The Women Between

Chapter 14: Motherly Advice

There is half an hour before the Luna Ceremony commences. Felicity and Kara have almost finished Cassandra's hair and makeup. She had watched them go to work while she sat before the vanity mirror watching them pull, smear, yank, and cluck their tongues at her. It almost amused her if she did not feel pain now and again from their hard work to make her look beautiful. Janet would poke her head into her room to check on the omegas, especially when she heard their voices. Their faces would turn from soft to hard like they were concentrating on styling her. They had only thrown minimal questions her way to see how she liked what they were doing. Sometimes it would be an apology for hurting her. She did not mind, but the Head Omega did, apparently, which made her irritated to the point where she shooed her away.

Cassandra had let her mind wander to her fantasy world, which she knew she should not do. It has been a constant war all day to not let herself sexualize her mates. It did not work as she thought of Thomas' hands on her body and Gregory's lips on her lips and further down. Her mind wondered what would have happened if Gregory or Thomas had just moved their hands an inch or so higher. Or maybe, one of their mouths could have tasted her legs one at a time, until he reached between them. Then, there is Gregory, who is pressed against her back with his hands on her arms near her breasts. Would it have been so wrong for him to hike her dress up and unsnap her garters?! She had wanted them to touch her badly, and now, she is fantasizing about it while angry at herself. It sent a warmth to the pit of her stomach with a thrill that made her tighten low on her body. She even tightened her legs at the onslaught of it, which made her glance at the maids.

There was a knowing smirk on their lips that made her want to blush, wishing that she could stop this. They know she is thinking about her mates and what she wants to do to them without even saying it. That is the one thing she hates about werewolves. They know when someone is aroused and if they had s*x. She does not want anyone to know about her business like that, but she knows she will have to deal with it.

The anger at their brazen manners and arrogance kept trying to flare in her mind, but those images in her head kept it at bay. She, also, kept telling herself that they were different than Derek and Jamie, and that she was their mate. Mates do not harm each other intentionally. It took all her strength to not bite their heads off or try to fight them at times.

Maybe that is why the mate bond keeps pushing her to mate with them?

“We are almost done, Luna Queen,” Kara said softly with a lilt to her voice.

“Please, we’re in private, so call me Cassandra,” she urged them with a pained look on her face. “No one will hear, especially not the Head Omega.”

Her voice almost sounded like it was pleading with them to do it. She had not heard her name all day from anyone except her mates. And that is between them calling her Beautiful or Tigress. She is not sure about their nicknames for her, but it seems to make them happy about it. However, Gregory’s reasoning touched her heart, making her feel special. She wanted to say more than thank you to him at the time, but she could not do it. Her throat had a knot in it that hurt her neck and pulsated her marks like they too could feel the swelling of her heart.

“We still wouldn’t dare,” Felicity said firmly as a knock sounded at the door.

“It is the Head Gamma, Simon Finch,” Kara told her, sounding eager to change the subject.

“I’m decent,” Cassandra called loudly, wondering if there were feelings towards him from her. “You may come in.”

He walked into her room swiftly, showing that he was uncomfortable and ready for anything. His face was not smiling like this morning. Instead, it was hard as granite, showing the fierce warrior he is, and he was dressed the same way. A black button-up shirt covered his upper half that molded into his body and slacks, looking sexy enough to make her maids blush. She knew it was the werewolf magnetism that drew them to smother their giggles and gawking eyes. But she wonders if Kara and him have something going on since neither are mated and their eyes gave a look at each other.

She looks at her curled hair parted in a braid to the side done by Felicity. She feels appreciative towards Kara for designing her makeup to look half light and half dark. It brought out her eyes and features better than she could do for herself. She is even wearing those hoses and a new thong with a garter that made her feel somewhat sexy but naughty. She had to get another pair of thongs after Thomas and Gregory made her wet from their simple caresses and words.

“Are you working security tonight, Simon?” Cassandra asked him curiously, giving him a smile.

“Yes, Luna Queen,” he answered and gave her a bow. “I will be your shadow tonight with the other gammas. We are strategically placed between the deltas. We selected mostly young, unmated men, so that way it would give those who have done their service time to see the fruit of it. However, I found this,” he held up a cell phone, “in the car. You must remember to carry it at all times, since you can only mind-link your mates.”

“Of course!” she said, shocked that she left it there. Thomas was distracting her a lot with his smile. There were other things that he was doing to her in the SUV that made her laugh and lean closer to him. “If I have to, I will glue it to my hip.”

“And you missed calls from your mother,” Simon pointed out.

“Kara,” Cassandra said, turning to her with a smile on her face. “Please leave, and remember, I would like you to be my escort tomorrow to ensure that I do not get lost, since Felicity was today.”

“Yes, Your Majesty,” she said with a bow.

She heard the bite of the gamma’s tone while he was talking to her. She is sure that this morning’s introduction is probably what caused him to be indifferent to her. There was a slight stiffening on her part that probably made him think that she did not like him. It was not that he did not seem like a nice man, but she wanted to be cautious, until she got to know them. She is not going to be overly friendly while settling in this pack.

“I know that I sort of insulted you this morning, Head Gamma,” she began, feeling her nerves getting the better of her. A sigh slipped out of her hoping that she could explain what was going on with her. It is a lot easier with her mates than it is with someone else, she noticed, but she must do it for their pack. “Gregory told me that they have a file on me. Do you have it?”

“Yes,” Simon answered with a nod.

“What do you know about the pack I came from?”

“There was trouble with the future Alphas,” he answered obliquely.

“Anything else?” she asked, trying to keep her voice light.

“No,” Simon answered, a little confused.

“Would it interest you to know that I had trouble with the Head Gamma, too?” Cassandra asked curiously. His brows furrowed looking like he was angered about it, but she did not know him well enough to say that. “I’m sorry for what I said or done to make you sound so short with me. I am trying, but I do need time.”

“And you have it,” Simon answered with a curt nod, “but you do not need to apologize. I’m not angry at you. This is my normal mode when it comes to my duties.”

“Oh,” she said, feeling a little embarrassed. “I figured, since I had to apologize to Gregory, I might have to do the same to you, too.”

“That explains the smell,” Simon murmured with a smirk.

“Excuse me?” Cassandra squeaked as her eyes widened.

“Your mother is calling,” he pointed out in his attempt to deflect from what he said.

She knew it was a distraction, but she was too eager to talk to her mom. She grabbed the phone from the vanity, quickly, where she had absent-mindedly put it, and pressed the button. This packhouse did not feel like home, yet, and she needed a piece of it. This newness has her offset enough to feel more chaotic than usual.

“Mom! Garrett!” Cassandra cried as she held the phone away from her so they could video chat.

“My Little Girl!” Carla greeted her with tears in her eyes and a saddened smile on her face. “I wanted to help you…”

“It is alright, Mom,” she said, giving her a wide smile that she hoped made her feel better. “I’m alright. And even the doctor was impressed that I was able to wake up frequently. Plus, two days is all it took for me to heal fully from the forced marking, which sets a new record for humans.” She could not help adding that last part in with a smirk on her face. She could hear the small giggle from Felicity and feel Simon roll his eyes. “So, I’m good, Mom. Let’s look at that and not the what if.”

“You have gotten so mature recently,” she sniffled. “I missed two years of your…”

“Garrett,” Cassandra called sweetly in her attempt to distract her mother. “I think Mom needs lots of sugar from you.”

“Sugar?” he questioned with his brows scrunched.

“Yes, lots of kisses because yours is the sweetest I have ever had,” she said, making her mother chuckle. Then, her brother got what she was talking about and hugged their mom. “There, Mom. You have another baby that has yet to grow up.”

“I know,” she said, sighing heavily as she petted his head, “but you were my first. And now, you are going to be televised as the Luna Queen.”

“Televised?!” Cassandra squealed, feeling her heart flipping at the idea.

“Yes, Luna Queen,” Simon said with a chuckle. “The kings obviously forgotten to tell you that you would be shown to all the packs that you would be Luna of their pack. Then, when you are crowned queen in a month, you will be televised, again, for the coronation.”

“I see,” Cassandra said breathily as everything inside of her screamed for her to run away.

She knew that there was an underground for the supernatural to use the internet to report news, but she was not privileged to it. It is mostly because she is not a wolf. Now, she may be, since she is Luna and Queen. The thought of it being broadcast to everyone, though, had her a little shaken. She is not shy, but she does not like the thought of hundreds of people eying at her mistakes or judging her. It is nerve-wracking to think about what is going through their minds when they see her walking across the platform.

“Mom, Garrett, this is Simon, my Head… I mean the Head Gamma,” she corrected herself.

“Hello,” they greeted together.

“I could be your Head Gamma,” he mumbled with a smirk on his lips as he waved to them.

“I’m mated!” she snapped, frowning at him, which made him laugh. She tried to suppress the smirk forming on her lips as she looked at his smirk. “Shoo. I want to talk to my mom privately. Felicity, you are dismissed too until it is time.”

It only took less than a minute for everyone to leave her alone in her room. Garrett left too, at the urging of their mother, which made her feel better that she did not have to say anything to him. She did not want to hurt his feelings, especially after they missed the last few days of their week together. Her mother understood that she wanted to talk in private about things that were too sensitive for others' ears. She knows that Cassandra likes her privacy, too, and she is nervous about it.

“What’s wrong, Cass?” Carla asked, sounding concerned for her daughter.

“I wanted to know how to get myself under control of the mate bond,” Cassandra said softly. She hoped that she did not have to do anything that she had read in the Alpha's Office. Some of it made her feel unsure if she had the capabilities to do it, since she is human. “I went shopping and I could not pick out anything that was for me. It was one or the other king. Then, there is the mating that keeps popping into my head…”

“Cassandra,” she laughed, showing that she was amused by her. “You can fight it all you want, but the mate bond will make it harder for you.”

“I’m not fully accepting of two mates versus one,” she whined, feeling frustrated and hopeless. She needs advice that will help her get through this while she is getting to know them. “I want to adjust slowly to them and not rush it.”

“I understand,” Carla nodded sympathetically, “but do you remember how quickly Steve and I came together?”

“Yes, it was a few months,” she answered, giving a small nod.

“Actually, he snuck out of the house and came in through the front after you woke up,” Carla explained with a smirk. That made her daughter’s mouth part for a moment before she shook herself out of her memories. She does not remember anything abnormal other than tousled hair and rumpled clothing that should have said something to her. “We hid it from you because I was afraid that if we moved too fast you would freak out. I was freaking out, especially when I found out he was a werewolf.”

“I was okay with that,” Cassandra said, remembering it.

“That was the weird part,” Carla nodded, scrunching up her face. “But trust the mate bond. You did when they marked you.”

“How did you know that?!” she asked, surprised that her mother knew how she survived the forced marking.

“I know you,” Carla explained with a knowing smirk on her face. “You were given access to the books in the alpha’s office minus a few. So, I figured you would have read the ones regarding mates first before moving onto the werewolf ones. Then, there is the fact that you knew I was crying over Steve because of the rejection. I know that I cried outside of grandma’s house. When you brought that up to push me back with my mate and mentioned how special a mating is… Well, I just put two and two together when I saw you marked.”

“I love you, Mom,” Cassandra said softly, feeling a pit in her stomach as she sensed her mate coming towards her.

“Cassandra,” Thomas called softly as he opened the door while knocking on it.

“Well, it looks like it is time,” she said with a sad sigh.

“I will be recording it, and I am sure we will be visiting soon,” Carla assured her firmly. “And Cassandra…” she made her daughter freeze with her finger ready to press the button. “I am proud of you. And i know that your father would be, too.”

“Thanks,” she mumbled bashfully as her mate came to her and kissed her forehead. “I love you.”

“Love you, too, Little Girl,” Carla said softly.

She tapped the button to end the call, feeling sad that she had to make it so brief. She wanted to talk to her little brother some more, feeling a hole starting to form in her heart. It was like when her mother went back with Steve, taking Garrett with her. She felt empty inside. That made her look down at the blackened screen where her mother once was. She could use her hugs as she goes through being a Luna and becoming a mate to the kings. Her cookies and pies are definitely something that she will miss while growing up more. She did not even know if she could do this mate thing alone like she feels now.

“Beautiful,” Gregory called, tapping her shoulder.

“Huh?” Cassandra said softly, jerking her head around to see both her mates.

“How about we bring your family here next week?” Thomas offered gently.

“We’ll have a children’s day for your brother with bouncy castles, ice cream…?” Gregory suggested softly with a yearning in his eyes. “What do you say?”

Gregory wears a sheepish grin while Thomas has a sad look on his face that spoke of his guilt. She could not help looking between the two, feeling her heart pluck at the way they wanted to make her happy. She knows that her brother would love the ice cream and the bouncy house, but that is not what she is thinking right now. Her mates are trying to make her happy, showing that they are not like those damned twins from Red Moon Pack. They had never shown regret or sadness on their faces. They had never shown her any care except for Jamie on that last day.

This is her alpha mates, though. They are different than any other alphas.

Her heart thumped in her chest to have those men that made her head swim with too many emotions. She wanted to say something, but the lump in her throat prevented her from speaking. This gesture made it so hard to see them as evil. Her eyes even got dewy. Her body wanted to fling itself into their arms, giving them a hug and a kiss that showed her appreciation, but she could not let herself get carried away with one gift.

She could not let herself feel the emotions fully, or she would be blinded by the hurt they gave her.

“Yes,” Cassandra breathed, flinging herself into their arms.

She felt their arms come around her as she pulled them tightly to her, wishing that she would stop holding back. She had to fight the tainted side of her to give them this piece of her, and she was grateful to win. The sparks and tingles flooded her from their touch, making her disregard her fears. She did not get to see their smirking smiles, but she did feel their nuzzle on her neck that enticed her to become their mate. It sent a thrill through her body that made her pull back and smile at them before grazing their lips one at a time with a small kiss.

“Come on,” Cassandra said, lacing her hands with their large ones. It feels right for her to do that as the puzzle pieces are altogether, now, becoming one picture of happiness. “We have to make me Luna.”

“Yes,” Gregory purred, leaning in and breathing in her scent, “and what a fine Luna you will be.”

“I think she will make a better queen,” Thomas countered with a shark-like smile that made her blush.

Thomas and Cassandra did not see Gregory’s guilty look that flit over his face. His mate is only consumed with her nervousness, while engrossed in his brother. She is giving them some trust to be her mate, but he feels like crap for hurting her. He had not told anyone about what he had done. He felt the painful sadness that would form on her face when he tells her everything about today's council meeting. He feels it all the way to his heart that seizes with it. The women he let pose as queens even without saying it was a slight to her. It is degrading to her as his mate, and that is what he has done to her. He committed an atrocious crime against his mate when he agreed that she may not be a good queen.