When Shana and I arrive at the party, everything is in full swing. I see my nine friends all sitting at one big table. It’s the same every year. Since all of our birthdays as so close, we also sit at the table of honor. I take Shana’s hand and slowly walk her to our table. I see Ben sitting between Mona and Seleste. Ben’s attention is focused on Mona. You can see the love between the two of them. They remind me of my parents. Speaking of which, I need to introduce them to Shana. I make a quick detour on the way to our table. My mom and dad are sitting with Ben’s parents and Seleste’s parents. I forgot how close the three families are.
“Mom, dad, Mr. and Mrs. Jackson, Mr. and Mrs. True, let me introduce my mate, Shana Stevens. Shana, this is my mom and dad, the beta couple and the gamma couple.”
“Hi everyone,” Shana says shyly.
“Hi Shana,” my mom says. “We have been eager to meet you. You look lovely tonight.”
“Thank you, Luna. You look lovely yourself. It is a pleasure to meet all of you”
Everyone else at the table greets Shana. They are all polite and welcoming, but I noticed Mr. True glaring at me when no one is looking. While everyone else was engaging with Shana, the gamma couple just looked at me. It’s almost like they know what happened between Seleste and me, but that’s impossible. She could not tell them because of the alpha command.
After leaving my parents’ table, I take Shana’s hand again and we walk to our table. The group just looked at me, without giving us a warm welcome as friends. I notice Seleste is not at the table. I hope she has not left already. That will spoil all of my fun later.
We make it to our seats. I pull Shana’s seat out for her. I want everyone to see me being a good mate. My friends are not impressed with my behavior right now, but I know they will support me in the end.
“Hi, guys. How has the party been so far?”
“It has been great,” Sam said.
He and Drew were seated with Talia in the middle of them. That’s new. They look good together. I wonder if they are mates. Sam and Drew’s birthday was Wednesday, but Talia’s birthday isn’t until tomorrow. I haven’t been hanging with the guys lately, so I may have missed out on them finding each other. I have a lot of catching up to do. My dad did mention there was more than one person in our group that found their mate.
“Almost everyone pack member has stopped by our table to wish us all happy birthday and look at the gift table. It is full. Seleste has been the hit of the party this year. It seems like every unmated male in the pack is asking her to dance and, of course, Seleste, being who she is, agreed to dance with them so she doesn’t hurt their feelings.” Nathan says.
“Oh, that’s nice,” I say sarcastically. “Why are they all asking her to dance? What’s so special about her? It's not like they are her mate.”
“Well, she hasn’t found her mate yet, so they actually could be, since it is not one of us. I bet it will be one of the warriors.” Ben said.
“Anyway, who cares,” I say, rolling my eyes. “Why would a warrior want to come home every night to another warrior? If that’s the case, he could just stay in the barracks. It’s the same difference.”
“Seriously, Trev. You are taking this too far, it’s her birthday. Can you at least try to be nice and act mature for the night?” Ben asks. “We are all trying to have a good time and the last thing any of us need is for you to upset the girls by being petty towards Seleste.”
I look over, and Mona is glaring at me. Ben is right. This is not the time. I will handle this at the end of the party.
“You are right Ben,” I say, “tonight is a night for celebrating.”
Shana is quietly sitting next to me, taking everything in. This is her first time being included with all the ranked wolves.
“So, Shana, tell me; how are you enjoying everything tonight?” Talia asks. “It must be a treat for you getting to seat at the big table.”
Shana looks at Talia to see if she is being funny, then answers. “It has been interesting. I have enjoyed meeting everyone so far.”
Shana handled that very well. I am proud of her. She did not become catty. She remained poised like she was born into this circle. I can tell she is nervous. I reach over and give her hand a squeeze. I asked Shana if she wants to dance, but she said not yet. I guess she needs to settle her nerves first or wait for her friends to come around. I arranged for her friends to have a table near us. I knew my friends would want them at our table. Not that they are snobs it’s just a birthday tradition for us.
I look up and see Seleste being delivered to the table by one of the Elite warriors. They are both smiling at each other. He leans over and whispers something to her, and I almost let out a growl. I don’t know where that came from. I definitely am not jealous. After all, I rejected her. She is not in her seat for more than a minute before another male asks her to dance. She accepts and off they go. This goes on for over an hour. Dance after dance. Warrior after warrior. She looks like she is having so much fun. I can’t stand it. I link her about her behavior.
“Just because I rejected you does not mean you need to whore around with all the warriors. I mean, what else would they be hanging around you for? They are not your mate. Have some self-respect.” I say through the mind link.
She just looks up and smiles without answering. She does not appear to be bothered by me being here with Shana at all. It’s like she doesn’t feel the mate bond at all. I’ve held Shana’s hands, dance with Shana in front of her. I even kissed Shana in front of her. She did not react at all. I know she had to feel the pain of my kissing another female, but she did not show any signs of it at all. She just kept dancing and talking to every unmated male at the party. It is really irritating me. How can she act like I’m not here with my chosen mate? What’s really weird is that Convel has not popped in on me tonight at all. Even when I linked Seleste, he said nothing. I can see him peep his head up every time a new male asks her to dance, but then he goes back in his corner. I hope he gets over this soon. We have a new mate. He needs to focus on her.
For the rest of the party, everyone wishes us all a happy birthday, mainly Rose, Ben, and Seleste, because today is actually their birthday. We enjoy a nice dinner. Shana and I spend a little time at her friend’s table. Through all of this, Seleste does not look at me once unless I am directly talking. Even though I could not get her to react to me being with Shana, I am still moving forward with my plans.
My mom and dad walk to our table and let me know it is time for the announcements. I see the betas and gamma already in their spots on the stage. I grab Shana’s hand and we follow my parents to the stage. Once we all make it to the stage, my dad walks out front and starts addressing the crowd.
“I would like to thank everyone for being here tonight to celebrate the 18th birthday of the circle of 10, our next generation of the leaders of the pack. I’m sure that together, the ten will continue to move our pack to greater things.” My dad let the crowd finish cheering before continuing. “I have a couple of things to announce tonight. First, I want to say congratulations to the future Beta Ben on finding his mate, Mona. I am so happy for our next Beta couple. I also want to congratulate my head warrior twin sons on finding their mate, Talia, who is also one of our top warriors. We are so happy for them. And finally, I would like to announce that my son, your future alpha, has also found his mate, Shana. Show them all some love.” As soon as my dad says that, the pack goes crazy cheering.
“I’m sure that over the course of this next week, there will be more mate connections. Your Luna and I have decided to hold a mating ceremony for all the new mates next Saturday since it is a full moon. Make sure you all let the Beta Vareen know if you connect with your mate between now and then so that you can be included in the ceremony. For my last announcement, I would like for all the future leaders to approach the stage.”
All of my friends stand up and approach the stage; Ben, Rose, and Mona are first followed by Seleste, then Sam, Drew, and Talia. Nathan and Eli come up last.
“As it is our tradition, now that Trevor has found his mate, I will be retiring and handing the alphaship to him. Directly following the mating ceremony, will be the alpha and luna ceremony. We have already sent out invitations to all of our ally packs. I am so proud of you all. Now I will turn it over to Trevor to officially announce the next Beta and Gamma of the pack; Trevor.” My dad says and steps back to his spot next to my mother. My mom has tears of joy in her eyes. She is so proud of her only son.
“Hello everyone.” I start. “I hope you all had a good time tonight. I know I did. The Blue Moon pack knows how to throw a party.” I let the pack settle down again. “Let me start by introducing you all to my mate and your future Luna, Shana Stevens.” Everyone Cheers.
I hand Shana the mic. She smiles and says hi to everyone. She tells them how excited she is and is looking forward to being the best Luna for the pack. I notice a few of my friends rolling their eyes as Shana speaks. They are going to have to get over how they feel about my rejecting my mate. Shana is their Luna, and they will respect her. Shana finishes and hands me back the mic.
“Thank you, baby. I know you will be an excellent Luna. I hope that you all will give Shana that same love, support, and respect that you have shown me all of my life.” I say, looking directly at my friends. I know they got the message. Now it's time for the showdown between me and Seleste. She will know her place after tonight.