Luna Athalia

3. Cross That Bridge

Dominique Rhea Kingsley

Dammit, Remy, where the hell are you?! Dominique desperately tried to reach her leader through mindlink, cursing the empty static feeling that she was met with. 

As she sprinted in the direction he had gone, following his scent as best she could, her wolf muttered within her, Running away like a coward? Leaving us there! What a complete piece of-

Dominique paused for breath as she reached a neighborhood. Of course, he probably stormed straight off to his apartment. She stomped over with a huff, flinging the door open dramatically. 

Remy stood atop the loft that looked over the rest of his studio apartment. The dull thuds of his mitts hitting the worn punching bag and the tinkling of the chain that it hung from just barely audible over the blasting music. The Fighter stood shirtless, looking like he barely pulled on a pair of stinky gym shorts before beating the absolute crap out of the bag.

Dominique stared for a moment - Remy was always insanely attractive despite not having royal blood in him. He was about 6'2 and was ripped to all hell. His skyrocketing performance as a Fighter was no surprise to anyone. He had slightly curled black hair and dark blue eyes. And teeth so straight and white that his dentist actually had a framed picture of the guy hanging in his office. She reminded him of a real life Prince Eric from the Little Mermaid. If it wasn't for his insanely short temper, he'd probably be the most desirable wolf in the pack. Well that, and the fact that he was absolutely obsessed with Luna Athalia.

He had been that way since they were kids, always vying for her attention, always trying to stand out in the crowd just so she'd look at him. He had bragged for weeks that he felt their mate pull when he turned 18 and he'd never kept a serious girlfriend because of it.

"That was some show you put on there before you ran off, wuss." Dominique shouted above the music, standing at the bottom of the staircase with her hands on her hips. Remy ignored her, punching the bag repeatedly as his hair matted down with sweat. She stomped over to the speaker, turning it off with a slam of a button.

He looked down over the railing with a glare, "What the f**k, Dom?"

She rolled her eyes, going up the stairs, "What's up with you? You've been in a weird mood all day. And then storming off like that? The entire Union was waiting there looking like idiots."

Remy quieted, looking away from her, "This wasn't the plan. How can Vincent f*****g Reyes be Alpha? He wasn't even supposed to have a mate. I thought you made sure of it!"

"I did!" Dominique snapped back, "We buried that girl a year ago. What about you? You've been saying for four years that Athalia was your mate. What happened to your mate pull?"

"It's there!" Remy snapped, a forceful punch to the bag sent the chains rattling, nearly toppling over, "I felt it stronger than I ever have. It took everything I had not to jump her right then and there. But she just walked straight by! Ignoring me! This isn't what was supposed to happen."

"Well clearly she doesn't feel the same way." Dominique said coldly, hitching her thumb over her shoulder to the door, "We have to go meet with everyone. Let them know what our next step is. You can't just run away sulking because perfect little Athalia Sylas doesn't want you."

"Don't you f*****g say that." Remy growled lowly, his rage eerily calm. It made Dominique's spine stiffen with just how offensively he had taken her statement. 

"Wh-whatever, Remy." She took a step back before turning around and moving to the door, "Let's go."

Athalia Marie Sylas

"Did you really have to inhale my tongue in front of everyone?" The Luna groaned as they walked back into the pack house, "Goddess, Vincent, it's like you have no self-control."

"We're supposed to be newly mated, Atty." Vincent rolled his eyes, "That's the point."

Athalia disappeared into her bathroom once again, her dress melting into a puddle on the floor as she changed back into her comfy clothes. She could feel Vince's eyes on her as she moved. As she pulled her long hair into a bun, she contemplated their discussion that morning.

"Okay but what if you don't find your mate?" Vincent had asked her.

She was skeptical, unsure of herself, "Then I suppose Remy gets his way."

"And then he'll slaughter all 43 people who live in the apartments. Their blood spilled on our land can only cause trouble." Vince responded.

"Then what do you propose I do, Vince?" Athalia asked with an exasperated sigh, "The Elders and the pack have already spoken. I can't just pretend like their ultimatum doesn't exist and move on."

"Well...what about pretending like the ultimatum is in our favor?" The Beta asked with raised brows.

"What do you mean?"

"If you don't meet your mate before everyone gathers, why not just pretend you did?" Vincent lifted his chin, "We can say it's me."

"You?" Athalia asked incredulously, "Like that isn't some huge convenient, completely provable lie?"

Vince moved towards her, looking down as he took her by the shoulders, "Atty, think about it. The entire pack has thought we'd end up together since we were pups. Would it really be that inconceivable that it was true? And then once the rogues are set free, it won't really matter."

"What if I meet my mate after the fact? Or what if you meet yours?" Athalia shook her head, "I don't know about this, Vince. This is all too risky."

"How about we cross that bridge when we get to it, huh?" 

As she left the bathroom, Athalia looked at her "mate" skeptically, "So, Alpha, what now?"

Vincent perked up, a smirk on his face, "Alpha. I like that."

Despite being called Alpha, Vincent had none of that lineage in his blood. His Beta voice was strong enough to quell the pack when they began to protest earlier. But in all honesty, it had been so long since they had adhered to an Alpha voice that they likely didn't know the difference. Nothing short of them mating would bring about his true Alpha voice. And that certainly was not a part of Athalia's plan.

"Vince, come on, be serious." Athalia plopped down at the foot of her bed, "We can't keep up with this charade for very long. I'm sure Remy and Dominique will see to that. Whatever we need to do to release the rogues needs to happen now."

"I hear you, geez." Vincent sat next to her, rubbing the back of his head, "You're making this less fun than it could be. Plus, no one would expect two newly mated wolves to do anything except-"

"Stop." Athalia held up a hand, "You know that's not happening."

Vince put his hands up, falling backwards on the bed, "Alright, alright, chill out. It's true though. If we start barking orders to have the rogues leave today, it'll be far too suspicious. We should wait at least until tomorrow."

Athalia moved to shove him off the bed, "Until then, you can sleep on the floor, hm?"

***

Athalia stood alone in her room early the next morning. Vince had left to arrange patrols for the day - a duty he had already taken as Beta. She stood looking out of her large bay window, staring out into the great lawn of the pack house. It was a magnificent three story mansion, painted white with a wraparound driveway and the most enviable gardens. 

Her heart thudded deeply in her chest, her calm demeanor purely a façade as she spoke to her wolf. Her eyes a deep, inky black as they communicated within her mind.

How were you able to just ignore him, Athalia? Cecilia whined, her black fur standing straight up, Our mate. Our true mate. Just to replace him with some...cheap knockoff.

Don't be rude, Cecilia. The Luna sighed, eyes drifting to the makeshift bed that had been on the couch for Vince, You know exactly why we had to ignore him.

Even when he growled. I felt it in my very soul - his anguish, his pain. The wolf seemed to frown in her mind, whimpering sympathetically, Our poor mate. 

Remy Bell is no one to pity. Athalia thought coldly, In what world does the Goddess think he is destined to by my mate? The very wolf who has opposed me for years and made my life far more stressful than it needed to be growing up! 

Athalia remembered the feeling distinctly. When she was close to the town hall, she felt her heartbeat quicken and her wolf growing excited and impatient. It felt like the onslaught of a panic attack, something Athalia had been dealing with for years. She had learned so many ways to quell such a feeling. Likely if it weren't for that practice, she surely would've fainted at the very idea that Remy Samuel Bell was her mate. 

But when she saw him, she was positively enamored. Never had he looked so handsome, standing there glowering with the nastiest look in his eye. But it was enticing. She knew the animosity was not directed towards her, it just couldn't be. No, for the briefest of seconds when their eyes met, she felt a connection that could only be described as destiny. 

She knew far better. She knew that such a partnership would have been doomed from the start. And thanks to the years of therapy and an extra special magical gift bestowed upon her when she became Luna, she was able to remain calm and deliver her fake speech without so much as a stutter.

But that didn't mean it hurt any less to watch as Remy stormed out, away from her. It didn't feel any less wrong to kiss Vincent in front of the whole pack - not when she knew in her very core that she belonged to Remy. Her fingertips tingled as she reached for her bracelets, stroking the crusted gems to find her calm once again. Taking a deep breath, she turned to leave, getting ready for her day. At the end of it all, she was the Luna for this pack. And that took priority over everything else.