The Luna Before Me

The Ceremony

Chapter 2 - 

Oakley - 

I couldn’t believe it! Tonight was the night I finally got to go onto wolf territory! I danced around my room ,twirling towards my closet. I needed to find an outfit for tonight. I stopped dancing and started grabbing shirts out of my closet and holding them up to myself in front of the mirror. I heard a soft knock on the door that startled me.

“Come in” I shouted. My mom suddenly appeared from around the door and slowly walked over to take a seat on my bed.

“Oak, we need to talk” she said with serious eyes. I immediately put my clothes on the desk beside me and took a seat next to her. She placed her hand on my knee in a loving manner. 

“What is it Ma?” I asked.

“You're going into wolf territory tonight, with other wolves. That means you have a chance at meeting your mate. We’ve talked about it and since Marie has receded; I know you don’t feel the drive like a normal wolf would. Your mate may feel more of a drive than you and come on strong, if you get scared in any way, run” she said with a serious tone. I looked up at her in a confused manner.

“Male wolves can be strong and forceful, I do not want you to be mated against your will” she said with tears brimming her eyes

“Oh Ma, please don’t worry I won't let anyone near me” I said as I pulled my mother close to me, wrapping my small arms around her. She pushed away and nodded to me, once she stared at me a little more she smiled and left the room.

I got back up and went to my clothes. I decided on light wash skinny jeans I would cuff at the end, black booties that had a small heel, and a beautiful sheer black shirt that was adorned with gold flowers accompanied with only a crop top bralette under. Since this was my first party I let myself dress a little differently than my normal self. I took a seat at the desk and began pulling the brown hair out of my face and clipping the hair to the back of my head on both sides. My hair was a light brown with natural gold highlights, it was naturally wavy and reached my waist, so styling it was never an option with my time limits. I sighed as I looked in the mirror. I decided that some mascara and a thin line of eye liner was all I needed tonight. 

I was ready, shaking with nerves I walked down the stairs only to find the two burly wolves who had previously been in my kitchen.

“What is this?” I asked with a surprised voice.

“Oh! My little Oak Tree, they thought it would be better to escort you into the territory tonight. The guards have never met you and they have high security tonight, I agreed and told them to meet you here” she said.

“If there is nothing farther, lets go, little wolf” the larger wolf said. I nodded and started towards the door, before I got there though I turned around sharply and ran to give my mom a hug. I heard her laugh as I buried my face in her neck.

“You’ll be home tonight, honey, no need to worry” she said with a chuckle. I finally let her go and continued out the door with the two huge wolves.

-

When I arrived at the territory we headed straight for the banquet hall. Upon entering I knew I was going to stand out. All of the wolves in the pack were raised to train with their wolves, they grew them and made them stronger. All of the males were massive in size and all of the females were equally large but still remained smaller than the males. Then there I stood, the top of my head was reaching only to the chin of most females and the shoulders of the males. I looked around quizzically, the two wolves who escorted me in were now gone and I was left alone.

“Hello!” a small voice squeaked at me, causing me to jump. “Oh, I’m so sorry!” the voice said again. I turned to see a she-wolf standing behind me, she was larger than me and had beautiful dark brown curly hair and green eyes. 

“Oh, hello” I said shyly.

“My name is Willow. Are you new to the territory” she asked with an eyebrow raised.

“Kind of, my family was kicked off when I was just a pup and this is my first time back, thanks to Alpha Beau” I told her, trying to explain my situation.

“Oh Alpha Beau is a magnificent Alpha!” she exclaimed, clapping her hands together, I couldn’t help but smile at her.

“I heard Alpha Beau’s name many times, but is there no Luna?” I asked. She looked at the ground before finally responding to me.

“You really aren’t from here, it’s a long story but basically Luna Rissa, Alpha Beau’s mother, got increasingly sick, and passed on. Before she died though there was a pass of power between her and Beau. That's all we know though. If you aren’t part of the Alpha family you get left out of a lot of things.” she said. I nodded my head, I didn’t realize how much drama was involved with being on pack territory. 

“The ceremony is starting soon, would you like to sit with me?” she asked with a smile. I nodded my head and we walked into the ceremony hall with Willow. 

Beau - 

The ceremony was over and I now held my full Alpha title. I was directed to go mingle among the wolves and speak to everyone within the pack. My attention was split though, Ryan kept trying to talk to me during the ceremony and I felt a desire to search the room for the warm scent I was smelling.

 "Our mate is here” Ryan said within me.

“How do you know?” I asked.

“I can feel her pulling at me, find our mate, now!” he demanded.

I began pacing the room with my eyes, I finally caught a whiff of the delicious smell and began following it. I pushed my way through the crowd until I came to a corner were two wolves were standing. I recognized one as a pack member named Willow, she wasn’t our mate that was for sure, I’ve met her many times. The much smaller, scared wolf next to her was emitting the smell.

“Mate” Ryan barked at me.

“Hello Willow” I said, gaining their attention. 

“Oh, hello, Alpha Beau!” she said with a bow. The small wolf next to her followed suit and bowed her head as well. 

“Who’s your friend? I have never seen her before.” All my attention was now shifted to the she-wolf beside her. She was possibly the most beautiful wolf to walk this earth. She had a splatter of freckles that complemented her now blushed face. Her hair was long and wavy, unlike the she-wolves of the pack who often kept their hair short or pulled up in a bun. Her sparkling blue eyes graced me with their presence as she made eye contact with me.

“I-I’m Oakley” she almost whispered to me.

“Oakley, what a beautiful name. Are you new here?” I asked, she had now broken my gaze and was once again looking at the ground. It took all of my strength to keep myself from cupping her face in my large hands and begging her to never look away again.

“N-no, well yes. I was born here, but my family was cast out when I was a pup and I’ve lived in the town outside of the territory for as long as I can remember” she said, still focused on her feet. Her small stature now made sense, if she grew up in the human town she would have learned to repress her wolf. I now remember giving the guards an order to invite an outcast wolf back into the pack. 

“I see, well Miss Oakley, can I give you my number so I can give you a proper tour of the territory” I said. She looked up at Willow who gave her a nod of approval. She dug into her pocket and withdrew a phone and let me put my number in it.

“Okay, all done” I said handing the phone back to her “I also sent myself a text message so I could save your number as well.” She stared at me with those beautiful blue eyes and I tried to inhale softly, soaking up as much of her scent as I could. 

“Excuse me ladies I must attend to my other guests” I said with a nod good-bye. As I walked away my hearing could pick up her sweet voice.

“Did you smell that?” she asked Willow.

“Smell what?” Willow said.

“Nothing, must have been his cologne” she said.

I smiled, knowing my mate was being drawn to me just as I was to her.

-

That night I laid in bed contemplating the night I just had. I thought about sweet Oakley and her beautiful scent. I knew she lived off the territory so I decided to send her a quick text making sure she got home ok. Nothing a good Alpha wouldn’t do.

“Where is our mate?” Ryan asked.

“She’s at home” I told him.

“You let her leave!” he growled at me.

“She’s brand new to the territory and doesn’t seem to know much about wolf customs. I

can’t spring that she is our mate on her right now. Let us meet some more” I said.

I could hear Ryan huffing, clearly angry with me.

I saw my phone light up and quickly yanked it off the nightstand and unlocked it. She had messaged me back.

Oakley: Yes I made it home. Thank you for being so kind and checking on me.

Beau: Of course, I am your Alpha and you are under my protection now.

Beau: Are you free tomorrow? I would like to show you around.

Oakley: I can make tomorrow work, can I message you when I get up and ready?

Beau: Of course. I will see you then, little wolf.

I smiled to myself and let my phone rest on the nightstand once more. I drifted off into sleep more peacefully than I ever have before as I thought about the sweet sparkle in my mates eyes.