Hey yall!! Sorry I haven't updated in a while but I've been busy with school work and shit :) This is kind of a sad and happy chapter so... Fan, Vote, Comment and as always ENJOY MY CUPCAKES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
JUJU xoxo
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“And now, the daughter of our great Alpha would like to say a few words.” Said the priest. We were sitting in the large cathedral in town. We only ever came here for funerals and weddings (which weren’t often because it wasn’t necessary for mates to have a wedding). It was my father’s funeral and I had been asked to make a short speech instead of my mother because we all knew she wouldn’t be able to make it to the podium without falling to her knees and bursting into tears. She was already crying but I knew that if it wasn’t for the hormones she would only cry at the end when they carried his coffin out.
I sucked in a deep breath and Lorcan squeezed my hand before I stood up. I walked towards the podium with the paper my speech was written on in my hand. When I reached the podium, I looked at everyone through the lace veil that covered half of my face. I locked eyes with Lorcan and he gave me a reassuring nod. That was all I needed, “My father was loved by all of us. He was a leader, a father, a husband and a friend. He died protecting our pack, keeping our alliances strong. It was not his time to go; he had so many things left to do. Watch me and his second, unborn child grow up. See his grandchildren. Lead his pack to victory in many more battles. But he’s up there now, with my grandparents and all of our loved ones who have passed. He will watch down on us and protect us up there just as well as he did from down here. I want to share with you his last words. He said he was sorry because he knew that it was not his time to go. Then again, none of us really know when it is our time to go and join our ancestors. It could come when we least expect it or when we do expect it. I wish I had just one more minute with him because there was something I never got to tell him.” I looked to the black coffin that sat in front of the podium, “I love you father… I will make you proud, I promise.”
I bowed my head and stepped away from the podium. The tears that I was trying to hide behind my veil finally began to fall for everyone to see. There was a quiet applause as I walked back to where Lorcan, my mother and I were sitting, “Well done, sweetie.” He whispered and wrapped his arms around me as I cried. The priest, who was also a werewolf in case you didn’t know, stepped back up to the podium and said some more sermons. Then the men who had carried my father into the church (some of whom include the survivors of the battle), lifted up the coffin and lifted him out. We all followed after them towards where my father was being buried. There was already a gravestone with his name and his date of birth and death, also a quote from one of his favourite books. Lorcan held onto my hand tightly and I was grateful, once again, of his presence.
Once the coffin was lowered into the ground my mother stepped forward and lifted up a handful of the dirt that was going to be piled on top of him. She threw the dirt into the grave and let out a sob before stepping back. I did the same and then Lorcan and then my father’s Beta. After that, people with shovels came and filled the hole with the rest of the dirt. That was it. He was gone completely now, under the ground. I would never see him again. Someone brought a bouquet forward and placed it on the grave. She nodded to my mother and me as she passed and I nodded back. My mother didn’t notice because her vision was blurred with tears.
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“Now stand still, Dulce, while I fix the hem of your dress.” Silvia said to be and I nodded. I stood in front of my full length mirror in a silvery dress. The fabric was literally glittering. It was a dress made by faeries. It was laced with magic so that it could not be damaged or destroyed, just adjusted. We only really used it for initiation ceremonies in the pack or the Alpha wanted it for battle or something. The dress I was wearing was my mother’s for her initiation ceremony as Alpha Female. It was floor length and had a boat-neckline. Also, at the back it ended lower down. Silvia was adjusting the size a little as my mother was a bit older when she wore it. The only reason we had to wear it was because when we had made our oaths, we had to shift into out wolf forms and shift back afterward. I don’t know about everybody else but I didn’t want the entire pack seeing me naked.
There was knock on the door and my mom popped her head in, “Can I come in?”
“Of course!” I said and she entered the room. She was wearing a long white dress that once again showed off all of her curves. I noticed that she was holding a hand-crafted, wooden box in her hand. Silvia bowed her head and my mother smiled at her before turning back to me, “I have something for you.” She opened the box and I gasped. Inside there was a diamond tiara that shone brightly. It matched my dress perfectly; it was beautiful, “I wore it for my Alpha Female initiation. Your grandmother gave it to me. She wore it to hers.”
“It’s beautiful.” My mother lifted it up and placed it on my head before handing me the box with a smile.
“It’s yours now, for you to give to your daughter in law, or daughter depending on her colour, when her time comes.”
I put the box down on my bed and hugged her, “Thank you mother.” When I pulled away, I noticed that she was crying, “Mother, what’s wrong?”
“Hormones… Sorry! But I’m so proud of you, Dulce. You have been so brave, unlike me.”
“No, no, mother. You have been brave. You are the bravest person I have ever met.”
“Thank you, Mija. I love you.”
“I love you too, mother.”
“Now, I must go. You still have to get ready. You look beautiful by the way. Bye Silvia!” and with that, she was out of the door. Silvia didn’t even have time to give her a respectful nod. I smiled and looked at the mirror in front of me. The tiara fit on my head perfectly and I noticed it made my eyes stand out more.
Ten minutes later I was standing in a small tent just at the entrance to the ceremonies area. This area was only used for welcoming a new member into the pack and the initiation ceremonies of Alpha’s, Beta’s and the Werewolf Council. It started with a long strip of grass, which was always kept fresh, with stone bleachers lining either side of it. At the end of the strip was a low stage where both members of the werewolf council (or in some cases the one remaining member) stood while the person being initiated knelt on the steps in front of them swearing an oath of allegiance.
Today was my initiation ceremony as Alpha, obviously, but also the initiation of Lorcan as Alpha Male (usually it was Alpha female but it was different in this situation) and Abigail as Beta. Speaking of those two, they were in different tents probably beside mine. I could smell Lorcan’s delicious scent from here and both my wolf and I were pining for his touch. A voice interrupted me from my thoughts, “Dulce, it’s time.” It was the former Beta’s wife. I took a deep breath and walked out. The whole pack sat in silence on the stone bleachers as I gracefully walked down the strip of grass. I nodded to a few people but mainly concentrated on not tripping in this dress.
When I reached the steps in front of the stage, I kneeled down on them and smiled at my abuelos. They smiled back before mi abuelo started, “You are Dulce Freestone, daughter of the now deceased Alpha, correct?”
I nodded, “Yes.”
“Do you solemnly swear to abide by the laws made by the Alphas before you?”
“I do.”
“Do you solemnly swear to make the right decisions for the good of the pack?”
“I do.”
“Do you solemnly swear to put the pack before yourself from this moment forward until the day of your death?”
“I do.”
Mi abuela smiled, “Well then, with the power vested in us, we declare you Alpha Dulce Freestone of the Blood Moon Pack.”
I stood up and walked up onto the stage before I shifted for the first time as Alpha. It felt different than all the other times I had shifted. It was like the first time I shifted when I was thirteen except a little less painful. This was because my wolf had gotten bigger. As the Alpha, I had to be the biggest wolf in the pack; my mate and beta coming in close second. My bones were sort of reconstructing themselves to create a bigger wolf.
I stood in the middle of the stage behind my abuelos, in my wolf form while people cheered. Once it had quietened down Lorcan walked down the strip of grass in a suit made of the same material as my dress. He looked absolutely stunning because the light material made his dark hair more prominent. He knelt down in front of my abuelos and this time my abuela did the oath, “You are Lorcan Chance, mate of Alpha Dulce Freestone, correct?”
He nodded, “Yes.”
“Do you solemnly swear to follow the Alpha’s orders and decisions no matter what the consequences?”
“I do.”
“Do you solemnly swear to protect the Alpha to the best of your abilities?”
“I do.”
The Alpha female, or in this case Alpha male’s oath was shorter than the Alpha’s and the Beta’s but it was the same context. Now my abuelo spoke, “With the power vested in us, we declare you the Alpha Male.”
Lorcan walked up onto the stage and stood to my left. I saw him wink at me before he shifted. Congratulations, I said through the mind link, but I’m bigger than you now.
He snorted. Yeah, in wolf form.
I barked with laughter, literally, but it was half drowned out by the cheering of the pack. Then it was Abigail’s turn. Her oath was pretty much the same as mine but tweaked a little because she was the Beta. When she had shifted, we stood for a moment in our wolf forms while everyone cheered before shifting back. We walked back down the strip of grass while everyone cheered. I had done it; I was officially Alpha.