MARKED | COMPLETED

Chapter 11

In a manner of days, I watched the open area in front of the Alpha's cabin transform. In the center was a large pyre, with small wooden sculptures of wolves howling up at a missing moon. Surrounding it were tables with fallen leaves scattered intricately around bouquets of wildflowers. Everyone worked quietly, together, and I watched as they spoke to each other eagerly.

The last Luna celebration was so long ago, that many of them hardly remembered it. Luna Lyall had been the last; now, they all seemed about ready to burst from excitement.

News traveled fast that we'd have visitors. The Alpha and Luna of each pack would come to offer their congratulations—with little gifts that mattered to their pack. Everyone was ready... except for me.

Alpha Aisling had grown very bitter with each time he looked at me. Not because I wasn't as he expected; after a while, he kept that to himself. No, my determination to distance myself from the Luna Celebration altogether was what caused him to act like an angry old man.

"You're going!" he'd yelled when I first said no. "That's final."

It was funny, really. I told him no and he became akin to a father. Now I quickly figured that I just had no choice. I had a duty to my pack—I had to participate. Though, there was one thing that had me both anxious and eager.

I needed a dress.

While the seamstresses in the pack were really good with making a vast majority of our clothes, like sweaters and shirts and other various items that we desperately needed for our harsh winters—formal wear seemed to be out of their area of expertise.

Mostly I just assumed that because the Luna Celebration was meant to announce the birth of a Luna, they were all expecting to create something for a small infant, not a full-grown woman.

I watched intently as Beta Shaun and Alpha Aisling spoke to each other on the front porch. Reece and I stood on the porch, trying to figure out just what they had planned for us that day. I spent most of my time watching the construction of the decorations and the pyre from the inside—begrudingly, I might add, considering I was in the Alpha's cabin now—that I decided to sit on the edge of the porch steps.

"I can see what Alpha Sterling has. I'm sure his companion has a few dresses she can borrow," Beta Shaun offered, leaning back against the porch railing.

It was interesting to watch how leisurely he spoke about it. Actually, it was strange—I'd never seen him look at ease, relaxed. To me, Beta Shaun always looked tense. Then again, he never actually had a day for himself. There was always something the Beta Shaun had to do, and to see him slouch and tilt his head up, drinking in the rare moments of sunshine while he spoke to Alpha Aisling looked so eerie to me.

Alpha Aisling had his back against the cabin. Dressed in a wool sweater and jeans, he didn't seem to belong. With the sun out, his hair looked more golden than ever—sunlight, as cheesy at it sounded, made his eyes glitter almost. It didn't seem fair at all.

"It has to be new," he said, grunting as he pushed forward. "The Luna has to wear something new."

"You know the other option," Beta Shaun mumbled.

"You know the rules—not unless we need supplies," Alpha Aisling answered, giving a quick shake of his head.

I watched how quickly Reece's interest perked. He looked ready to stand at a moment's notice, is if what Alpha Aisling and Beta Shaun mentioned had something to do with him. He kept it to himself, for a moment, but he quickly looked at me with a half-cocked smirk.

Clearly, I was too ignorant to get the hint.

"They have seamstresses," Beta Shaun continued. He huffed when Alpha Aisling gave him a shameful look. "Well, they have shops."