The Women Between

Chapter 15: Luna's Dinner

Every wolf is in the dining room looking starry-eyed and chattering about the Luna Ceremony. It is the size of a ballroom holding over a thousand wolves sitting at their respective tables adorned with blue, red, or white tablecloth. It depends on which part of the hierarchy they were born to, like the Deltas and Gammas are grouped together at several tables. They are the warriors that protect the pack, but the omegas have their own tables. They outweigh the number of warriors, while the betas share a table with the Councilmen, the Alphas, and their Lunas. Each one was absorbed in their conversation with no one daring to tread to another table while the dinner was commencing. Nor did they pay attention to the decorations surrounding them.

Cassandra had heard the decorating had taken hours to turn this dull room beautiful for their new Luna. The blue and pink carnations, daffodils, and roses are grouped together across the white walls like a weaved banner. One grouping is under a blue and silver banner on the left reading Welcome to Eclipse Pack Luna Cassandra for everyone to see. It made her hold the smile that seemed to be permanently on her face. She cannot believe how welcome and special this pack is making her feel, right now.

Usually, it is Luna and no name, but they gave her more than a title for a name. It made her feel good to know that they would give her that much respect, unlike her former pack. She may not have been anything more than a human in their pack, but they never did anything like this. They did not go out of their way to make her feel like she was apart of their family.

She turned her head to look down the table, remembering that one of the councilmen had come to visit her in the hospital. They seemed kind enough if not gruff while coaxing her to give them every detail about the assault. She could not help wondering if one of these men was the one that visited her. She wonders which one is used by the kings for royal visits and to arrest or investigate packs. But tonight is about getting to know the high ranks and the pack, like the Head of the Royal Guard, who guards the Councilmen and the Council Chambers.

Janet, the Head Omega, had asked her to arrange the seating chart for tonight, when she had declined to do so. She wanted to give the woman one last party to organize, hoping it would make up for earlier. Plus, it is her way of slowly coming to grips with her new position and watching how everything is done.

She looked at her mates, who seemed to complement each other in their mannerism. It drew a bit of worry to her mind, especially when Thomas was speaking to a Council member. He is the complete opposite of his brother, with his yellow shirt unbuttoned at the neck almost to his chest. Then, there was his jacket and slacks being light gray and wrinkled. She cannot remember the name of that man her mate was talking to, but her mate looked gallant and happy the entire time. His voice sounded like it was coaxing and calm that drew this middle-aged councilman to him with happy brown eyes. He even gave a ready smile on his round, tanned face while brushing back his black hair. He seemed good-natured with a side of an edge that had her slightly offset by his aura. They bantered with ease, even, while talking about some adventure that almost made her growl.

They had mentioned women in their conversation. It did not settle well with her and almost shocked her that she would feel jealous so soon after becoming mated to the kings. Her mate curbed it with a knowing smirk on his face as she glared at him with an arched brow, but the minute he caressed her face… She felt the slight spur of jealousy disappear like it was never there and be replaced by something deeper. It is something that she is not willing to look too closely at right now.

Gregory, though, was refined when she watched him for a moment. He sits with his napkin tucked into the neckline of his button-up shirt. His clothes are wrinkle free, looking like a businessman with his eyes hiding his emotions and his posture being perfect. He ate and talked with a few people, while remaining reserved about topics like he did not want them to know what was on his mind. It would have any normal person yelling about their opinion with anger blazing in their eyes. He held a blank look as he thought for a moment before speaking, like he was trying to keep his thoughts private. It did not settle well with her except she understands that he deals with sharks.

She found the differences in them interesting, which drew her to wonder about where she would fit in with these two. How is she supposed to compliment them and help them as mates are supposed to do? She tried not to frown about it or think negatively about what they wanted from her. She did not want to believe that it was entirely for decoration and to have an heir. It is part of the package deal that they do have a child, but she is supposed to be their equal, too.

The mates of the Councilmen distracted her enough from her wayward thoughts to keep her from focusing too much on the sordid thought. They seem to want to talk about fashion, though. It bored her some, but it was better than dwelling on something she could not talk about with her mates, right now. She does know a bit about it, but at least, two had interesting topics to speak about, like higher education. She confessed that she was not sure about her direction and needed to finish high school. She, also, wanted to keep her options open for when her life settles down some. There is far too much going on for her to concentrate on becoming more than what she has been given already.

Thankfully, she did not say the one thing that swirled in her mind. She does not know if she wants to stay their mate. It is not entirely true as it is the monster inside of her that wants her to believe in all the negative things it spewed in her mind. It would give those glaring daggers at her fuel for whatever is in their arsenal, except for one.

All the while of her gossiping and flitting her eyes at her mates, a blonde haired woman kept staring at her. At least, it seemed like that when she looked at her after she felt eyes on her. She seemed to be smirking in her direction for some reason. The look on her slender face was like she knew something that she did not know. It made her want to snap at the woman to ask her if there was a problem. She was very unsettled by the way she was being eyed up and down, like she was being weighed for something. That sent dread to the pit of her stomach.

“Your Majesty,” Beta Matt called, while still laughing at the Councilman's joke. He was looking at her with a twinkle in his eyes that said he had had a little much to drink of his whine. She was not allowed any, yet, and she was very grateful that Gregory put a halt to it. “Maybe, you have an insight that is different from ours.”

“About what?” Cassandra asked, arching her brow as she stopped talking to Mary Weathers. She was a thin woman with a pointed face that turned to him, too, the minute he spoke. Her pale skin looks older than her age with black hair adding to it. She did not know if she should complement the snotty woman or snap at her when she spoke like she did not care about anything. “And am I going to dislike what you are going to tell me?”

“It’s about rogues,” Matt continued, drawing her interest.

“I have very little experience with them,” she responded with a tilt of her head. Her eyes narrowed, wondering if this was a trap set up to make her look like a fool. She knew that she would have to carefully navigate this conversation, if she was to look good for her mates. “I am not sure what my opinion can give to any of you who have seen them more than I.”

“Well, there are some that believe we can reform them,” Matt stated, letting his smile widen. “They have even let them stay within the confines of their own pack, showing them the pleasantries with the bad. There are those that believe bad packs cause rogues.”

“And what of me?” she clipped, which drew her mates’ attention.

A frown was on her face that belied the anger storming inside of her. It drew the others to look at her, while flicking their eyes at the kings, nervously. Mostly, their looks are thrown towards the beta in disapproval, who licks his lips just as nervously as the others are looking, right now. There is no doubt that there is bitterness in her tone that should have told any sane person that she does not like this topic.

“Am I a rogue?" Cassandra continued to question him like no one was listening to her. She made it feel like it was just him and her. "You know my story. You know what was done to me. Am I a rogue because I refused to rejoin the pack? No, I have no wolf, but I refuse to join a pack while my mother and brother are in one. Is it only wolves that are rogues? Are wolves the only ones who have the ability to become something dark? If it wasn’t for some good counseling, I think I would have become dark. Which leads me to Hunters.

“How on earth did that association get started, I wonder? Could it have been bad packs? But like I said, I have limited knowledge about rogues, and why they became the way they are. Is it others being unkind? Or is it nature grabbing ahold of them through their wolves? It is a question I would need to answer before I can make any point about helping each individual rogue. I do not solely believe they are capable of only doing evil.”

Cassandra does not know where that came from. It is like she pulled it out of thin air, while sounding harsh and regal. Her anger flared when she heard how derisive the snorts sounded around her after he mentioned rogues. She wonders if maybe it is the mate bond helping to make her sound refined and mature for her age. Or maybe, she had it in her the entire time and was not given a chance to express it. She knew that the old Cassadra would have said something akin to what she quickly spewed out.

Whatever it was that made her sound this way, it drew thoughtful expressions from some of the Councilmen. Smiles came from her mates as they looked at her with stars in their eyes and a hint of lust. She blushed for the hundredth time today under their gazes and spoke about how she feels about their admiration for her. This time, it is for her mind. That was the only part that she was thankful for.

“I think our beautiful mate has made a valid point,” Gregory chuckled as he took her hand. She looked at him feeling a piece of her heart starting to swell at the way he was making sure to take her side. “What do the scientists say about the rogues we have in the cells?”

“You experiment on rogues?” Cassandra squeaked, jerking her head towards him. She is shocked to hear this. She did not think that she could eat another bite of her chicken smothered in gravy. It made her nauseous to know that they would value a life so easily.

“He means counselors and psychologists,” Thomas corrected, looking at his brother meaningfully.

“I mean scientists,” he huffed, showing his irritation. “They mentally dissect the brain and how one operates it. They are scientists.”

“Psychologists only talk to people and get to know their problems,” Thomas countered with a huff. “They do not test to see which or what is better for people in general.”

“I beg to differ,” Gregory huffed, starting to get angry. “Their version of medicine is not just a drug but also doing physical and mental workouts that…

His face was in a firm frown that she had seen earlier today. It is the one when she had brought him lunch after the council ticked him off. She did not want to see him like that again, but what was worse was that Thomas was bearing the same angered look. Her heart started to hammer worse than when she walked onto the stage to be presented as Luna. Her eyes flicked between them, like a bouncing ball. She is struggling with the weight of their emotions hitting her through the bond. But then, they got into a shouting match that jerked her out of her seat and onto her feet at the same time as them. She remembered the twins from the Red Moon Pack. They would get into fist fights, sometimes, that drew the warriors to separate them. They stepped forward to each other looking ready to punch, while she took a step away from them with her body shaking.

“Beta Matt,” she whispered, turning her head quickly to him, “what do I do?”

Her legs are shaking from the restraint she is putting on herself to not punch them out of fear. The last time she had thrown cold water on Derek and Jamie. That had begun their anger towards her. Her fists are even balled at her sides, which made it harder for her to do something violent to where it ends their argument. She did not expect them to be like this so soon and not about something silly.

“Trust the mate bond,” Matt answered firmly, showing that he had confidence in her.

He almost sounded like he was a guru, but it perked something inside her to step forward. However, she went to their plates instead of them and grabbed their forks that had a bite on each of them. Then, she shoved it in their mouths just as they were about to speak, silencing them. Her breaths were heavy as she looked at them and they at her. There was silence for a long moment as they stared at her, shocked, while she looked at them frightened. Everyone was waiting for what was going to happen next as they looked at the scene in silence, too. The council flicked glances while the warriors became ready to grab the Luna away should it become necessary, but no one moved an inch. They waited with their breaths being the only sound in this room.

Slwoly, Gregory and Thomas let their anger subside with their faces smoothing out into a small smile. It was subtle and quick. No one saw that she could tame the beasts from causing a scene like they have so many times before now. Now, they are easing their own tempers for her. She felt satisfied that she could tame them so quickly with food, but her anger was not easily abated. It snapped back to her after seeing them become calm.

“You are correct, Gregory, about a psychologist,” Cassandra snapped. “You are incorrect about prisons having one, though. They have a psychiatrist, Thomas, who is the only one that can prescribe medicine to a patient, whereas the psychologist needs written consent from the patient to be experimented on. And you, Thomas,” she turned to him, “should know that it is much more than talking about problems. It is diagnosing them too.

“Now, could we please finish our meals without you two causing a ruckus!?”

“Of course, My Luna,” Thomas said regally, showing his regret for upsetting her.

“Yes, Beautiful,” Gregory purred as his arm slipped around her waist.

The onslaught of sparks and tingles made her gasp and be unable to fight against him as he pulled her down on to his lap. Thomas moved just as quick stretching for her plate and putting it in front of him with a wicked grin on his face. Her brows rose at both of them, wondering what they were doing. It was not until he picked up her fork and began feeding her that she realized what they were doing. If it was not for Gregory's calming scent, she would have realized it sooner.

“I am beginning to think this was done on purpose,” Cassandra accused shakily as she tried to rid herself of her glowing smile on her face.

“What?!” Gregory scoffed mockingly. “We would never!”

“Why would we trick our beautiful mate to sit on the lap of one of us and feed her?” Thomas said, feigning shock at her accusation.

“It is not like we could not have done it, anyways,” Gregory purred in her ear, softly, making her blush.

“I think you two should be ashamed of acting like children fighting over a toy,” she said, glancing back at him.

“You are a beautiful toy, indeed,” Thomas chuckled with his voice deepening.

She gasped at the way it sent a thrill through her while feeling offended by what he said. She is a human being, not a toy. It made her eyes flare and hardened in anger while feeling the pain in her heart. She did not want them to think they could play with her emotions and body like that.

He must have known that he hurt her with that because he gave her a chaste kiss on the cheek. It added to the feelings swirling around in her mind. It made it hard for her to think right about what he truly meant by his words and the hurt that wanted to form inside her. She wanted to be mad at him, and yet, she wanted him to give her a better kiss than that which took away her anguish.

“It was only a joke, Beautiful,” Thomas said softly as he tried to ease her pain.

She only nodded at him, feeling slightly better about his comment, but her eyes flicked to the blonde that kept looking at her. Her blue eyes seemed to have something devious in them that made her want to ask what her problem was, again. Everyone else had the normal reactions mixing between awe and jealousy, but not her. There is something about this woman that is setting her hackles to rise, except now is not the time to say anything. She is supposed to be enjoying the ceremonial dinner.

“You know,” Cassandra said, becoming playful, “you two had ample time to do this all day. However, the pack has not had enough time. I think, as punishment for arguing on my day, I will leave you to your councilmen and visit the others of the pack.”

Matt and Simon snickered at the shocked looks on the kings’ faces. She smirked, too, feeling a little giddy about thwarting their mischievous behavior, but a part of her did not want to walk away. She knows that she has only met a handful of the omegas and a few of the gammas, leaving her clueless about the rest. She doesn’t expect to remember everyone in this entire pack, except she does not want them to feel neglected for not visiting them.

“Head Delta and Head Gamma,” Cassandra called as she stood up, looking at them with a small smile on her face. “Would both of you be my escort to each of your tables? Janet, Head Omega, I’ll be back for you soon.”

“Yes, Your Majesty,” she chuckled dryly.

The two men stood up with Gregory and Thomas looking at them with a frown. She can tell they are mind-linking them about something. Head Delta Ashton looked reddened on his narrow, angular face that seemed more muscular. His tall, wide body became tense and showed his muscles just like Simon had done. She knew that they were receiving hell from her mates, but she did not know what to do other than rely on the advice Matt had given her.

Quickly, she grabbed Thomas’ finger and licked it pretending like there was sauce on it. She is partially standing up with her rear practically in Gregory’s face. It is almost like she is presenting herself to him, which stopped both men from mind-linking the two men. It drew the others' attention from a few surrounding tables to see what she was doing. Some dropped their jaws while others were smirking at her behavior. She knew it was seductive to everyone, especially her mates. She had no intentions of giving them anything more than that, but she had to make sure that those men were not getting yelled at for escorting her.

“You had a bit of umm sauce on your finger,” Cassandra said breathily.

It was a lie that she gave with an innocent look on her face. She hopes this works right. His eyes flashed with his wolf that sent a thrill through her body, causing her to tighten her thighs. She knew everyone was scenting her arousal, but she tried to keep it out of her mind while calming them down.

“I thought you would have more care about yourself than that," she teased breathily. Then, she turned around to Gregory and touched his face while presenting her rear to Thomas. Slowly, she took a finger and lightly touched his cheek as she trailed it down to his jaw where she curved it up to his lips. “Be good. And don’t correct too many people’s speech.”

“I… I…” he managed to say only that as his wolf flared in his eyes, too.

“Good, Alpha,” Cassandra teased with a small pat to his head, wishing she could laugh at the way she had them.

She stood up suddenly and walked away with her hand trailing along the back of Thomas’s shoulders. Her heart was thumping in her chest at what she had done. She hopes that neither her mates nor anyone else would think wrongly of her. This is not to seduce them, but to save the Heads of the Heirarchy from their verbal assualt.

“I’ll be back, my Alphas.” She took a few more steps around the table to Ashton and Simon, giving Matt a smirk while feeling between embarrassed and happy. “Thanks for the advice, Beta. I’ll be sure to use it in the future with these two.”

“Anytime, Luna,” he chuckled as he watched his alphas look at her dumbfounded and lost.

“Luna,” Ashton said, offering his arm.

“Luna,” Simon greeted, offering his arm, too.

“Thank you, Gentlemen,” Cassandra said as she took their arms, hearing a growl from her mates. She turned her head with a frown on her face. “Shush! I will come back to you and you two will be the ones I always come back to.”

She wanted to smile at that, but she was worried for the two warriors. Gregory and Thomas looked like they were ready to murder them for touching her. They looked positively jealous about this when it was a simple meet and greet of the warriors in their pack. She hopes that they settle down when she is not doing this deliberately to provoke them, because they are alphas. No one touches their woman!

“I think you are adjusting well to this life,” Ashton complimented quietly.

“If you could only see the little girl inside of me,” Cassandra confessed, choosing to speak honestly. “She is screaming in anger and crying in fear. I just fake it like the best of them.”

“You will do well,” Simon chuckled.

She did not lie when she said that inside she was angry and scared. The mate bond is making it slowly disappear. She can feel it grow smaller and smaller, especially as she realizes that the past only affects her so long as she hangs onto it. The things that she learned in those two years were out of fear. She hopes that it goes away to let her love those two men who seemed to be willing to love her back.

She does not know how to deal with the intimidation the gammas and deltas give off. It reminded her of the ones that had hurt her, which is why she chose to have the heads take her to them. She will lean on Gregory and Thomas later to feel better about the trepidation that builds in her from this introduction. The rest she smothers deep inside of her to make it go away, like the memories of those that hurt her. It is the only way she can move forward to be with her mates and figure out if she is going to be able to be something to both men.

And that is the question she fears the most? Is she just a baby factory or is she more to them? And if so, where is her place with them- behind, in front, or right with them? She had no answers to any question popping into her mind. All she knows is that she is taking it day-by-day starting tomorrow when she can exercise her demons that are demanding many things from her.