Chapter 74 The Luna ceremony
Chapter 74 The Luna ceremony
Auren's pov
I open the lid of the box, my hands shaking slightly as I pull out a thin piece of red lace.
My face burns as the realization of what it is hits me, making me drop it back into the box.
"I bet Alpha Dravik is going to tear it off you the second the party ends,” Maureen says, as she watches me. “I’ve heard the rumors about him—I bet he is insane in bed."
Hope smacks her arm with a makeup brush, scoffing loudly. "Maureen, stop ogling my older brother, it's totally disgusting!"
"Hey, let a girl dream, jeez!" Maureen pouts, rubbing her arm.
Lana lets out a laugh, turning from the mirror where she was applying lip gloss. "Auren can officially confirm or deny the rumors for us. So..." She turns her gaze toward me just as Hope sits me in a chair and starts working on my hair. "Is the dark Alpha really as good as the legends say he is?"
"Ewwwww! Lana you have a mate already," Hope groans, covering her ears with her hands while laughing.
“I’m just curious.”
I drop my gaze to the floor, my cheeks burning as I remember what Alpha Dravik loves doing to me with his mouth.
I didn’t even know someone could feel pleasure like that. And the way he says he can’t get enough as if he enjoys it too.
He's more than good.
"Oh my God! It’s true. Just look at her face!" Maureen squeals, clapping her hands together in delight.
"That’s because you guys are embarrassing her,” Hope says. "Go find your own terrifying Alpha to obsess over!"
Maureen only pouts, while Lana laughs so hard she has to lean against the mirror.
Their teasing continues while they finish getting me ready, and somehow the noise makes the fear inside me quieter. Hope works in my hair and helps me with the dress, while Lana helps fasten my necklace and Maureen kneels beside me to adjust the straps of my heels.
It feels…..nice.
Maybe the rest of the pack will be kind to me like this.
The girls keep talking about the ceremony, the pack, the food, the music, and who is likely to embarrass themselves after a few drinks, and for the first time I understand why people look forward to parties.
I have never dressed up for one before.
I have spent years serving food and drinks at our own pack’s celebrations. Sometimes Alpha Marcus locks me in the basement so I won’t be seen or embarrass him. I find myself pretending not to care, secretly wondering what it would feel like to wear something beautiful and have people look at me because I belonged.
When they finally finish, Hope pulls me toward the mirror and I forget to breathe.
The gown is a deep, striking red that seems almost darker beneath the bedroom lights, clinging to my body before falling around my legs. Its neckline dips low across my chest, the design leaving my shoulders bare, while a high slit runs along my left thigh and reveals my leg whenever I move. The gown feels soft against my skin, and I run my hands down the sides as though checking whether this really belongs to me.
My hair is gathered up into loose curls, with a few tendrils falling around my face. Hope has done something around my eyes that makes them appear larger, while the necklace resting against my chest draws attention to the low neckline of the gown.
I touch the necklace, then look at my reflection again, unable to recognize the woman in the mirror with the girl who once slept on a cold floor.
“So?” Hope asks, placing both hands on my shoulders. “What do you think?” She smiles at my reflection. “Your figure hugs that gown so well. Dravik isn’t going to be able to keep his eyes off you tonight.”
“I’m…..it’s nice,” I manage.
“Nice?” Maureen asks as she applies a red lipstick in front of the mirror. “You’re gorgeous.”
“Come on girls let’s go. Garric is already screaming in my head that everyone is waiting. Don’t forget your earplugs, Auren,” Hope says as she rushes us to the door.
When we head downstairs, I expect to hear music and voices spilling through the house, but the house is quiet. I stop at the bottom of the stairs, confused, until Hope takes my arm and guides me toward the front door where a car waits outside with Garric leaning against it.
“The ceremony isn’t here?” I ask, glancing back at the quiet house.
She shakes her head, smiling as she opens the car door. “No, we’re having it in the woods.” She gestures toward the waiting car. “We have private grounds there for ceremonies and celebrations.”
The drive takes us beneath towering trees, the darkness outside broken only by the headlights and occasional lights glowing between the branches. As soon as we step out, music reaches me, followed by the murmur of hundreds of voices, and I stop in the middle of the path because the clearing ahead looks nothing like the woods.
There is a big fire burning at the center, keeping everywhere warm. Lights hang between the trees like tiny stars, while lanterns line the paths and flowers surround a raised platform at the end of the clearing. Long tables covered in white cloth stretches all around, filled with all kinds of food and drinks. People fill the open space in beautiful clothes, laughing, talking, eating, and greeting one another as music plays somewhere.
My fingers tighten around Hope's arm as I stare. There are so many people, and every one of them seems to belong here, yet somehow I’m the one they have gathered to see.
Then I see him.
Alpha Dravik.
He’s talking to Gamma Brandon at the end of the clearing, dressed in black, his jacket hugging his wide shoulders, his black shirt opened halfway showing just how lean his body is. With his handsome face, black hair and silver eyes, he looks every bit as the Alpha.
My mate.
I can’t believe he belongs to me.
He turns toward us as we approach and I see his eyes widen slightly as he simply stares at me. His eyes move over my face first, lingering as though he’s trying to make sure I’m really the woman standing before him, then they travel down my body. Twice. Before stopping at my chest.
The look on his face makes my heart stumble. It does things to my body.
Hope leans close to my ear and whispers, “Told you.”
I can’t look away from him.
Neither can he.