Suddenly His Luna

A Mating Ceremony To Remember

Kieran and I have just arrived at the gathering, and I already want to go back into the car. But He’s holding my hand, squeezing gently. So I take a deep breath, pushing through my nerves. He shoots me another one of his reassuring smiles and my heart kind of melts.

This is what having a mate feels like. Sweaty palms and near heart attacks. There’s never a dull moment when I’m with him. My body comes alive every single time.

“Good evening, Alpha Kieran!”

“Alpha Kieran!”

“Omg! Alpha Kieran just arrived.”

I hear them all, from various angles. Oddly beautiful, fleshed out women catcalling at their Alpha. He seems nervous standing next to me and I latch onto his unease, simply for the fun of it.

“Well Alpha Kieran,” I say, “Don’t let me stop you.”

He shakes his head at me once, nodding in acknowledgement to one of the women standing off to the side. “Mary. Cassandra.” He nods at two other females, ever the gentleman.

“Oh, Alpha Kieran!” One of the women sighs, “Remember you said you were going to help me make a model jungle gym for my pups.” She twirls a lock of her golden hair away from her face. The action reminds me of a wanton schoolgirl seeking a jock’s attention. And what’s with her voice?

She sounds like one of those terrible written characters in one of the cartoon shows my son used to watch. The comparison springs a laugh out of me.

“Hello Alpha Kieran,” Another female creeps out of the welcoming group, “I did that thing you advised me to do, if you don’t mind it’s in my bedroom but i might just need your help getting it down.”

She has pretty dark skin paired with dark features. Her eyes are a bottomless dark brown, it does wonders for her appearance. And suddenly I think, what the hell have I just walked into?

The girls surround Kieran, bring forth complaints about this and that. They’re the most bare things. It’s obvious they’re just itching for his attention in particular, and even though I’m aware, I find the whole thing absolutely hilarious. Kieran can’t be blind to it either, but I assume he’s trying to maintain a balance without outright hurting any of their feelings.

He introduces me to them, and I watch as as they asses me. From the looks of things, Kieran most likely never brings a female back to his pack.

That familiar warmth trickles through my body all over again.

“Who is she, Alpha Kieran?”

He doesn’t take his eyes of me, when he says, “She’s my mate. Gifted to me by the moon goddess herself.”

I wring my hands together as the emotions bubble up inside me. As if the words he speaks aren’t enough, he makes it a point to look at me with the most sincere of expressions.

The air outside changes, the women looking at me differently. I feel them back up subtly, their way of respecting the Alpha’s female.

“Vivien,” Kieran nods at me, turning and gesturing to, “Mary, Cassandra, Violet, Teala. They’re some of the lone she-wolves in this pack.”

The fact was a little too obvious.

I nod at them as well, “It’s a pleasure to meet you.”

“Come.” Kieran reaches for my hand, pulling me away from them before they can even respond.

The forest is lit up from the entrance, through the clearing and towards the main podium outside. People flood the area, wolves coming and going, barely leaving an inch of uncovered land. They seemed to be preparing for what I assume to be a hunt.

For after the ceremony?

That’s most likely the case. With werewolves, no celebration trumps the act of a bonfire. Fresh meet and war stories. There’s a joyous air all around, happy faces and loosened inhibitions.

As contagious as it is, my apprehension only grows as the minutes tick by. Kieran has intentions of introducing me to his family today. To his mother.

It’s not naturally something that should cause so much worry in me. But there’s more to it. Despite whatever he says to lessen my stress, I already know how his mother feels about me. More or less at least.

The other day, my seeing abilities led me to see something I wish I didn’t. Kieran’s family history, just a bit of it. The vision didn’t last for longer than a minute, but in that short amount of time, I gathered a lot of information.

I saw that Kieran’s brother had been betrayed and killed. I saw what it did to his people, to his pack. Given, he was the Alpha at the time of his death. The untimely loss of her son made his mother not at all accepting of outsiders.

And I completely understand it.

There’s a hard battle ahead of me here, and I’m not entirely sure of whether or not I’m capable of handling it. But then, what choice do I have?

Kieran looks like such a child among his people, boyish and full of joy. I’d never be okay with pulling him away from all this because I can’t relate with them.

I’m lost in my head, my brain channeling through different possibilities and scenarios when a flute starts to play. And then drums.

The crowd goes off in excitement, some of the guests rushing to the dance floor. A few others jump into shifts and dance in their fur as the band plays Old folk music.

“Come,” Kieran whispers in my ear, “Let’s dance.” He whisks me away before I can object, and we start to dance in the middle of the clearing. I’m bad at it, stumbling over and over in his arms. But he doesn’t seem to mind it, so we dance away.

Kieran is such a happy dancer, swooping me in his arms, his hands around my waist. I’m not even dancing, I’m flying around with him supporting me. He picks me up again at the c****x of the chorus and pulls me even closer to him, our noses nearly touching. I feel the blood as it rushes through my ears.

He makes us both look good, but I’m starting to keep up and match his strides. His smile beams wider, I can’t help but return it.

***

See y’all on Friday with a much longer chapter!