Heir To The Iron Crown: Dyrith

32 - þrjátíu og Tveir

A quiet had taken over the pack.

It's funny how it's not the noise, the clatter of all the people trying to settle down, the sound of car horns, the shouts and yells around us, that had caught my attention.

It was their silence.

We were waiting in one of the empty rooms in the packhouse, right in front of which the gathering was taking place.

We didn't have to wait for a signal, or a cue. It was the simple absence of either, that told us it was time to go.

Renee held my hand, pulling me with her, an encouraging smile on her face, as she walked me out.

The sun had dropped low enough to create a gentle aura of gold in the sky. It wasn't blinding, nor was it too dark.

It was, just right.

Just like in the car on my way here, my dress captured the light, and I could almost feel the way it sparkled. As if the light I had trapped, was weighing me down, slowing my steps.

I saw a few white chairs lined up in almost a circle, each one filled by either an elderly member of the pack, or a small child. All others stood still, around the chairs which encircled a small stage.

They were all well-dressed, some carrying flowers and gifts in their hands, while others held on to their partners and children. I saw some of them squinting their eyes to take a better look at my face from behind the bedazzling dress I wore.

The circular stage I was walking towards was decorated simply with white flowers all around, nothing about it being too fancy, but it screamed elegance. The entire setting was simple, but I didn't imagine it could be any better, given the time my mate had to plan everything, all on his own.

He still had outdone himself.

No one stood on that stage except him.

Valente wore a simple black suit with a brilliant white shirt underneath, that fit his muscular frame like a glove. His stance was authoritative, yet welcoming.

I could see his wide smile from so far away, and feel the warmth in his chest spread through my own. I wish I could run up to him, but I knew it wouldn't at all be becoming of a Luna, so I hurried my steps instead.

Renee immediately squeezed my hand, but I didn't want to stop. It was now I that was pulling her instead, towards where my mate stood.

As I'd gotten close enough to the large group, I heard multiple gasps from all around me.

I'd known this was exactly what would happen. Surely word would have started to spread by now, about who their Luna was.

But only some had recognized me on the short car ride to the pack house, so I was still a surprise to most.

I ignored the looks that I was getting, that now held a different meaning, than it would have been if any other woman was standing in my place.

They looked at me probably thinking how a day ago I was gone for good, had run away or was dead.

The social outcast, always isolated and friendless, except for the few Omegas that didn't mind eating at the same table with me, was now walking towards their Alpha as his chosen mate.

As their Luna.

Valente held out his hand at the steps of the stage when I reached it. Renee immediately let go of me, and I watched her walk towards Otto and her children right in front.

I turned back to look at Valente's smiling face, taking his hand in my own. He had tears in his eyes that surely he couldn't control, and I would be lying if I said my own were dry.

His face reminded me of the first time I'd seen him smile at me when we were little, the first time he had held my hand like this, and told me I'd be his partner.

He had never specified what kind of partner I'd be, but now after sixteen years, he was showing me exactly what he had meant.

He walked me around the stage, so that everyone could see me, see who he had marked as his Luna.

Once he was done, he stood in the middle of the stage, facing those right in front of the packhouse again.

I saw Eidis standing with her mother towards the front, her face lit up with a bright smile, that I'm sure I'd never seen before. It almost made her look younger, and a lot more kind.

On one of the chairs in the front row, I found Sylvia watching me. Her eyes were not hostile, as they had been yesterday. Instead, they looked blank, indifferent.

Her expression was evident enough to tell me she did not want to be here, but was forced to. Nothing about the situation she was in made her happy.

I looked around the crowd to find many familiar faces; some were of disbelief, yet others were saying "I knew it".

An old man made his way onto the stage, and Valente pulled me back to let him stand in front of us.

He walked up to us, holding our hands in both of his, and gave us a warm smile.

"You've finally given us a Luna," he said, looking at Valente gratefully, before his piercing gaze turned to me. "And you've made the most excellent choice for yourself, and for us all."

He was most definitely old, but nothing about him displayed fragility. His physical appearance however, wasn't the most peculiar thing about him.

It was the way he looked at us, as if he knew so much about us, yet we'd given away nothing. His eyes extruded wisdom, and he was in complete control of what he'd wish to share, and what he wouldn't.

Valente smiled as he looked at me too.

"I would have always chosen her. Even if I had the opportunity to make that choice a million times, it would always be Rayne," he said. There wasn't even the tiniest bit of hesitation in his voice. "But, I didn't have to. We were mates from the start, I only found out when she turned eighteen."

"Are you sure?" the old man asked him, raising an eyebrow, his smile still in place.

Valente looked back at him, confusion evident on his face.

The old man let out a small chuckle at the face his young Alpha made.

"Are you sure you were already mates and that you didn't have to actually choose her?" he asked him, clarifying.

There was a glint in his eyes that would make anyone else question everything they know, everything about their very being.

I didn't understand why he would say that. We were mates, even before he marked me we could sense each other when I'd turned eighteen. That's how he had found me in the first place.

"Well, yes. I-"

"Because you created a bond with her when you chose her, and had decided to mark her long before either of you came of age.

My Alpha, your choice had already claimed her wolf," the old man said, cutting Valente off.

Valente turned to me instantly, his expression first of surprise, and then apologetic.

I already knew Sterkur had tried to bond with Imadis when I was leaving, causing the distance to break her. It made her drown beneath the layers of my consciousness so deep, that I couldn't find her till Valente found me again.

But this is why it had gotten so bad.

I was connected to Valente too. My wolf had suffered two-fold.

"You chose her as your own, that's why you could find each other when she finally came of age.

But that doesn't mean you were born mates.

Maybe you were,
maybe you weren't.
You'll never know for sure."