The Pack’s Treason

The ceremony

The pack house was full for this celebration of the full moon. The wolves who had just turned eighteen were easily identifiable in the crowd. Dressed to the nines, they exuded a mix of apprehension and excitement. I was no exception. Rachel and I finally got to the banquet hall where everyone was enjoying the feast the Omegas had prepared. The room was gigantic, with a long, huge table in the middle and several smaller ones around, all covered in different delicious-looking dishes. Rach grabbed a plate and started to fill it with food but I couldn’t eat anything, my stomach was in knots. I instead spotted glasses of champagne and quickly made my way towards that table, grabbing two and meeting back with my friend. I scanned the room, nervously sipping my drink. Where was Luke? I kept looking around but couldn’t find him anywhere.

“Looking for your knight in shining armour?” I spun around to see my brother standing there with his eternally goofy smile on his face. My heart skipped a beat. Next to him stood Luke and he looked so hot, dressed in a simple white shirt with the sleeves rolled up and the top unbuttoned, giving a glimpse of the perfectly tanned skin of his chest. His brown hair fell around his face, purposely messy. I could feel my mouth water and I had to stop myself before I started imagining my lips placing a trail of kisses on the exposed skin of his collarbone, then getting lower and lower...

“ You look good.” I told him instead, feeling my face heat up.

“You too.” He had a similar look with his cheeks flushed and hunger in his eyes. “I like what you’re wearing, it’s different but it’s...” He stopped himself, remembering my brother was still right next to him. “Really pretty.”

I flashed him a smile. I knew what he had wanted to say.

“Oookay, so before these two jump at each other and start smooching again, why don’t we go outside? The ceremony is about to begin!”

I glared at Michael, but he just ignored me and offered his arm to Rachel, who took it, chuckling. Luke approached me and grabbed me by the waist. For the first time since he left this morning, I finally felt at peace. All my worries just melted with the heat of his body against mine.

We all walked towards the backyard where stood what we called the atrium. Several wooden benches were facing the same direction and were separated by an aisle in the middle. The aisle led to the front where a wooden ark was decorated with the flower garlands I had seen my mother craft this morning. The whole place was paved with elegant stone slabs and lit with string lights tied to wooden poles, also decorated for the occasion. This was the place where we had the pack’s weddings, announcements, graduations and other celebrations like tonight.

As we made our way to the first row of benches, Elena, the young Omega who worked for my family came rushing towards us, holding a tray with drinks on it. Her hair was disheveled and she kept looking behind her with panic in her eyes like she was being followed. I opened my mouth to say something, but I wasn't quick enough. Elena wasn't looking at where she was going and she collided with Rachel. My friend let out a scream when the tray fell on her, the champagne spilling all over her dress.

"WTF!" She yelled, looking around, trying to understand what had just happened. Her gaze fell on the little Omega who had crashed on the ground after the collision. "You! You ruined my dress!" She said with venom in her voice.

"It's okay Rach, it was only an accident," I said. I had been staring like an i***t, taken aback by how fast everything escalated. I held out my hand to Elena to get her back on her feet. Her big brown eyes were full of tears and she looked so scared.

"I'm so so so sorry, miss Rachel, I didn't mean to bump into you! It's all my fault I didn't watch where I was going, I'm so sorry!" The words were flowing out of her mouth as fast as the tears, pouring out of her eyes. I wanted to reassure her. Rachel had plenty of other dresses, she could just quickly go and change before the start of the ceremony, but again I was cut off before I could say anything.

"ELENA! What did you do?" I turned around to see Gretta, the cook in charge of the pack's kitchen standing there. She looked completely enraged. " I instructed you to go around the place and serve people drinks while making yourself as unnoticeable as possible and that's how you carry on your task? You spill the whole tray on the beta's daughter?"

She roughly took hold of Elena's arm and started to drag her towards the pack house. I tried to calm her down. This was getting blown way too out of proportions.

"Please, Gretta, there is no need..."

"Everyone, your attention please. Get seated now." I turned to look at the front of the atrium where my father and my mother were waiting to start the ceremony. I realized a lot of people around us had stopped to watch the altercation between Elena, Rachel and Gretta and I could feel my face heat up under everyone's gaze. I looked back to see Gretta pull Elena inside while mumbling curses under her breath. Rachel sighed.

"Well, I guess now I have got to go get changed." She pouted before jogging back the same way we had just come from.

I stood there frozen. I felt so bad for Elena, it was only an accident. I glanced at my brother and Luke, who both looked uneasy and a bit shaken. Everything had happened so fast.

"I think we should go get seated." Said my boyfriend after a moment of silence. We said goodbye to Michael, who was going to sit with the others, while Luke and I had to take our places in the front, with our fellow future shifters.

My father, the Alpha, was a stern man who led the pack with an iron fist. When I sat down, he shot me a look that I could not decipher, but he didn't look too happy. Whatever. He never did. The ceremony finally began, with my father thanking everyone for taking part in it and talking about the traditions of the full moon celebration. Next, my mom took over, explaining what the pink moon (the full moon of April) was about and what it brought to wolves who were born in that month. Finally, they took turns calling the names of the pack members who would shift for the first time tonight. I almost jumped when my name was called. I had been distracted during the whole speech and barely listened to it. My mind was replaying the incident with Elena and I felt a mix of guilt and stress from the imminent shift. I stood up and went to stand in the front with the other newly eighteen years old. Luke joined me a few moments later and, finally, the ceremony was complete.

« Welcome to all our new wolves, a beautiful addition to the pack. The full moon run can now start! »