Nadine Book 7

63. Mud Monsters

Tre is sitting in the sitting room. "Oh boy."

"What?"

"Baby, you haven't done anything with the human side. Your hair is a disaster, and you have got dirt on your face and dress."

"Oh."

"Let's make a door to the castle and fix you quickly. It'll be 20 minutes before they're ready, anyway."

We step into his apartment. He gives me the quickest bath. Then runs to get me a queen outfit while I put my hair in the rollers. I meet him in the morning room, and he dries my hair while I put the clothes on. I get my super high heels on, and he pulls the last curler out.

"That was amazing."

"We are fast at this now." He gives me a kiss. "You are beautiful baby."

"Thank you." I wiggle against him.

"Careful or we'll be late for lunch."

He makes us a door. Then we are back in the sitting room. Few more people are in it.

Kodan about falls out of the chair. Some lady smacks him on the back of the head. "I'm sorry. You should have seen her earlier. This is the total opposite."

"I forgot to comb my hair. Or wash anything."

She laughs. "I have those days too. I'm Kodan's mate. My name is Sasha. It's a pleasure to meet you."

"You as well. I'm Nadine."

Mason walks out of a side room with Dipak behind him. "We should be about ready for lunch now." He looks up and sees me. His eyes go from my head down to my toes and back up. Then he trips and throws the box he's carrying at Tre. He gets his footing again and Tre hands him the box. "Sorry, I've been meaning to get that board fixed."

Kodan, Sasha, and Tre bust out laughing. Dipak checks the floor. I guess looking for the board that's out of place. Tre rubs his eyes. Sasha and Kodan try to stop laughing.

He nods. "Let's have lunch."

We go to the dining room and Alpha Mason sits at 1 end. The beta and his mate sit by him. Then a couple of other people and their mates. I sit by Tre somewhere in the middle. Dipak sits on the other side of me. I look at him funny. "I'm outranked here woman."

Ronion sits at the other end of the table. "Thank you, Alpha Mason. I am going to implement that shower building everywhere. That was the fastest I have ever seen that done."

"My pleasure. Glad we could offer it, sir."

Decker comes in. "SHE IS MY PRINCESS. GET YOUR OWN."

"Boy, what is your problem? And we have told you a million times, she is their princess, not yours. Now get over here and sit down."

Tye winks. "She's my princess."

Nikolas looks around. "So what is the mating ball? And why are we going or not going? Johen was very confusing to talk to."

Johen sits up. "I didn't get it. They said we would go for a tour if we don't have wolves. But, we do so, we go to the ball. Then they said no, we have to wait and see if we get wolves by then. It made no sense."

Sasha looks at everyone. "The mating ball happens once a year. Each year a different pack hosts it. All the unmated wolves are invited to go there and try to find their mate. A lot of people meet their mates at them. That's where I met Kodan."

"What's with the wolf thing then? We have our wolves? And why in the hell do you want to go to a mating ball, woman?"

All my boys laugh.

Ronion looks up from his papers. "You know how the dragon is in your head?" They all nod. "You're all about to get wolves too. They should be there within the next couple of months."

Everyone "UGH." at the same time.

Tye rubs his eyes. "Now I'm going to have another thing talking in my head?"

I nod at him.

Then Sasha looks at us. "Why wouldn't she want to go to a mating ball?"

Ronion puts his papers down. "There is information that I am sworn to secrecy about. This is for the protection of the vampire princess Nadine. However, if I may make 1 small suggestion." He looks at Dipak and Marcus. "You be honest with these people. 2 of their own are already in the hospital, and we are wondering what is going to happen. Don't run them in circles. They are trusting you, and they are being honest with you."

Dipak nods. "Yea alright. We're testing your people, sort of. You have to swear not to say a word about anything. Your whole pack can not repeat any of this."

Ronion looks at him. "It's nothing that will hurt anyone. It's more for the safety of Nadine than anything else."

"I Alpha Mason Stein of the Crimson Moon Pack and all of its members swear not to repeat anything jeopardizing Nadine, or her pack's safety."

"That's probably as close as you're going to get, Dipak. He's not going to understand vampire ranks or tables. What you are going to hear, don't repeat it. We do not want the information out. Even things that may seem irrelevant are not. It is kept a secret for her safety."

Mason nods.

I smile. "I'm Queen of Queens Hypatia Nadine Sandu. I'm currently on the throne with Dipak in our home village. A handful of others have already submitted to my rule. The 2nd throne I have is for the queen of queens role. But as for the mating ball thing. I have 6 mates currently. Dipak, Tre, Tye, Marcus, Johen, and Nikolas. So they are wondering why the hell I would ever want to go to a mating ball. Really, I like to dress fancy and be pretty. And I can't take a mate officially yet. I'm not old enough. I might as well go while I have the chance, and before I actually bond. I would love to see a mating ball."

Tye winks. "I'll take you."

"IF SHE CAN'T BE MY DATE, SHE CAN'T BE YOURS EITHER TYE." Decker glares at Tye. "I ASKED FIRST."

Ronion rubs his eyes. "Actually, you never bring a date to a mating ball. You go to meet your mate. It lasts for 3 days. There is dancing, games, hunts, all kinds of s**t. If you meet your mate, you leave with them. Don't bring a date. No one brings a date."

Tye smiles. "I will not take you. But we go. I will walk around with you and play some games. I'm also going to go on a hunt. You don't have to do that part."

Decker jumps up. "I'll play with you while he hunts. I can give you the tour."

"That would be nice. So people go by themselves without knowing anyone? Isn't that horribly nerve-wracking? I couldn't imagine not knowing anyone or having anyone to talk to at a big event like that. I am lost if I don't have someone to sit by at dinner."

They smile and I hear a few chuckles.

"A lot of people do go all by themselves, yes. When I went, I was with a couple of girls from my old pack. So, we knew each other and had each other for support. But really, there is so much going on. And you'll meet new people. It's a lot of fun even if you don't find a mate. I think I went 5 times. I had a blast at all of them."

Kodan sits back. "I went to 15 I think. They are a lot of fun. I think only 1 of them I went when I didn't go with any of the pack. I went alone. I still had an amazing time. I did so many hunts. I got totally wasted with some other single guys that were there, and we ended up streaking through the ballroom naked."

We crack up laughing.

I wink at Tye. "I will track you down and hurt you."

He smirks. "You will be there with me woman."

Tre nods. "Dipak would be getting summoned in the middle of the night. Come get the 2 drunk kids again."

Ronion picks up his papers. "That is not a summons I wish to make."

Dipak nods. "Beat him up and throw him in jail. We won't tell Tre."

Ronion cracks up laughing and coughing. Then me and Tye lose it.

Tre shakes his head and starts laughing. "f*****g dick." Dipak smiles.

Then Ronion fixes himself. "A long time ago. Before any of this. Years ago now. Nadine was with Tre. He was her boyfriend. But she liked Dipak too. Well, 1 morning I found Dipak and Nadine on my land. I beat up Dipak and threw him in jail, so they wouldn't get in trouble. They had me tell their people that he was in jail all night."

Everyone laughs.

Tre shakes his head. "I don't think it's that funny."

Dipak smiles. "And like I said before. Nothing happened like that. She didn't cheat on you. We fell asleep. And then I panicked because I was positive her dad would kill me. We had to come up with something, so I didn't die."

"I got to beat him up. It was a good day."

Tye smirks. "The first time I went over there with Nadine. The first thing you said, do I get to beat this 1 up too?"

"I was hoping. I was having a bad day." Everyone loses it.

Decker stands up. "So who's going to the mating ball?"

"I will if I have my wolf by then and Tye will go."

"It would be worth seeing once. We can hide the vampire smell and ..."

"NO." Mason Yells. "You can't alter the scent. And you don't smell like vampires."

"Oh. Ok." Dipak scratches his head. "Well, it would be worth seeing. And it'll be safe there. 1 wouldn't hurt if anyone wants to check it out. It's up to you who wants to go. I'll go to keep an eye on her and Tye. Maybe do a little hunting."

Ronion nods. "You have to have the wolf though. Not just the form but the wolf in your head. Also, you need to sort out the blood situation. I don't even know where to get that. I will not be serving it. Make sure you bring your own and don't advertise being vampires or dragons. Or magicians. Just be werewolves there. Don't draw any attention to yourselves about being something else. It's a werewolf event."

I wiggle around. "I need a dress. Wait." I look at Sasha. "How do people dress? Do I need a dress?"

"Outfits are all over the place. It kind of depends on what you want to do. Or how you're comfortable. If you want to do the dances and formal stuff, you could dress like a princess. A lot of girls do that to feel pretty. If you want to play games all day, then you can wear a little summer dress or something. The outfits are everywhere. The boys who want to do a lot of hunting will wear shorts or pants with t-shirts. But like Mason, he will dress like this the entire time. Pants, button-down shirt, belt, dress jacket, tie, fancy shoes. That is what he wears. I don't have to look at him to know that's what he's wearing. It only changes if he's working out or going somewhere really formal. Then it's the same thing, just more expensive."

I laugh so hard.

Ronion nods. "Alpha's and Beta's need to look nice. It sets a good example for the pack."

Kodan and Mason both nod at him.

Marcus looks around. "Well, we're screwed then. We only have Dipak's hair and Tre."

We all lose it.

Ronion wipes his eyes off. "Actually, every time I've been to your castle. All of you look nice and presentable. Even the kids do well there."

Dipak nods. "Yea, they do good."

"When you vacation, it's a little different. Some of you get quite scary looking. I won't say any names."

Tre nods. "You don't have to. We know who the mud monsters are."

We laugh and Mason signals for the food.

Sasha smiles. "So earlier you said you have 6 mates currently. What does the currently mean?"

"I have 7 marking spots."

"Marking spots?"

Ronion nods. "Vampires have certain areas on their bodies they can mark. Those are called marking spots. They can only be marked on those spots."

"You can't put your mark anywhere?"

Dipak shakes his head. "Nope."

"Yea, that's different."

"Why? You don't have marking spots?"

"No. We have common areas where wolves like to mark each other. But it can be anywhere. Most go for the shoulders front or back. But they can be anywhere." She spins in her seat and moves her hair. Kodan's mark is on the back of her shoulder.

I look at Dipak. "Does that mean?"

"I don't know."

I grab his shirt and try to stand up. "Later woman." Then everyone chuckles.

Ronion nods. "You should probably wait for your wolf to come in before you start biting each other everywhere. The wolf really will control that. Right now you have a wolf form. But not quite full werewolves yet. Give it time."

Marcus takes a drink. "Everything takes time."