Chapter 20 - Mara
I never imagined that I’d be the kind of woman who’d have a “getting ready” party.
But here I am, sitting in the middle of my living room, surrounded by four women who all seem genuinely happy to be here.
There’s laughter, vanilla-sugar candles burning, and a coffee table laden with snacks and drinks.
The air is thick with the scent of peonies and citrus from my bouquet and the faint, unmistakable tang of nerves; mine, mostly, as everyone else seems much calmer.
Sara insisted on painting my toenails, and she has my foot up on the stool, painting my toenails with the concentration of a neurosurgeon.
“You have really nice feet for someone who’s run for her life so much,” she says, and everyone cracks up except for me, because I’m too busy trying not to kick her in the face every time she tickles the arch of my foot.
Kit is halfway through curling my hair and looks like she’s about to break out into a sweat.
“Why am I the only one who’s worried about this?
” she says, eyeing the clock. “Shouldn’t there have been a rehearsal or something?
” She glances at Kenzie, whose mate has just dropped her off, for backup, but Kenzie is on the other side of the room, unpacking champagne bottles.
“It’s a luna ceremony, not a wedding,” she laughs, popping the first bottle.
“You just stand in front of the pack, Cade says some words, you say some words, and then you drink a bunch of moonshine and hope nobody shifts until the hangover wears off.” She grins at me.
“You’ll be fine. Besides, you look hot.”
I roll my eyes, but the compliment does something weird to my chest. I can’t remember the last time a group of women called me hot and meant it. Not a threat, not a punchline, just a fact.
Willow is fussing with the dress she helped me pick out. It’s dark blue and sleeveless, with a skirt that swishes out when I spin. She pins a sprig of juniper to the shoulder and steps back, hands on her hips, eyes shining. “Perfect,” she announces.
I snort. “Perfect is a stretch, but I’ll take it.”
Sara’s face flickers. She taps my ankle gently and says, “You look happy. I’m really glad you stayed, Mara.”
For a second, I’m not sure what to say. I want to joke, brush it off, but nothing comes out. I just nod, and it’s enough.
It’s strange to realize that I’m not scared.
Not of Cade, not of the pack, not even of the weird future I never wanted but somehow ended up right in the middle of.
Maybe it’s the adrenaline of the last few weeks, or the fact that for the first time since…
I don’t even know when; I have a reason to look forward to things.
For a while, we just talk and laugh, and I let myself be a woman with friends.
The conversation meanders into talking about what Willow’s latest lab findings could mean, about the way the valley is finally waking up as summer approaches, about how Willow’s baby is finally sleeping through the night.
There’s a pause, and for a second, we’re all quiet as Kenzie begins to hand out the champagne, and we listen to the muted roar of the river through the open window.
Kit breaks the silence first. “I can’t believe we’re actually getting a break,” she says, stretching her arms over her head. “Two months ago, I really didn’t know how this was all going to go. And now we get to do this.”
Willow gleefully accepts the glass of champagne and grins. “We’re not done,” she says. “We took out the Order’s last big US shipment hub, but they still have the labs. They’ll be regrouping, and you know they’ll try something desperate before summer really hits.”
Kenzie nods, her expression sliding from cocky to serious in an instant.
“Yeah, but this time, they’re the ones scrambling.
The packs are working together, the alliance is actually listening to us, and…
” she gestures at me, at all of us. “We’ve got far more information than they realize, thanks to Mara and our European network. ”
Willow lifts her glass and leans toward me.
“You get the first toast, new luna.” The others laugh and clink their glasses, holding them out, expectant.
Willow presses the cold flute into my hand, but I hesitate, the prickly fizz tickling the tip of my nose.
I don’t want it. Not even a sip. The very thought makes my stomach turn.
Sara is the first to notice. “You okay?” She looks at me with that mom-friend concern, and I try to smile but only manage a weird grimace.
“I’m good,” I say, but my voice is flat, and I set the champagne back on the table. “Just…not in the mood, I guess.”
Kenzie gives me a side-eye. “What, are you pregnant?” She means it as a joke, but the silence that lands is immediate and electric. Kit’s curler freezes halfway through a lock of my hair. Willow’s eyes go wide, and even Sara puts down her polish.
Shit.
“You have to promise not to tell anyone until I tell Cade later,” I say quickly. “He was so busy when he got back yesterday; I’m going to do it after the ceremony. Do you think he’ll be happy?”
The room erupts.
“Of course he’ll be happy,” Kit declares, beaming.
“We won’t tell anyone,” Sara says, “our lips are sealed.”
By the time we finish getting ready and leave for the square, I think the excitement level has gone up, not down.
The news of my pregnancy has only intensified the women’s happiness, and I feel almost swept along by it.
I’ve been nervous about telling Cade. Will he finally find an issue with me not having a wolf? What if our child doesn’t, either?
Just as we reach the square, my nerves all resurface, but I try to squash them down as I begin my walk through the crowd.
The center of the square is strung with fairy lights, the kind that look like stars if you squint, and every person in the valley seems to be here, packed in and humming with anticipation.
There are banners on the railings, food trucks parked along the curb, and fresh flower petals scattered so thickly over the ground that it looks like the whole town’s been carpeted in pink and yellow.
Cade stands at the front, and I barely recognize him at first. He’s clean-shaven, in a dark blue suit that fits like it was made for him, and his hair is combed back in a way that makes him look impossibly handsome and, for half a second, almost approachable.
He’s talking with Rowan and Brooks and the other alliance alphas, all of them looking uncharacteristically formal.
They’re lined up like the world’s scariest groomsmen, and as soon as they see our group approaching, Cade’s head snaps up, and his eyes go straight to me.
I freeze. It’s not fear. It’s the way he looks at me, every ounce of his attention focused on just me, as if he’s trying to memorize exactly how I look and sound and smell in this instant.
For someone who’s been through as much as I have, it’s terrifying to be seen like this, to be wanted like this.
I think, for the first time, I start to believe I might actually deserve it.
Willow herds our group through the crowd, which parts for us in a wave of murmured excitement and the soft, citrusy scent of flowers.
Kit is nearly vibrating with anticipation, and Sara keeps squeezing my hand as if to remind me I’m not alone.
When we reach the front, Cade steps down, takes my hand, and guides me up onto the little stage where the pack priestess waits.
He leans in close, lips at my temple, and whispers, “You look incredible. I can’t believe you’re mine.”
I want to say something witty, but all I can do is smile and grip his hand tighter.
The priestess, whom I’m now convinced is at least three hundred years old and secretly runs the world, raises her arms, and the entire square falls silent. Cade doesn’t let go of me. I don’t let go of him.
The ceremony is short, but it’s honest, which I like. The priestess welcomes me to the pack and asks if I promise to “love the Wilder Pack as fiercely as you would your own kin.” I do. Cade has to promise to “protect and honor the luna with all the strength of the alpha line.” He does.
Then I have to speak. The priestess calls me to the front, and I’m suddenly facing not just Cade, but the entire pack, everyone who’s ever doubted me, feared me, or quietly rooted for me to fail. My heart thumps in my chest, but I force myself to look out at them, to let them see me.
“I promise to fight for us,” I say, and my voice is steadier than I expect.
“To keep the pack safe, to challenge the world that wants us gone, and to protect this family with everything I have.” I look at Cade, and the rest of the world falls away.
“I promise to love you like a family, even if I don’t always know how.
Even if I mess up, I promise to make this a place for every stray, every outsider, every person who never thought they’d belong anywhere.
” My throat is tight, but I don’t stop. “I promise to burn the world to the ground before I let anyone take it from us again.”
The priestess nods her approval, and then, to my utter relief, the crowd erupts into applause.
Cade grins at me, so openly proud that I almost start crying.
He leans in and kisses me, slow and reverent, and the pack howls in a chorus that ripples down my spine and makes the hair on my arms stand up.
There’s a blur of hugs and congratulations, and the band starts up, sending the party into high gear.
We slip out of the party just after midnight, escaping through the river path.
The air is cold but not biting, and the town is alive with the lingering echoes of music and laughter.
Cade doesn’t let go of me once, and when we reach the porch of the house, he scoops me up, bridal-style, and carries me to the door.