As I go to head down, Miles and Ember are still bickering.
“Miles, I would be more comfortable in slacks. I’ve seen the guys walking past, and NONE of them is close to matching the cocktail dresses you keep trying with me.” Lily brushes past me, where I’m standing at the door, and I lean on the frame, watching as Ember and Miles glare at each other.
I have slacks and a button-up, but I was given Vans to wear. Creed was given cropped jeans and a maple leaf print linen button-up. Lily is wearing a Maxi dress with autumn leaves falling on it and a row of trees around the base. Lily comes out of Ember's closet with a pair of Dungarees with feathers all over, a royal blue tank and a pair of blue DCs.
“Get changed, then I will do your hair while Miles does simple makeup.” Lily uses what I’ve come to know as her teacher's voice. I see Miles' shoulders drop, and he mumbles out.
“I don’t want them to look down on her.” Lily pats Miles' cheek, making him look at her.
“If she were in a cocktail dress or anything too fancy, they would know she had run upstairs and changed, which could then make them think she was hiding something,” she speaks softly as Ember steps into the bathroom to change.
“You’ve made the rest of us seem casual but befit of our rank, if you put Ember in something she isn’t comfortable in, that’s going to show, plus, if things turn bad, she can’t kick ass in a tight-fitting cocktail dress without flashing her panties,” I say softly but with a smile at the end, Miles nods and I get a small chuckle from him as he starts putting away Embers dismissed clothes.
Lily braids one side of Ember's hair, adding more feathers. Kodi and Bas bring in and secure the slide that Kodi made for her, leaving most of Ember's wild curls free, probably knowing Ren will undo it all if too much is controlled, Miles gives her some winged eyeliner, a brush of mascara and some lip balm after passing Ember a Royal Blue pair of prop glasses he heads out to check everyone else, she turns to me and smilesshyly, she doesn’t like being centre of attention but keeps finding herself there.
“You look beautiful, Luna”, I lean down to whisper in her ear,
“Next time, you stay with me.” I pull in a shaky breath,
“I would like us to seal our bond, but I’m nervous and don’t know….”
She cuts me off with a peck to my lips,
“We will work it out together,” She whispers. Then, she grabs my hand with another peck, and we head downstairs.
“They are at the gate, and it’s all of them, plus their guards,” Luc states when we are halfway down, then sticks two fingers in his mouth and whistles, which is followed by whoever is still upstairs shutting doors and following us down, Ember grabs a sketchpad out of a draw, which seems to have appeared all over the lodge and sits down and starts to draw the lake, the more she does, the less her handshakes from her nerves. Ren sits on one side of her, and when I notice Brayden twitching, I move so he can sit on the other. He gives me a thankful smile, and she bumps her shoulder into him, her eyes not leaving what she is doing.
CHAPTER SIX
DECLAN
The only ones who seem relaxed are Liam, Nate, Grumps, Lily and somehow my badass baby sister.
I’ve met some of the Elders a few times, the current ones are better than the last as they are a few hundred years younger, they took over two years ago when we ‘dad’s unit’ proved half were part of the trafficking ring we took down, the vampire elder was caught tongue deep in a child, and he was also dick deep in another's throat, Still, he claimed he was framed, yeah, Lucky for us, we have enchanted body cams that show spells or any charms and what people's auras are, we also had hundreds of witness statements.
I notice Ember take a breath and relax even more when the Elders start to step out onto the deck, wondering what she smelt, I take a deep breath and focus on the Elders, Ember drops the pad onto the table and smiles at a person I don’t recognise, She is tall, toned curves, with dark hair pulled into a classy updo, black skinny jeans with electric blue heels and a matching silk blouse cover her body, as Ember steps closer I inhale again ‘fuck an Elder is my……’ I give Bas a panicked look, and he smirks at me, shaking his head, Timber chuckling at his side, ‘Thanks for the support, assholes. ’
EMBER
“Victoria, I didn’t know you had taken an Elder position,” I say, stepping into the Demoness’s embrace. I notice Dec freeze and get a look of panic on his face,
“It was a last-minute change. Lock found his mate and knocked her up the first night, he turned into a hovering nancy and couldn’t make meetings.” She rolls her eyes and then glances at my big brother. Well, I guess we are keeping it in the family.
“Vic, let me introduce you to my Twin brother Brayden and his mates Miles, Bramley and Mateo.” She shakes their hands, with a curious smile on her face.
“My older half-brother Bastille”, I tut when I notice Bas is once again making himself appear less huge, and he stands to full height, making Vic laugh,
“My brothers do that too, it's so annoying,” she chuckles,
“And this is my oldest half-brother, Declan. I will introduce you to my mates later.” She shakes Bas’s hand but gives Dec a small smile, then raises her eyebrow at me.
“Guys, this is Victoria, Evans' younger sister.” After that, they all give her a warm welcome, and I duck out to let Victoria and Declan gaze/glare at each other.
Ren takes my hand, and we step beside my dad, who smiles warmly at me, before introducing us to whom he’s talking to.
“Ember, Alpha, this is the Vampire Elder Wolfgang” He’s dressed in linen trousers, a matching top, and grey Converse; he looks like a surfer with blonde shoulder-length hair and Sun-kissed skin. I shake his hand and get a lip twitch in return. Dad then guides us around and starts to introduce or point out the other Elders,
“Becky is the Succubae Elder, and Damon is the Incubi. They are married.” Married, not mated, so they are a political match. Becky is stick thin, tall, with no ass and fried eggs for tits wearing a see-through dress, she looks like a younger version of Mrs Sinclair, I give a polite smile and nod, Damon I try not to startle when I get a good look, as he’s an older male versionof Lily, I don’t get chance to acknowledge him, as he storms off in her direction, thankfully, Liam and Nate are already nearby. I turn back to Becky and notice she’s eyeing Jenson.
