Rachel flashed an appreciative grin that turned conspiratorial. “Elias thought so, too,” she said. She made one final adjustment to my makeup, then lowered the veil.
“Right!” Rachel clapped her hands together again, eyes sparkling. “It’s showtime!”
***
I never expected the wedding march song to sound ominous. But when it started up, a sliver of dread buried itself in my chest. I sucked in a deep breath, fingers tightening around the bouquet.
The sun shone down overhead. The short aisle ended at the oasis. Dad was standing next to me, preparing to walk me down the aisle, even if I would have preferred him not to. Right now, I wish that Grace or Rachel were standing next to me. But Rachel was already standing up at the altar in the maid of honor position, and Grace had just finished scattering rose petals as she made her own procession as a flower girl.
At his gentle but insistent tug, I followed Dad’s lead.
Everyone stood as we walked. I felt dozens of eyes on me as what felt like the entire pack watched my agonizingly slow and yet too fast descent down the aisle.
Elias stood at the altar, his expression unreadable, but the sight of him took my breath away. When I was younger and still in love with him, I had imagined what he would look like in a tux on our wedding day. But my wildest imagination couldn’t have pictured just how good he looked now. The suit was perfectly tailored. The crisp lines suited his V-frame, doing nothing to hide his bulk or muscular physique and somehow enhancing it. The dark color matched his hair, and the deep blue bowtie brought out the myriad of blue hues in his eyes. He’d groomed his shaggy hair so that his locks were more defined and sleek. Freshly shaven, his jaw looked even more square than normal, his cheekbones even more defined.
Despite myself, I couldn’t keep my eyes away from him, as if he were a magnet drawing me in. And the way his gaze locked on me, something burning behind it, set my entire body aflame. He had looked at me like that before, in his bedroom all those years ago, and it elicited the same response now as it did then.
Finally, we reached the end of the altar, and I heard everyone sitting behind me. Dad extracted himself without so much as a reassuring squeeze as he departed to sit with Mom.
I had been so engrossed in Elias, despite myself, that I barely noticed the other people standing there. Six elders, though I could only remember the names of three: Thaddeus, Dorian, and Romulus, all in red robes that made them look like cardinals. And the Oracle, in elegant grays that should have been unflattering, yet also looked perfect on her. Her hair was bedecked with beads and dangling wolf pendants.
The elders studied me with cautious appraisal, though based on the expression of most of them, I didn’t meet whatever bizarre standards they expected. I doubted they had been particularly pleased when the Oracle named me as their destined luna. Still, regardless of their thoughts on the matter, each bowed to me with deference, even if reticence lurked in their eyes.
After a moment, Romulus and Thaddeus stepped forward, and the ceremony began. Their words were a blur, and everything seemed to rush past as I waited for the ending. I could feel the entire pack’s gaze on me, and I wanted nothing more than for this to be over as soon as possible.
“Elias, do you take Emma Mayberry to be your mate, and the pack luna?” Thaddeus finally asked.
He stared down at me, his gaze pinning me in place, his expression inscrutable. “I do,” he said.
“Emma, do you accept Elias Thorn as your alpha and your mate?”
Not take, accept. Something about that reminded me I had far less agency in this than Elias.
“I do,” I said.
“And do you accept your position as pack luna, and agree to fulfill your duties to the best of your ability and to work selflessly for the betterment of the pack?”
When I had imagined my mating ceremony when I was a kid, it had never been like this. Yes, it had always been Elias standing across from me in my dreams. Yes, it had always involved my becoming luna, because Elias was always going to be the alpha.
But I hadn’t pictured a small daughter out of wedlock next to me. I hadn’t pictured being dragged from my life and forced into the ceremony. I hadn’t expected the frowning, unimpressed elders staring at me, waiting for me to say the anticipated words. I hadn’t pictured an unsmiling Elias, who looked just as happy about the situation as I felt. And I hadn’t pictured that I wouldn’t have a choice in any of this.
“I do,” I said.
Elias bent down. Instead of his lips going to mine, they went to my collarbone. I braced myself for what I knew was about to come. The mating mark, the one that would bind us together forever.
I had expected the pain. I hadn’t expected the rush of electricity that flowed through me when he bit into my skin. I sucked in a breath, and I realized the rush of exhilarationflooding my veins wasn’t entirely my own. I could sense his own need, his own urgency, in my mind, filtering in and blending with my emotions. His hands on my arms tightened as he pulled me closer, tighter against him.
Then it was over. Elias stepped back, a bewildered expression that likely matched my own spreading across his face. I guess I didn’t have to ask if he had experienced the same sensation.
The world came rushing back, and I remembered we were standing at an altar in front of the entire pack.
“We welcome this union of fated mates,” Romulus said, “And we formally introduce Emma Thorn as your pack luna.”
The entire pack stared at me, some with disgust, others with curiosity. Heat flooded into my face, and I was glad that, as luna, I wasn’t expected to make some grand speech here. Just a few simple words, a traditional mantra uttered by lunas for generations.
“I promise to dedicate my life to Silver Falls,” I said. “I will serve my pack and my alpha for as long as I live.”
Applause. Then Elias tugged me down the aisle as his new bride.
