Half-Blooded | The Dark Child Prophecy Series [✔️]

Chapter 56.5: This Moment Now [Part 2]

"King Alpha Jason Tidus Hellmuth of the Western Meadows has proclaimed his match has been made and his soul has found its mate. All Wolves know what this means," one of the elders began to announce. "King Alpha Jason Tidus Hellmuth is from one of the oldest of bloodlines as the D'Angelo blood rose to ultimate Alphahood. From the ancient and dominant Romulus and Remus, Jason Tidus Hellmuth was born," he went on.

I breathed in slowly again and glanced over at him. When he gripped my fingers tighter, I smiled again. I wished I had known the back-story to his family.

"First-born of the Queen Alpha Victoria Celestine D'Angelo-Hellmuth, King Alpha Jason Tidus was born in October twenty-nine years ago. He was born in the Western Meadows at Meadowlark, heralded by the full Harvest Moon before the Hunter's Moon waxed. From the line of Romulus and Remus, the D'Angelo family has come by way of Italy, France, and finally North America. With this dominant blood, comes also the mating of Alpha for Alpha-blood. D'Angelo and Chastain, D'Angelo and Westwood, D'Angelo and Connolly, and D'Angelo and Hellmuth are evident of this sharing of Alpha-blood to bring pack alphas together to lead the Wolf Pack. And now, we are here to witness another mating of Alpha-blood."

I glanced at the crowd as the surprise ran rampant through each of them. It made the side of my mouth quirk with the tiniest bit of smugness. Part of me wished Page were here to listen.

"Second-born and Prodigy-Daughter, Duchess Serenity Kay Mezdor, comes before the Pack from the House of Shadow Stalkers," the pack elder continued with my introduction. "Born in the winter under the Wolf Moon of December of twenty-five years past to the Hybrid and Prodigy, Avalon J. Mezdor and Elizabeth Anne Bartholomeu of the Shadow Stalkers, she comes from the Western Meadows by way of some of the eldest of Wolf blood. Marked by her birth moon, she signifies the continuation of a once-lost bloodline and of the purist of blood. She stands before us as a new member of the Pack from the ancient Viking blood of Loki Mårdh and Niall the White Wolf, of the bloodline of Mårdh and Wulfnoð, famed to have been given their heritage from the Wolf god, Fenrir."

I glanced at Jason again out of the corner of my eye to see him grinning broadly. I didn't know that, I whispered silently.

I didn't want to lay it all on you at dinner, but I'm glad they're able to hear this, he answered. And they should. You are Alpha-blood. You deserve to be here, too.

"Serenity Kay comes from the Cold Waves, the Snowy Fields, and the Western Meadows. Her god-given Alpha-blood has endured since what is believed to be the beginning of Wolf time. Tonight, both Hellmuth and Mezdor announce their mating to one another, Alpha for Alpha."

The elder who had been speaking turned towards us from addressing the crowd and bowed his head, his eyes finding the floor. I noticed the rest of the room mimicked him in gesture of submission. I quickly inspected them physically to remember their faces for later. The one who had done the announcing was taller than Vraal with wide shoulders and narrow hips. His dark hair was mixed with white and grey, and a full, close-cropped beard that had turned white in patches to match the white at his temples. He had dark brown eyes and a thick jaw, with echoes of faded freckles that once existed across his cheeks and forehead. He could have almost passed for one of Maria or Jason's relatives.

Jameson Stone, Jason told me silently. He served as reigning Beta under my parents, and my great-uncle.

I made a quiet sound of acknowledgement over our bond. I watched as the third elder, a shorter and round man with a balding head, moved past Vraal and Jameson Stone to bring a wooden box forward. It was intricately carved in a similar style to my circlet's box and I wondered what ceremonial trinket lay inside. It was long, going from the elder's shoulder to shoulder in length as he held it in front of him.