Destiny's Web

The Alpha Ceremony Part 2

(Lilith’s P.O.V)

Everyone is staring at me as Arthur is holding his gift out to me. Those blue eyes, the very same eyes watching me from the car. The very same eyes that picked on me as a child… I raise my hands unable to speak and take the gift, and our fingers barely touched. When they did it felt so strange, and cold. It was not what I imagined I might feel. Are you going to say something? said Cassandra. I snapped out of it and said thank you, he smiles and asks me to open it up and so I did. Both of our families were hovering over us like vultures.

When I finally managed to open the gift my heart sank, it was a first edition of Pride & Prejudice. I felt tears swelling up in my eyes, and I ran upstairs with Cassandra behind me trying to stop me. I managed to get to my room and close the door behind me and lock it. Cassandra knocks on the door and asks me to let her in, but I will not. I will wait by the door until you are done, sister. I am laying on my bed with the book close to me. He still trying to make-up for what he did to me when we were younger? I scoff at the thought of him trying to be genuine.

I get up and get undressed and head to my bathroom, I need to get washed up before mother starts complaining again. I am going to use my favorite body soap, lotion and perfume for tonight. Perfect Peony, it is light and smells like wildflowers. I take my time bathing, ugh! Why does all the Alphas and their families have to be here until my 18th birthday party. It is just a stupid ball for me to socialize. It is not like I can have a mate since I only exist for one reason… I slowly sink under the water and think about the book. I should check to see if there is a note inside. I come up for air and finish bathing, I begin moisturizing my skin, and I spray my perfume. I open the book and sure enough there was another handwritten note, I decide to toss it in the trash something told me not to read it. I tell Cassandra I am ready for the make-up artist and hair stylist. They come in, and Cassandra lays my dress out on the bed, it is a silk maroon dress with spaghetti straps. Its form fitting and floor length, there is a split so my left leg will be visible. The top part is a little revealing so cleavage will be slightly shown, why did my mother like this dress again? Its suit’s you sister, if I had your body, I would never take it off, Cassandra says. I ask the hair stylist to give me an elegant hair style and for my make-up to look natural yet elegant. Once I was done, I put my dress on and they all gasped. I went to the mirror to look and even then, I did not recognize myself, who was this woman standing in front of me?

My hair goes down to butt and is naturally wavy, and black. and she styled it so beautifully, she made my waves more defined and with a small twist up-do style with flowers to add some more flair. My make-up looked so natural that they added a darker shade to my eyelids to give me a winged tip. The dress itself was a statement piece. The silk was so soft against my skin and hugged my body well, it showed of my curves, and showed off my boobs. The floor length was a great choice, and the split where my left leg shows my toned leg, and nude open toed heel. I am wearing gold drop earrings that turn into a diamond, and gold bangles with diamonds that look like stars.

 I now know who I look like… I am Lady Blackhart, the spitting image of every Lady who has come before me in the Blackhart family tree. We are a gift from the Moon Goddess to our kind. We bring balance and order to the supernatural world on behalf of the goddess herself. How could I ever be so foolish to even think that my destiny is different from those who came before me…

Cassandra insists that we make haste, I grab my clutch and we make our way downstairs, and she stops and turns to me. Lilith, I do not trust Arthur. You are my best friend, and sister-in-law. The way you always mentioned him made it seem like he was a total asshole.

Okay, what are you trying to say? “I have a feeling he might ask you to be his date, and I think you should be careful around him. You never been on a date, you never had a boyfriend or a first kiss. 

Cassandra, thank you for always being honest with me. Let us, go!

(Arthurs P.O.V)

I am with both of our family’s downstairs and all I can think about is Lilith’s eyes started to tear up as she saw the book. Did I hurt her again, was it not my place to give her such a grand gift? Arthur come with me, said Alexander. We head into the kitchen and he asked if I was alright. Do you think she liked the book, Alex? Arthur, please do not tell me you are still trying to make up from what happened when we were kids, ha-ha! I look him straight in the eye and say yes. Alex comes over to me and puts his hand on my shoulder, you still think she is your mate?

She is not our mate Arthur!

I... I do not know. When she looked into my eyes it felt like she could see my soul, I just wanted to pull her into my arms and hold her. Arthur, as your best friend and oldest brother to Lilith, I think you should keep a distance from Lilith. I look up in shock at what he said, I thought he wanted us to be together… Yes, I am serious Arthur. My sister is young, and she is about to gain her wolf soon, and you were a bully in her eyes he says. On another note, Arthur, will you be staying until her eighteenth Birthday? It will be a masquerade ball to make things easier for Lilith, he said smiling. Why is she uncomfortable with a party? Well, she does not like the attention, and she is as you know a special gift from the Moon Goddess herself. Oh, yes that is right. You mentioned every few generations a female will be born as an Alpha under the name Blackehart when the Blackhart name only produces males. If my memory serves me well.

If you harm her in any way, I will make you regret it. My wolf roars that it gives me a headache.

 Arthur, are you okay? Yeah, I am good. “The responsibility and gifts she holds will be far greater than any Luna, the only reason she was born was because the Moon Goddess knew something was coming.” I will stay until her birthday celebration. Great! Alex said, I will put you on the same floor with me and your parents on the same floor with mine, he slaps me in the back and laughs. The rooms on Lilith’s floor are reserved for her guests. Guests, I scoff in my mind.

We hear Cassandras voice from the kitchen, and we quickly move to the living room. Ladies and gentlemen, may I present to you Lady Blackhart. She steps to the side. I cleared my throat and stepped forward. Lady Blackhart, will you do me the honor and let me be your date for tonight? Everyone gasps, knowing that I was a bully to her. She looks so calm and collected. You may accompany me for the evening. I look up at her and I held out my hand smiling as she descended the remaining steps and gently placed her hand in mine. It was undeniable, the feeling when we touched, she belonged to me.

(Flashback)

The twins were mischievous little devils always getting others in trouble. Alex tried to reprimand them, but they would cower behind their mother blaming us. Anthony on the other hand knew very well and made them run laps on laps. It was a beautiful day, and I could see Lilith in the garden amongst the flowers reading and giggling to herself, I could not help but smile. Arthur and Lilith sitting in a tree K-I-S-S-I-N-G! Get lost brats, I would never kiss her not even if she becomes of age!

Augustus: If that is how you feel then you would not mind a little prank?

Abraham: Yeah, a prank would not do much harm he says as he snickers. All you must do is take this bucket of ice-cold water and pour it over her. Then run, and of course we will not tell anyone if you will not.

Fine, I will do it. I slowly creep up behind Lilith. I stop and listen to her giggle and say “Oh, Mr. Darcy, you have no idea how she feels about you”. Then I see the twins motioning me to do it, and I poured the freezing water over here. When she looked up at me, there was no anger, or hate, just sadness in her eyes. She ran to the packhouse and then I was summoned by Anthony, my father and her bothers were there as well. Anthony made the twins pour freezing water on themselves and do laps with the guards. Whereas I was alone with Anthony, Alex, and my father.

Why did you do it, son? I looked up at my father, I did not want the twins to know… Anthony chimes in - know what Arthur? I like her, I feel like she is supposed to be mine. Then Alex is told to keep this between the four of us. Anthony asks - Why do you feel that way? She brings out this side of me I did not know existed. She finds joy and magic in the most mundane things. I love her curious nature, and her incessive daydreaming. I pray to the moon goddess that she will forgive me, for I was weak and scared of my feelings. I ruined her favorite book, I really hurt her, and it felt like my heart was going to break when she looked up at me with her green eyes filling with tears.

Edward: Son, what you are telling us sounds like you two felt the mate bond. You must give her space and time to become her own person. Only then will you know for sure if she has forgiven you.

Anthony: I agree with your father, only time will tell if she is your mate…

Anthony: Arthur you must know the truth about her. When the first Blackhart pack came to be recorded it was said that the line would never have females born into it. That our line was cursed, but that was far from the truth. Our line would not have females born into it unless the Moon Goddess saw a reason for it. The reason being is that the balance was disrupted in the supernatural world. Some other supernatural being has caused the scales to shift for their own personal greed. In our family tree - there has only been four other Lady Blackharts recorded.

Their purpose, to bring order to our world along with others. One is chosen for the vampires, one for the witches and wizards (light and dark), and when the time comes, they may unite and bring order back to our world. They have been known to be the most powerful of our kind, and rare to other beings. Their lifeline can be short, and their future undetermined.

Edward: Are you saying that your daughter was only born because the Moon Goddess knew something is going to happen? You are also implying that your daughter’s life is hanging on by a thread…

Anthony: I can not say for certain, Edward. The first Lady Blackhart died on the battlefield at the age of twenty-eight. We were at war with Vampires and Witches. She sacrificed everything so that a treaty would be forged, and it was. The second was kidnapped by a dark wizard who used her blood to conjure an army, and she gave her last breath to destroy them all.

Edward: Your family ended the war, they… she… is the reason for the Noapte Treaty?... H-how did she kill an entire army?

Anthony: Yes, my friend along with two others… She whispered a spell. She was raised by witches and hidden from the world until her time came to serve it. Her brothers lived under a different last name so no one cold end the bloodline until the threat had passed. The third Lady Blackhart was in an arranged marriage, and she ran away. We could even have more family out there because she could have remarried and switched to a different name but alas, she was called by the Moon Goddess to bring order amongst the packs that were forming, making pacts with one another and attacking smaller ones. Her former husband was leading one of them, Crimson Pack.  He hired a vampire assassin to murder her and when the packs found out they formed the council to serve out his punishment.

Edward: Crimson Pack, those filthy murderers! I look at my father who is turning red and eyes turned black with anger.

Anthony: Justice was served, Edward. The fourth Lady Blackhart was my Great Grandmother. She made the Council what it is today and gave your Great Grandfather a chance to make-up for what his pack did. She knew that the past is in the past.

Arthur: What did his pack do?

Edward: Son, Crimson pack was the name before Morningstar. Our pack was once… Arthur, our family has blood on its hands due to our Great times three grandfather. His name will not be said to honor the third Lady Blackhart’s memory.

Arthur: I see. He was the one who was supposed to marry her. The vampire assassin, was he tried for his crimes?

Anthony: Yes, he was. By the very vampire who helped form the Noapte Treaty.  

(End of Flash Back)

Having her hand in my mind felt so perfect, her skin was soft, and she smelled like honey. I look her in the eyes and asked her if she enjoyed her gift, with a small smile she said yes. She grabs my hand tighter as we begin leaving the pack house. There was silence between us as we walked toward the decorated platform. Once we arrived everyone just stared in awe. I knew they were looking at Alexander and Cassandra, but the gasps were for Lilith, her grip tightened, and I encouraged her to wave to the crowd as I guided her to her seat.

 I know you are nervous darling; I am here with you every step of the way. She lifted her head and smiled at me, how have you been Arthur? I take my seat and begin to tell her about what I have done in the past eight in half years…

Well after I left here, I finished up school. I went to college, graduated early, and went to a university, I have my own company and run my dad’s architecture company. I travelled a bit in and out of the states. I am sorry for the way I treated you when we were younger. Do you remember how you dragged me out to the fields to have picnics with your brothers and Cassandra, and you would read to us? Those were such wonderful times she said smiling and looking down at the table. Then let us have one tomorrow, she looks up at me shocked. I stare directly into her emerald eyes and she broke our gaze.

(Lilith P.O.V)

I can barely look him in the eye now that he is so close to me. Why is he being so sweet, he wants to have a picnic like old times? I look down at the table, this does not feel right but I feel obligated to keep the conversation going. Has it really been eight years since we last saw each other?  It has, Lilith. I must say not a day went by where I did not think of you. I always wanted to reach out to see how you were doing, but I will admit, I prefer to talk to you in person. Arthur why are you acting like this? He just stares at me, and I hear my father begin to talk and he gathers everyone’s attention.

“Good afternoon everyone, I am so pleased to announce that we are celebrating an Alpha & Luna Ceremony! The crowd begins to cheer. I want to start off by congratulating my son Alexander and his mate Cassandra. You found each other when the time was right, and I thank the Moon Goddess for pairing you two. You both have trained, study, and travelled to gain wisdom from our elders.”

I begin to scream and cheer making Cassandra blush, Arthur joins in embarrassing Alex. My father glances my way and I simply wink making him smile. He waves his hand to Alex and Cassandra as they come up center stage with my father.

Anthony: Alexander Blackhart, under the watchful eye of the Moon Goddess will you swear to uphold the laws and treaties in place for this pack? Do you swear to put your pack before your self and your Luna if the need ever arose? Do you swear to protect and cherish your Luna tonight under the new full moon in front of our moon goddess? An odd sensation and chill brew through the gathering, I look around. Did no one else sense this? I cannot be the only one sensing this unless. (Alexanders Alpha voice boomed over the gathering.)

Alexander: I swear under the watchful eye of the Moon Goddess to uphold the laws and treaties im place for this pack! To put the packs safety before my Luna and myself. I swear to protect my Luna for the sake of the pack, and to a noble leader as you were, father. I want to say that I am incredibly grateful and honored to become your Alpha.

Anthony: Cassandra Peonia, under the watchful eye of the Moon Goddess will you swear to uphold the laws and treaties in place for this pack? Do you swear to put the pack before your Alpha, and accept all the responsibilities as a Luna?

Cassandra: I swear under the watchful eye of the Moon Goddess. To uphold the laws and treaties of this pack, to protect my pack from threats within and outside, and my Alpha.

I, Alpha Anthony Blackhart release my title, and grant it to my first born, Alexander Blackhart.

I hear them both say yes at the same time and begin to giggle as they stare into each other’s eyes. My father brings over a gold chalice and they both drink from it. The crowd erupts in cheers and I see our families crying. Alex and Cassandra stand up and kiss then turn to the crowd. We are pregnant, and it is a male pup! Now the crowd is going wild. Arthur grabs my hand and leads me to the platform to dance, I never danced with a guy before, Arthur pulled me in close, spined me out, and spined me back into his arms. Why is his grip so tight on me? Our lips are slowly meeting each other (Is this my first kiss?). Suddenly this wave of dizziness hits me, and I take a few steps back putting my hands on both sides of my head... Lilith, are you okay? This does not feel right…