Second Chance

Chapter 11

Skye

After everyone had eaten, Drew invited everyone into the ballroom through a set of double doors at the side of the room. There, a band began to play some soothing, energetic music. A light was cast in the center of the room and Drew held her hand out to me, "May I have this dance, my Luna?" she asked. "Of course", I responded. We walked into the light and began to sway together, twirling to the music and joyfully laughing together. About halfway through the dance, others stepped forward and began to dance around us. "We really did it, Drew. We can finally be together openly and without repercussion." she held me tighter "Yes, mo chridhe, we can be together at last. We've also finally rid ourselves of Alistair and his influence, the feeling of freedom and relief is overwhelming". Her shiny eyes reflected the emotion in her words. "Mo leannan, my wise and beautiful queen. Your strength knows few bounds, and I'm so, so proud of you for breaking away from him and his cruelty." I told her, and then we settled into a comfortable silence, swaying and enjoying being in each other's arms.

As the song ended, Drew pulled me towards what appeared to be a throne, a table sat on one side laden with fruits and an omega stepped over with a fresh bottle of champagne and a couple of wine glasses, leaving them there on the table for us. On the other side, sat another throne slightly smaller but just as grand. Both were made from mahogany and looked plush with comfortable cushions and thick padded seats. Rather than leave me to sit on the smaller throne, she pulled me onto her lap and stroked my back as we watched all the couples having fun and dancing together. I blushed and hid my face in her neck breathing in her scent and relaxing. She pushed my hair out of my face and stroked my cheek, she gently grasped my chin and pulled my face closer. I closed my eyes anticipating our first kiss, but we were interrupted at that moment.

The group of omegas who had helped in dethroning Lachlan approached seemingly not noticing they'd interrupted a private moment. We sighed, and I carefully stood up and then settled into my own throne. Amelia was at the head of the group. She knelt on one knee in front of us and the others followed suit. "Greetings, clan chief and luna. We have come to make a request." she said

"Rise, Amelia and all of you here. For your deeds, we are friends and I would not have you kneel to me. Tell me your request" Drew told her.

They all stood with their heads slightly bowed. Amelia spoke for them again "My chief, these women and I were warriors before we came to be omegas in the pack-house. We were ordered with a chief's command to keep this a secret from you as the false chief believed you would step in and reinstate us with the support of your parents, the previous chief and luna. What I request now is that we become your personal warriors answering only to you. I request this with the knowledge that before we were assigned the rank of omega, we were all strong enough to rival Beta Lyall, Gamma Mitch and even the pretender, Alistair Lachlan. I have felt much guilt since we were demoted. I was captain of our unit despite my petite size but after a sparring session with Lachlan where I ultimately won, he was embarrassed and ashamed, lashing out at all of us.

He told us he would make us do as women were supposed to and ordered us with the ancient magick of the chief's command to fulfill the duties of those at omega rank." Drew and I had both gotten more and more angry through Amelia's explanation, but she was the first to regain her composure. "I cannot understate how glad I am that I had Charlie and Nessa use the binding cuffs on him. Until the ritual is performed, he would otherwise be capable of issuing chief commands and forcing those around him to perform acts against their wishes. I can only be glad that those commands cannot force one to harm themselves or perform s*xual acts. Otherwise there may have been a larger impact on the entire clan." I nodded in response

Drew turned back to the group and announced to them "I accept your request. You will be a unit that acts under my direct orders, I will name you the Valkyrie unit after the ancient warrior women."

They all knelt once more raising on hand over their hearts "Yes, Clan Chief! We swear to follow your orders even if we risk life or limb."

Drew looked over them with gentle eyes. "After the ritual tomorrow, I will have the authority of my birthright to change your rank. For now, please bear with it." They all nodded and Amelia positioned herself behind slightly to the side of Drew's throne clearly intending to take her new role seriously from the first second. Another warrior woman with similar features but slightly younger than Amelia positioned herself behind me. "Luna, I am Freya. I am Captain Amelia's younger sister and she determined I would best fit the role of Luna Guard." I gave her a smile and nodded in response. The rest of the Valkyrie unit dispersed each taking up a post evenly spaced throughout the ballroom."

Will then walked up to us "Clan Chief Sutherland, it is a great honor to meet you at last", he said with a wink. I rolled my eyes at him, but Drew was clearly amused. "Clan Chief MacRobert, I presume? If I'm to understand, despite being here for a few days already, you've not had a chance to meet with any leader, only a jester." his eyes twinkled before he cleared his throat, "Seriously though, ladies. Congratulations. I'm extremely happy for you." We smiled at him "Thanks, Will." I told him "Has that omega that was glued to you moved on now?" he shuffled uncomfortably "I'm dodging her where I can and must giving polite short responses when she tries to talk to me"

Drew looked at him and told him "Will, she's not a fool. If she can see she's making you uncomfortable and doesn't respect your need for space then you have my full permission to act like she's not there. Save politeness for those who show good manners themselves." He blinked in surprise and asked "Is that really okay." We assured him it's not just okay, it's necessary and finally sent him on his way. I made a mental note to check in on him later and make sure that the girl was leaving him alone.

Drew stood and looked out at everyone. She tapped her glass to get everyone's attention. "My Luna and I are going to retire for the night. It has been a long week, as some of you may well know, and we need some rest. I encourage you all to continue enjoying the evening and relax. I also suggest that omegas responsible for cleaning up get some rest tonight and commence cleaning tomorrow afternoon. After all, some of those in this ballroom may not leave until then if previous parties are anything to go by." She announced. We heard cheers and praise in response as we left for our new bedroom. Drew revealed that there used to be a separate Luna suite but Lachlan hadn't allowed her to use it even when he kicked her out of their shared room and she intended for us to use it together until the clan chief's room could be torn down and renovated to erase any trace of Lachlan, and I was fully on board. I couldn't imagine sleeping in a separate room anyway.

When we walked in, I gasped. This room was perfect. Pale soft colours decorated the wall and furniture, the floors were plush with extremely soft carpets and the large super-king bed looked like it would swallow me whole. There were matching dressing tables on opposite sides of the room. Both lined with new products, Drew had her usual skincare products and preferred make-up on one dressing table and the other dresser had my preferences on top. There were two doors, one next to each dressing table and Drew showed me that inside were both walk in wardrobes and the door to the side of the bed on the opposite wall lead to a huge bathroom with a large shower unit complete with jets on all sides and a rainfall shower head over the top. There was also a large two-person Jacuzzi style bathtub, a dark marble sink under a huge mirror in-between the bathtub and shower unit and a door to the side lead to a separate small room for the toilet.

"Wow, I can't picture a better room for us." I said. "I'm glad you approve" Drew said as she pulled me over to the bed. She gazed at me with so much love in her eyes that it stole my breath away. She held my face in her hands and pulled me towards her and as she kissed me, I lost myself in her. This unexpected confidence from her soothed the concern I'd held about her healing from everything she'd had to go through in the years since she'd been forced to be with that awful man. As I kissed her back I teased my tongue along her bottom lip seeking entry and deepened the kiss. We spent the rest of the night losing ourselves in each other and expressing our passion.