Escape to Midnight

Episode 14

The next Morning, Seth was there at 6 A.M to start my training. It was very different from training with Daniel and the pups. It was full contact, but he did appear to go easy on my abdomen. Undoubtedly Logan told him about my injury. He demonstrated a hold and then practiced attacking me to see if I could use it to defend myself. By 8 I was terribly sore. 

 The three weeks passed quickly and it was time to move into our house. The omegas came by Beth's House while I was at school. They carried everything that belonged to Logan and I over to our House and Lenore showed them where to put everything. When I got home from school everything had been moved and the house was completely set up. I walked around in awe. How had I been so lucky? These people were incredible. I loved them so much. 

 Logan entered the house and came around to hug me. “The house looks amazing,” he said. I agreed with him. 

“I have some really good news”, I told him. “I found out from the office at school, I have enough credits to graduate. I don’t need to complete the second semester of school. I can't be a part of the graduation ceremony unless I continue and complete the second semester.  I have decided to  quietly take my diploma and not attend anymore.”

 Logan seemed very pleased when I told him about it.

Not going to school meant I had the days free, I was unsure of what I wanted to do. Logan's Mother was a Nurse at the hospital. I did not want to be a nurse. Lenore owned a shop in town that sold funky and eclectic items. Logan said I did  not need to decide right away. He was fine with me staying home and running the household. I laughed at that. I don’t consider an empty house a household. It did give me time to focus on our mating ceremony. It was in two more days. I wanted it to be perfect.

Logan's Point Of View

“Logan, Charis' mother is here. What do you want us to do?” My Uncle’s words shocked me. 

“What?! Why is she here?” I asked.

“For the ceremony. Somehow she knows the mating ceremony is today.” he said. 

I Groaned. We wanted today to be perfect for Charis. My Mom and Lenore spent all day pampering her. I did not want the Crescent moon drama to ruin her day. I decided to ask my Mom for advice.

I mind linked her. “Mom, Charis Mother is here for the ceremony. What should we do?” 

I waited for her to reply. It took a few minutes. I did not know if she was asking Charis or Lenore, but I knew she was asking someone. “We need to tell her and let her decide. Sterling said her Mother can attend, but can only stay for the ceremony. I think it needs to be Charis' decision.”

I sighed, “Where is she? we need to tell her now, she may want her mother involved in preparations.” 

“Let Lenore and I handle it. You finish all the prep work for the ceremony. We will handle Eliza.”

I agreed, reluctantly. If It did  not go well I would feel it through the link. I could rush to her.

Charis point of view

As the sun rose, I watched it from my window. Today was the day, or tonight I guess I should say. Tonight we complete our mating ceremony. I will become a member of the midnight moon pack and I will mark my mate. I held off on marking him until after our ceremony. I wanted it to be special. 

I heard Lenore knocking on the door. she was here so early, it made me laugh. Sometimes I think she considered me as much of a daughter as Beth did. She had never had any pups and even though she acted like she was fine, I knew sometimes she was lonely.

I opened the door and began to laugh. Her arms were loaded down with “supplies” as she called them. She began to chatter excitedly as she came into the house. She had a spa day planned and then a makeover followed by final preparations. I was beginning to feel she was more excited than I was . Her excitement was only dwarfed by Beth's. Beth looked like she would explode with excitement as she followed her sister into the house. They set stuff down on the sofa and on the dining table. They looked at each other, grabbed hands and started to jump up and down. Their excitement was almost comical. “Okay” Beth said “First thing, healthy breakfast.” They rushed into the kitchen and began pulling pans and ingredients out of the cabinets.  I had already made muffins for breakfast, but I kept it a secret. I let them have their fun. I had become a pretty good cook with Beth’s help. I joined them in baking. They had decided on berry omelets. WE laughed as we ate and they talked about the flowers and their dresses. Lenore had narrowed her choices down to two. She would see which one felt right when it was time to put them on. 

Or first stop was the spa. We started with mud  baths. It felt fabulous. In the middle we shifted and let our wolves soak up the mud. We were a mess when that was over. Afterwards, we took a shower. Next was a stone massage and finally a manicure and pedicure for each of us. By the time we left it was close to 2 PM. I was surprised by how fast the time had gone by. We were having so much fun. We stopped for lunch at a nice restaurant. Crescent pack had a diner, but it was nothing compared to this place. The food was so good. You could order raw meat. We ordered Raw deer steaks  It felt so primal to eat it in our human form. After we finished we went back to my house. It had been transformed and the entire front room had been made into a beauty salon. First I went to my room and took a shower using the fragrant soaps and oils. I came back into the makeshift salon with my hair in a towel. Lenore and Beth had already gotten started on their hair. The stylist set me in a chair. She began to dry my hair as she asked me how I wanted it styled. I was a little embarrassed to admit I had known since I was a kid how I wanted to wear my hair for my mating ceremony. A Dutch braid, wrapped around the front with little flowers in it. The rest of my hair down and curled. I went to a ceremony when I was little and I had always remembered how beautiful the she wolf was. The stylist went to work and before long it looked at exactly how I had imagined. I was so happy. When the stylist was done another woman began putting on my makeup. I told her I did not usually wear any makeup, I wanted to be sure it looked as natural as possible. She seemed to understand. As she began to put it on, it felt like layers and layers. I was getting a little anxious about the amount, I did not want to look like a Different person. She finally stepped back to admire her work. Beth and Lenore turned to look. 

“Oh wow.” Lenore said “You are so beautiful” tears filled her eyes. 

The stylist interrupted. “Don't ruin your makeup, Lenore.” Lenore laughed and looked at Beth who was also crying. I rushed to a mirror. I was a little stunned by the woman looking back at me. She had put so much makeup on, but it looked  so natural. I had really grown and changed so much in the months I had been here. Like a butterfly finally coming out of a long abusive cocoon. It was my turn to cry. I'm not sure what kind of makeup she used, but despite the tears it stayed put. I stopped crying and pulled myself back together. I walked across the room and put my Mothers pendant on. I wished she could be here, to see how happy I was. To see life could be different and better away from Warren. 

 Beth and Lenore started to look at me concerned. My first thought was that my hair or makeup was not right. Beth took a deep breath and said, “Charis honey, I need to talk to you.” Her concern made me concerned, was Logan changing his mind? He had told me a million times he loved me and would never change how he felt about me. Beth took me into the bedroom, and sat down beside me. “We just heard from the patrol, Your Mother is at  the border. She wants to attend your ceremony.”

 I was speechless at her words. I had not heard anything from my Mother since I left the crescent hospital. 

“We can send her away if you want Charis,”  Beth's voice was full of concern. ”We thought she might come, so Lenore and I prepared flowers and a place for her. The decision is yours.” Beth stood up and left me alone to think about the situation. I went to my treasure box and pulled out a picture of Edward and I, smiling and happy. We were young and looked so happy. it was a facade. We were never that happy, pictures can be so misleading. The truth behind them is often very different. Edward is turned to the side in this picture, covering the bruises on one side of his face, I have my hands behind my back. My wrists were bruised from Warren grabbing them. I don’t even know why my Mom took pictures, they were all lies. Was she here to ruin my day? Was she here to finally be a valuable part of my life. So many thoughts ran through my mind. I mind linked Logan. He already knew she was there. I asked him to bring her to the house. I waited for her to arrive.

Beth brought her to my  room and left us alone to talk. When she shut the door, my Mother rushed to me. “Charis, You are so beautiful.” I thought she was going to hug me, but she did not, she just stood and stared at me. 

“Does Warren know you are here?” I asked bitterly. 

She nodded. “I promised to return as soon as the ceremony is over.” she half laughed. “I was surprised he let me come. He did not even ask how I knew about the ceremony." She sighed and sat down. 

“How did you know?” I could not help but ask.

“I have a friend who is related to someone in this pack. They have been keeping me updated about your life. You graduated and you have  your own house. I'm so proud of you.” she continued.

 I  had longed to hear those words, to know she cared and loved me, but somehow they sounded so hollow. She is still living with my tormentor, the man who killed Edward. 

“How can you stay with him? After everything  he did to us, to you, how can you stay?” I asked. 

She shook her head and began to cry silently. ‘I wanted to leave, to come with you when you left, but I was afraid. Now it is too late, he will never let me go. If I stay here, he will start the war. He will kill everyone to get me back.”

I shook my head,” Is that what you truly believe, or is that what you tell yourself to justify your actions. You have chosen him over us. As long as you live with the man that killed Edward and tried to kill me, you are not welcome here. Please leave”. I said the words bitterly.

She turned away and walked towards the door. She hesitated and turned to say something, but I spoke before she could. “You can stay here with us forever or you can leave forever. The choice is yours.” 

She hesitated. “I do love you Charis.” She turned and walked away. Why had she even come? If she loved me she would never stay with him, so why had she even come.

Beth and Lenore rushed into the room trying to act as if nothing happened. We need to get you into that beautiful dress you picked out. Beth said. I nodded a little and moved towards the closet. I got the dress out and pulled it up. It was a square neck cobalt blue dress. It hung to just above my knees. I had cobalt blue and black shoes with small heels. As I looked at myself in the mirror, I smiled again. with or without my Mother, I would be fine. I had so much more than I ever needed. Moon Goddess had given me so much. 

I looked at Lenore. She was wearing a floor length red gown. Two minutes ago it was a short green dress. I laughed at her indecision. Beth came out in a black dress with blue accents. Her accents were the same color blue as my dress. Logan and his father had on black dinner jackets with Blue ties that match. I looked at these beautiful strong women in front of me and realized I was ready, ready for anything.

Logan wanted to have our ceremony at the lake, on the rocks. It seemed perfect. It was a thirty minute walk in human form. Logan had purchased golf carts from a human city to  drive us. I sat up front by the driver and Beth and Lenore took the backseat. We laughed as the cart bumped us around. I felt like they were my best friends. They had done so much for me. 

When we arrived at the lake, they went to their seats and I waited in the cart for the ceremony to begin. The omega driving the cart turned to me, They are ready for You Ma'am. he said. I swallowed hard and started walking the path Logan had cleared for me. I looked up and saw him standing on the rocks waiting for me. He looked so incredibly handsome, I felt butterflies in my stomach. I took my place beside him. We stood on the rocks, facing Sterling.