The Lost Luna

Chapter 19 - Mating Ceremony pt.1

***Amber”s POV***

Her words kept echoing through my mind. She has to be lying. She can’t be my sister. I was an only child! As if she was reading my mind, she turned and faced me.

“Well, we’re not technically sisters. I guess how humans say we’re half-sisters? We share the same mom, but we have different dads. I’m not sure how much you know, so I’ll start from the beginning.” The more she talked, the more I began to compare her to my mother or, should I say, our mother. She indeed did have our mom’s button nose and soft almond eyes.

“Amber, are you paying attention?!” Her sudden outburst ripped me from my thoughts.

“I’m sorry, this is just a lot to take in.” I wasn’t lying. It’s not every day that people find out that their best friend is actually their sister. It feels like my life is a Lifetime movie. A pretty f*cked up Lifetime movie.

“It’s completely understandable. Isn’t your mating ceremony today? How about we focus on that, and we can discuss everything later.” I desperately wanted to agree, but it’s uncertain when or if this opportunity will happen again. Also, we need to brief her on the plan.

“No, tell me what I need to know. After that, we’ll go over the plan.” I tried to sound firm, but I knew they could see through my facade.

“If you say so.” She took a deep breath before she continued speaking. “Where was I? Oh, yea! So, when our mom’s fated mate met her, it was love at first sight, or that’s what I’ve been told. After the initial encounter, they mated that night. But what she didn’t know was that he had a girlfriend. After finding out, she thought he would break up with her so they could be together. Imagine the pain and heartbreak she felt when he rejected her and marked his girlfriend within the same hour.” My heart clenched from hearing the sh*t her mate did to her. I nodded my head for her to continue.

“It was that day that she ran away. Unbeknownst to everyone, she was pregnant with me. At that point, she was officially a rogue, and it’s not safe for pregnant rogues or young female rogues. She knew of a powerful lycan that lived among humans, so she entrusted her with me. I don’t know how long she remained as a rogue, but eventually, she met your father. It turned out that he was her second chance mate. I’m pretty sure you know the rest. It wasn’t an accident when I met you. I knew from your scent that you were her daughter. But I didn’t know that that sad, sorry excuse for a man wasn’t your real father. When you stopped coming to school, I went to your house to check on you. When I came face to face with him, I stopped masking my scent. The bastard practically had his tail tucked. It wasn’t hard for me to get information from him. Which is why it wasn’t hard for me to find you.” At this point, my jaw is on the floor. Not only is she my half-sister, but she’s a full lycan, whereas I’m just a wolf lycan. Then it occurred to me that Jessica couldn’t help me get ready. Because someone might smell me on her.

“Wait, Jess, it’s too risky for you to help me get ready. Someone could smell me on you, and that’ll complicate things.” Her face had a mixture of understatement and sadness.

“That’s understandable, so what’s the plan?” I love that about her! She’s always ready to tackle the next challenge.

“So we suspect that beta Jacob is a traitor. But we don’t have any proof of it. This is where you come into play. You’re a pro at sneaking in and out of places.” Jessica is staring intently while I’m talking, smirking when I call her a pro. “Because he’s the beta, he has to be at the mating ceremony. You’re going to break into his house and see if you can find anything proving he has betrayed us.” For the first time, Ryder speaks.

“Wait, what if she gets caught?” I opened my mouth to speak, but I was cut off by Jessica laughing.

“Well, first of all, I won’t get caught, but if I do, I’ll shift. More often than not, wolves are intimidated by us. I mean, it’s not often that you come face to face with a lycan.” She shrugs her shoulders while speaking. My curiosity got the best of me, so I had to ask.

“Okay, guys, please don’t judge me, but what’s the difference between a wolf and a lycan?” I instantly regret saying that from the looks on their faces. Ryder gently places his hand on my knee and looks deeply into my eyes.

“Don’t be embarrassed. The difference is that lycans are faster and stronger than us wolves, and they stand on their hind legs instead of on all fours. Basically, they look more human than we do.” I slowly nod my head as if I understand, but truthfully I’m even more confused. As if sensing my confusion, Alpha Blake interjects.

“I hate to interrupt, but Amber should begin getting ready for the ceremony. I’ve heard that it’s hard to get into the dress worn for it. But don’t worry, Marie should be in your room getting everything ready for you. Oh, Jessica, please allow me to show you out through the hidden tunnels. Don’t want to risk him or anyone for that matter seeing you.” She nods her head, and we all bid our goodbyes before exiting the room. Before she enters the secret passageway, she turns around.

“I’ll see you soon, Luna Amber.” She winks before turning back around and leaving. I walk out, feeling like a weight has been lifted off my shoulders. I’m pulled into a firm chest, and instantly I know Ryder.

“Don’t worry, babe, you’re going to be an amazing luna.” After saying that, he kissed my forehead and went in the opposite direction.

I walked into our bedroom, and luna Marie instantly bombarded me with a makeup bag. I’m not the type to wear makeup, so I already know I’m in this for the long haul. With a deep breath, I muster up the courage to ask her a question.

“Luna Marie, do you think I’m ready to be a luna?” My stomach was in knots as I waited for her reply. Deep down, I know that her response will either make or break me.

“No, I don’t think you’re ready.” I was crestfallen when I heard her say that. Did she doubt me as much as I doubt myself? I would’ve hoped that my mate’s mom and the current luna would have some form of faith in me, but I guess I was wrong.

“Oh, I understand.” I failed at hiding the sadness and hurt in my voice, but who wouldn’t be? Being luna is equivalent to being the first lady of the US. Before I could fix my face, I saw her staring intently at me.

“Amber, no luna is ever ready to take the position. Regardless of how long you learn how to be a luna, you’ll never be completely ready. It’s something you learn over time and from experience. I’m not the type of luna I am today because of classes, but because of the difficult situations I was forced into.” She lightly held onto one of my shoulders. I shifted my gaze to her, and she had a look of understanding. I wonder if she had felt the same way I had. Suddenly she’s handing me a fluffy white robe.

“Here, go take a quick shower and wash your hair. I’m going to get the dress.” I take the robe and head toward the bathroom when she stops me again. “Oh, I almost forgot. Make sure you shave. I got pregnant with Ryder the night of my mating ceremony.” My jaw is on the floor. Did she seriously say that just now? My wolf snorts in my head, laughing at me. I decided to listen, and I made sure to grab my razor. I don’t plan on getting pregnant tonight, but I guess time will tell.

***Jessica’s POV***

After Alpha Blake told me where his beta lived, I decided to scope the place out. I need to be extra careful due to the gravity of the situation. Alpha is supposed to be able to trust his beta with his life. As I approach the house from the woods, I’m careful to mask my scent, so nobody can smell me. The closer I get to his house, I hear people talking. I can sense the presence of three people, but I can only smell two. This means that there’s either another lycan that’s masking their scent or someone is using black magic. I don’t know everything about werewolf laws. Still, from what I do know, the use of black magic is highly forbidden. My lycan, Brianna, is pacing in my head.

“What’s wrong? You’re distracting me with your constant pacing.” As much as I love my lycan, she can be anxious over nothing sometimes.

“Jess, I don’t have a good feeling about this. Give me control; something isn’t right.” I’m contemplating giving her control when the sound of someone yelling pulls my attention away from Brianna.

“YOU FOOLS! I GAVE YOU A SIMPLE TASK, AND SOMEHOW YOU MANAGE TO F**K IT UP!”

“Don’t look so surprised, Paul. You’re not the only person that can get their hands on a cloaking potion to hide their scent.

Brianna took my moment of surprise as an opportunity to take control.

“Trust me for a moment! We both know our hearing is better when you shift.” I mumble some curse words under my breath before giving her complete control while I sit and watch. The voices slowly get softer, which makes me move from my hiding spot. Suddenly I feel something heavy and hard hit the back of my head, only momentarily disorienting me. Turning around, I see the bastard himself. I let out a bone-chilling chuckle while shaking my head.

“So I’m assuming you’re Jacob?” I arched one eyebrow at him, waiting for a reply. Although I know, I won’t be getting one from the look of pure terror and dread on his face. Since I had him momentarily stunned, I reached into my boots and pulled out a needle of wolfsbane. Before he could realize what was happening, I stabbed him in the neck and pushed the plunger down, giving him a full dose. It’s not long before he falls over unconscious. Quickly I check my surroundings and ensure nobody is nearby before I throw him over my shoulder and use my lycan speed to sprint into the forest towards an abandoned cabin. Their hands are tied by werewolf laws, and because they can’t go around accusing the packs beta, I’ll get answers for them. Because lycans aren’t bound by their laws which is another reason why they don’t like us and typically fear us. I arrive at the cabin as the sun is setting. After making sure nobody followed us and the house was clear, I returned to the living room, where he was tied up. Since he’s still unconscious, I pull my bag out and start looking at which “toy” I will use on him. Eventually, I settled on a silver dagger and silver brass knuckles. Another benefit of being a lycan, silver doesn’t affect us. Still, I wear gloves whenever I handle it as an added precaution.

While I’m organizing my weapons, I hear him groaning. I can feel his eyes staring at me. So I turn around with a sinister smile on my face while twirling the silver dagger that’s dripping wolfsbane around my finger. His eyes dart to the blade, and I watch the color drain his face. He gulps as his gaze travels to my face, and his eyes practically bulge out of his head.

“Wha..wha..what are you doing here?” I smirk at him, never would have thought that I could scare him this much.

“I know you didn’t expect to see me ever again. But before you try to be slick and mind link anyone, you should know that those cuffs are made of silver laced with wolfbane. I know how to handle people like you.” The laugh that came from me would scare a dark witch. “But don’t worry, I’m not here to get revenge for you slaughtering my pack and then helping your family murder my mother. Although, that’ll be something I keep in mind when I torture you.” Before he could say anything, I stabbed him just above his knee cap and twisted the knife, almost poping his knee cap off. He screamed, but I wasn’t concerned about anyone hearing him. This cabin is soundproof. From the look on his face, I could tell that he knew he was in some deep sh*t.