My Human Mate

The Party

   "Mate!"

   "What?". He didn’t bother to repeat and stormed out off the room

"Stay here Bella. I'll be back right now", she ran after him, calling out his name.

   "The hell I will". If I had heard him right, which I pretty sure did, I wasn’t gonna miss anything out. I followed her out to the corridor and stopped in my tracks beside her at the sight in front of us.

Jimmy had her in a tight embrace, tears trickling down from the corner of his eyes, kissing Rachel, in the middle of the hallway.

Alice squealed beside me, grinning from ear to ear, mirroring my reaction.

He pulled back and held her face in his hands, blinking his tears away. There could not be a better timing.

Alice cleared her throat, bursting their little bubble bringing the couple back to reality. Their heads snapped towards us.

Both of them were beaming at us, standing in each other’s arms, struggling to keep their hands off each other.

"Worth the wait, huh?", I winked at Jimmy, pulling him into a hug. “Very much”, he whispered, hugging me back.

By the time we reached the pack house, a small crowd had formed in the entrance hall? How did they know?

" I informed them through the pack link", Alice elbowed me, smirking.

That would save a lot of phone bills.

Ryan and John walked out of his study, joining us. He eyed my bandaged hand and looked up at me.

   "I'm fine", I mouthed and gave him an assuring smile. His tense shoulders visibly relaxed and cleared his throat, going into his Alpha mode.

  "Rachel Greenfield"

  "Alpha", she bowed, politely.

  "You will be introduced as the gamma female of this pack at the ceremony tomorrow. Congratulations, you two”, he smiled warmly and left, leaving the crowd to greet their new gamma female .

-

  Nora was better. Million times better than these two dictators who were trying to strangle me from behind in the name dressing my hair.

I have been sitting in this chair with my back facing the mirror, you know to add surprise to my final look and mainly to keep me from complaining, in the new dress I’ve bought, for one freaking hour. 

At one point, Alice tried to dye my hair, streaks of red so that it would match my dress and million thanks to Jesus she gave up on that idea.

     "Come on Alice. It's been an hour since you have started dressing my hair and you’ve not finished it yet".
  
Rachel went out to fetch some water and that toned down the torture to half.

"Patience is a virtue, Bella", she mumbled. I rolled my eyes.

Yeah and that virtue was spreading too thin right now.

“There it is, I’m done. Close your eyes", Alice clapped and swirled the chair so that I was now facing the mirror.

I opened my eyes and was impressed at the sight of the pretty lady blinking back at me.

     "Wow". My brunette hair was tied in a low side bun pinned with an ornamental barrette, a few curled strands, hanging loose framing my face . I have got smoky eyes and my lips were painted red just to match my attire.

“You should consider a career as a makeup artist”, I stood and smoothed my
   
The door opened and Rachel rushed in.

"It's getting late-.. hot damn", she stood there , a hand half-closing her mouth. I chuckled, taking an once over at me in the mirror.

"Everybody is waiting”

I walked out, careful not to trip and fall face first on the ground. Now that would be embarrassing.

“Don’t worry. We’ll be there. Just say yes to all the questions asked and it’ll be over before you know it". she said squeezing my hand.

We headed downstairs taking one step at a time. I worried my lip, feeling nervous because of all the eyes that were watching us climb down the stairs.

Against the best of my decision,  I looked up and caught him looking at me. His mouth was parted slightly, a look of awe on his face and when he finally caught my eyes, he gave me a gentle smile.

He looked devilishly handsome in his crisp black suit paired with a white shirt. His jet black hair was slicked back making his cheekbones more prominent. And the look on his face, his gaze was so intense, I almost tripped over.

He closed the distance and took my hand in his, guiding me down the rest of the steps.

“You look beautiful", he whispered and I became acutely aware of the blush that was creeping up my neck.

"You don't look too bad yourself", I mentally patted myself on the back for coming up with the most commonly used retort and delivering it without a stutter.  He looked equally surprised like me and laughed it off with a wink.

He led us through the crowd, his hand still wrapped around mine. Alice and John joined the front row while we went to stand in the front, facing the gathering.

"I thank every member of The Dark Red Moon Pack for gathering here. Two years back, in a similar ceremony like this, we welcomed our Pack’s Beta female", he gestured towards a beaming Alice standing next to her proud mate.

“And today, I’m happy to welcome our Luna and our Gamma female into our pack”.

I stood beside him, focusing on nothing in particular. He turned towards me and held his hand out for me. Tugging me gently, he guided me to the center of the makeshift stage.

We stood facing at each other and I felt more at ease now that all I have in my line of sight was a pair of familiar blue eyes I’ve grown to know over the course of time.

"Will you, Bella Jennifer Hunt, accept to be the Luna of the Dark Red Moon Pack and lead us in the time of need?"

Was I ready? I didn’t know. But this was what the whole thing was about. I was too mesmerized by the sheer emotions swirling behind his eyes that my other sensory organs decided to shut down. I managed to give a nod and whisper 'yes'.
    
His lips curved in a sly smile knowing full well that he has gotten me under a spell. He gently tugged me along with him to an antique bowl. He shrugged off his jacket and rolled up his sleeve up to his elbow. He made a clean cut on his forearm and a fresh stream of crimson red liquid oozed out collecting in the bowl below,  his face showing no expression. He didn’t even flinch. 

“Werewolves heal quickly. So we are not going to cut you. Just a drop of blood will do. Okay?”.

I tried to keep a straight face but failed. I gave him a curt nod to proceed and get it done with. He gently held my hand in his, eyes searching mine for any kind of hesitation and when he saw none, he slowly pressed the blade against the pulp of my thumb, his eyebrows scrunched in concentration.

A fat drop of blood rolled down my skin and landed with a plop in the bowl, getting lost in the pool of his blood. Ok that wasn’t bad.

“Welcome to the pack”.

“Alice”, he whispered and she rushed to the stage and guided me down the stairs.

“Does it hurt?”, she kneeled down in front of me, cleaning the cut and bandaging it.

“No, it stings but that’s it. It doesn’t hurt. He made sure of that”, my eyes found him again on the stage, prepping it for Rachel with few other pack members.

The same ritual was carried out with Rachel, him mixing blood with her’s.

“Every new pack member has to undergo this ritual. By mixing their blood with the Alpha’s, they are pledging their allegiance to him. It’s a symbol of loyalty”, she said, her eyes still watching the ceremony.

When it finally got over, the party began.

My mouth was aching from smiling and thanking constantly at people, who came up to me with wishes and greetings.

I half turned around when I felt a hand at the small of my back. Ryan came up from behind me and dipped down and whispered, “I hope you packed your stuffs”.

I rolled my eyes. After everything that went down yesterday afternoon, he insisted on us moving to his place that was a five minute drive down the road from here.

“You could have your own room there”, he said. I wasn’t exactly complaining about our sleeping arrangements at the pack house and normally I wouldn’t have accepted his proposal to go live with him alone, but that was a tempting deal and frankly I was pretty shaken up by my encounter with that guy.

“You are lucky that I was a lazy goose and didn’t unpack completely when I moved here”. He chuckled. “Come with me. I want you to meet someone”.

Taking my hand in his, he guided as gently through the crowd, politely accepting the greetings from the people we passed. The crowd got thin beyond the entrance hall and he led me to an old couple who were talking to a tall blonde girl.

The elderly woman caught my eyes first and before I could greet her, she reached up and pulled down with her in a tight bear hug. She pulled back, her small hands cupping my face, “You look beautiful”.

She was a short woman but it was clear as day that she was in charge at the house. The fine age lines around her eyes and the smile lines around her lips proved that she was a woman who has seen things but chose to believe in the good in the world. Her burgundy dress looked elegant on her and her silver hair was put up in a neat bun.

“Bella, Mr. and Mrs. Connor”. Of course. How did I miss that?  John was literally a photocopy of his father minus the receding hairline and the majestic mustache.

“Oh c’mon Ryan”, she chided him, “It’s Ben and Cecelia honey”, her warm smile contagious.

“And this John’s sister, Jess”, both the Connor kids have got their mother grey eyes. She ignored my extended hand and pulled me into a hug. Guess it was a family thing.

We chatted for a while before they took their leave but not before insisting on a Sunday lunch at their place.

We stood there, watching the party going on a full swing. It was almost like a rave party, with all the disco balls and bass beats going strong.

“Not much up for dancing?”, I asked him, not taking my eyes off the dance floor.

“Nope”, he said, “What about you?”.

“No. Not for the sake of humanity”. He chuckled beside me, his eyes crinkling at the ends when I looked up at him.

“Do you know who should not be much up for dancing? John”, I followed eyes to the crowd and doubled up with laughter. John was dancing, more likely flailing around the dance floor, his moves not syncing with the beats, in front of Alice who was dancing up a storm.

I knew it was bad to laugh and we both didn’t even have the courage to hit the dance floor, but when you look at a 6 foot two, brawny looking guy flailing his arms to a sick beat, you couldn’t help but double up with laughter.

And that’s what we did the whole night. Tucked away behind a pillar, away from the eyes of the crowd, laughing at each other’s jokes.

I was currently leaning forward and clutching my stomach, trying to catch my breath next to a very amused Ryan who had tears in his eyes from suppressing his laugh to not attract any attention.

My giggle slowly died down leaving a small smile on my lips as I watched his eyes brimming with tears of mirth as he threw his head back in laughter. He looked far more young and carefree than he normally looked around people under the purple and blue lightings of the party.

He was the Ryan Jimmy was talking about a few nights ago and I was over the moon that he was showing that side of him to me tonight.

************

  Sorry sorry sorry for very late update. Be a darling and forgive me
          *puppy dog eyes*
    
     I've already told you the reason. Tight schedule. No time. Next update will be soon. Thank you  all the gorgeous girls and charming guys who are still reading this story.

    THIS STORY IS NOT EDITED. SO BEAR WITH MY MISTAKES.

  Do vote and comment. STAY BLESSED.

With loves and kisses.....

Nisha Amol♡♥♡