It's been a month since Renee took the Luna title from me. My mom has been drilling her with Luna lessons since she only has years to learn what is taught in a lifetime. I felt bad for everything she was having to do until I saw the glow in her eyes after one of her lessons, she was loving every minute of it. She may not have been born with the Luna blood in her veins but she was born to do this, my mom thinks so also. Everything my mom throws at her she learns quickly and excels. Dad is also impressed with her although he won't admit it out loud.
While Renee has been submerged in Luna lessons, I have been in Queen lessons which have surprisingly been very similar to my Luna lessons. Learning the Mer history had to be my favorite part, like the werewolfs, Mer's have had a rough time in the past with hunters and living amongst the humans. There were also stories from back when everyone got along, werewolves and trolls, fairies and shifters; it was my dream to someday make that a reality again. We would be so much stronger and safer as a group if we worked together, but that would be a future issue to deal with.
My Dad has kept his word and has tried to accept Troy, other than a few insults and grumbles he has done pretty well. I think over time it will get better, they may never like each other but they may be able to get along fine. My mom however is completely head over heels for Troy, she thinks he's the absolute greatest which has gone straight to his already big head. David thinks he's awesome because he can shoot water out of the ground. We celebrated David's ninth birthday last week and all of his friends were over, mom and I hear screaming from the back yard making us rush outside to see what was going on. We laughed when we saw Troy shooting water at all of the boys soaking them, whenever he would stop they would beg for more. I think that is the only time mom was not Troy's number one fan because the kids were wet and muddy destroying her clean kitchen when they came in looking for snacks.
Troy's parents have been nothing but supportive. King Steven has actually been trying to reach out to my dad and form some sort of truce between them, he hasn't been able to make it happen yet but he's trying. Queen Susan and my mom have quickly became very good friends, double trouble is what Troy calls them. He's not wrong, but the real trouble makers are Oma and his grandma Alice. When we introduced them we thought it would either go very bad or very well, with both of them being so strong headed we didn't know what to expect. They are inseparable now and a force to be reckoned with. His grandparents decided to spend more time on land to be closer to the family but I often here Grandpa Randolph mumbling about going back to the ocean when his wife and Oma are ganging up on him.
"You seriously aren't dressed yet? Will you ever be able to be ready on time? You are going to be a Queen you know." Renee scolded me as she opened the door to the private room I was in.
"I don't think a Queen can get in trouble for being late, who would reprimand me?" I threw back.
"Your soon to be bonded mate, and I think he would enjoy it too." She teased me and I felt myself blush. Not from embarrassment this time, but from nervous excitement. Our bonding ceremony was today and we would complete the mating bond tonight.
"Do I need to give you the bee's and the bird's talk? When a boy and a girl really love each-"
"I'm good thank you." I laughed cutting her off. "And what I don't know I'm sure we will have no problem figuring it out."
"Fine fine, but I'm only a phone call away if you need any help." She reached for the bag with my dress in it and unzipped it sighing. "I know I've seen it before but I think it gets prettier every time."
I had to agree with her, it was beautiful and it meant the world to me. Troy's grandma Alice had insisted that I wear the dress she had worn to her bonding ceremony, I hadn't wanted to be rude so I said yes. What I didn't know is that her, Troy's mom, the other Queens, and a few other Mer woman had ripped it apart and redesigned it. The results had been absolutely stunning. The dress was a very light blue that now had a sweet heart neck line with small beaded straps. The bodice was lace and fitted, flaring out at my hips. They had hand sewn pearls and beads around the bottom edge and along the train. It was perfect.
"Oh, you look absolutely breath taking." Renee gasped as she zipped me into the dress. I turned to face her and saw her eyes get misty.
"Don't you dare make me cry, Lily will kill you." I smacked her hand playfully but was also serious. Lily had given me very strict instructions to not mess anything up. As I turned to look in the mirror I couldn't help the little gasp that escaped my lips, I couldn't believe the girl looking back at me was actually me. The dress fit me absolutely perfectly and Lily and Ellie had once again transformed my hair and makeup into something beautiful. I wasn't one to toot my own horn but, toot toot.
"Trout is going to flip when he sees you." She quickly pulled me into a tight hug. "I am so happy for you Annie."
"None of this would be happening if it wasn't for you, and to you I, we will always be grateful."
Renee let me go and wiped her eyes, "Name your first guppy after me and we will be even."
A knock on the door interrupted us and Mary stuck her head in, "We are ready for you miss."
"Thank you Mary." I said as she smiled and left.
Renee took my arm and walked me out the door to the ball room. She stopped us right at the edge of the hallway, we could see the room but people couldn't see us yet. I couldn't believe how beautiful everything looked, our ceremony was being held in the hall were The Opening had taken place and Queen Sandra had outdone herself with the decorating. She had filled the already gorgeous room with thousands of white lights and candles, vases full of flowing flowers I've never even see before lined the aisle and along the walls. It looked like something straight out of a fairy tale. I also couldn't believe how many people were there, I think everyone in the Mer community was present. Not to mention my friends, their parents, and my family. Surprisingly my dad had even came, I'm sure my mom and Oma had dragged him here but I was happy he was here and behaving.
The music changed and Renee nudged me letting me know that was my cue. "I love you Annie."
"I love you too, and thank you." I gave her a quick hug before I made my way to the aisle. As I started my walk towards the front of the room I couldn't help but look at the people that were there. I didn't know most of them yet they met my eyes with happy faces and I could see how excited they were for this ceremony. My eyes locked with my mom and I tried to keep my emotions in check as tears ran down her cheeks, I was surprised to see that my dad's eyes were also a little misty. I was almost half way to the front when I could see the person I had been looking forward to seeing all day, I almost stopped in my tracks when I saw him. He was wearing a three piece tux and he's never looked more gorgeous, I picked up my pace so I could get to him quicker.
"Little fish you look..." He stopped at a loss for words.
"You look the same." I smiled at him and put my hand in his.
We turned to face his father who would be performing the bonding ceremony. We exchanged our bonding vows and then received our bonding marks. I looked at his father with curious surprise, our marks were little crescent moons,
"In honor of your ancestry so that you may never forget where you came from." He explained before he then pronounced us bonded for life. Troy scooped me up into his arms and kissed me as the crowds cheered.
After we greeted everyone the after party went into full swing. I was happy to see that my family and friends were mingling well with the Mer. My girlfriends, mom, Oma, his grandma, and the Queens were all huddled in a group laughing and talking, there was no telling what was going on with that group of woman.
"There you are." Troy said pulling me out of my thoughts, "You had that line again little fish, is something wrong?"
I looked up at him and smiled wrapping my arms around him, "Absolutely nothing, everything was perfect. I was just thinking how much trouble all the woman in my life could get into if we let them spend too much time together." I laughed as I pointed the group of woman.
"I couldn't agree more, but let's let them be for tonight. If they are distracted we can sneak away." Troy whispered the last part in my ear instantly giving me the chills. "Come on, I've got a surprise for you."
We took the elevator to the main part of the house, when we stepped out of the closet Troy produced a scarf. "What's that for? It's not even chilly outside." I asked him and he answered me by blindfolding me.
"Um should I be worried?" I said sticking my hands out in front of me so I didn't run into anything.
Troy scooped me into his arms and carried my bridal style out the door, "No you should not be worried, I just want you to be surprised." I expected us to get in the truck but Troy kept walking so we must not be going far. We walked for about 5 min when Troy set me down, I could tell we were in the woods because my foot snapped a twig.
"Did you bring me out here to murder me? If I hear a chainsaw I'm running, and just so you know werewolves are way faster than Mer." I warned him.
"Hhmp. You only beat me once and I think you cheated." He said back. "Now hush so I can impress my mate. Are you ready?" I nodded my head yes and he removed the blindfold. What I saw before me stunned me, I turned to look at him with a confused smile on my face.
"Is this ours?" I asked gesturing before me.
"Welcome home little fish." He said as he stood behind me and wrapped his arms around me. I couldn't believe my eyes, Troy had a home built for us. But not just any home, this house was part tree house, shoot most of it was tree house. It was a dark grey house, with white trim; simple yet elegant.
"Before I take you inside I want to explain why I built our house in the middle of the woods." He walked up to the tree and placed a hand on it. "The center of this tree sits directly on the border line, half the tree is on your packs territory, the other half on Mer land. The tree is stands strong in two different places, and so shall we. We come from two different worlds but now we are one."
His words overwhelmed me and I couldn't believe how lucky I was to have him. "You are amazing you know that?"
"Tell me something I don't know." He teased as I rolled my eyes at him. "Do you want to see the inside?"
I nodded and walked to the front door, I reached for the knob but was stopped by Troy yelling.
"Wait! I have to carry you across the threshold!" He rushing at me before I could step in the house. I laughed at his cuteness about the whole thing and let him pick me up, I wasn't ever going to complain about being in his arms. As we walked in a felt my mouth drop for what had to be the hundredth time tonight, this place was gorgeous. Huge barn beams held the house up and the walls were covered in a light blue color. I could tell the decorating was done by our mothers, there were signs of both of them in the furniture and things on the walls. In the center of the house stood the trunk of the tree, a stair case leading around it to the upstairs. Troy set me down and tugged me towards the stairs.
"There are three bedrooms, our mothers insisted that we have an extra one for any little visitors we may have." He said wiggling his eye brows and I felt my cheeks heat up, I would have to remember to have a discussion with my mother. "And then your girlfriends insisted that they have a room for when you guys have sleep overs." Of course they did shaking my head and smiling, I followed Troy to the end of the hall where there were double doors. He looked over his shoulder and smiled at me as he pushed open the doors. Once again my jaw dropped as I walked in our bedroom. I couldn't even tell you what the room looked like because I was too memorized by the floor to ceiling windows that faced the west. The next thing I noticed was the gigantic bed that faced the windows, it was made with wooden beams and had white sheer curtains all around it with little white lights woven around the top beams. I felt Troy wrap his arms around me and kiss my neck before he picked me up and threw me on the bed.
"Hey!" I said laughing, my laughter was soon cut off as he crawled across the bed towards me.
"Mate. Mine." Nan growled happily and I felt my eyes widen as I felt my feelings match hers.
"Little fish you look like you've just seen a ghost, are you okay?" Troy asked.
"Just a little nervous, I've never.... You know." I said quietly, I knew he knew it already but I still felt I needed to explain myself. What if I was bad at it? Or he didn't enjoy it?
"I've never, you know either." He looked at me and smiled. "So I'm glad we are both 'You knowing' for the first time together. But, if you are not ready we can wait." I knew what he meant what he said, that if I told him I wanted to wait he would. Nan would probably kill but Troy would understand. It was his willingness to wait that made me not want to, I pulled his head down to me.
"I don't want to wait." I whispered as I kissed him.
Our kisses quickly turned desperate as we fumbled with removing each other's clothing. As he removed the last piece of clothing that covered me I felt myself get nervous, I knew this was going to hurt a little. I winced as I felt him take my innocence, but the pain was quickly changed into something I can't even explain. I thought I would never feel anything better than kissing him but I had been so wrong. I felt my canines extend as I felt this wonderful sensation start to take over my body. As I started to spin out of control I sunk my teeth into Troy's neck marking him, making him mine.
As we lay there after Troy reached his hand up to my mark, he flinched when he touched. "Does it hurt?" I asked him concerned.
"No, not at all. When I touch it, it's hard to explain but it sends like an electric current thru my body in a good way." He tried to explain.
I smiled at him, "Now you know how it feels every time you touch me."
"Well then I will just have to keep touching you now won't I?" He pulled me into his chest snuggling me close.
"I hope touches me again like he did a little while ago, I hope he does that a lot." I thought smiling to myself.
"Well of course I'm going to want to do that again, that was the most amazing thing I have ever experienced in my life." Troy said.
I was happy he felt the same way I did, but then I realized something. I sat up quickly in bed and looked at Troy, "What did you just say?"
He looked at me confused, "I said I wanted to do that again, do you not want to? You just said you hoped I would touch you like that again, did you change your mind? Did I do something wrong? Did I hurt you?"
Could it be possible? I made sure he was looking me in the eyes, "I love you." I said to him in my head.
"I love you too Annie but back to the- wait. You didn't move your lips when you said that! How did I hear that? Am I losing my mind?" Troy said panicked.
"Say something to me in your mind." I said excitedly, he looked at me confused but closed his eyes and put a concentrating look on his face.
"Concentrate. Say something to her in your head. Little fish?" I heard him say to me in my head, I squealed and wrapped my arms around his neck.
"You can mind link!"
"I can? But how?" He looked at me in wonder.
"I don't know." I shrugged my shoulders "We didn't know what would happen once I marked you."
"So I won't ever be able to say 'I'm sorry I didn't hear you honey' will I?" Troy asked.
"Nope." I told him laughing.
"I wonder what else is different." He said as he stood up from the bed and headed to the balcony, it was a good thing we were in the woods because he forgot to put his clothes back on.
"Are we really complaining about that?" Nan asked me. No, no we were not.
I followed him out on the balcony and looked at him, "What are you doing?"
"I'm wondering if I've lost my powers or not, but I'm afraid to try." He whispered making my heart break a little then looked at me. "Is being able to feel your feelings part of it? Because I just felt you get super sad."
"If it makes you feel better it goes both ways, I can feel that you're scared." I took his hand and squeezed it. He squeezed it back before letting go and putting both his hands out in front of him.
"Here goes nothing." He muttered as he closed his eyes. At first there wasn't anything and I was instantly sad for him, he knew this was a possibility but a possibility and reality are two different things.
"Troy honey I'm so-" I was cut off my a splash of water in my face. "Hey!" I yelled at him, how dare he splash me with water. Wait, he splashed me with water! I looked over at him to see him beaming and laughing at his now drenched mate.
"I'm sorry, I don't have the normal control over it like I used to but I think I could get better with practice." He shrugged at me sheepishly and I couldn't stay mad at him. I walked over to him and hugged him getting him wet in the process but he didn't complain. We were together and we were going to be okay.
"I love you little fish" He whispered to me thru our link.
"I love you too my unexpected mate, I love you too."