We slipped into a comfortable routine, at last, over the week that followed. I trained every morning training at the crack of dawn to avoid the crowds, which still made me a little anxious. Ashleigh joined me and we grew really close, really fast. Jamie was right, it was nice to have a girlfriend, especially since Sarah was busy running her bakery on the mainland, though I'd never admit that to him. A couple days after we first met we got to have our girls' day.
After training we hit the showers in the gym, listening to her cheesy throwback pop playlist.
"You ready?" She asked, slinging her gym bag over her shoulder. I nodded and we headed back out into the main gym where Derek was waiting to escort us back to the pack house.
Ashleigh led us to her's and Finn's suite, only a few rooms down from mine and Jamie's. It was really similar to ours, they'd obviously been originally decorated by the same person but Ashleigh's touch was everywhere. Soft lamps dulled the harshness of the white walls, cozy rugs, cushions and blankets softened the harsh leather and wood, and beautiful prints were peppered across the walls. There was a beautiful bouquet of roses in the center of the table. Ashleigh smiled when she saw me admiring them.
"Finn brings me flowers every week when he visits the businesses on the mainland," she explained.
"Aww he's such a big softie," I said with a grin.
"He really is, I don't know how I got so lucky to have him as a mate," she said with a gentle smile. I reached out and rubbed her shoulder.
"Hey, you're both insanely lucky to have each other," I said.
She grinned and got down to business with our girls day. She braided my hair, painted my nails and put a face mask on me and we sat for hours drinking wine and talking on her sofa before she decided she wanted to make biscuits. I had no idea how to make biscuits, but I happily sat on the breakfast bar opposite her and helped her weigh and mix ingredients. They'd just gone into the oven when Jamie and Finn walked in. Finn rounded the counter and crushed Ashleigh into a bear-hug and I smiled. Jamie leaned on the counter next to me, his hand finding its way to my back, he gently rubbing my spine, sending tingles through my whole body.
"Hey, you've got a little something," he said with laugh, pulling his sleeve down at wiping the tip of my nose. He leaned in and kissed it so softly I barely felt it and I sighed contededly.
"You guys are just precious together," Ashleigh interjected.
"Are you joining us for the pack dinner tonight?" Finn asked nonchalantly and I looked at Jamie quizzically.
"We have a big get together once a month or so, with most of our pack on the mainland we don't get to see each other as much as we'd like to so we do a big dinner," he explained.
"That sounds like a lot of people," I mumbled, unsure if I was ready for such a big step.
"It's casual, it's just like a school dinner hall really," Finn said reassuringly as if I had any idea what eating in a school dinner hall felt like.
"But I don't really know anyone," I mumbled.
"Nonsense," Ashleigh quipped. "You'll be with us and Evan, Sarah and Xavier will be there."
"My family is coming too," Jamie added. "They're really excited to meet you."
"Your family?" I stuttered. "No way, I'm not ready to meet the parents, no, no, no."
"Relax, they're gonna love you," he insisted, stroking the back of my hand with his thumb.
"How am I supposed to just meet the parents? We haven't even defined what we are! Are we together, are we dating? We share a bed but you've never even kissed me so how do we go from that to all of a sudden meeting the parents?" I quizzed.
Finn burst into laughter, making me jump as I'd forgotten they were even there. I felt my cheeks warm.
"Sorry, I just forget how humans need to define things so specifically," he said.
"You're his mate," Ashleigh offered with a shrug.
"That's all there is to it in our world.," Jamie said softly, taking my chin between his finger and thumb and gently tilting my head up to meet his kind eyes. "My parents know what you are to me and want nothing more than to welcome you to our family with open arms."
"It's really that simple?" I asked, stifling the giggle that always threatened to come out when he spoke so formally.
"It's really that simple," he said reassuringly, gently kissing the top of my head. "Besides, wouldn't you rather meet them at a pack dinner where there are distractions instead of one-on-one?"
"Yikes, seriously take that offer Gracie," Finn said, earning himself a swat from Ashleigh.
~
Jamie and Finn left to finish up some business before dinner, leaving Ashleigh and I to pull the cookies out.
"We should bring these to the Omegas cooking tonight," she suggested. "That would be the perfect gesture for your first dinner as Luna."
"Okay," I said with a smile. "What am I supposed to wear to something like this?"
"It's pretty casual, there's actually a dress in your wardrobe that I picked up for you with this exact dinner in mind. I followed her through to mine and Jamie's room where she rifled through the closet to find what she was looking for.
"There is it!" She exclaimed, emerging with a beautiful baby blue covered in soft floral print. It had a stunning sweetheart neckline with off shoulder sleeves. I quickly changed into it and slipped on the white low rise leather trainers Ashleigh picked out for me.
She straightened our hair and helped me apply some subtle makeup, disappeared for a minute while she changed into a similar dress, but in light pink paired with strappy sandals, and came back with a small gift box.
"This is a special gift from Finn and I, a welcome to the pack," she said shyly.
I opened it and it was a dainty silver chain, with a beautiful pendant on it. I looked up at her, feeling tears spring to my eyes.
"Is this the pack crest?" I asked and she smiled gently.
"Yes."
I studied it. It was a shield with stunning etchings of a lake shore dotted with trees, a howling wolf above it. It had our pack name on it, and I ran my fingers over the foreign language etched across the top.
"Vis et honor usque ad finem," Ashleigh explained. "It's Latin, it means strength and honour til the end."
I smiled, dabbing away my tears as she gently put the necklace on me.
"Thank you," I whispered. "It's so perfect."
She squeezed my hand reassuringly. "You're welcome, a Luna should always have the pack crest. Let's go meet the Omega's, yeah?" She asked and I flashed her a grin, grabbing our box of cookies.
The meeting went very smoothly. Everyone was very welcoming and grateful for the cookies. Mostly the ones cooking were younger pack members, in their late teens or early twenties exploring ways to serve the pack other than becoming a warrior. The lady running the kitchen was middle aged, calm and gentle, but clearly with a stern demeanor to keep everyone on track. She introduced herself as Xavier's mate, and I smiled to myself, seeing how perfect they must be together.
The next thing I knew I was being ushered into a huge room adjacent to the kitchen. There were long, communal style benches in orderly lines, already scattered with groups of pack members. We made our way through them, greeting those I'd met already. We said hello to Sarah, who's mother pulled me into the kindest hug and welcomed me to the pack, her eyes fiercely communicating her sadness and anger at what had happened to us.
The sheer amount of people was a little intimidating, but Ashleigh kept her hand tightly wrapped around mine, giving me strength and confidence as we made our way through the crowds towards the head table where Jamie, Evan and Finn were waiting for us, deep in conversation. As we approached them Jamie stood and pulled a chair out for me, leaning down to kiss my cheek as I took a seat. His eyes caught my necklace and his breath caught in his throat.
"The pack crest!" He whispered, his face lighting up. "Ashleigh!"
"Our Luna deserves to feel part of our pack," Finn said simply while Ashleigh grinned.
"You're one us now, Gracie," Evan said, leaning around Jamie to show me his hand where a signet ring sported the same crest. Finn and Jamie flashed theirs too, and Ashleigh flipped her wrist to show hers on a leather bracelet. My heart swelled.
"You guys!" I said, fighting back tears again.
I'd barely had a chance to compose myself before Jamie spun around to face the door.
"Mum, Dad, Meredith!" He said excitedly. "So glad you could make it, this is my mate, Gracie."
"It's so nice to finally meet you!" The woman said warmly, instantly wrapping me in a tight hug. She pulled back slightly to study me, her blue eyes searching mine. She didn't look old enough to be his mother, he was 22 and his mum looked barely a day over 30. His dad, on the other hand, had a kind wrinkled face, framed by unruly blonde hair that was familiar to me. Jamie was the spitting image of him.
"Edith, please, give the poor girl some space," he chastised gently, shaking my hand. "I'm James, this is my wife Edith and my daughter Meredith. It's wonderful to have you as part of the family."
"It's nice to meet you all," I said, nervously tugging at the hem of my dress.
"Can we sit down? I'm staaaaarving," Meredith asked, giving me a conspiratory wink.
"Yes, absolutely, let's eat," Jamie echoed as we all took our seats.
Several of the young pack members emerged from the kitchen carrying trays of food, making a beeline for our table first. It was served kind of buffet-style, with large plates of fresh fish, potatoes, and vegetables on every table we could help ourselves to. Once every table had been served and the youngsters had joined their family or friends at the benches, Jamie stood once more, clearing his throat.
"Good evening Keswick pack, thank you all for joining us on the island this evening, it's always a pleasure to have everybody here. I'd like to take this opportunity to officially introduce to your new Luna, my mate Gracie. I know you will all make her feel very welcome here, and for that I thank you. Now please, dig in," he said gracefully, gesturing for everybody to eat.
Heat flushed to my cheeks as every eye in the room had been on me. Casual dinner, he said! Casual! Meredith caught on to my embarrassment from her seat the other side of Jamie and rolled her green eyes, shaking her head so her long, brown locks waved slightly. "Welcome to Alpha life," she laughed.
"Here Gracie, let me get you some food, please ignore my little sister," Jamie said, shooting her a chastising look as he grabbed me a plate.
"It's okay, I'm quite capable of getting my own food," I argued, perplexed.
"In a group setting, a male always serves his mate their food, it's our custom," he said gently. I cast my eyes across the room and noticed that it seemed everyone was doing it, so I relented.
"Thank the Moon Goddess I haven't found a mate yet," Meredith teased, eating a potato straight from the central plate with a rebellious sparkle in her eye.
"Meredith, please, we're in company," her mother muttered, swatting her hand as she reached for another.
"You would be lucky to have your mate already," Jamie retorted. "Mind your manners."
"I don't need to worry about that for years," she scoffed.
"Your 18th birthday is in just a few weeks, you might be worrying about it sooner rather than later," he chastised as he placed a plate of food in front of me. I dug straight in, eager for a distraction from the awkward conversation.
"May the Goddess bless whoever has the job of taming you," Evan said gruffly to my right, eleciting a dramatic eye roll from Meredith as she took a huge bite of a bread roll.
"Me?" She scoffed through her mouthful. "May the Goddess bless the poor woman who has to put up with you and your brooding, grumpy pants."
I burst into laughter at the look of shock and anger that flashed across Evan's face. He scowled at me playfully.
"What?" I asked defensively. "You are very brooding!"
He clutched his chest dramatically. "Ouch! I thought we were friends!"
"We are!" I laughed. "It doesn't make you any less grumpy."
"Yeah, well, you'd be grumpy too if you were still looking for your mate at 22," he said, looking down at the floor.
I nudged him gently with my elbow. "You'll find her," I said softly, and he smiled.
"I like her," Meredith quipped suddenly breaking the tense sadness that had fallen over us all. "Can we keep her?"
Everyone laughed, turning their attention back to their food.
"If she'll have us," Jamie said, sharing a shy smile with me and my heart melted.
"It's not like I have anywhere else to go," I joked, and he squeezed my hand.
James cleared his throat from the other side of Meredith. "Speaking of that, I've arranged travel plans with Iestyn. He and Osian have cleared their schedules for all next week, if that's a good time for you both?"
Jamie looked to me for an answer and I nodded nervously. In just a few days I could maybe get my memories back, and nothing filled me with more hope or panic.