Chapter Thirty-One: Alpha Ceremony (Part Five)
Sunday
Emerald's POV:
Before I could step forward, I remembered the twins were still there. I looked towards them, pulling at Azreal's hand and at the hand that Zeke was holding. They were looking right back at me. Before I let go of their hands and made my way toward the twins, the quads let out a low snarl and stiffened slightly. I rolled my eyes internally. They should be kissing the twins’ bums right now; if it weren't for the twins convincing me and telling me that my soul would know if they were lying, they would probably not even be here.
I walked toward the twins, stood in front of them, and looked into their green eyes. Bold move I know, especially knowing they were the future Supreme Alphas, but I had this feeling they would never hurt me, that they were in a way my protectors. I let out a little smile and said,
"Thank you for helping me in the dining hall, I don't think I was in the state of mind to defend myself. I appreciate it, and thank you for helping me see reason; if it wasn't for you two, I probably wouldn't have worked out the problem with my mates,” I finished, trying my best not to hug them, even though my body was screaming for me to do that. I didn't need the quads going bat shit crazy and the twins to think I was crossing some boundary that they might not want me to.
"You don't need to thank us, Luna; we would have done it for anyone. Just be careful next time,” said Josiah, smiling down at me.
"It's not wrong to defend yourself when you think the situation is getting out of hand. You are the to be Luna of the most powerful pack after ours. You hold great power, show it!" said Isaiah, also giving me a smile at the end.
That would probably take time. I was used to staying invisible and only wanted by my close group of friends. From the look of it, the pack wasn't ecstatic to have me as Luna as well; I hope I can measure up to what the quads want. Because, honestly, as much as I knew I would need to change my behaviour, I didn't want to. I didn't want to be someone or something that I wasn't. Even if it took years to get the pack to like me, I would eventually make them, but by my way, and not by becoming a ruler that people perceived as entitled and unworthy. However, I just nodded at the twins’ words, sending them a small smile and making my way back to the quads.
On the way back to the packhouse the quads seemed relatively quiet. I could see they were mind-linking, probably amongst themselves. I didn't disturb them. They were probably stressed with the ceremony, and the added drama today was probably making them feel more uneasy. As soon we reached our room, I turned to face the quads and said,
"I would like to apologize again, and before you say I don't need to, I do! It's for my sanity. I do not doubt your loyalty towards me, and I trust you all. So please forget about whatever happened today and focus on tonight. I promise I'll be more careful next time when interacting with a similar situation and notify one of you, Hannah or Luca. Over time, I believe I'll be able to handle these situations myself as well,” I finished.
I just hoped that I didn't need to.
Dealing with bat-shit crazy exes didn't come with the job description of having mates.
"Little Luna, please, no more apologizing. We'll only believe you once you stop,” said Ezekiel.
"Yes, my love, Ezekiel is right. It is our fault; as we said, our past made you believe what you were told. But let's forget that this happened and focus on tonight,” said Azreal smiling.
"Yeah, angel, and we have no doubt you'll be able to manage a situation like this by yourself if the need ever arises again. But we can assure you that you'll never be in any kind of similar situation again for the rest of your life,” said Zeke, leaning down and kissing my forehead.
"Now get in there before Hannah decides to kill us before we even get to be Alphas,” said Sam, easing the stiff atmosphere.
I laughed and nodded, kissing each quad on the cheek. I turned to head in as the quads left to go downstairs when I remembered something, and quickly turned around and called for them. Hearing their names, they all turned and rushed back, surrounding me.
"You okay, my love?” asked Azreal, concern etched on his face.
I blushed.
They were literally with me not even ten seconds ago, and they're acting like a bunch of concerned mother hens, but hey, I wasn't complaining; I was slowly coming to love their attention.
I chuckled, controlling my blush and nodded.
"What will you do with Aria, Cassandra and Ivy?" I asked, worried for the three she-wolves' lives. I know what they did was hardly forgivable. But it was, in some way, not their fault. Lead on or not, the quads were with them, and they abruptly broke up with them and excepted them to be all happy and dandy with it. I didn't want them getting killed for it, and I knew by the looks the quads had back at the clearing, that they were planning just that.
The moment those three names came out of my mouth, all the quads’ expressions turned from concern to rage. They all fisted their hands and closed their eyes, probably trying to reel in their wolves.
"That is not your concern, our little Luna; accordingly, they will be dealt with,” said Ezekiel.
No! No!
I knew they would kill them, I had to do something.
Think Emerald, think.
"Ezekiel, look, I'm not saying to let them off the hook. They deserve to be punished so they won't do that to anyone else ever again. Bullying in general is bad, but please do not kill them...,” before I could finish, I heard Azreal speak,
"This isn't up for negotiation, my love; not only did they assault and hurt their future Luna, they attacked their future Alphas. In itself, defamation and assault of the Luna are punishable by death,” his voice held so much hatred it was scary.
"No, please. Look anything but death. I won't be able to live with their blood on my hands. Please, if not for anything else, do it for me. Please!” I said, tears brimming in my eyes.
All the quads looked down at me, seeing my tears their expressions changed from rage to worried. They all tried holding me, but I stepped back and shook my head.
"Promise me, Alphas, promise me you'll spare their lives. You said yourself, Azreal, we need to forget about this day. If you put their blood on my hands, I'll never be able to forget that," I said, with all the confidence I could conjure while holding the tears at bay.
Shaking their heads and sighing, they all nodded in agreement.
"Okay, little Luna, we will spare their lives. However, do not expect us to go easy on them,” said Ezekiel.
I looked up into their eyes to see if they were just saying it to get me to quiet down, but their expression told me they were telling the truth.
"Thank you," I said, wiping my tears and going toward them.
"You’re welcome, my love. Just never let those eyes hold tears,” said Azrael.
After another round of kisses, this time not cheek ones, but mouth-eating, tongue-sucking, hair-grabbing kisses, the quads let me go and I went inside.
But my love daze and kisses high was crashed when I came face to face with my very annoyed and mad best friend, Hannah.
Well, mushrooms!
She looks ready to wolf out on me.
"You know I'd seriously kick that not-so-small ass of yours if I didn't know what had happened in the dining hall this morning!” she said.
Crap! She knew! It wasn't like I was going to hide it from her, but I wanted to be the one to tell her.
"Before you ask, Luca was the one who told me, and the pack members that were uselessly sitting on their assess were commanded never to mention the incident by Sam,” she said.
Well, that makes sense; Luca was sort of off there, I just don't know for how long. At least I didn't need to worry about the drama spreading like wildfire. I didn't need people thinking I was easily picked on; I would probably be getting more run-ins like it if Sam hadn't commanded them.
"How dare those sluts accuse you and then try to act like Virgin Marys, and they dared touch you; to touch my best friend, their future Luna. They are so lucky they’re locked up right now, or otherwise they’d have to deal with me. Seriously, Em, why didn't you stick up for yourself?” asked Hannah.
I chuckled at her red face that heated up with anger. That was my best friend for you, we would go to hell and above for one another, and today was a reminder.
"Calm down, Han, come, let's get ready. We have an hour before we're expected down. I'll tell you everything as we get dressed,” I said.
Hannah didn't look happy. I knew she wanted us to sit down and solely talk about this, and she would want every detail to the tee, but she knew that her brothers would probably lose it if they didn't see me in the banquet hall in an hour.
So after the usual hair tugging, layers of makeup, the debate on dresses and me filling in Hannah about what happened; what Aria said, how the twins intervened and what happened down at the clearing, we were ready. Hannah wore a purple bodycon dress that reached mid-thigh with her hair up in a sleek ponytail. She had cat eyeliner, lashes curled to perfection with a think coat of mascara, light brown nude lip-gloss, and her cheekbones highlighted to perfection. My best friend was the werewolf version of the actress Meghan Fox in the human multiverse. For myself, I was dressed in a long shoulderless turquoise gown with a split running up my thigh; it was sexy, but not provocative. Hannah had my hair in an updo, with tiny tendrils of hair falling on either side of my face. I had a light coat of mascara and eyeliner, nude light brown lip-gloss like Hannah, and my cheekbones highlighted to perfection as well. I looked good, Hannah did a great job. I hoped the quads liked it too, but I noticed they even liked me when I was in pyjamas, so maybe they weren't the best gauge.
I was broken out of my thoughts and self appraise when I heard Hannah say,
"Honestly, Em, I don't even blame you for acting the way you did. Hell, if I were in your shoes, I'd probably think the same if my mate, or in your case mates, had a track record like my brothers. What they did over the years was undoubtedly disgusting and uncalled for. They knew they had a mate out there, and still they would be seen jumping from she-wolf to she-wolf. There is no excuse whatsoever, so don't feel bad about anything. But, Em, what I want to say is that they are changed men, well wolves, since they found you. Their day starts with you and ends with you, I can bet my life on it and say whatever that bitch Aria said was indeed a lie. My brothers are many things, but they don't degrade women like that,” she said.
"But the look in their eyes..:,” I started, but Hannah cut me off,
"Should be taken as a positive; it shows how much they care for you and their feelings are genuine. I know it hurts seeing your mate like that; it's in our instincts to nourish and care for our mates. But know they aren't upset anymore. Em, you’re their everything, their happiness. Trust me when I say this, if you are happy and content, so are they. It's just how the bond works, hun. So now get rid of that frown, or you'll have a worry line in your foundation, I'll have to redo your contour, and I don't want to deal with four ragging Alphas on why it took their beautiful mate this much time to get ready,” she said, laughing the last part.
This was my best friend for you, she always knew what to say and when. She was right; I just needed to look at it differently, in a positive way. I nodded and laughed with her. We made our way downstairs where I hugged her and thanked her for always being there.
On the way, I heard her ask,
"What's up with the twins though, they have been staring at you like since they got here yesterday? Now they just happened to be around the dining hall while the triplet Kings, my brothers, dad and Luca were in a meeting? As much as I know the meeting was regarding the pack and alliances in the lycan multiverse. Being the Supreme Alpha representatives, they should have been there as well. Do you think they were out looking for you?".
I was just stunned. I didn't know what to say. If that was the case, why were they not with the rest? If so, why were they looking for me? It was true they had been stealing glances at me since yesterday, we've caught eyes a couple of times. What could all this mean?