CHAPTER FIFTY-TWO
Taylor saw red.
Before she could process her emotions, her wolf sprung awake, probably scenting the shewolf that had caused them so much pain and she sprung out from inside her.
Her mate was unguarded around this woman because he felt she was just a friend but she instead was used as a trap to kidnap Taylor.
The pain and suffering she went through while kidnapped and the loss of her baby was all linked to this woman.
In one minute, Taylor was looking at the woman who was screaming in Tessa's face and the next, her wolf shifted, pushing her to the background and Celia ran at the unsuspecting woman, snarls pouring out from her throat.
She clamped her teeth on ankles and in one bite, broke it into pieces.
The woman screamed, from shock and pain. Things scattered all over the shop but Celia didn't notice, she was hellbent on destroying the woman's foot.
“Who the hell is this! Get her away from me right now or I'll call my Dante and have her dealt with!” She screamed, further infuriating Celia.
Taylor was angry but knew she wasn't ready to become a murderer. In fact, the moment she mentioned her mate's name, Taylor could see the plans forming in her wolf's mind. Her wolf jumped up, ready to bite the neck of the woman and Taylor took back control immediately, her naked form seething from the interaction. She slapped the woman, pouring so much anger in it.
“Dante is my mate! You know that, my mark is on his neck and yet you still tried to take him from me. Your actions caused a tidal wave of suffering for me and I lost my baby as a result of that. Your feet might heal but I'll always have this pain. Now, tonight, I'll become the Luna of this pack and if you know you want your life intact, you must make sure I never set my eyes on you because I will let my wolf free on you and trust me, you are nothing compared to her. Now, get up and get out of my sight!” Taylor shouted, anger pouring out of her, her red hair shining.
The woman immediately shifted to her wolf and took off, tails between her legs.
Tessa came and hugged Taylor
“I'm so sorry for everything. She's my sister and has always wanted to be mated to Dante. She didn't get it and yet she still kept trying. Did you know she rejected her mate so she could wait for Dante?”
“That's sick of her. I can't imagine someone being so obsessed with another that they fail to respect a mate bond. My mate wanted me to mark him on both sides to make it as obvious as possible. Maybe she was the reason behind it and yet, she treated it like it was a normal tattoo. I'm so angry right now” Taylor replied, picking up her spoilt dress and heading back to the changing room.
She looked at herself in the mirror and noticed how her hair was glowing.
“Celia? Are you alright?” She asked her wolf gently.
“I loved him, Tee. I protected him with everything. I tried! And yet, it was all for nothing” her wolf told her, her voice shaking.
Taylor was done dressing at this point.
“It wasn't your fault. That's why I'm so angry at that bitch. There's nothing that justifies going after someone who already has a mate. I blame myself for reacting that way but it wouldn't have happened if she didn't allow herself to be used by Jethro. But we are not going to let her win. Tonight, we'll become more than his mate. As his Luna, we'll have a whole pack who will be in support of our union. She and everyone like her will never be able to make us that angry again. And we will heal from this loss okay? We have our mate by our side so we'll be fine” she assured her wolf.
“Okay. I'll go back to sleep. I barely have energy for anything. Call me when I'm needed”
“Do you want me to postpone the ceremony? I don't want to stress you out if you are not up for it. I insisted on it out of anger. Now that I think about it, we should have just let Dante postpone it.”
“Well, it doesn't matter now. I can hear the buzz in the pack. We can't cut off their excitement just like that. We're going to have to go through with it. Is that the dress you wanted to wear?” She asked, noticing the torn white dress in Taylor's arm.
“Yea. Maybe we'll look for something else. You don't have to worry about it”
“Alright. Just choose something that will make you feel beautiful. There's only one Luna acceptance ceremony in our lifetime and we want to remember it with joy.” She told Taylor as she stepped out to the store.
“Thank you Celia. Go to sleep. I'll call you later” she told her wolf and turned her attention to the room.
The two of them were frantic, going through every rack in the shop.
“What are we looking for?” Taylor asked
June paused, tears in her eyes.
“I wanted to be the one to style you for your special night and now, it's looking like nothing is better than what I gave you before. I'm sorry for disappointing you”
“Is that why you are crying? Come on now. It can't be that hard to find something. Let me look at these ones here.” She picked a dress from a selection that they had laid out on a chair in the now scattered store. “This looks amazing, why am I not wearing it?” She asked, admiring the floor length white dress with silver designs all over it. The V neck was a little bit low but she knew it'll still look beautiful.
“We weren't sure you'd like it,” Tessa replied.
“I'm not hard to please, okay? Just find something that will work. No need to start walking all over the shopping complex looking for an outfit.” Taylor told them, sounding tired and sitting down.
“Are you okay?” Tessa asked, noticing her changed mood.
“Yea, I'm just not used to all of these so, a little bit overwhelmed after all of that. Did I spoil anything? Please, I'll pay for it”
“Oh, no no, don't worry about that. She really did deserve whatever you decide to do to her, No offense, Tessa but your sister is a class A A-hole” June said.
“None taken. I've always wished my sister would change but she just kept veering off into the deep end. Someone was going to have to teach her a lesson. I'm just so sad Sad died early. He won't have allowed her to become so vain” Tessa replied.
“Growing up with her must have been difficult for you.” Taylor responded, pity in her eyes. “Anyways, let me go check this dress and these other ones. No more gloomy business. We are here to make me shine” Taylor chuckled, succeeding in lifting up the mood as she did a little dance on her way to the changing room.
When they got back, she rushed to their house with her bags of goodies in tow alongside Tessa's bags of the season's latest outfits.
Taylor was about to go inside when Damian called her attention.
“Can I see you for a minute?” He said, still favoring his right foot as the other foot was still in stitches. Apparently, he didn't have fast healing as wolves did.
“Oh, okay. Tessa, please I'll be right with you in a second.” She handed over the remaining bags to her and walked towards Damian.
“What's up? You look tired. What have you been up to?” She said, noticing the bags under his eyes.
“Well, I've been meaning to speak to you. Just got caught up with everything happening all at once.
So, I've been meaning to talk to you about something. I've found my mate”
“You have? How? We've not had a ceremony yet” she asked, confused.
“Well, I'm not a werewolf. My animal is different and follows a different rule. I've met her and I've been trying to contain my emotions but I don't know how to anymore. I'm going crazy so I don't know if something can be done? It's been ages since I've given up on a mate and here I see her and she doesn't even look my way” he said, longing in his eyes.
Taylor smiled, seeing the beauty of love.
“Well, we can't just change the date. What you can do however, is to woo her indirectly. Make her your friend first. That way, you can take her to another pack's mating ball if she's willing. How does that sound?” She asked.
“It's perfect. Thank you so much. Let me go get ready, I'll start tonight” he said, rushing off with excitement.
Dante walked in while the conversation was rounding and as usual, he felt a spike of jealousy at the sight of his mate with this man.
Unable to stop himself, he grabbed her and kissed her passionately, to Taylor's surprise.