The elder addressed both Jonas and myself with a small bow of his head, Grand Alpha Jonas, “I'm sure you are eager to get the final part of the ceremony over with, so I will take my leave of you now”. Bowing our heads at the elder, Jonas wished him farewell and thanked him for performing the ceremony at such short notice. After assuring us both to think nothing of it, we saw him step down and head over to the other council members. Looking at the place he had walked to, my eye was drawn to a most familiar sight. My father stood there, pride beaming from him. I gasped, and following my line of sight, Jonas could see who I had seen and called him up to us.
He rushed forward and I was scooped up into a bear hug, laughing at this I told him to put me down, and when he did, I looked at him properly. I couldn’t put my finger on it, but something was different about him. “Genni, I am so proud of you, my darling” “I feel so lucky to have been included in this wonderful ceremony. You look out of this world stunning”. “Grand Alpha Jonas, thank you for the invite and use of your plane. I am so honoured”.
“Think nothing of it, I thought it best Genevieve have at least one familiar face”. I hugged my mate tightly and thanked him. “It means a great deal to me to have my father here Jonas, thank you my love”, and seeing him smile down at me and claim my lips in a deep kiss was like the frosting being put on the cake.
As the pack members started to leave, my father approached me and said quietly. “I'm only here for a few more hours. Can I have a word with you before I go? I realise the ceremony is not over for you both, but it is important that you know this.” My father had almost a pleading look on his face as he asked this of me.
“Of course,” I said, “and I think the ceremony is over now, right”? I looked at Jonas, who told me that there was one important thing left for us to do. As I became aware of what he was saying, I blushed. “Jonas, please, not in front of my father”!. This had both men laughing, which rankled me a bit, so I stomped off, as much as possible in this beautiful gown, anyway.
I walked toward Rosemary and Phil, who were chatting lightly with some pack members. As soon as I walked over, the members of the pack, Rosemary and Phil, all bowed their heads, and some showed the back of their necks as a sign of complete submission. I smiled at all of them and told them they didn’t have to do that.
“Luna”, said one man, “there is no way we could do anything else when you approach, please forgive us”. He looked around at the others and carried on, “what we saw happen here tonight is proof that the moon Goddess herself has blessed this union”. “We could not risk the disrespect it would show”. He bowed his head again, and I asked his name. “Wyatt, Grand Luna, this is my mate” and he pulled a small woman forward from the back of the crowd, “This is Julia”. He put his arm around her shoulders, and they looked at each other with love. “It’s so nice to meet you both.” I said, “I’m embarrassed to say I don’t know any members of your pack yet”. I was, of course, corrected at once, but this time it was Julia who spoke.
“Grand Luna, this is your pack now, and we are so honoured to have you as our Luna. We were all so excited when we were told Grand Alpha Jonas had not only found his mate but that the mate was a true fated one”. All this came from Julia in a gushing way, but I could tell she was being sincere. As I thanked them, Jonas walked over to me.
“Am I forgiven, my love?” I could see the little glint in his eye, so I decided to play along. “No, you are not. I am upset and demand an apology”, Jonas looked a little taken aback at first, but then he realised I was playing with him. He growled and pulled me to him, at once his mouth kissed my mark, which had already healed due to the werewolf side of me. All werewolves were born with heightened senses and the ability to heal quickly.
“Are you ready to leave, little wolf”? I looked up into his face, and frowning I asked where we were going. Rosemary, who was still standing by me, started to giggle a little. I turned to face her, a question already showing on my face. Before it could be asked, Rosemary took my hand and led me away from the clearing, to just inside the forest. The trees were more condensed here. “Now, you will take off your gown, hand it to me, and then put that robe on.” She pointed to a low-level branch that looked like it was holding out an arm with the robe on it.
''Why”? Rosemary smiled serenely and said “I don’t want this gown to rip, you never know one of your pups may want to wear it”. My eyes must have been like saucers because she came over to me and gave me a sideways hug. “Come on”, she said, “let’s get this gown off so the next part of the ceremony can take place”. “Where would I be going in the nude?” I asked incredulously, realising what I had just said, I started laughing, “I'm sorry Rosemary, I forgot who I was then”.
Rosemary joined in the laughter and helped me off with the gown and placed the robe around my shoulders. “It’s not necessary,” Rosemary said, “but Phil and I agreed that as you didn’t know anyone yet, shifting into your wolf in front of the whole pack would have made you too nervous”. I thanked her profusely, as she had definitely made the right call on that one. I was about to ask why I would need to shift when I heard a soft howl a few feet away, but hidden by the thickness of the trees. I could feel Sapphire pushing forward, it was a strange sensation, but it also felt familiar. “My turn”, she said inside my mind, and the next thing I knew, my body started to shift.
When I had finished, I howled myself to let Jax know Sapphire was now in control. I turned my head to look at Rosemary, but she seemed to be standing there with her mouth open. “I hope she’s okay.” I thought. Rosemary’s eyes widen again and said, “I'm okay Grand Luna, surprise just took me that I can hear you in my head, this is most unusual. You see”, she continued, “the newest Lunas have to be around their pack members in the station of Luna for a while before they can do what you just did to me”. Rosemary was smiling at me, but I could feel she was holding something back.
Before I could get a satisfactory reason why she would do this, she walked over and picked up the robe. It had fallen to the side when I started to shift and now lay on the forest floor. It was when this happened that I also sensed Jax. Turning around, I could see the large black wolf amble over to where I was standing. After rubbing himself along my side, he then ambled over to his mother, who had her arms ready to meet the large wolf. She gave him a quick embrace, only managing to put her arms around the top of his legs. “Go”, she said. “Go and be safe”, nodding his head in understanding, Jax walked back over to me and said, “You ready for this next part Sapphire, my love”. I didn’t know what we were supposed to do but trusting my mate, I followed him when he turned away from his mother and walked deeper into the forest.