Renaissance

Episode 16

“No way…” I said, drying my eyes to the sleeve of my shirt. 

“Cece…” Caspian cried my name, 

“No! I can’t! I am nothing but a piece of trash, no one, even you, wanted to do anything with. My mother doesn’t even remember my existence. How can you call me your Luna?" I was shocked.

"But your wolf could feel you belonged to the Maya Pack, and I believe that's how you were able to find us."

"But, none of you can feel my presence. Even I know how a bond to one's pack works. You should have been able to link with me!" I tried to reason.

"Good reasoning Cece, but we couldn't. I knew you, but you are oblivious of our existence. You need to know them to be able to mind-link." He said calmly. I was getting tired, exasperated and angry.

"I know you now!" I said.

And that's why I can link you now! I heard him say, though his lips didn't move at all. I blinked a few times.

"Okay, but that doesn't prove I ought to be the Luna; it only proves I am one of your pack." I continued. It was Caspian's turn to get exasperated.

"Cecelia, whether you believe it or not, you are the one who should be ruling our pack, and I have no doubts that you'd rule it perfectly. Much, much better than your mother." He said, sighing. "I am running out of time. I have a few trustworthy members I'd like to have as your guard, ğthat is, if your mate wouldn't object." He said, looking at a very silent Autry. I looked at him too. He nodded firmly.

"I will have to interview with them first and have their full CV's." He said. I couldn't believe he would agree to such an arrangement. "They need to obey straight orders and one mistake, and I'll rip their heart right off!" He threatened. Making Caspian chuckle.

"I would expect no less." He said. "Sorry, Cece, but I need to run, or they'll become suspicious." I just nodded, standing my ground only long enough for him to leave the room. Autry appeared next to me in an instant and held me by my waist just in time. I felt dizzy, it was like the whole room was spinning around me, and Autry's touch calmed that down a bit. He took me into his arms, bridal style, and I rested my head on his shoulder, snuggling my face into his neck and taking deep breaths to let his intoxicating scent calm me significantly. I felt him walking towards the door, and out I heard the doors to the SUV unlock and Autry putting me in. I grabbed his shirt as firmly as I could. 

"I'm coming in a second, Goddess." I heard his angelic voice. And sure enough, in no more than a second, he was climbing from the other side of the car. He took me into his arms after fastening each of our belts and hugged me close. I shut my eyes and let him hush me into sleep.

*Autry's POV*

I was about to lose my mind too. But I needed to take care of Cecelia first. I took her to our room and tucked her in the bed with many comforters. I took out my phone first thing and sent a message to Caspian, leaving my mail address and asked him to send the CV's in when he is ready. With that sorted, I could have my own freaking-out session. I let myself march around the room without my shoes, not to disturb Cecelia. I was about to lose my mind. How could this be? What were we going to do? If she was thrown into managing a Pack, I couldn't just leave her alone! But I had my own responsibilities weighing on my shoulders. I was happy I had her help me out, but managing two packs… it will be insanely difficult. And that is only if her mother and her blood-thirsty mate would allow her to take the throne! If not, there would be bloodshed, for sure, and I would not let it to be of my mate's! But what to do? Her mother ought to have powers. And we were but mere pups against her! Well, probably… but still, the stakes were high. She may be in denial now, but as far as I could read from Caspian's despair, the pack is probably suffering, and once she sees that, she won't be able to let go. I was able to read that much into her in this short amount of time because she is an open book when it comes to morals. 

Yet, I didn't know what to worry about right now. My Pack, her Pack, her abilities, the prophecy… my mind was a mess, and so were my emotions. I wanted to be her pillar of support, but how could I when I was unsure what to feel right now. 

Yes?

Autry, how are you, love? Asked my mother through the phone.

A little stressed out, how is everything going in the pack? I heard her sigh over the phone, which was a rare occurrence.

I am stressed out as well; your father has been eating himself out, wouldn't share anything with me, and I missed you so much, dear. 

Yes, mother, I know. And I've missed you too.

Did you? She paused. 

But of course…

It's because you never called; I was hesitant to call you too. I didn't want to bother.

You will never bother me, mom. I said. It was true. She was my first love.

Then why wouldn't you just call? She asked. I knew this was coming but just…

Mother, I wanted to, but a lot has been going on lately, and I know you will be furious with me when you hear what happened, but try to understand, I have been trying to manage. 

Darling, what’s happening? She asked, worry apparent in her voice. 

Well, it’s a long story, but in short, I found my mate, she stank human, so I jumped to conclusions and tried to reject her at the spot-

You did WHAT?! she yelled with an angry voice.

Mother, calm down, please. I have already been through hell and back! I whined. 

Oh, you haven’t seen anything yet, Autry Gerald Garrett! 

Mother, please, will you just let me finish? 

Fine, but you are so grounded when you come back home! I shook my head and sighed. Go on; I am listening. 

Well, after rejecting her on the night before her birthday, I felt incredible pain and passed out; after a few excruciating months, I suddenly started getting rogue smells and their blood’s taste in my mouth; Godric told me that our mate was, in fact, a werewolf too and announced me that our rejection didn’t work. And then thinking she’d be dying, because-rogues, I went to almost the other side of the continent to find her, only to find that she was caged in her own pack, by her own mother, who couldn’t remember her due to a stupid magic thing her mate put on her. I didn’t realise until I saw a beautiful set of eyes appeared in front of me, making me jump. 

“Who are you talking to?” Cecelia asked, half angry and half intrigued. 

“My mother called to check in…” I said. Her emotions instantaneously changed to panic.

“I’m sorry, I will leave the room.” 

Is this your mate? She has a beautiful voice. 

“Thank you, both of you.” 

“I’ll just grab some water.” Cecelia excused herself out of the room. I was weirded out.

Good thing you were able to clean up the mess you made, somehow…

Of course, I did. I regretted it while doing it. I have been through hell and back.

Good. You deserved it.

MOM!

Don’t MOM me! You constantly critique your father’s ways, yet you act exactly like him? You said you were going to change the practices of our pack, yet the first second you are faced with an irregularity, you did what your dad would do! You tried to ignore it! Well, young pup, I am disappointed but glad that it turned out well one way or another. 

I know, but do you want to know what fascinated me the most?

What is it?

The way she put me into place! She slammed me in the face with all her harsh words, which were entirely correct, and made me realise how stupid I had been, yet, I was stupefied, couldn’t react but do as she said, and reject her. I was ready to beg her, which I did after finding her in the other pack… Well, it’s complicated and is getting worse every passing minute. 

Have you two mated yet? She calmly asked.

MOM! I growled. 

Calm down. I need to know, and I have my reasons. She said. I couldn’t help but wonder what reasons. 

Yes, halfway.

So she does accept you? What about her wolf?

Bendis has long forgiven me for everything. I admitted anxiously. 

Well, you should take good care of her. I know your father made this stupid rule, which bans you from coming back home until you find a solution, but I will talk him into letting you visit for a short while so that I can meet with your mate. Also, the Pack will want to be introduced to their future Luna. She said. I paused. May that be my chance? Because I was dying to have my two favourite women meet. 

Can you do that? 

Of course, I have my ways. She said, making my stomach curl with disgust. 

Mom, please do not indicate yours and Father’s s*x life. It makes me sick to my stomach. But, I’ll appreciate it if you would convince father, I really wanted her to meet everyone, but I was afraid to make father jump to false conclusions. 

I know, dear. Leave it to me. 

I love you. 

And I you.

I’ve got to go, my mate is stressed, again. 

Ok, say her I said hi. 

Ok mom, bye.

I ran out of the room and into the neighbouring kitchen. I looked around and found Cecelia sitting there, a glass of water in one hand, hugging herself and rocking back and forth. I hugged her from behind. 

“Hey,” I said. 

“Oh, you startled me.” 

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to,” I said, trailing off. “Are you alright? 

“I don’t know, Autry. I’m panicked,” she said. I knew, and I was in no state of calmness myself. 

“Come, let’s go back,” I said, taking her hand. She stopped to refill the glass, and then we returned. 

She just sat on the sofa, and once again, curled her legs up and hugged herself with the most troubled expression ever. 

“Come on, Cecelia, talk to me,” I said, desperate to know what it was that was going on in her mind. 

“If I am required to manage a whole pack of wolves… what would it mean for us? I mean, you have your pack, quite a handful at that. And-and, Caspian was so desperate to have me in the equation for some reason… I don’t know, having met with my mother, I can imagine how insanely cruel she may be, ruling the pack. And if it’s truly my duty, I can’t abandon those whose hopes and chances are me. Autry, it’s so f****d up! How are we going to work out?” she exclaimed, all of those out in one breath. Yes, I was freaking out for the same reason. I sat down next to her to hug her shoulders. 

“I know,” I said, kissing the top of her head. “Do you know, my mother is planning to convince my father to let me return, to introduce you to our pack members and my family,” I said softly, not knowing how she will react. She looked up. 

“Really?” 

“Yes. And mother is very eager to meet you. She also is probably looking forward to kicking my ass for… you know.” I said. couldn’t bring myself to say the word ‘rejection’; it was a harrowing experience, and I honestly didn’t want to talk about that at all. 

“Oh, she does?” she said, looking to a point in the distance. 

“What’s wrong?” 

“It’s just, I always thought your family would think it was proper for you to reject a human mate.” she trailed off. 

“That will be my father. But mother… no! Absolutely not! She is on excellent terms with the Moon Goddess and her ways. She always thinks the Moon Goddess will know what’s best for us all.” I said with a warm smile. 

“Therefore, you’ll get ass-kicked? I like the thought,” she said with a smile. 

“Hey, I thought we were past this,” I said, almost pouting.

“We were, but I love seeing you put into place. It’s almost satisfying,” she said with an evil grin. 

“Hey…” she giggled, and I smiled. I knew I didn’t want to lose her for any reason. I knew I needed her like I need air. When she was happy, I was delighted too. She tried to suppress her yawn. 

“Why don’t we go to bed?” I said. 

“Yes, well, I’d like that. Although, I want to do one thing before we go to sleep,” she said, smiling. 

“What?” I asked. 

“This,” she said, closing the distance between us and having my lips, kissing them hungrily. She climbed onto my lap, clearly stating what exactly was in her mind. 

*Damon’s POV* 

I woke up. Today was a busy one, and I was sure Autry and Cecelia would want to skip the classes, especially after yesterday’s meeting with Caspian. Even I had difficulties wrapping my head around all that information. What a strange destiny Cecelia had. Born, abandoned, forgotten, abandoned again, raised in an orphanage, alone all her life, found her mate, abandoned, then discovered her wolf, her hopes were brought high when her wolf said she could find their pack, then her hopes were crushed by a cruel mother, who couldn’t even remember her, made up with her mate, found out about a stupid prophecy which could be about her and made no sense at all, learned that she is the person who should be ruling her pack… Yet, despite all the s**t revolving around her, she still managed to be this kind, collected and grounded person who cared about others and was very wise for her age. Even Kenneth loved her very quickly, which was a rare occurrence. 

I shook my head to myself under the shower. I wanted to go and call Charlotte. I took a deep breath in. I missed her so much. Charlotte was my best friend, and I hoped she’d turn out my mate; I didn’t know what she thought of that… 

I made my mind up; I would let my brother and her mate have the day and work my ass off to distract myself off Char.

I got ready and hit the kitchen, prepared to cook for us four, only to find a very cheery Cecelia making pancakes. I smiled. It was a relief, seeing her not fainted. She was humming Ave Maria from Bach.

“Good morning, Luna,” I called, announcing my entry. She jumped from startle. 

“Hey, Damon. You scared me,” she said. 

“Yes, sorry. I didn’t mean to. I love that song.” I said. She blushed.

“I always wanted to learn playing the flute but never had the money to get one.” She said. How wonderful. 

“That’s wonderful. Did you know that Autry loves classical music? Ave Maria may be his favourite piece from Bach.” I took the red fruit syrup she was cooking and started mixing it for her. 

“Thank you, and no, I didn’t know that.” she said with a smile from ear to ear “mind tell me more?” she asked. I always forgot that she only came into our lives about a month ago and knew very little about us all. 

“Well, obviously his favourite colour is purple-” 

“What? It is?” she said, her eyes popping out of their sockets. 

“Well, yea, he finds it alerting and soothing at the same time. The other colours are, well, they’re basically not colours. Black, grey and white.” I smiled. 

“Oh, wow. I’d never expected.” 

“Would you be surprised if I told you that he loves dressing up?” 

“Really?” 

“Yea, he always loved attending the balls, dressing up in tuxedos, and he LOVES dancing! Who loves waltz?” I asked jokingly. 

“Well, I know I do! Obviously.” 

“You do?” 

“Well, I kind of like the feeling of the fabric, flying around me, and the elegance and respectful closeness with your partner. I like it.” I shrugged. 

“I am all out a social dancer, so I’d not imagine. The clothes aren’t even comfortable.” I whined. 

“Well, they make you feel strong, and it’s something that makes you feel comfortable once you get used to them.” she tried to make me understand. 

“Hmm… is that why ladies insist on killing themselves walking on heels?” I asked. 

“Exactly, they’re mentally empowering. And very-very uncomfortable,” she said, giggling. I laughed with her. Being around Cecelia was easy. I adored her straightforward nature. I always found myself comfortable around females, but it was only with Charlotte I could be this easy around, and now Cecelia. 

I felt a pair of eyes behind me; I realised my brother watched us from the doorway. No need to turn around to know for sure. 

“I see you two are enjoying yourselves,” he called finally. 

“We most certainly do,” Cecelia said. “Sit down; we are making pancakes. 

“Mmm, yummy,” he said, taking a seat. Soon Ken joined, and we all had a nice breakfast, chatting our worries away, like normal young adults, for once.