The Afterlife

Chapter 8: Moon

Allie was finishing up in her office when she heard a knock on the door. "Come in," she said. It was Wayne.

"It's time," Wayne said. "Are ya ready?"

Allie nodded. "Let me just clean up my desk and we can be on the way. Did you let Kaori know?"

"He's ready, at his pack, too." Wayne smiled. "Ya got a good mate, there, Allie."

"Kaori sent me a text message saying that he was sending someone from his pack to help us. Her name is Vivian, and she's their Luna," Allie said. "I really appreciate how supportive the Deer Mountain Pack is being."

"Wow, his Luna is helping us?" asked Wayne. "I didn't know that."

Allie shrugged. "He just told me last night that his Luna would be at our ceremony to help us with anything we needed."

"Well, our Beta Lux will be there, too," said Wayne. "So will my cousin and her mate."

Allie grinned. She hadn't seen Yuki and Sienna in a while. She'd been too busy planning the ceremony to pray to the Moon Goddess with Wayne. Yuki, normally the event planner, hadn't really been able to help her since Wayne somehow always knew what to do anyway. She was surprised Wayne knew so much about her curse, but she didn't question it. Wayne was one of her most trusted friends, anyway. And so would Vivian, if Kaori had sent his Luna.

"I'm surprised his Luna is coming without the Alpha," Allie mused. "Isn't that a bit unusual?" asked Allie.

"Sometimes," Wayne said.

A bit of nervousness fluttered into Allie and lodged itself in the pit of her stomach. She felt like it was strange that Luna Vivian of Deer Mountain was coming alone, even though she didn't know why. The Shoreline Pack was strong and had hosted other Alphas and Lunas before without a problem. But Alphas usually liked to protect their Lunas, even if they trusted them.

Allie guessed that Luna Vivian wasn't really coming alone -- she'd probably have a few escorts, she reasoned. With that thought, the nervousness subsided a little.

"Don't worry," Wayne said, sensing her nervousness. "We've prepared all week."

As they walked in silence, Allie still felt nervous, but she tried to be strong. She trusted her friends; they were everything she'd ever had. She hated asking for their help sometimes, but often she had no other choice.

"Allie!" yelled Yuki from the distance. Sienna was jogging up behind them, in wolf form, though. As Allie turned, Sienna shifted into wolf form and threw on a short sleeve, purple-hued dress. The weather was warm today, the fading summer light was bright on her hair and a light, warm breeze grazed Allie's cheeks. The sun was about to set, but Allie didn't feel cold in her sleeveless white dress that she'd prepared for the ceremony. Instead, she felt almost clammy, sweaty -- perhaps due to the nervousness. She was a bit worried that it wouldn't work, that Aphrodite wouldn't be sympathetic, that she wouldn't be able to get some more time, if she was being honest with herself.

Stop being nervous, her wolf told her. She tried to listen to her wolf. We'll be with mate!

That's all you ever talk about these days, she teased her wolf lightheartedly, even if that was hardly how she felt. No one in the pack had ever had to ask the Moon Goddess and Aphrodite for help at the same time.

"Hey," said Sienna. "Do you need a hug?" Her friend held out her arms.

Allie looked at Wayne. "How much time do we have?"

Wayne shrugged. "Y'all are pretty early today."

Sienna grabbed Allie's wrist. "Hey, you look stressed. Let's go to the shore for a bit, yeah?"