Mates with the Enemy

Chapter Eight

I looked at myself in the mirror, observing my eyes and nose-my two biggest flaws. I remembered the night before when I had my first conversation with Damian, and already it had seemed as if I was getting married to him. But it was all too sweet and way too fast. My mind raced and I felt so alone. The door swung open.

"Hurry up! You have twenty minutes, are you almost done?" Mason asked, anxious about this event. You could even see his muscles shaking.

"Yea, give me a minute," I replied. A piece of hair fell out of my complex braid. Did I care? Kind of, but that wasn't important. What was important was that I was about to get accepted as a Luna to a pack whom I have heard only bad things about! I let the hair go. "Okay...done."

"Great, everyone's outside waiting. Let's go," he offered me his arm.

He guided me around the house and to an exit. We walked through a labyrinth and finally stopped at a white gate, partly open. I took a deep breath as a crowd came to view. There I was looking at a sea of people, one on each side of me, all of them staring back. About 40 feet away, Damian stood staring at me, never looking away. I walked down the aisle to find a table holding a ceramic bowl of stones along with a dagger. Uh oh..

"You're not going to make me do this, are you?" I scream whispered into Mason's ear. He nodded his head and gave a speech to the waiting audience.

"Everyone, this is Evelina, your possible new leader. It is up to your energy to accept her," everyone sat silently. "These stones represent the energy within all of you. Once Evelina's blood hits these stones, it will either leave its mark, meaning acceptance. But it could also burn away, meaning reject," even though he tried to emphasize the whole situation, nobody seemed to be fazed. They just sat there with wide eyes and gloomy faces. He gave up and nodded his head towards the dagger, a signal that I should begin.

I took a deep breath and picked up the sharp dagger. I took a look at Damian, who happened to be staring at me (like always,) closed my eyes and made a fresh cut about two inches long on the palm. Wincing with pain, I opened my eyes to see my very own blood land on the crystal like stones. For a second it had disappeared, nothing but the gigantic stones. My hands started shaking (luckily the cut had vanished) and thoughts raced through my mind.

This is good, this is good! I get to go home now! But what about Damian? Shut up Eve, you just met the guy. Now you get to see the people you do know! And love. Crazier thoughts kept flowing until I couldn't take it anymore. The suspense was killing me.

A black mark appeared, tracing the blood that had just fallen. I couldn't believe my eyes, apparently these people had chosen me...like I was good enough to actually be a Luna! Mason grabbed one of the now black stones and lifted it to the audience.

"Members of the Black Depths, you have spoken," I laughed inside because they didn't even speak at all, "your new Luna, Evelina!" Out of nowhere, everyone clapped and yelled. It was like they were a whole group of different people! I let out a smile and looked back at the Alpha who was smiling too, one of the serious crooked ones, but I guess that was enough.

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"When I said I wanted a picnic, I meant the casual sandwiches and juice boxes," I said to Damian as he pulled out plates of hot salmon and leftover champaign.

"Yeah, well consider this a celebration...and our first date," he murmured the last part. I could feel my cheeks turn a disgusting red, so I looked away towards the lake we sat in front of. To be honest with you, I hated the idea of romance. I sucked at flirting, receiving complements, I always get distracted at something completely different if a guy tried to make small talk, and I can NEVER make eye contact without my face turning into a tomato.

"Sooo, I guess you can't do this often with all of your erm...emergencies?" See, suck at small talk.

"It does take up most of my time, but I guess it's not so bad," he handed me the champaign, "it's almost like a hobby."

"Can't judge that," gosh I am so awkward. He laughed and for a moment stared into my eyes. Like many other times, he declined any emotion, and quickly tried to change the subject.

"How was the ceremony? Did you feel welcomed by the pack?" Well if by welcomed you meant freaked out by all the bipolar people and in pain from cutting myself with a dagger, then yes, very. But that's not how I replied.

"It was very nice. I loved the dress," I tried to convince him.

"I'm glad you enjoyed it," I gave one of those short little laughs that are just meant to ease out of conversation. The wind blew as I glanced up at the tree above us. Something red flashed through the branches but disappeared in an instant.

"Did you see something?" I asked, pointing to the empty branches.

"No," he looked up in concern, but saw nothing.

"Probably just a bird," I suggested. I leaned in towards the basket to get another piece of salmon when I heard something fall, piercing the ground. I slowly turned back to find the dagger in the ground, right where I had been sitting. The same dagger that I had cut my hand in the coronation.

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Author's Note:

Hey beautifuls :) omigosh I finally updated! We have missed three days of school this week because of snow. Summer where are you?! Anyways, don't forget to vote, follow, and comment your suggestions on how I can improve this story. Also, how much snow did you get? Love you guys, stay awesome <3
-XO Raquel