Her Alpha In Shining Armor

The Day Of The Coronation

Upon her earlier misgivings, Celeste had ended up helping me with getting a dress to wear out to the coronation. Contrary to the plans we had made with each other, Sebastian and I had not managed to meet with each other. I had managed to get a day off from the daycare so I could go into the mansion to visit him, but had ended up returning to it when I went to the palace and was not allowed to see anyone because they were all busy.

He had given me instructions to find a green dress to wear, and I had taken that as a sign that I would be introduced with the dress being mentioned or made reference to. With a smile, I had skilled home to go ahead and tell Celeste. She had rolled her eyes, hard.

Now, it was the day of, and in a few hours, my new life would begin. I would be recognized as the mate of the next Alpha to be, my Sebastian. The respect that I had not gotten since the deaths of my parents would return to me, and Celeste would see that she was wrong.

I looked at my reflection in the mirror and tilted my head, my smile so wide that it could split my cheeks. I was all too happy to see the look of radiance in my face. I had found a small green dress with a slit up the side, and I had managed to find my mother's old pearls and the best jewelry she had.

My hair had been pulled into a ridiculously high topknot, and even though it made my eyes sting and gave me a small tension headache, it pulled my entire look together. Briefly as I added in some jewelry into my hair, I realized that Sebastian had never had the pleasure of seeing me all dressed up this way.

“You are doing a good job, Emilia,” I told my reflection in the mirror. “Sebastian definitely loves you, and this is an opportunity for him to prove that. He will declare his love for you in front of the entire pack, and his family will have no choice but to accept you. They will take you as one of theirs, and you will have a family again. And best of all, you will have a future with him. Your whole life is about to change, Emilia. It's okay to be nervous. ”

My reflection did not look like it believed me, so with a shaky hand, I applied some red lipstick, deciding that how I looked then would just have to do.

Outside my door, Celeste stood, and she walked over to me, giving me a bracelet that I knew she treasured. “For good luck, Millie,” she said, a gentle smile on her face.

I knew that she had no faith in the fact that Sebastian would claim me as his, but she was hoping right alongside me. For both of our sake, I hoped that Sebastian was being honest.

“No matter what happens,” I said, holding onto her hands with tears watering my eyes, “I want you to know that you are family, and the time I have spent with you has been some of the best time of my life. I'm so glad I met you, and nothing about that will change, ever.”

Deciding not to say another word, Celeste left the room, only stopping at the door. “Your life is about to get a whole new start. I hope it is very kind to you, Millie. You deserve it.”

“Thank you,” I smiled. “I’ll meet you downstairs.”

I looked back at my reflection and shook my head, feeling a shiver of nervousness go down my spine. Something felt wrong, scary, even, and I had managed to convince myself that it wasn't because of anything, and I was paranoid, but deep down in my bones, I felt disappointment at my fingertips.

Shaking it off, I made my ways downstairs to Celeste, who held out a hand for me. Together, hand in hand, we walked over to the coronation grounds and found seats near the front, since we were still early.

The first row was reserved for the people who were dignitaries, influential, important pack members. I would be one of them soon, but since I wasn't one of them just yet, the second row was good enough for me.

As though the entire pack had gotten the memo, every single member of the pack eventually filed in, and in a few minutes, the entire grounds were full.

And the festivities began. The entire night passed in a blur of activity, and there was so much movement that I didn't know where to look, or how to stop staring with my mouth gaping.

Directly in front of me, the seat remained empty, and I wondered who was supposed to be there, and how audacious they were to be late to such an important event in the pack's history.

As though summoned, a luxurious woman walked to the front of the pack and the dignitaries in front of her moved out of her way in acquiescence. Nods so subtle they were barely there were passed along to everyone on the line, and she looked at me with a small smile before taking a seat right before me. The mysterious guest who had arrived late.

Something about the air seemed to become extra charged, as one of the elders got up and came to the center of the grounds, announcing that Sebastian had been crowned the new Alpha. Whoops of celebrations erupted around me, and I joined in, glad that Sebastian had finally gotten the very thing he had always wanted.

The ceremony was that he would have to greet every single one of the dignitaries before finally making his way to kiss the person he wanted as his mate. It was all very archaic, but it was a system that worked, and I was not one to protest. Sitting on my hands, I waited in place, excited.