The Alpha, The Luna and The Warrior

4. Preparations for the night of full-moon

The Goddess Selene sat in her realm watching Michelle brew a concoction for her wolf mate, to put the beastly counterpart to sleep during the full moon. Selene had a sly smile on her face as she thought about her plans for the concoction. But her plan was incomplete, she did not only want Grayson out of control, but she wanted Michelle to be out of her wits too and under the haze of lust. She thought about the ways to achieve that. She could drug their food or simply put a spell on Michelle. She had to choose the best plan that does not fail or backfire, not that she doubted her abilities but there was no place for errors here. She sat on her golden throne with her right hand on the arm of the chair and her chin on her right-hand palm. Her throne was designed with carvings of all her children’s species. There were lions on the arms of the chair, Full moon on the back of the chair under which a howling wolf was carved, on the right side of the chair a dragon sat and a bat on the left side. The sigil of the withes was carved on the legs of the throne, the throne itself was embellished with the most unique gems and stones. Her throne was almost as enchanting as the goddess herself.

After thinking about her plan for some time Selene decided that the best course of action would be to drug Michelle’s food with some aphrodisiac, the same drug will be used on Grayson but in a small amount as the full moon will already enhance his senses and desire to mate.

After Michelle mixed all the ingredients in the cauldron, she left it to brew for a few hours. She decided to go to the library to study more about the effects of the full moon on werewolves. Even though Grayson told her a lot of things about full moon and its effects on the werewolves but Michelle’s quench for more knowledge was not satisfied. She wanted to find more about it and how the werewolf senses can be controlled during full moon to retain more humanity during this time. While Michelle was busy in the library searching for books the goddess appeared at her workstation area to do her own magic and spice up the concoction. She mixed a small amount of an aphrodisiac in the cauldron and some other herbs to counteract the wolfsbane in the mix. The goddess felt like a small child doing mischief and could not stop the giggle that left her lips. She was so happy that her plan is moving forward. There was a certain glint in her eyes and warmth in her heart thinking about the success of her plans and their results. After she was satisfied that the concoction will have the desired effect on Grayson, she decided to visit the wolf pack in a few hours when Grayson was preparing food for himself and Michelle.

While the concoction was brewing in the kitchen, Michelle was busy reading in the library about the werewolves, their history, and effects of the full moon. She was so engrossed in the book that she did not hear her father entering the library and sitting across her. When he cleared his throat to gain her attention it startled Michelle so bad that she dropped the book on the ground. Seeing her father sitting in front of her brought immense fear in Michelle, her heart started beating uncontrollably fast and all color drained from her face. She could feel sweat forming under her armpits and forehead. Seeing his daughter in such a startled condition Michelle’s father rose an eyebrow and gave his daughter an inquisitive look asking without words that what was wrong. Once Michelle gained some sort of control on her heartbeat and emotions, she gave a small smile to her father and quickly darted to pick the book from the floor, but she was a little too late as her father had already picked up the book.

He picked up the book and was even more surprised to see the title of the book. He has never seen Michelle reading any other book except the books on incantations, spells, and potions. He put the book on the table and stared at Michelle for a few moments with a look in his eyes that Michelle could not decipher.

How is the future leader of the coven doing today? He had asked Michelle. But for some reason Michelle found herself tongue tied for a few moments. After gaining semblance of confidence Michelle decided to answer her father.

I am doing alright father. Just doing some research on other species, trying to find their weaknesses and study them a bit more. So that if we ever have altercations with them once I start my reign, I will know how to deal with them, Michelle answered her father’s question and the unasked one too. Before he started making assumptions about why she would read books about werewolves. It seemed like her father was satisfied with the answer he got because he started discussing other matters of the coven with her.

Her father talked to her about her upcoming 18th birthday and her succession to take the throne of the coven leadership.

Are you prepared to take the responsibilities that your 18th birthday will bring for you? You know that you will inherit your mother’s powers too on your 18th birthday along with the throne. Michelle’s father asked her again.

She found herself getting restless about her father’s question. Although, before she never had any issues accepting the responsibilities of leading her coven. Even though she had never been particularly excited about it, she just knew that she is the next heir and will lead her coven one day. But after finding out about her mate, and that he is a wolf from a pack. She did not know if she can handle both responsibilities of being a coven leader and being the beta female of the pack. Although, the latter did not come with a lot of responsibilities. She wanted to be with her mate. She did not know where that decision will take her, but she will try her best to be with her mate, wherever their destiny takes them.

She realized that she was lost in her thoughts and has not replied to her father. She looked at her father and said, “I have been preparing for this day for years now father, you and mother have trained me well. I will give it my all and make sure that I make you both proud.” Her answer brought a proud smile on her father’s face. He patted her head, said goodbye, and left her to read her book in peace.

Michelle hated lying to her father like that and felt sorrow clutch her heart in a tight squeeze. Her eyes glistened with tears thinking about the uncertainty of the future and her hands shook. Now, that she was alone she could not deny the fear that crept up her spine and took her heart and mind as hostages. She could not stop the darkening thought that the fear brought in her mind.

What if their families never accept their bond?

What if they are separated from each other?

What if they are forced to take another mate or they are sentenced to death for treason.

These questions kept repeating themselves in her mind and she felt like someone is squeezing the necessary air out of her lungs and she can not breath. Tears kept leaking out of her eyes. When she felt like she will pass out sue to lack of oxygen she saw Grayson’s handsome face flashing in front of her eyes. His beautiful smile that brings warmth in Michelle’s heart, his sparkling gold eyes that can chase away the darkest pits of the hell and his voice that makes Michelle’s skin tingle and her heart flutter. Unknowingly Michelle found her heartbeat slow down and her lungs functioning.

Unbeknownst to Michelle, the goddess had seen Michelle about to have panic attack and she brought visions of her mate in her mind to stop her from falling into the darkness.

After getting herself under control Michelle started walking towards her workstation where her potion for Grayson was brewing and the goddess decided to visit Grayson.

When goddess appeared in Grayson’s home, Grayson was in the kitchen preparing dinner for himself and Michelle. As it was full moon night and Grayson knew that his beastly counterpart will be craving for raw and fresh meat so he decided that he will hunt for himself on the way to see her mate and only pack enough food for Michelle. This made goddess’s job to drug Michelle easy as she won’t have to worry about drugging Grayson twice. Grayson was making chicken lasagna for Michelle which was almost ready to be put into the oven. When he turned to pre-heat the oven, the goddess decided to take advantage of the situation and mixed the potion she brought into the lasagna dish. While the oven was heating, he decided to prepare salad for the side dish, which took him approximately 10 minutes. By that time, the oven was ready he decided to put the dish in the oven and start preparing small strawberry cakes for desserts.

After dinner was ready, Grayson decided to take a shower, he wanted to dress up for his mate, but he knew that he would have to shift for his hunt and the clothes will get ruined before Michelle even gets a chance to see him. So, after shower he decided to go for his usual dark grey tennis shorts and white wife beater. He decided to go with the just out of bed rough look for his hair and sprayed some deodorant although he believed that it will be useless after his hunt and a dip in the waterfall, but he still decided to use it. He could not stop thinking about tonight. He was worried about doing anything that will make Michelle uncomfortable or offend her. He did not ever want to be reason for Michelle’s pain or heart break. He could only hope and pray to the goddess that tonight will go according to the plan and without any glitch.

Grayson looked at himself once again in the mirror and decided to carry the food to the waterfall. He decided to spend some time at the waterfall alone as he was a little early. He thought about how it has been 3 weeks since he has met his mate and the only place, he has ever taken her to is a waterfall. Before meeting her mate, he used to think that he will give her the whole world and take her on different dates and give her anything and everything she deserved. But now that he has his mate with him, he is hiding her from the world. He felt immense guilt and pain in his heart at such thoughts. His wolf also whined and expressed his agreement with him. Their mate deserved much more than a homemade meal, in the middle of nowhere. His eyes watered and stomach twisted with desperation to show his mate that how special she is. He decided that he will put more efforts in making his mate feel special and showing her how much he loved her. With that thought in his mind, Grayson decided to start his full moon night hunt and finish eating it before receiving his mate at the border. He did not want her to feel sick seeing him eating raw meat.

Beta Grayson took off his clothes, folded them neatly and left them on the boulder he was sitting earlier and shifted into his beautiful chocolate brown wolf. He started trotting in the deep woods in search of his prey. Soon he came upon a herd of deer and stalked them from behind the bushes very patiently and attentively. He locked his eyes on a smaller doe that was slower than the other deer in the herd, once his target was locked, he jumped out of the bushes towards his prey. The sudden movement alerted the herd and they started running. Grayson started chasing his prey and once he was in proximity, he jumped on the back of the doe and locked his jaw on the side of her neck. The doe thrashed violently in his grip, trying to push him off itself but the beast held on and put more force into the bite to kill its’ prey without making it suffer. When the beast was sure that its’ prey has ceased struggle, he retracted his canines and let go, doe fell on its side and the beast delivered final blow on the jugular to kill it. After the doe was dead, the beast started munching on it. Enjoying the taste of fresh blood and raw meat on its’ tongue. After he was satisfied with his kill, he decided to return to the waterfall and take a dip in the water to get rid of blood and its’ scent from his body. He spent less than 10 minutes in the water and realized that it was time to receive Michelle at the border. He got out of the water and shook the excess water of its’ fur. He shifted in his human form, put on his clothes, and decided to walk towards the border to receive his mate with a huge smile on his face.