joyous celebration

Finally, it was the big day.

Although the ceremony was taking place at the evening, ever since I woke up, time just flew by. It was pack custom that the Alpha and Luna to be separated for the night before the Luna ceremony so I slept at the Archer's room in the pack house.

Right when I woke up, I've been fed and briefed of what everything will be happening although I pretty much already memorized the schedule as I had been overseeing it for a week.

The atmosphere was jittery and exciting, everyone was full of smiles and laughter while also rushing to get the last minute preparations done.

It was probably two hours before the ceremony started and the pack helpers were starting on my hair when Archer's mom walked in the room and everyone momentarily left which made me nervous.

Ruby, Archer's mom, had arrived yesterday with her mate, Harvey who was of course Archer's father.

She pushed her dark hair behind her ears and came behind me. "Aren't you such a doll, who knew you would be my son's mate." she says and smiles. It was a slightly sad smile, regret hidden behind it and I could almost understand why.

I returned a smile. "If you ask me, I'm the one who's most surprised of the turn of events. I really hoped for my mate to be a regular pack wolf." I joked and we both laughed.

She sat down in front of me and reached for my hands.

Ruby didn't talk for a few minutes, she seemed to be having a hard time finding her words.

"I've heard from the others how Jessica has treated you when you first came here," she started, "and I think Harvey and I owe you an apology. Partly, it's our fault that that child had turned that way, we assumed that they would end up together. It was very stupid of us, but we were good friends and we wanted that to be true. We didn't know that it would hurt all of you."

I took a deep breath and let it go. I held her hands and signalled for her to look me in the eyes which she did.

"Yes, it did hurt us. It hurt me a lot, but Archer and I are happy now. Those are all mistakes of the past and although the consequences still affects all of us, we only have to work hard to resolve it. There's no sense in regretting the past now, we can talk about the past a million times and it still won't change anything. But we have now and the future."

Her eyes teared up as she looked back at me and when I wasn't expecting it, she hugged me so tightly I almost couldn't breathe but I could feel her sincerity.

"My son was right, you truly are the perfect Luna that this pack needs. I'm so sorry again." she said and I could only shake my head.

After that, we talked about the pack. She told me about the people here although she's lived away from the pack for a few years now, I was surprised that she still knew the people and which problems they had.

While we were talking, she was fixing my hair into a braid updo style and she did it so effortlessly.

Soon enough, the pack helpers came back and helped with my makeup and my overall attire. We needed to hurry because the ceremony was only an hour away now and we were informed that everyone was starting to arrive at the banquet hall.

After my hair and makeup, they brought out the dress and wow, is it a lovely dress. It was a white gown filled with delicate embroidered lace appliqué flowers, from the collar to the sleeves. When I wore it, even I was amazed with how beautiful it looked on me.

I wore sandals that had the smallest heel possible because there was no way I was standing on high heels for hours!

"You're absolutely beautiful Luna!" a helper beamed, her hands in her mouth and I couldn't help but laugh.

"She's right! You're just... ugh! Great!"

"This was all your work, thank you." I tell them.

"Alright, well we gotta get going now, the ceremony is starting in just a few." Ruby came to say and we all nodded.

All this time, I thought I was ready and that I wouldn't feel nervous. There's also the fact that I haven't seen Archer for a whole day now and when I saw him yesterday, it was only for a brief moment before I was dragged away.

I stood from the chair that I'd been sitting on for hours now and looked at myself one last time before leaving.

I couldn't suppress the smile.

'My mom would be proud of me, right?' I talk to my wolf.

'She should be.' she responded and that made me smile even more.

I turned and left the room. Everyone helped me with carrying the many layers of the dress when I was going down the flights of stairs because if not, I would have stumbled all the way down already.

It seems that everyone was already there because the banquet doors were closed, an indication that they were all just waiting for me.

From outside, I could hear Archer's dad welcoming everyone and thanking everyone's presence and then he let Archer stand up and that was the nearing sign that I was being introduced soon enough.

"Tonight, we welcome Luna Flumine's Luna. As many of you know, she hails from the pack of Aeternum, her father being Alpha Sonder. The moon goddess has fated us to be mates and to be the Luna of our prideful pack. I would like to call her now to present herself." Archer finished.

I took a deep breath and as I was letting that breath go, the door opened. The heavy banquet doors moved slowly, revealing bit by bit the grandeur of the hall and the thousands of people that were inside.

I held my breath again and kept my eyes on Archer as I started walking towards the front. As I passed each row, the people stood up in reverence and waited for me to pass them before sitting back down.

When I reached the front, Archer was at the bottom of the stairs, offering me his arms.

Archer looked damn fine. With his brown hair slicked back, his freshly shaved stubble, his black and white suit, he looked handsome as he always did.

I returned a smile when I took his arms and we went up the stairs and got in front of the audience. Standing here now, I was amazed with the amount of people that were here.

Everyone was wearing their own formal attire and they all looked their best. When I laid eyes, on them, they smiled back at me and that gave me a bit more encouragement.

"My mate and your Luna, Hazel Sonder." Archer introduced and the whole place filled with cheers and claps.

"Tonight, we are welcoming her as Luna Flumine's Luna. However, as tradition carries it, should anyone challenge our bond and her position as the Luna naturae, they will enter a challenge with her and accept to risk their life and their standing in the pack. Is there anyone here wishing to challenge Hazel Sonder?"

To be honest, I held my breath as the question was asked.

What if there really was someone who was going to challenge me? As far as I knew, there wasn't anyone, but just what if?

Oh no.

Then my eyes searched among the whole audience-- Jessica. What if she challenges me?

But the whole room silenced, it seemed like everyone held their breath with me.

As if on cue, I saw Jessica just right beside the banquet doors and I saw other girls around her. I looked her in the eyes and she stared back, but only to look down and that's when I understood that she wasn't going to challenge me.

That made me smile.

"Since nobody is challenging Hazel's position, Luna Flumine, as a pack, I take it that you are recognizing Hazel Sonder's position as your Luna and that you will be in submission to her position?" Archer finally asked.

"We accept, Alpha." the whole pack said in perfect unison as if they all rehearsed it and they all bowed their head as they kneeled one knee on the ground.

Just with those words alone were enough to trigger my wolf to show herself, after all, we were being made into a full fledged Luna.

I worried that everyone might find my eye colour to be weird in my wolf form, but thankfully everyone had their heads bowed to the ground.

But then I saw Archer's face scrunch when he saw me, visibly shocked and confused, but I smiled to ward his worry off. He had a ceremony to finish.

Archer seemed to have gotten the message and put his curiosity aside for now and proceeded with the ceremony.

As he turned to me, I knew it was my turn to kneel one knee on the ground.

"Hazel Sonder, do you accept to be part and perform your position as the Luna of the western pack, Luna Flumine?"

"I accept, Alpha." I say also and bow my head lightly.

"Do you accept to protect and nurture the pack with its needs, putting its interest and needs before yours?"

"I accept, Alpha."

"Do you accept to pledge loyalty to the pack and perform your duties to the extent that your abilities allow you to?"

"I accept, Alpha."

"With the whole pack and its leaders as your witness, you may now rise." Archer says and my wolf was no longer showed herself.

I stood up and took a step closer to Archer.

"You will now receive the mark of the pack that we take pride in." he said and hovered his hand just below my collarbone.

His eyes turned gold and that's when I started felling something below my collarbone, when I looked through the mesh of my dress, I saw the pack mark showing.

A moon with three wavy lines, very representative of the pack.

When the mark was full, he put his hand down. I looked up to him with a smile and he smiled back.

"Luna Flumine, rise and greet your Luna." Archer announced.

The whole pack stood up and turned to me again with big smiled on their face.

"Luna Hazel of Luna Flumine."

After the ceremony, the whole celebration continued. The seats were fixed away and the food was brought in.

The music started and the joyous atmosphere was at its peak. Archer and I went around to greet everyone as much as we could while trying to grab a food here and there.

Everyone congratulated us and me and hoped their best for the pack and for our bond.

The younger ones in the pack were shy around us, but they happily congratulated us. Those olders ones were now asking for children and Archer and I could simply laugh away the awkwardness of their request.

The elder ones were much more direct to Archer though. "You're so slow young man, why is there no mark on your mate yet!" an elder man scolded Archer.

The mark you received from your mate was an intimate topic and so I could see how visibly flustered and embarrassed Archer was when he was asked the question. Thankfully there was only the elderly couple in front of us and Archer and I that were engaged in this conversation.

"Well, Mr. Rivera, if this celebration wrapped up early, maybe we could have time for that." Archer responded and I was shocked with it. I quickly pinched him from the side while trying to keep the smile on my face.

How dare he joke about such things.

"Goodness, Alpha! If you were waiting for the celebration to end, then we'd never see that mark come to light any time soon! You know how much everyone loves to celebrate here." Mrs. Rivera answered and we all laughed.

When we pretty much met everyone, Archer and I finally went back to the table where Archer's parents were and previous Beta and Gamma with their mates to greet them.

"Oh honey, you both look tired. We'll take care of everything here, so you guys just go grab a bite." Derek's mom assured.

"Why just a bite? You two must've been tired from the preparations and the ceremony, you can retire if you wish." Harvey, Archer's father mentioned which surprised both Archer and I.

It surprised Archer mostly because he was experiencing his father cutting him some slack and he wasn't able to answer immediately.

Since I was able to link Archer now, that's exactly what I did. 'Should we go?' I asked.

'Heck, yeah.' he answered.

"Thank you, dad. We'll get going now then, I'm sure Hazel is tired, call me if you need me." Archer answered and we bid our farewells to their table and to the people we met on our way.

Archer and I stopped by the kitchen momentarily to fill our stomachs.

We found Miss Jemmy stressed out about the food running out in the kitchen, but we assured her that we had enough and told her to go enjoy the banquet.

It was a hard feat, but we did it. When we finished eating, we finally left the pack house towards our house.

Midway, I stopped Archer.

"Wait, my feet hurts." I say and held on to him with one hand while the other took my sandals off. As I stepped barefoot on the ground, I already felt much better.

Archer chuckled as if he found it funny and I was taken by surprise when I was swept off the ground and found myself on Archer's arms.

The butterflies that erupted in my stomach went into chaos again when I found myself suddenly so close to him.

"Hold on properly if you don't want to fall." he warned. Slowly and hesitantly, I wrapped my arms around his neck and held him close, my breath fanning the side of his neck.

And then I found myself hating all the marking talks because now that I had contact to the part where my mark is supposed to be on, I was being so conscious about it and I hoped with all my heart that Archer didn't notice.

I held on to him as he brought us inside the house. Since his hands weren't free, I had to open the door for him and he led me to the living room.

Arriving to the sofa, he slowly set me down so that he can go switch the lights on and because I wasn't able to let go of him fully when he let me down, I ended up grabbing him towards me and he fell on top of me.

OH. MY. GOSH.

My eyes opened wide when I realized what happened. I swear I didn't orchestrate any of this.

"I--I'm sorry." I apologized and waited for him to get off me as I turned my head away, but the longer I waited, I realized that he was still hovering over me.

"Why are you acting so nervous?" he asked in a playful voice, almost teasingly, almost too... alluringly.

With his fingers, he turned my chin to face him and my heart already started beating so loudly and the sparks intensifying by the moment once again.

"C'mon, Hazel, let me in your thoughts." he teased again and chuckled huskily and it was freakin enough to make me want him.

"It's nothing important Archer." I say, but my voice was retreating with the way he was looking at me. The moment burning and it didn't help that he licked his lower lip right in front of me.

Kissing him looked real good right now.

"I'll believe you," he said and with that, he lowered down to claim my lips.

I immediately kissed him back and our response started. It must've been because we haven't seen each other much lately because we were so busy and maybe because we haven't spent the past few nights together, but each touch we shared felt much more passionate than I previously remembered.

He sat down on the couch as I sat on top of him, I could feel his hands trying to go underneath the dress, but because the dress was long and had many layers, he had a hard time. Instead, he took a break from kissing me and started unbuttoning the dress from the front.

"Careful with the dress." I warned him as I equally unbuttoned his sleeves.

"It's so damned long, is there a zipper on this thing?" he asked.

I remembered that the zipper was on the side and led his hand there.

Once that obstacle was off, his hands roamed everywhere again, setting an unquenchable fire where it touched.

His hands reached the back of my head and I felt my hair getting undone and dropping to my shoulders. His lips trailed down to my neck as he planted kissed on it and my heart stopped. My breath was ragged as I tried to look at him through the dark.

Through the bare light provided by the moon outside, we stared at each other for a while.

"Is it okay?" he asked and I could feel that he was also nervous.

Marks are very intimate, it was a symbol that you and your mate had indicating to everyone that you are mates.

I swallowed hard and nodded.

"It shouldn't hurt too much since you're an Alpha's daughter, but--"

"Just do it Archer." I tell him although I appreciated his attempt to comfort me. He chuckled and he shook his head.

The next thing I knew, his eyes were golden and his fangs were out. He kissed and nibbled the part of my neck where he was to place his mark before I felt his fangs sinking on my neck.

The pain caught me by surprise. I held onto Archer so tightly that I may have dug my nails on his shoulders.

"Ah!" I couldn't help but scream.

At first, the pain was excruciating and it spread to my whole body, but then just as quickly, the electrical spark replaced it all with relief and a connection to Archer that I knew got stronger.

He pulled away and hugged me right away. "I'm so sorry, are you alright?" he asked.

Good thing, the pain didn't last too long because I was able to move normally just right after.

"It's fine... now." I assured him and raised his head to kiss him, but then he cocked his head, exposing his neck also. "What?" I asked, confused.

"Mark me now, too." he said. He looked resolute and sure about it so I simply nodded.

"I'll be careful." I whispered and kissed him before moving onto his neck.

Like he did earlier, I showed my fangs out. I kissed the side of his neck before sinking my fangs on his neck for my mark, trying my best to make the process the least painful as it could be.

He must've felt the same pain because he held on me tightly, but it didn't hurt.

When I pulled away, I lifted his head to see if he was okay. "I'm sorry, I tried to--" I was cut off when he raised his head and smiled as he looked at me.

He lifted his hand to touch his neck where my mark was and then when he saw the mark he put on me, he put his hand over it.

"Finally... this means that we belong each other definitely now." he says with a voice that sounded so relieved and that set off the butterflies in my stomach again.

And then, his hands reached to my face as he placed his forehead against mine.

"Have I told you already Hazel?" he asked.

My heart was racing inside my chest and I could hardly contain it, it was because of Archer and I knew that.

"Have I told you that I love you?"

I felt like I forgot how to breathe when he said the words. I had to assure that the moment was real, that I wasn't dreaming.

"Wh-what did you say?" I ask again through my shock.

Archer smiled.

"It's not just the mate bond, Hazel. I truly love you for who you are and I'm so thankful that you're my mate although I'm lacking in so many ways. I find myself thinking about you so many times that it bothers my work, not having you close drives me close. I have to fulfill my duties and sometimes it's tiring and exhausting, but I'm so happy that I can come home to you. And I'm so happy knowing that I have my whole life to spend with you."

I felt my eyes watering, the words felt like they weren't registering properly, but each word was being etched in my mind and my heart.

"And it's okay if you don't feel the same way," he continued, but saying the words hurt him, "but I hope you also learn to love me along the way."

The tears fell and he was quick to wipe them away.

"Nonsense, Archer." I whisper, reaching out to his face. "I already love you."

Silence settled as he took the time to process my words.

"D-do you mean that?"

"I love you, Archer and I'm so scared that I may love you too much."