Not Just a Luna

Chapter 10

I scowl, as I look out and see that it's a wonderful day, the sunlight already warming my skin. It would have been such a nice day to go for a run, but today, I can't.

Blood Moons occur every two or three years, and they are said to be moons that are possessed by the goddess herself. It's the one day in which she truly joins with the moon, to become one.

I stretch and then jump out of bed. I look across through the window and see that Alex has already left his own room. But, like me, he has a job today, and maybe he had to leave early to go do that.

I quickly get changed into a yellow teeshirt and black sweatpants. Walking out of my room, I notice that my house is even quieter than usual. Which is saying something. 

I get to the dining room and am greeted by no-one. I take an apple out of the bowl on the table, and sit down and begin to eat it, but immediately stand up again once I notice a note on the fridge.

Dear Violet,

I hope that you don't wake up too late, as today is a very important day and so you need to come to learn about your duty in tonight's ceremony.

Well, Good morning to you too, father.

At 0930, Alex will be coming to pick you up in a car as to take you to the ceremonial hill. Be ready to be on your best behaviour today.

-Alpha John

I look down at my watch and see the time, 9:29. Shoot. And if Alex is going to be as punctual as he always is, he'll be here right about...

'HONK!' I hear the noise of a car's horn from outside just as the clock turns to half past.

I grab a second apple, still eating the first and run outside, carelessly slamming the door behind me.

"Can you never shut a door properly?" Alex asks, having rolled down his car window.

"Nope! Where's the fun in that?" I walk over to the car, open the door, and slip into the seat.

I pull the door shut, hard, and begin to buckle my seatbelt. As soon as my seatbelt clicks into place, Alex pushes the accelerator, and we are off.

"So, where is this hill, anyway?"

"Does it really matter, Vi?"

"Yeah, kinda. You know I don't like being in cars."

"Oh, right." He chuckles. "Like 5 minutes away."

"Why couldn't we r-", I soon realise the answer to my own question, "Oh, right. Blood moon and blah blah blah."

He laughs, "Don't you care for any of the science behind any of this?"

"Nah. It's more fun to just do." I then comment, "Not that you'd understand that."

"Excuse me?"

I smirk, "You heard me."

"You're gonna get it later." He smiles.

We drive on for a few more minutes. However, sooner than I expected, Alex pulls the break. "We're here."

"That was quick."

"I told you 5 minutes, Vi."

"Well, for the city you said 2 hours but it felt like around 20, and that doesn't even include the time I was asleep for!" I exclaim.

"Well, that's just because you are impatient."

"I just like to do things at a reasonable pace." I try to defend myself.

"Well, come on. We need to get going. Alpha wants to guarantee that everyone knows exactly what they are doing." He runs his hand through his hair, and I can't help but see that it is an attractive motion.

Stupid mate bond. I didn't plan for this.

I follow him as he gets out of the car, and as soon as I shut my door, he presses the button and the car locks. Like always, I take a second to marvel over this.

Alex walks swiftly, and I have to jog to keep up with him.  "Why do you have to go so fast?"

"We're the last ones to the meeting." Even now, the gathering is called a meeting although it is not at the hall. I've always hated the term 'meeting' ever since they made me begin to go to them when I was 12.

We reach the bottom of the massive hill and are surrounded by a small group of people. I count them and find that there are 13. I recognise them all, but the only truly memorable ones are my father, Alex's parents and Alex.

"Now that everyone is here, we can begin to discuss the actions of everyone during the ceremony. Everyone should mostly know their positions at least, and as we all know, in the unfortunate events of us not having a Luna, the next in line will take that place. Violet?"

"Yes?"

"Do you know what you have to do? I know that you haven't been to one of these before."

"Yes, Alpha." All I have to do is walk up there and stand next to a stone, let a bit of blood onto it, done.

"It's a pity that you aren't a bit older, Violet, and have found your mate. Then we could have taught him and then passed on the position today. Instead, we have to wait a few years."

I look at Alex, my eyes pleading him not to say anything. For once, he obliges, and I let out a relieved sigh. I don't want father to go have a conversation about mates in front of all these old men.

"So, like always I will go first, then Violet, then Michael. One by one, Elders go, then we have Alex as the candidate for the Beta. If she approves, he will prove himself over the next year, and then we will give him Michael's position."

Well, I had forgotten about that. The moon goddess won't accept Alex being Beta since as my mate, she will expect him to be Alpha. Everyone's going to be in for a shock when she rejects him, tonight, that's for sure.

Father makes us all practice walking up and down the hill, and standing up straight. I personally believe that all of this is kind of stupid, but okay. We aren't even doing any of the important parts now, as it's seen as disrespectful to her if we do, so this practice isn't achieving a thing.

It's already 4 pm when father lets us stop. My legs feel like they are dying from standing for so long. I ungracefully flop onto the ground, father glaring as I do so. 

"In a few minutes, everyone needs to get into their ceremonial attire, and we will do a dress rehearsal."

I inwardly groan, just wanting to have a long break. And maybe a sandwich, but father won't allow that. They begin to hand out bags of clothes, and I am tossed a smaller bag than most.

I have to wear two dresses in the space of two days? How is that fair? I look and see a formal dress, with a long trail. It's a white colour, with a blue ribbon along the waist. There are white shoes in the bag, also, and I feel like I'm going to trip constantly in them once I put them on.

I decide to voice my thoughts, "What if I trip?"

Father responds, "You won't. The goddess will make sure of it. Anyway, all of you go put those on."

I follow Alex's mum to the woods and quickly get changed, stumbling slightly in the shoes. I really hope the father is right.

"Well, time for our dress rehearsal!" Father exclaims.

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Hey, my extraordinary readers!

Have any of you guys had to wear heels before? I haven't, so is it really that hard to walk in them? (I'm such a klutz I probably wouldn't be able to stand for a second)

I really hope you enjoyed this chapter, and if so please consider leaving a vote. Any feedback is also highly appreciated.

Hope to see you in the next chapter!