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Cory had changed from his navy blue suit to a black one with a dark blue tie that matched my dress. His suit looked tailored to his body, and I was trying not to drool or drag my parents behind me as I hurried my steps a little to reach my mate.
I hardly listened to the council member give his speech as I focused on the man before me, and all the emotions I felt for him, I felt reciprocated from Cory. Kara’s words resonated in my head while I felt the push and pull of the emotions between us. When the ceremony was over, and the voices of the entire pack flooded into my head all at once, I felt his strong arms around me as he helped me manage the pain of my mind opening up to all of Crescent Moon. Once I had a handle on how to shut the chatter down, I stood back up and addressed the pack. My pack.
“Thank you for coming out this evening to help us celebrate today. Before I let you enjoy the food and company of our friends and family, I ask you to help me celebrate one more thing tonight.” I felt the presence of Uncle Helios, Aunt Natalia, Areli, David, and Cory behind me as they pushed forward the memorials. “Some of you from far away may not be aware, but for years now, Blue Moon, Guardian Moon, and Crescent Moon have taken turns rotating who hosted the full moon celebrations. It helped create a sense of unification between all three packs. Peace and many mate pairings have been the fruit of that understanding, and something that I hope continues for many more moons to come.” I could see the hope of that statement reflected back at me from all three packs.
“Two months ago, Blue Moon was attacked while they hosted the full moon celebration. The three packs banded together and destroyed the enemy, but all three suffered devastating losses that day, including the life of the alpha of Blue Moon. The attack was made during the most vulnerable of moments for werewolves, right at the peak of the full moon. It was made with the intention of dividing us and causing as much damage to the packs and the threads that hold us together as friends and allies. To say that it was devastating is an understatement, but they failed. The attack didn’t divide us. It unified us more. So tonight, we want to celebrate the lives we lost. The loss we felt and how we lost them are something we will never forget, but we want to never forget their names. These memorials behind me were made for each pack, with the input of the three packs.” I stopped as I heard as all three memorials were unveiled behind me.
“Every person’s name we lost are on this stone, but not what pack they belonged to, because while we are three separate packs, we are all one family. We are all the children of the Moon Goddess. So, please, learn their names, and help us celebrate their lives.”
I took a step to the side, letting Cory, Uncle Helios, Aunt Nat, Areli, and David push forward the obelisks. At the same time, people clapped, howled, and came up to look at the stone memorials in front of us. There were twenty-five names on the obelisks, with a picture of each member engraved above their names. At the top, instead of the pack emblems, we created an image of three wolves howling. One howled at a crescent moon, another howled at a sun, and the last wolf howled at the full moon. Each represented one of the packs, but they all stood proudly together.
Cory wrapped an arm around my waist and kissed my forehead. “I’m so fucking proud of you, and I have to tell you, you’re the most beautiful woman in the world.”
“You’re biased,” I giggled, snuggling up to him.
“Damn right, I am. You’re mine, Evie. There will never be anyone that turns me on like you do,” he whispered in my ear.
“Have we been social enough?” I asked, pulling the hand around his waist down a little to squeeze his ass. A growl came from Cory, but he couldn’t respond because Zi came up and grabbed me.
“Sorry, Alpha, she needs an outfit change.” I laughed as she dragged me away into one of the conference rooms on the first floor.
“You were amazing. I’m so proud of you,” she gushed while she helped remove the skirt of the dress. “Ugh, I love this dress,” she said once it was down to the short skirt.
“It’s pretty nifty. I would have died in that skirt all night.”
“Nifty? Who even uses that word these days?” I rolled my eyes and started walking toward the door when she caught me off guard by blurting, “I’m going to ask James to mark me tonight.”
I halted and turned to look at her face to make sure I heard her right.
“YES! YES! YES! Fuck yes!” I screamed and ran back to her, grabbing her by the shoulders and shaking her.
“Evie, calm down; you’re freaking me out,” she laughed, grinning broadly.
“This is a big deal. I’m so happy for you! What made you decide to do it now?” I asked.
“I-I love him. I want him to be my mate and father to Molly. I want him to be the father of my future children,” she answered shyly.
“YES!” I couldn’t help but scream again, and she started to giggle. “Come on, let’s go join the others. I can’t wait to see their faces tomorrow!” I practically dragged the giggling woman with me. But, as we stepped outside, her entire frame went rigid, and I paused, watching the giddiness drain from her face and terror replace it. “Zi, what’s wrong?” I asked, but she turned around and ran back inside.
‘Guys, something’s wrong. Come to the kitchen?’ I mind-linked both Cory and James quickly while I chased after Zi, who, for whatever reason, hid in the kitchen pantry. The boys didn’t answer, but I knew they would come. I walked inside the pantry to find Zi huddled against the back, shaking.
“Hey, Zi. Look at me, please. What’s wrong?”
“He’s here. Oh, Goddess, he’s here, Evie. Why didn’t I think that he might show up?” Zi ranted, grabbing her dress, her hair, then scratching at her arms as if trying to remove something from it.
“Anthony? How is he here? We didn’t invite anyone outside of the alphas?”
“No, not Anthony. His brother. Brock is here,” Zi shuddered, tears streaming down her face. “Why did I think joining a pack was a good idea? It was just a matter of time. Oh, Goddess! Molly! He can’t see her!” she cried, but as she tried to push past me, James and Cory entered, Molly firmly in James’ arms.
“What’s going on?” Cory asked, taking in the terrified look on Zi as she took Molly from James, and held onto her for dear life.
“Did you invite Brock Leigh?” I whispered, trying to make sure Zi was calming down. She didn’t need to hear that name right now. It would just send her spiraling down more.
“Broccoli? Who’s broccoli?” James whispered back.
“Not broccoli, Brock Leigh,” I hissed back, motioning for him to be quiet. Why we were not mind-linking, I didn’t know. I supposed I wasn’t thinking correctly at the moment.
“Who the fuck is broccoli?” he asked again, a little louder this time, clearly frustrated.
