming to the edge of the bed. " I am stressed," I laugh out, wiping tears away.

"Do you want to talk about it?" He ponders at me. I lick my lips and sigh, "I need to talk to you. " He smiles at me and touches my knee. "We will talk after tonight. Right now, I need to talk to Jason. If something happens to me, he has to be ready to become alpha," He says, pushing me to the side. He leaves in a hurry. It was nice to have attention for a while, even if it was fake.

I throw my legs over the bed while Anya walks through the bedroom door. "I am here to get you ready," Anya tells me. "I am not training tonight, though," I say, confused at her action.

"Oh no, honey, the Luna ceremony is tonight. It was rude of Jake to make you think we are training," She laughs. Jake tried to trick me? Why would he do that? I shake my head and change the topic. "You are a vampire. Jake is a wolf, but the same parents?" I puzzle her. "You are just now questioning that? I thought Jake would have told you that story?" She chuckles. "We never talked about our past other than here and their questions," I relay to her, going to the bathroom so she can start on me.

"Our parents were not destined mates. Yet, they pared and stayed as mates. They both said if they were 32 and not mate. They were each other's mate. Cute but lonely. Our mom was the sweetest. Everyone wanted to be her friend. She was the vampire. It is hard to believe a wolf and a vampire were alpha and Luna. That shows their love for each other. People trusted our dad, so they trusted my mom. It shocked everyone that both of us came out normal instead of a hybrid," Anya sadly says, remembering the past. I lost my mom. I wonder if she ever tried to look for me when I went missing. Anya sees my face. "How was your mom?"

"I honestly don't remember. I want to say I did love her. She was hard-working, but other than that, I don't remember," I sadly say, trying to bring up memories about her, yet I come up blank. Anya lets my hair frame my face, pulling it up and half down. A silver eyeshadow look and a glossy lip. I swallow my pride. There is a dress in the back corner of the closet. I walk to get it. It is still placed in the bag. I unzip it and see the wip crisp fabric. The dress is wispy. Long and lacey. Too big to fit me. "I will sew it so it will fit your body. That is why I needed to start early," Anya fills me in. I nod and grab the hanger to pull it out of its coffin. The dress flows out, making it longed in the back. I can't accept the Luna title. I am not Luna. I place the dress on my petite frame. Two sizes too big.

"Anya I," I start to say, but she stops me by holding up her hand. I close my mouth shut and let her do her work. I don't belong in the dress! By the time Anya was done with the dress. Anya went to get ready herself. I had no shoes on, and it was getting dark outside. The smell of fire comes through the house, and the fire outside lights the pathway up. I wipe away my tears and head to the door.

The door creaks open as I make my way out of it. Every pack member's head turns and bows at me. I look forward, but instead of looking at Jake, I find Storm. Hopelessness is shown through his eyes. The fire cracks and pops to my left while everything else is still. I finally make my way on stage, "Jake, I need to tell you something," I butt out before I even greet him. He smiles, "I love you, Ruth,"

I choke up. Of course, I love him. Yet he won't let me speak. I give a thin smile and take his hand. I look back at Storm, causing Jason's eyebrows to fuse. Noticing Jameson and Anya are also on stage with us. Storm's head shakes no, and I sigh and look back forward. "Run, Ruth," I hear Tegan tell me. I push her down. I feel trapped. Jake is not listening to me. One of his pack members died not too long ago because of me. Everyone is happy about me becoming Luna. Yet I am not one. I hear Jake talking to the pack before us, yet it's static.

My breathing picks up as my head begins to hurt. I blink up at Jake, making him stop talking. I shake my head no and swallow hard. I look back and see Storm step closer. "I can't," My voice breaks telling Jake that. Confusion flashes but so does hurt. I look over the pack. I let go of Jakes's hand. "I will explain everything," I say, preparing to jump off the stage. "We can talk about this, Ruth. You are safe!" Jake pleads with me. "I know, but you are not safe," I countered his statement, confusing him. Storm kisses Jason as he starts to tear up, just as confused as Jake. Storm comes next to me and nods his head. "I love you. You never gave me the time to explain," I say. I began to walk away with Storm on my right. I look over to see Kevin walking up to us. I wrap my arms around myself. I picked up speed, started running, and then shifted into Tegan, letting Storm and Kevin follow the lead. I left my mate standing there without an explanation of what was happening. "You made the right choice, alpha," I hear Peter say," Storm's wolf.