Chapter 15 - Cecelia
“A ball?” I ask with a frown as I'm seated across from Dominic at the kitchen table. After a rather eventful day at the lake, I'd been basking in the quiet of the cozy cabin and enjoying my breakfast until he sprang the news that the council is hosting a ball tonight. “Is it part of the trials?”
Dominic shrugs nonchalantly, pursing his lips as his spoon clinks against his empty bowl.
“I'm not sure. Alpha Sirius only informed us about the ball at the meeting this morning.
He said they're inviting other members from the pack to join us, so it doesn't sound like a test, but we can never be sure with all the tricks they have up their sleeves.”
“Hm…” I hum with contemplation. “Like the poisonous mushrooms.”
“Exactly,” Dominic sighs as he stretches his arms over his head, and I catch a glimpse of the tattoo on his shoulder, gulping hard to stop myself from asking him about it.
I noticed it more clearly yesterday when we went swimming in the lake—new ink that he probably got while he was at black ops.
He'd always had many tattoos on his upper arms and across his chest, but the tattoo of a woman with her hair cascading to the sides was what stood out, since it's newer than the rest.
There's a part of me that wants to ask him about the tattoo, if it signifies a woman who's important to him, but I bite my tongue to hold myself back, flicking my eyes to my half-eaten bowl of porridge, when realization hits me.
“I didn't pack for a ball!” I exclaim, springing to my feet with eyes widening in horror. “We're never gonna score points if I'm not wearing a ball gown!”
Dominic chuckles as he casually moves forward, oozing charm with his calm smirk.
“Like I said, they're inviting other members from the pack…” His voice tapers off just as a knock on the front door echoes through the cabin.
He leans back and points to the front. “That must be one of them. Why don't you get the door?”
Frowning at Dominic's clear composure as if this isn't a disaster, I do as he suggests and confusedly make my way to the front door. Opening up tentatively, my jaw drops when I see who's on the other side.
“Donna!” I exclaim, immediately flinging my arms around her. “Oh, my Goddess! What are you doing here?!”
Donna giggles when I release her, maintaining a warm smile that touches her eyes. “I was called in to attend tonight's ball,” she says as she throws a wink over my shoulder toward her brother.
“That's great, Dons,” I sigh when I remember that I don't have a dress. “It would be even greater if I actually had something to wear for the ball.”
“That's why,” Donna begins as she reaches behind her and swiftly rolls forward a luggage bag, “I've come prepared. I knew neither of you would have packed for such an extravagant affair, so I have a gown for you, and a suit for him,” she says as she throws a nod at Dominic.
“You're a lifesaver!” I exclaim as I grab Donna's hand and lead her inside the cabin.
Just then, Dominic approaches us and takes the bag from his sister, and picks it up as if it weighs nothing. Gulping when I'm reminded of how easily he picked me up as if I weighed nothing, I hide my roguish thoughts as Dominic thanks her.
“I'm gonna put this down in the bedroom and leave you two to it,” Dominic tells us. “Gonna go for a run. I'll be back in time to get dressed.”
“You better be!” Donna warns with a finger pointed at his face. He chuckles and walks off, but not without meeting my eyes for a brief second before he turns.
My heart does a strange little flutter, but I dismiss the involuntary response to my best friend's surprise visit when I turn my attention to her.
“And…?” she probes as she raises her brows at me, a playful, familiar twinkle in her dark brown eyes. “I'm guessing there's a lot we have to catch up on. I heard about Dominic's win in the last test.”
Blowing out a breath, I grab her hand and lead her to the kitchen. “Let me make some tea for us, then I'll give you all the tea,” I wink playfully, and Donna giggles as she follows me.
***
Though I catch Donna up on everything that's been happening, I leave out the part about my anger inciting my heat, and her brother being there to help me through it.
For obvious reasons, I'm too embarrassed to admit that I've fallen for his charms not once, but twice.
I also haven't told her that I tried to run away the day we were meant to come to the campsite. From what I gather, Donna has no idea I ran away from Nightmist, and Dominic told her that he and I traveled to the campsite earlier to get a better idea of what we were dealing with.
There's a lot my best friend isn't aware of, and a pang of guilt grips my chest as I watch her unpack her suitcase, pulling out three garment bags.
“Alpha Sirius didn't give us many details about what we're meant to do here, except to”—she clears her throat, her voice becoming deeper as she continues—“enjoy a night of dancing and frivolities in the Mount Desert hall.”
I giggle at her playful jest. “They've already given us a break, I think this is part of the trials,” I contemplate in a more serious tone. “We'll have to be careful.”
“Look at you!” Donna exclaims, slapping her thighs. “You're really taking these trials seriously, aren't you?”
Offering her a half-smile, I feel another bout of guilt because I haven't told Donna about the deal I made with her brother, either. She must think I'm a saint, but that's far from the truth.
Sighing as I hang my head in shame, Donna proceeds to hang up the clothes against the wardrobe doors when she notices that there's something wrong.
“Cecelia…? Is everything alright?” she asks, joining me on the bed and placing a comforting hand on my lap.
Gulping hard, I lift my guilty eyes to her, shaking my head slowly. Perhaps it's the influx of all the emotions I've been feeling and trying to escape that comes to the surface and moistens my eyes, and Donna immediately notices and wraps her arms around me.
“Oh, honey!” she cries, pulling back to cradle my cheek and wipe the stray tear that escapes my eye.
“I have a confession to make,” I whimper with my bottom lip trembling. “A few, actually.”
“I'm listening,” Donna says calmly, so gently, as she holds my hands and creates a space that's safe enough for me to come clean about…everything.
From the crush I've always had on her brother, to the night of my twenty-first and everything else that's happened since, I tell my best friend all of the secrets I've been keeping from her, offloading and feeling the weight lift off my shoulders as I do.
As she listens intently, not flinching nor raising a peculiar brow at me, I realize how wrong I was not to tell her any of this. For three years, what happened that night was hanging heavy on my chest, and now that I've released it, I feel like I can breathe in her presence again.
“I didn't mean to lay all of this on you, especially since you came here to enjoy yourself,” I sigh when I'm done recounting all the details I've been withholding.
Donna clicks her tongue, lifting a hand to my face to wipe what's left of the tears on my cheeks. “I came here to support my brother and my best friend. And that's all I care about.”
“You're not—you're not mad?”
Donna draws her hand away and shakes her head. “Of course, not. I mean, I had my suspicions when you disappeared from the bar that night, and my brother wasn't at home. But I didn't say anything. I knew you'd tell me when the time was right.”
“Oh, Dons…there's nothing right about any of this…not the timing, not the circumstances.” I hang my head. “I'm just afraid that I'm doing it again…I'm gonna get hurt. And I don't want our friendship to be ruined.”
Donna folds her fingers over my hand, offering me a gentle, reassuring smile. “Nothing could ever come between us, Cece. Not even my brother. And if your heart leads you to him, then you have my blessing.”
“It's not like that, Donna. He's not…” My voice tapers off as I shake my head and purse my lips, not wanting to admit that Dominic could never see me that way. But I've already told Donna everything, so it doesn't hurt to admit that I was heartbroken when he rejected me in the past.
Donna sighs. “You know…my brother has been working tirelessly his whole life to become alpha. From studying to training, to joining the black ops squad…it was always part of a mission he promised to accomplish the day our father died,” she admits with sadness lurking in her eyes.
“He's been laser-focused ever since, and he doesn't see beyond that.
You know what it's like for a family to fall from grace in a pack dynamic.
Dom's only been working hard to prove that the Rivera family is the strongest in the pack.”
“Just like I made a deal to get my father's name cleared,” I add with a heavy-hearted sigh.
“Is that the only reason you shook Dominic's hand at the beginning of the trials?” Donna poses the question without waiting for my response, getting to her feet and leaving me with food for thought as she unzips the first garment bag.
Is it possible that I can trust Dominic? The first time I did, he broke my heart, but Donna seems to think he did what he thought he needed to do to prove himself worthy of being the pack's alpha.
Though I want to open my heart to him, he hasn't addressed what happened in the past, and hasn't apologized for it. Maybe it was more important to me than it was to him, but since we've been here, he's given me no reason not to trust him.
Shivering as I try to rid myself of the thoughts that might only drive me back into depression, I lift my eyes to find Donna holding up the most stunning ball gown I've ever laid eyes on.
“Now, let's get dressed for this surprise ball, and see what's in store for everyone involved,” Donna winks, and suddenly, I'm excited for what the evening might bring, especially if I get to wear that dress she's holding.