Chapter 37
As we got closer to the house the tighter the knot in in my stomach became. The more real this all became. I was going to have to meet countless alphas and their mates, meet my fellow pack mates outside of the house and scariest of all, and find the spy who was among us.
The thought alone made the hairs on the back of my neck stand up as worry began to flood my mind. Would I be able to find him? What if I did, what would I do? I was on the brink of tears before I smelled the most amazing scent that wiped away all my fears and worries. My mate.
Now I was only excited to see him, to run into his arms and know that I was safe.
Nothing else mattered. Looking down at my heels I realized that running might be out of the question.
But I will try. I smirk to myself just at the thought of me trying to run in these things as the car comes to a stop.
Standing at the top of the stairs was my gigantic 6'10 mate looking even better and I didn't believe it possible.
He wore all black like usually but he actually dressed up for the occasion.
He wore a black cap toe shoes with black slacks and a button up shirt under his blazer.
He left the top two buttons undone foregoing a tie.
He looked absolutely amazing. I got out of the car and to my surprise I actually ran in those heels to get to him.
"Wow did you actually miss me." I expected him to follow that with something smart like brat or smartass but he didn't. He just looked down at me with a smirk playing at the corner of his lips. "What?" I ask confused when how he's acting at the moment.
"I didn't think you could be more beautiful yet here you stand proving me wrong."
I kissed him having no words to say back. I pulled away only when Aria cleared her throat. Smiling back I side stepped to stand at V's side while he wrapped his right arm around my waist. "Plenty of time for that later. You have guests."
I just nod as V began to lead to towards the entrance of the building. I had never been here before and I thought the orvrok kosa would be at our house.
V must have seen my confusion because he answered for me. "The house is too small. This is a hall that we have for special occasions such as this."
Our house was not small. I don't know what his standards are but he's insane.
Walking in my mouth almost dropped the amount of people here to see me. It was pretty overwhelming. Also V was right. Our house was too small for all of this craziness. I didn't get to ask V about what I should do before I was quickly approached by two wolves.
"Ah the party finally arrives. I'm alpha Michael from the midnight falls pack and this is my Luna Stephanie.
It is nice to meet you." I found them to be weird but shook their hands none the less.
I was shocked as his thoughts flooded my mind.
Stephanie was not his mate. He was just a creepy old alpha who mated a younger female.
I tried to keep a fake smile plastered on my face before V took me away. He gave me a look that said he knew something was bothering me but I didn't want to answer his unasked question.
After that I met countless alphas and their Lunas and I began to worry about all these powerful males, until I met Alpha Caleb.
"It seems you were blessed with a beautiful mate.
" V growled and I slapped his arm in response.
Caleb was happily mated to his mate. "You seem to be just as lucky with your mate.
" I say getting a shy response from her.
I held out my hand more to get to know her than as a nice gesture.
I find out that she's painfully shy and that she is trying to forget her past.
"If you don't mind it's time that I took my mate away." I looked to V with confusion. Where were we going?
Caleb just nodded knowingly as V took me away with his grip firmly placed around my elbow. He led me to a room and once he closed the door the noise from the other room completely silence as he looked to me
"So..." he drawled out as he walked to a couch and sat down. "What do you think of your neighbors?"
"I hate them. Did you know most of them are creepy old perves and those aren't their mates?"
V just nodded his head nonchalantly and I couldn't believe it. "Why do you think I didn't like Caleb saying anything about you?"
"Well that is his mate and he isn't interested in me."
"Huh." V said rubbing his chin before he shrugged. "One out of many. Better to be safe than sorry."
I roll my eyes as the door opens up again. In walk my mom, dad, and brother. With a squeal I jump up and run to them to get a hug. Normally I hug Nick first but he's been here. Instead I dive straight into my mother's arms and squeeze her.
"My little girl is growing up." I smile up at her as I look over at our father. "Growing up well to I might add." I couldn't help but smile at him as well as I get wrapped up into his arms.
Hearing a male clear his throat I turn to tell V to stop being over protective. However it's my uncle and cousin there waiting their turn to hug me.
Without hesitation I hug my uncle glad to see him.
"I didn't forget about what happened the last time I visited.
" I remind him. He only smirks as he moves out of the way for Derrick.
"So glad you have a mate to kill the boys now that you're gorgeous princess.
" V laughed while I just glared at him. "Ha ha.
" I say sarcastically. He just has to annoy me when I'm actually having a good time.
I was still confused as to what exactly was going on. V seemed to understand my unspoken question and answer it. "This is the part of the ceremony where you are introduced with your family so all can see your lineage."
"What is it with European wolves and your heritage. I get it's important where you come from but you all take it to another level."
Both V and Derrick nodded their heads at what I said. "Agreed princess but that doesn't change tradition."
"Yes. We all don't break tradition like some wolves.
" I gave my uncle a curious glance before I realized he was talking about V.
"What is he talking about?" I question and V just shakes his head.
"After. You need to go now." He better not be trying to avoid telling me.
I thought we were past that. He grabbed my hand and I heard later echo through my head.
I nodded to show my understanding as he led me back into the hall.
Can you say awkward. It was deathly silent and all eyes were on me. I grabbed onto V's arm tighter as he guided me to where I was supposed to go.
A stage. They literally got a stage that I had to stand on.
Just kill me now. Without any warning V took us up on the stage and began to speak in the old language.
"Cukvomeumk omd raroseqak. Wa varcuka aeui vesr uvam orkk su sraas omd racaeqa kae kosa omd rar bruudrema.
" (Companions and relatives. We welcome you with open arms to greet and receive my mate and her bloodline.) My uncle, cousin, and dad stepped forward.
Turning to look back my father pulled my brother forward when he didn't step forward.
"Har remaosa." (Her lineage.) V looked to my mother who stepped forward casually.
Amd rar ruqad umak .(And her loved ones.) I watched as Alexandra and Aria both stepped forward.
I did not expect Brett to step out with them.
V allowed me to run out of my shoes and jump off the stage to hug Brett.
"You made it." I said into his ear. "Are you kidding? I wouldn't miss it for the world."
"Avuruseak. Sra ek kruvems orr uk uir axcesakams sros kae baso ek obra su ossamd sudoae. Nuv va koae basem sra rims." (Apologies. She is showing all of our excitement that my beta is able to attend today. Now we may begin the hunt.)
My head snapped back at V. I didn't meet any of our pack members yet and we were already doing the hunt.
There were a lot of cheers and V crossed his arms as he looked towards the door. There was a group of women who made their way towards me before Aria and Nicole both took one of my arms to lead me towards them.
"Time to get painted white."
"Ewww." I whined not wanting to be a white wolf. Not even for a traditional game. "Too bad. It's happening."
In the room I felt uncomfortable by the women who were stripping off their clothes. I know it makes more sense for to shift without clothes. Doesn't mean that I wanted to see it.
"Alright clothes off." Aria said to me and I shook my head. "We have to paint you in your human form so it will better coat your hairs."
Super awkward uncomfortable moment we were going to have here. Not wanting to argue I do as she says and stand with my legs shoulder with apart and my arms straight out as they begin to paint me white.
"Why do we do this?" I ask Aria never getting the full answer from V.
"Well our mates aren't immortal. This is used as a way to see who will care for you if V dies.
" There was no need for paint after she told me that.
I'm sure I paled all over at the thought of V dying.
Of course we all die but this was in place for if he should die in battle. Before we could grow old together.
"Don't worry. It's just a precaution."
But that didn't ease my worry. This was obviously put in place because a female had lost her mate.
"Okay you're finished. You can shift now."
I follow the other girls who were finished outside and shift to my wolf.
It felt weird having the paint on my fur.
"Come to the field." I hear V say through mindlink.
I realize that all of these women must be in our pack if they can hear him.
Then he mindlinked only me. "Don't run too fast. It will make you stick out but don't get caught so easily.
Make them earn it." I nodded my head as the field came into view.
It was complete free of any trees or rocks, lights illuminated all around as I focused on the male wolves that were on the other side.
V stood in the middle arms crossed as he waited for all of us to approach.
He held up what looked like one of his shirts and I was confused as to why. "Trek ek aeuir Luna's kcams. Tra voems koae emsarkara vesr aeuir kcams bis sra baks kruird vraqoer." (This is your Luna's scent. The paint may interfere with your scent but the best should prevail.)
V turned on his heel and started to walk off of the field.
I just looked around nervously until I realized that I knew these wolves.
Brett, Smiley, Ghost, Boss, the rest of the blood pack, and a select few warriors.
My anxiety subsided but I still didn't like why we had to do this in the first place.
The male wolves disappeared behind the tree line and I heard V's voice through mindlink again.
"Nu craosems. I verr dmuv." (No cheating. I will know.)
He might be taking this too seriously. The females began to move so I did the same. Suddenly there was a loud howl and the males burst from the tree line and the hunt was on.
Keeping my speed down was a lot harder than I thought. Thankfully they didn't think anything of my constant change in speed. Maybe they thought I was winded.
Whatever the reason, it didn't matter to me.
There was a wolf on my tail and it annoyed me that I couldn't just speed away from him.
Instead I had to zig zag between other females in an attempt to lose him to no avail.
I finally just jumped over another male and ran through the tree line.
V never said it was against the rules. He just said to make it difficult.
I emerged once again only to be caught and pinned down. With a howl from the wolf V appeared with a smile and nodded. "Vecsur!" (The victor!) He yelled in the old language and all howled. "Sorry Luna. Are you alright?" Boss asked through mindlink. "Fine. How did you know it was me?"
"A wolf never tells his secrets."
I scoff as he begins to walk away. I look for V and see him standing towards the edge of the field before the tree line.
"You did well." He said as he held up a jacket.
I shifted excited to get out of my wolf form and be in V's arms again.
He wraps me up and then picks me up bridal style making me yelp in surprise.
He's never picked me up like this. "Going out of the opening.
..so you and also a dead giveaway. At least you ran slower. " He kissed my forehead with a chuckle.
So I don't blend that well. At least I tried. I smile into his chest as I squeeze my arms tighter around his neck. "Did you expect anything less?"
"No." He said simply. "I like you better as a brunette so let's clean all that white off of you."
He wasn't going to get an argument out of me on that front. Although it really wasn't annoying, it did feel weird to be painted with lord knows what that stuff was.
At the moment I had a battle with myself. I wanted V to take a shower with me. I really did, but, I also knew that there was an enormous amount of people waiting for my return. This party was great but now I just wanted to be with my mate.
"You're overthinking things again." He states instead of questioning. "No." Was my reply. That sure sounded convincing.
"It is just a shower. There is far too much to do still for it to be anything else. I'll wait til later for that."
I smiled as I shook my head and walked into the bathroom to see him leaned against the glass of the shower. "Ready?" He asks with a beautiful grin on his face.
I walk to him and run my hands across his waist. "Almost."
Without another word I grab onto the bottom of his shirt and pull it up. He leaned forward so I could pull it over his head. I tend to forget just how tall he is at times.
"I'll take that as a yes." He whispers into my ear as he picks me up and steps into the shower.
"V your pant-" He cut me off with a kiss and I completely forgot about him getting into the shower still clothed.
He smiled at me as he slowly put me down. "Now to clean off this paint." I just laugh as he gets shampoo into his hands.
He gave me a look before twirling his finger in a circle to show he wanted me to turn around. I listened...just this once though, and he washed my hair for me.
He didn't give any more direction and just guided me under the water to rinse my hair. I opened my eyes and watched as he began to lather my loofah.
"Give me. You need to change." He tried to argue but I held up my finger. "Nope you shouldn't have gotten wet. Now go."
With a huff he stepped out of the shower and I began to scrub off the paint that was all over me. It was harder than I thought and I regretted making V leave.
"You're clean now come out." His voice echoed through the bathroom.
Turning off the water I step out and was met by a towel that was held up by V. I walked into it and he wrapped me up and carried me into the other room. "I'll get your dress." He gave me a quick kiss and walked away.
I tried to quickly dry off but my hair looked like a wet rat. "Here you go."
"Go get Nicole." The look he gave me was of annoyance. It didn't matter how he felt about her at the moment. My hair needed her. "Just go get her."
With a growl he left the room slamming the door behind him. Great. He's going to be moody now.
Slipping my dress on I hear a knock and know its Nicole. "Come in."
In walked Nicole and Alexandra. "I'm so awkward with Mason I don't know what to do?"
"Look at my hair? I'm not going anywhere with this." I say pointing to the disaster on top of my head. "I can fix it. Don't worry Luna."
I wanted to punch Nicole in the face. Now wasn't the time for sarcasm.
I sat as she got to work and Alexandra sat in front of me. "I seriously can't function around him. I can't think. I can't talk. I don't know what to do."
This girl is the complete opposite of me. I didn't want anything to do with V in the beginning.
"Just talk to him. You guys need to get to know each other. I don't suggest you follow in my footsteps."
She nodded. "This is so hard."
"He loves weird things. Have fun figuring out what they are." I smirk with a chuckle as Nicole steps away. "Done."
She truly works miracles on my hair. I get up out of the chair and slip on my heels.
"Thanks Nicky. You da best."
"Eww. That's a boy's name. Don't call me that." Nicole pouted as I laughed. "I know that's what I call my brother. Just wanted to mess with you." I ignored her response and grabbed Alexandra's arm. "Come on. We have things to do."
As soon as I stepped out of the door I felt V's irritation radiating through the air. "Go talk to Mason." I whisper to Alexandra as I let go of her arm and walk to V.
"Are you still mad?" Without a word he grabbed my wrist and pulled me into a kiss. "No. Your hair looks nice."
I smile as he grabs my hand and leads me to another room. He quickly stops and looks at me with and serious face. "This is when you meet our pack members. I don't want you to stress but stay vigilant."
I nodded silently knowing he was talking about Brett. I look around and V shakes his head at me.
"He won't be here. We don't want the spy to know that he's perfectly fine."
That made perfect sense and I was an idiot for not realizing it sooner.
"Are you ready?" V asked a little tense himself.
I nod. "Yes. Ready to get this over with."
He wraps my arm around his and we walk through the double doors. The room erupts with applause and I look around to see a few familiar faces but most are complete strangers.
I quickly pull V over to meet Chase's parents.
"Luna." They said in unison as they bowed. "Bowing isn't necessary. How is Chase?"
"I'm sure the pup is fine. It's the parents you should be worried about. Don.""
Don nodded his head at V and I looked confused.
"He is one of my warriors. I'm sure the late nights and lack of daylight is more taxing on the parents. Not the baby."
They both nodded in agreement with V. I wonder how he knows so much about taking care of babies if he doesn't have any.
"It's time that we left. Sorry."
V began to walk and I followed along still holding onto his arm but never looking away from Chase's parents.
"It's nice to finally meet you Luna." The voice pulled me away from my own thoughts.
It was a male that I had never met before. He was small in stature with shoulder length black hair. He outstretched his hand and I took it within my own.
I tried not to roll why eyes as I greeted him. He's not a fan of V, that's for sure. He didn't however have anything to do with Brent.
"It is nice to meet you as well..." I trailed off to give him the chance to introduce himself. "Eric. Sorry for not introducing myself properly." I nodded as I let go of his hand.
He stepped away and another person took his place. This happened over and over again with so many people I couldn't keep track. However there was no luck finding who might be the spy. I was beginning to think that I wasn't the right person to help find them, even with my gift.
I sighed deeply and V cut off the next person coming to meet me. "What's wrong?" He asked worry evident over all of his features. "I'm not helping." He kissed the top of my head before taking my face into his hands. "You're doing great. Focus on meeting your new pack. Okay?"
Without answering I nodded my head. V stepped aside to allow the people to come and meet me again. It was exhausting to hear all these thoughts. Not that they were bad, there was just so many of them.
"It seems that you have had a long day Luna." I smile at Dante and nod. "I have. Glad to see you doing much better."
"Dr. Billings does wonders." Dante stated with a smirk.
"He does. I heard he's better than spirituals but no one told me what they really are."
Dante laughed as he shook his head before his gaze landed on V. "He didn't tell you about them?"
I shook my head no and Dante just shrugged in response.
"Maybe he doesn't think it important." He paused as he hit his palm to his forehead. "How rude of me. Luna."
Dante held out his hand and I placed mine into his. I tensed as he pulled my hand to his lips and V quickly came and pulled me away from him and I was raging.
"I meant no harm." V growled and he looked back at me alarmed when he heard the growl growing in my own chest.
Dante bowed to V and walked away. I watched him as a predator watched it's prey and payed no attention to V as he tried to get my attention.
"Cassie!" V yelled and I finally faced him. I looked around and realized that he had brought me back to the room that I took a shower in. "What happened?"
"It's Dante. He's the spy. He's helping those bastards." V took a deep breath and ran his hand through his hair. "I need you to stay calm."
"Stay calm. You want me to stay calm?! He was there with them when they shot Brett! The son of a bitch thinks him dead and sees me as his way to get information! I want to rip him to shreds!" I bit out.
V's eyes formed slits as he got extremely close to me. "You think I don't? It's more important to let him think that he's still in the clear so he can lead us to Aiden and we can end this once and for all."
I hated the fact that he was right because I wanted Dante dead now. V however had the right mind to try and get rid of everyone instead of losing our only lead. I took a deep breath and a tear rolled down my face. "The sick bastard pretended to save me from them."
With that a roar erupted from V and I could hear as the people from the party grew quiet with worry. "Would you keep it down?"
"I'm going to personally rip out his throat when the time comes for putting you in danger." I knew he was thinking about what could have happened if he didn't make it back in time.
There was a knock on the door and V stalked over to the door to answer it. In walked my family and Boss. "Is everything okay?" Boss asked a little alarmed.
"She found the spy." V stated simply.
"What spy?!" Derrick said alarmed. I knew that my family had no idea about a spy and only Nick knew about what happened with Brett.
Nick crossed his arms as he looked dead at me. "Is it the one who shot Brett?" He asked me through mindlink and I just nodded.
"Who is it?" Boss asked seeming ready to take care of the problem now. "Dante."
V said and even Boss seemed to be alarmed at who was behind this. My family looked on confused at what was going on.
"Care to fill us in?" My father asked glaring in V's direction.
V glared right back at him and even more tension filled the air. "No I don't care to."
Before a fight could break up I stood between them and held up my hands. "Stop. Dad this is our problem and we're going to deal with it. This orvrok kosa is over."
Without another word I walked out of the room and attempted to find a way back to the house.
I was completely over this. My emotions are everywhere.
I've never wanted to kill someone in my life before today and I was so disappointed that the man responsible for putting Brett in that bed wouldn't face repercussions tonight.
"We'll get him when the time is right." I looked at Greggor and sighed. "Don't listen to my thoughts right now."
"We talked about this. I don't have a choice. Especially when you think that passionately about it. V will not let him get away with this. You just have to be patient."
I knew Greggor was right but I didn't know how to be patient. I wanted to argue but V came out before I could say anything else to Greggor.
"Are you guys ready?"
"Ready for what?" I ask back. My emotions all over the place.
"We need to make plans to end this."