(Picture of Jupiter, again want to say I don't own any of these photo's this is only how I invision their Character.)
(Warning: Triggering words in this chapter.)
"Goddess, you two were goals," Ella explained, combing through my hair with her fingers, making my hair look less messy. "It was like Alexandre was a monster devouring you."
"I will have to say it was pretty hot. Funny how you were the last of us to get mated but the first to have your ceremony." Raven handed me my attire for the Full Moon Celebration.
Tonight was the night I was presented to the pack as their Luna, although I was already taking on the responsibility behind closed doors. Of course, the Elders were livid to find out that we had completed our mating ceremony without them being there. Alpha Kent and Luna Graciella defended us, saying that they were present for our binding. Therefore, their arguments were null and void.
Alexandre's grandfather was livid that he went through with the ceremony. It made me feel small compared to him, although he was retired, it didn't stray away from the fact that he was an Alpha male, and I, an omega. Alexandre fought tooth and nail with our pack's past leaders, even our current Beta, and Delta joined in. It ended with Alexandre telling the elders that they could very well leave the pack if they had a problem with it. Our former Delta Kashus (Henry's Delta) left the pack that day, and the others ended up submitting, keeping their mouths shut.
The next day ended up being spent in chaos; several packs had dropped the alliance to our pack, the news ended up spreading like wildfire after Kashus departed from the pack. There was also news of several Alpha's heading their way to our pack to challenge Alexandre for the US's top spot.
Alexandre told me not to worry and that everything would be alright. Of course, that was easier said than done. I could feel the other Alpha's entering our territory this evening, wanting to challenge my mate. I was scared out of my mind, I knew others couldn't feel the danger coming into our pack, only Alexandre and I could.
I know Raven and Ella could sense that something was wrong and that they were trying to distract me, to calm my nerves; it was failing tremendously.
"Are you okay?" Ella asked, "You've been awfully quiet."
"I can feel them. There's so many." I looked up to my friends, distress evident in my voice.
"Stop stressing." Raven walked around me, placing his hands on my shoulders, looking me in the mirror. "Alexandre has this. He knew this would happen. I'm sure after a couple of pussy Alpha's try and fight him, and the others will back down, knowing they won't win."
"Raven's right, just take a deep breath and have faith in your mate. Let's focus on some positives. You're being presented as the Luna tonight. You've also been training for anything to be thrown at you, and you're one of the strongest bitches I know." Ella explained, "Now show this pack that you're not to be trifled with."
"You're right," I said, feeling a burst of adrenaline. "I am the Luna of this pack. I need to show them." I stood to my feet. The blood began pumping through my veins. I felt as if I could move a bulldozer at the moment with the adrenaline coursing my veins.
It didn't take long for me to get ready after their little pep talk. I was prepared to see Alexandre again, I hadn't seen him all day due to the ceremony, both of us had things to do to prepare for tonight. Mine was mostly the more straightforward stuff. Alexandre had to get statistics and other items prepared for tonight. He had also made it clear that although other Alpha's were allowed on the territory, other wolves were not, he had purposely upped the patrols of our borders tonight, making sure everything would go without a hitch.
"Y'know little one, you seem to be eerily quiet when you're in that head of yours." Alexandre poked my side, making me almost jump out of my skin.
"Sorry, I just can't quit thinking." I leaned against him, wanting to have contact with him.
"No need to worry love, everything will be handled accordingly, of course, there will be backlash, it's expected." He wrapped his arm around my shoulders. I could hear our former Alpha, my now father in law, presenting himself on stage, explaining tonight was the last night he would be acting Alpha of our pack. He said his farewell to being the protector of this pack, introducing Alexandre as the new Alpha. "That's my queue, I'll be calling you up there in a second, until then," He pecked his lips to my temple.
My mate walked up the wooden steps indented from the previous pack leaders, decades-old, surprisingly, the stage still stood firm. The pack was cheering for Alexandre at the moment, but what happened when they knew about me? Would they still hold the same energy?
"Blessed be," Alexandre said, the roaring crowd, suddenly died out, they responded to him. "Tonight is a special night for you and I. Tonight, is the beginning of my rule of the pack, I have slowly been taking over since my birthday, my father has been preparing me for the past two weeks to take over the pack completely. I want to say I'm grateful that this pack is mine to hold, I've grown up with all of you being in my life, I know our pack is grand, but I know I've met all of you, from children to elders." He paused, I peeked over the stage, watching Alexandre gesture toward the crowd. "I'm glad to call you all, my family."
"I know you're all anxious, I can tell by the crowd, I do want to let you know I did find my mate the day of my birthday. I know there are probably some of you speculating on who it might be, tonight I will present to you, my mate August Reid." He turned his back toward the crowd, which had begun to start a low roar, holding his hand out for me to come and grab. His eyes twinkled in adoration for me, all of my nerves settled down.
I slowly climbed the stairs, joining Alexandre on the stage. My heart fluttered, the eyes staring me down began to make me uncomfortable as I approached my mate, lacing my fingers with his. I could feel that he was anxious, his palms were damp, and he was tense next to me. He had acted so calmly, but now that he actually presented me to the pack, I could tell he was hoping for approval from his pack.
"Wow, so our Alpha's a faggot." Someone's voice stood out among the rest, my eyes immediately shot to the person. The man was obviously in his late thirties, early forties. I tucked my chin to my chest, knowing that this was the beginning of the insults.
"Do you feel better with that second-grade insult?" Someone else piped up.
"Listen, we knew that some would not accept our pairing, that's completely fine. If you want to leave the pack, my pack, be my guest, no one will hold you back. If you want to challenge me because of who my mate is, be my guest again." Alexandre spoke above everyone, bringing them to simmer down. "Just let us complete the Ceremony first."
No one else bothered to interrupt Alexandre after that, he continued with the ceremony, keeping his arm secured around my waist the entire time as he spoke. I could read the crowd's expression, for the most part, it looked as if our pack didn't even seem phased. There were a few people who looked displeased with me being up on stage with him. The glares almost made me want to curl up in a ball and hide. I couldn't do that, I needed to show them that I was worthy of being their Luna. I kept my chin up, showing no fear, despite the dread I was filled with.
Once Alexandre was done celebrating the lives that joined our pack and expressed his sympathy to those we had lost this past month, he concluded the ceremony. As he did so, I could see the several Alpha's that had traveled to our pack to challenge Alexandre, as a few of our pack members. They stood at the front of the stage, staring up at the two of us. Alexandre gave me a reassuring squeeze before letting go of me.
"I assume you all want to challenge me for the spot of number one in the US?" Alexandre stepped toward the edge of the stage.
"I challenge you first, Alexandre Reid, to take our country's position since you've gone against everything about being an Alpha." A man in his fifties replied, slamming his fist down on the dated wood of the stage.
"Oh Charles, I figured your son would have taken over your pack now. I accept your challenge." Alexandre growled, jumping from the stage, landing on the ground below. He began pulling his ceremonial attire off, letting it fall on the dead grass.
He began to shift into his wolf form, it was the first time I had seen him change since the last ceremony. His black wolf, almost resembled a bear, he looked to be larger than Alpha Kent, his size was jaw-dropping. The other wolves that planned to fight my mate visibly paled at the sight of him. All the training, he had been working himself day and night to become stronger, faster, undefeatable. It looked like it had paid off in significant ways. The pack members that had remained in the clearing seemed bewildered by their new Alpha, seeing how strong he was.
Alexandre licked his chops, baring his teeth to the Alpha that had challenged him. For a split second, I could see the Alpha's eyes hint fear before he shifted into his wolf form. Despite being a seasoned Alpha, he looked quite small compared to my mate's monstrous form. His coat was grey; there were hints of brown still in his fur, but age had taken over his wolf's form.
It was over before it began, Alexandre quickly defeated his opponent with just one swipe of his talon. Charles was knocked out, phasing back into his human form. Alexandre turned around, baring his teeth at the other Alpha's that had gathered to challenge him. I noticed a few of the Alpha's had stepped back, no longer wanting to challenge my mate.
A younger Alpha stepped up, pulling his clothes off, transforming into his wolf form, again, much smaller than Alexandre. I sat on the edge of the stage, crossing my legs, watching my mate mow over the Alpha's that challenged him. He didn't even beat them into oblivion as most Alpha's would do; he simply knocked them out.
"Y'know, I don't see the big macho Alpha deal here." Someone said, sitting next to me. I glanced over, seeing a girl who almost looked my age, maybe a little older. "'He has an Omega as a mate, he's not a good Alpha.'" She mocked. "You see that doofus over there with the almost white hair? Yeah, that idiot is my mate, Samuel." She pointed to one of the Alpha's.
"Well, hello," I replied, staring at Alexandre. "Hopefully, our mate's don't kill one another."
"From what it looks like, my mate will be knocked down to size. Which he really needs, his ego needs to be hurt." She clapped her hands together, placing them in her lap.
"Didn't you say he was your mate?" I chuckled. Her hair was purple, lips matching, making her ebony skin look radiant, she looked absolutely stunning, she wore a light pink dress that stopped at her knees, and she was barefoot, her shoes sitting on the stage beside her.
"Doesn't make him any less of an idiot. The name's Jupiter, by the way." She reached her hand out to grab mine, I politely grabbed it, shaking it.
"August. I was actually scared about tonight, I don't know why I even bothered getting anxious, Alexandre's tearing them down like they're nothing." I glanced back at my mate, who was on his next opponent.
"I'm waiting for my mate to chicken out like the rest of the Alphas. Your Alexandre looks like he was a grown man out of the womb. He's so fucking big." Jupiter's face held an awed look.
"Well, he's trained day and night since we had the inkling we might be mates. He knew something like this would happen when word got around about our mating." I rubbed my neck, where Alexandre's mating mark rested.
"How did you guys have an inkling?" She questioned, swinging her legs back and forth, leaned back on her palms.
"Well, it's a story, I was almost assaulted, he helped me out that night, took me home to help me sober up. Even though I was sober by the time he got me to the Alpha's house. He stepped out of the room for something I don't even remember, and viola my heat started. Our wolves swore up and down that we were mates since that day."
"Damn, that sounds wild, did y'all y' know, do it that night?" She blushed, curious. "I heard that Omega's heats can be intense, and it makes dominant wolves act like fools."
"Well, the details are kind of fuzzy, I just know whatever we were doing I was pleased just being in his presence. I really wanted to that night, but we didn't do much other than touch one another that night. It's a crime in our pack for dominant wolves to take advantage of Omega's while they're in their heat. He kinda did that, but I was consenting to it one hundred percent." I chuckled, trying to remember all of what happened that night. I wonder how everything would have worked out if we had gone the full way that night. Would things be the same? The answer was obviously a hard no, I'm pretty sure I wouldn't be sitting on this stage right now had we done that.
"Do you think that was the goddess's way of telling the two of you early that you guys were mates?" She asked, flicking her eyes to her mate.
"I don't know, but it sparked something inside of me to begin training, to finish up school, it brought purpose to me." I smiled, watching Alexandre take down another Alpha.
"That's so freaking cute. You're adorable y' know? My mate isn't terrible, but he was pressured by our elders to challenge Alexandre, got a big ego, thinking he could take the number one Alpha in the State's down. That's why we're here now. If he doesn't win, though, I'm going to make him sign a peace treaty between our packs, and it looks like what I'm saying is going to go." She chuckled. "The other Luna's are all cowering over there," She pointed to the line of trees where several Women were standing, most biting their nails watching their mates get their asses handed to them. "When we could possibly be making friends work together. Of course, they all think they're better than you, an Omega, but we're the fucking same, to be honest. Woo, our bone structure is a little stronger, we can 'fight,' which we never do by the way. We're less submissive or some shit. I dunno, it's stupid. I mean yeah, submissive males can't have children like Omega's can, and we're not quite as small I just guess I don't see it." I nodded my head in agreement.
"Well, Alexandre accepting me as his mate was the beginning of change, I'm just nervous because next week we're heading to Germany for the National Alpha Summit. I feel like it'll be similar to tonight, other Alpha's challenging him just because of me." I rubbed the back of my neck.
"Don't worry babes, if your mate can wipe out all of these wimps, he could probably mow over the Alpha's around the world." She reassured me, patting my shoulder. "Oh look, my Sammy is actually going to fight him. I bet you ten bucks he lasts ten seconds."
"Mmm, I'll give him the benefit of the doubt he waited close to the end, Alexandre's probably feeling the effects of fighting too many Alpha's, I'll give him an entire minute. Let's up the stakes, I have a crisp fifty in my clothes."
"Fucking deal." Jupiter held her hand out to shake on the deal, I firmly shook her hand, returning our attention back on our mates. Samuel shifted into his wolf form, his coat a light blonde color, slender compared to my mate. He charged toward Xandre, knocking harshly into my mate.
Alexandre hesitated for a second, regaining his footing from the sudden intrusion. He bared his teeth at Samuel, who did not hesitate to ram himself into Alexandre again.
I could hear Jupiter curse under her breath as her mate went past the forty-second mark. Alexandre stood on his hind legs when Samuel started toward him again, this time, my mate landed a harsh blow on his skull, knocking the other wolf out.
"Well, it looks like I'm short fifty dollars." She hopped off the stage. "It was nice talking to you August, we'll be talking soon, hopefully after tomorrow, The Black Sun pack will be allied with the Riverfalls pack. I gotta go do mate shit, like take care of my big oaf." She turned her back to me, heading to her mate that was passed out on the ground with a few other Alpha's.
It felt refreshing to talk to her, she made me feel more confident. I hoped that we could be good friends later on.
A/N: Sorry I took a hella break, I wanted to do it longer but decided to at least give y'all an update, I'm trying to get more chapters written, I'm just about to get stuck at this next part I'm writing because I know I want it in the story, I just want to make sure I convey the emotions and reactions well.