The Double Luna

Chapter 2

Matthew Osborne, Alpha of the Red Moon Lake pack, rolled his eyes as his Beta steered the car toward the border of the Eclipse Moon Parklands.

"Dad, this is ridiculous. I'm twenty seven. .I'm not going to find my mate at some seventeen year old's birthday party!"

"Matt, she's out there somewhere. I passed on the title because I had to, but I hate that you don't have a Luna. You need your other half. Ever since your mother died, I know I don't have much time left. I don't want to die before you find your fate. The Moon Goddess can't be so cruel."

"At least if I find her there, it won't be so much of a shock," Matthew mused, trying to ignore his father's words. The two packs had long since been allied, their pack members going back and forth between the two lands without restraint.

Many a mate had been found between the two. Matthew himself had bedded several she-wolves from both packs. Sometimes more than one at a time. His Lothario ways had been curbed, slightly, when his father had handed over the Alpha title, but he was still known as quite the ladies' man.

Clarisse stood at the entrance to the ballroom, bouncing on her toes. "Daddy, everyone is already inside! I'm missing my party..."

Alastair chuckled "Oh, sweetie, don't you want to make a grand entrance?"

"Yes. And since everyone is already here, it'll be grand enough. I want to enjoy the party before midnight. Just in case, okay?"

"Alright, precious" Alastair nodded to the wolves guarding the entrance, and they swept the doors open in a grand gesture.

Clarisse stepped inside, smiling madly and waving wildly. There were wolf whistles and cheers as she descended the stairs into the sunken ballroom. The room was decorated in the same blue as her eyes and silver, the color of her wolf, though few had seen her shift.

The pack had spared no expense.

The Belle of the Ball spent the next ninety minutes dancing with her friends and greeting acquaintances from other packs.

At five minutes to midnight Alastair and his wife Diana stepped up onto the stage at one end of the room.

Alastair tapped the microphone. "As we all know, we are here to celebrate my youngest child coming of age. In five minutes, it will be midnight. In seven minutes, my daughter will be seventeen, of age at last. So, Clarisse, will you join your mother and I, so we may give you your birthday presents from us?"

Blushing, Clarisse began to make her way through the crowd, which parted wordlessly to provide her a clear path to her parents.

Alastair and Diana each held a small blue box in their hands.

When Clarisse stepped up next to them, each of her parents gave her a hug, and her mother held out the first box. Clarisse opened the slender package and gasped. "I love it!" She squealed. Her mother held the box as she lifted the necklace from its bed of cotton

The platinum locket studded with diamonds and sapphires gleamed in the light. She held the necklace out to her father,then turned around, sweeping her corn silk blonde curls from her neck so he could fasten it for her.

The room applauded. 'There's a picture of your father and I on our wedding day on the one side, and room for a picture of you and your mate on the other," Diana explained.

"And now for the fun present," Alastair grinned. He shook the second box before handing it over. "Promise to keep your grades up?" He asked.

Clarisse's eyes went impossibly wide. "Do you mean it?" She asked, taking the box.

Next to the stage were doors that led out onto a patio. They slowly opened, just as a horn honked, and Teddy and Jacob stepped out of the ice blue convertible.

Clarisse opened the box, pulling out one of the keys to her brand new car. She quickly hugged her father, then ran down the stairs and hugged her brother tight.

"Now you won't keep trying to borrow mine, will you, Squirt?" Jacob grinned, holding out the spare key.

"Don't call me that!" She pouted. "Do we have time to go for a drive right now?" She asked.

"No, unfortunately not. But maybe in five minutes, if you aren't otherwise occupied," Jacob said "Teddy, let's escort Squirt back to mom and dad," Jacob said, pretending to flinch from the smack to his shoulder.

Before they could return to the stage, however, they were stopped by an older couple. "Clarisse, sweetheart, Happy Birthday," Alpha Thaddeus said, holding out an envelope.

"Thank you, Uncle Thaddeus," Clarisse said sweetly, leaning up to kiss the pack's Alpha on his weathered cheek. She opened the envelope and gasped at the number written on the cheque inside. "Really?"

"Really. Trina and I wanted you to have your own nest egg, no matter who your mate turns out to be. And to know you can always come home, even if you go off to live with some other pack. Your room in the packhouse will always be yours. This is just our way of making sure you can always afford a flight. Or a way out," Thaddeus said meaningfully.

Clarisse nodded solemnly. She knew that Thaddeus hadn't been Trina's first mate, that the Luna had had an abusive Gamma for her first mate. Thaddeus had been drawn to her, and challenged her first mate, killing him for what he had done to her. It wasn't a widely known tale.

"Don't be sad, Clarisse," Trina murmured. "I have never been happier." She gave the young woman a hug, then turned to her son. "No matter what, you are to be happy for her," she ordered.

Clarisse looked confused, then blushed. "I...I gotta get back to mom and dad," she said. She rushed back to her parents as the clock struck midnight.

Two minutes until her time of birth. If her mate was in the room, shed know within moments.

Alastair and Diana were joined by Thaddeus and Trina, and both their sons. Glasses of champagne were passed around, and glasses clinked.

Many wolves had paired off through the night, so only the unmated males still paid attention.

The moment of her birth came, and Clarisse gasped. "Mate!" her wolf exclaimed in her mind.

Teddy strode across the stage and swept her into his arms. "Mine," he growled.

"No!" Came the shout from the back of the room. "Keep your hands off my mate!"