Luna of the Golden Moon

The Head

Caleb woke me up with a slight shake, making me confused. He looked grim, even with a slight smile on his handsome face. He stroked my hair gently and, to my disappointment, made me realize he was showered and dressed in a black suit. I wanted him naked again.

"Sorry, Luna, that will have to wait. Now, shower, and I will wait for you here..." He made another smile when I nodded tiredly yes. He was right, and I didn't want to face the head Alpha without a shower. Or my mother, for that matter.

"She will accept this, even if she doesn't want to. My father will let her know..." He sounded guilty, or did I imagine that? Walking over to the bathroom, feeling Caleb's intense eyes staring at me, the arousal in the darkness surrounding us making me want to turn back and kiss him. I thought he was saying no to my wordless question.

I washed my hair and body, feeling the sore spot before I saw my neck in the mirror, walking out. Holy moon, that was a big mark! I had seen marks before but never an Alphas. Caleb's fangs were huge, seeing the teeth marks on my light skin.

Caleb stood up when I saw the dress on a hanger; really? A dress? It was pretty but black, and I was not too fond of that; black wasn't even a color. I liked pastels of any kind.

"Please, Luna. wear it." He turned around, looking serious, when I nodded. Yeah, sure, sure... I was going to wear the black dress, which didn't make this feel more ominous than it was already...

He made a strained smile when he heard that. He could feel the heavy pressure over our heads, or maybe it was all him. This would be bad, but I didn't care; as long as Caleb was my mate, I felt safe.

When I was done, he held out his hand, my hair dried, and I made the best of my effort. I was dressed and took his arm when he looked down at me, stopping like he wanted to savor the moment of us standing together.

"You are so beautiful, Emilia, the most beautiful girl I have ever seen and... I love you, but now, I need you to listen to me, stay quiet, and don't speak or look at anyone. I'm serious." I made a small sigh from his serious charcoal eyes. Yes, I understood. I was nervous and on edge, but I got it.

"Good, now. Let's go tell my father of our mateship." He made a big sigh that made me even more nervous when we walked out of the big bedroom into the same corridor. I had followed him, knowing somewhere deep inside that it was always going to end like this, with us being mated, no matter what we told ourselves.

Caleb didn't answer, not in the link or in speech, when my mood sank, having a hard time keeping up with his great strides being shorter when he only stopped realizing that I was almost jogging to keep up with his fast pace.

There were big men everywhere, Betas staring us down, not even trying to hide their curiosity about seeing the Head Alpha's son walking with a girl they had never seen.

I followed him obediently, too scared to say anything even if I could. When we walked down a big staircase to the main hall, meeting more eyes of Beta's that were following us, I felt more like I was walking down death row than telling my uncle something that should have been something good, a happy occasion, but it wasn't.

Caleb stopped; two big Beta moved, seeing the golden plate on the door before us, Head Alpha.

Goddess.

I took a gulp, not wanting to add to Caleb's annoyance that he hadn't shown up; this was it then.

"From this point, you don't speak a word, don't think, and don't even breathe. Let me handle this." Caleb's voice was grave and dark in the link between us, and he didn't need to tell me, and I was already too scared to breathe.

The hard knock on the office door made me flinch when the voice of Alpha Terrence was heard. He sounded like he already knew we were coming, making me even more nervous; stepping inside, the door closing on us, flinching again, seeing Caleb's father behind the massive desk. He looked bored, to be honest, at our arrival.

“Alpha.” Caleb said the word respectfully. He bowed his head, and I followed even though I stood behind my mate, who seemed to want to cover me with his body. I was grateful that he did; the last time I saw my uncle, he looked like he wanted to eat me!

“Caleb….” Alpha Terrence said his son's name, surprised before seeing me, and sighed as if of all the girls his son could have brought along, holding his hand; he didn't want it to be me.

“Emilia,” Alpha Terrence said, my name cold when I looked at him where I was standing. I didn't know what they were doing, but I was about to vomit from the tension in the room between us.

“Sit down.” He pointed to the chairs, but Caleb didn't move. He was waiting for something to happen, expecting something from his father, and kept his guard up, knowing something I didn’t.

“She is mine; do you accept it or not? Caleb said the words challenging when his father looked amused, and I sighed in fear as they both looked like they were going to do something, fight for sure! That was what the higher-ranked males did when they didn’t agree on something, right!?

“Please don’t tell me you have marked your cousin?” Alpha Terrence sighed and looked at me as Caleb nodded confidently. I wouldn't say I liked how Caleb grinned now because he looked superior answering his father.

"I have; look." Caleb took my chin when I made a sigh of pleasure feeling his touch and ignoring the way he looked cold and smug when he bent my head to the side, showing off the huge bite mark on my neck, making Alpha Terrence drop whatever he had in his hands like he finally was paying attention to us.

“You don’t wait around, do you, son? Alpha Terrence chuckled, and I did not understand anything. I thought that Caleb had been on edge because of this, him marking me, being cousins and all!

" Why would I? She is mine. I have already put my seed into her twice; it's done, Father." Caleb's smirk grew more prominent when I gasped. He did not just say that to his own father!? My mother would have died from a heart attack, even hearing me say anything near that. What kind of messed up place was this?!

“I guess you came here for me to accept your bonding; it's not that I don’t understand why you were drawn to her, Caleb; she's beautiful...” Alpha Terrence examined me like we were unrelated, with his cold eyes almost devouring me.

Caleb growled at his father to stay away. Not even the head alpha was allowed to look at me a certain way when his eyes were yellow. If he kept this up, Caleb was ready to go full wolf on him.

“Sit down.” Alpha Terrence suddenly sounded impatient, and Caleb sat down, taking me along. He didn't drop the angry stare mixed with his hard yellow eyes. I made a small whine. Alpha Terrance only wanted to make him mad; even I could see that.

I stroked his hand in mine when Caleb relaxed, giving me a small, loving look when his father didn't see us. I loved him so much.

“I'll accept it.” Alpha Terrence said it as he approved something he ordered to eat when I was calming down. I hadn't understood how scared I was that he would say no, leading to them having to fight, a barbaric custom.

I hugged my mate's hand more and looked relieved at my male, who was not smiling yet. He was waiting for something, a price to pay. I didn't know that, but he did, and I could feel everything that was going on inside his mind and heart; he was still waiting for his father to drop the hammer on us.

“You are to agree to not take over the pack when I retire.” His father's voice was cold; he tried to get Caleb to give up his place as a leader!

That wasn't right. He knew that it was Caleb's birthright, and he was holding it over him for something he didn't have a say in—nobody did!

I tried to protest as Caleb raised his hand, and I fell silent before I even started saying anything. I wanted to argue, but he was my male, so I would listen this time...

“Are you worried your perfect line of Alphas will be destroyed by a Delta?” Caleb looked amused at his father, who was looking at me now, and nodded as if he did not intend to deny it. That was why he did not want to keep his son as an heir! What!? That was insane. He was my mate!

I sat down again, offended at how he could throw that in my face. I was a Delta, and they were good people who did as the Alphas' said, most of them anyway. The head had no reason to look down on them!

Alpha Terrence looked entertained at me as he thought it was amusing that I was angry at the fact that he had insulted me and my whole rank without blinking.

“She is an Alpha.” Caleb's voice sounded smug, like his father's now. He was proud of it in a way I didn't know I liked. Alpha Terrence stared at me in disbelief, and I knew why; I wasn't big in any way. Sure, I was the size of a beta female, not like my mother. She was tall and more defined, a warrior, and I was just this small female who didn't look that much for the rest of the world.

“I can’t feel more than your scent on her ...” Alpha Terrence drew a deep breath from my direction. My head sank, ashamed. I didn't understand how Caleb and his father were so casual about him and me being mated and having s*x; that was unthinkable in my world!

“She is. I saw it at once when she was shifted….” Caleb looked at me with proud eyes. He wanted me to show him, show his father when I made a whine, begging him, no.... no, I didn't want to shift, not when I was still sore, my body already feeling like it was about to split open from the pain.

Caleb didn't budge, making me whine when I stood up, Alpha Terrence following us, amused. I don't know what was so funny. I would have to shift, which meant a lot of pain and getting naked in front of the head, Alpha. Nothing was scarier than that!

"There is a screen over there. Go now, Luna..." Caleb made a nod to the corner of the big room when I shifted my eyes to him, begging him one more time only to be met with stern determination, so he wasn't changing his mind then, great.... my fingers slipped away from his hand when the cold struck me hard, the current running between us was broken. I made a shiver; this was going to suck.

I was hanging up the black dress neatly. I stood there, naked and alone behind the screen, the coldness gripping me harder when I got down all four and closed my eyes, hating every moment of what would happen.

My back was breaking at first, making me cry from the great pain, trying hard not to let the muffled sobs out of my mouth, knowing that the cold-headed Alpha was listening to me on the other side of the screen.

I was panting, feeling my chest expand, the heavy deconstruction of my legs being re-shaped. My voice turned into growls, and I was going to kill someone. I would love to start with the Head Alpha when my eyes were opened, showing off my golden-green eyes and walking out slowly, going up to Caleb and sitting beside him.

“It seems like Rosalie's daughter has more than beauty….” Alpha Terrence grinned at me like I was property, not a human… or, well ... a wolf… I looked wearily at Caleb, who put his hand on my head and stroked it calmly while he looked at his father, who was still grinning at me.

“You do know how to choose a female.” Alpha Terrence looked at me, fascinated again, when I snorted. I was nobody's property.

“I didn't choose her. She is my mate; I saw her long before you did.” Caleb smiled at me. Did he see me first? I thought he hated me; every second in my company had seemed torture for him.

“You did?” Alpha Terrence made another amused smile; for a head Alpha, he sure thought many things were funny when they weren't.

“How could I not… her scent was felt for me for several miles. I would have introduced myself if you had not called me.” Caleb looked proudly at me again where I sat, tired, hoping I would be able to leave this room soon enough.

“I had hoped you would choose Beta Katerina…. but a light female, unheard of, at least in this lifetime....” Alpha Terrence looked at his son again, who nodded as I blinked several times; I wanted to go now.

“Luna.” Caleb's voice was warning me as I was about to leave, and I sighed and sat down again; they had seen me. How much more did his father really need to know about me?

“Do you call her Luna?” Alpha Terrence was obviously entertained, and I knew why. I wasn't the Luna at all. It was the title that Caleb's mother had, and I had heard from my own that she was dead.

“Why not? She will be when I take over as the head Alpha.” Caleb's face was probably smirking now that he already knew his father had changed his mind about shunning Caleb from being the future head when I sighed over their power play. Males.

Alpha Terrence said nothing. He just looked at me again and sighed like Caleb was right.

Caleb made a nod, and I walked over to the screen, not even waiting, and shifted back; it wasn't as bad, but it still was hurting me when I put on the black dress again and walked around, limping the slightest, making my mate stare at me worried for a fraction of a second before taking my hand, feeling the current again between us when I sat down next to him, not like this one bit.

“I officially congratulate you on your mateship. I hope you are comfortable here, Emilia because you are Caleb's mate. You will live here with us from now on.” Alpha Terrence said the words as if it were the best thing that had happened, and I looked terrified at him. Was he serious??

I hadn't even been thinking that far ahead. I hadn't seen my parents, and I wanted to go home!

“You are home.” Caleb said sternly out loud, making Alpha Terrence raise his eyebrow when I whined. No! I wanted to see my mother and father; that was my right, staying here or not!

"I want to see my mother and father! Head Alpha, please!" I was letting go of Caleb's hand, which looked guilty like he did when he woke me up, so that was why! I wasn't even allowed to see my parents anymore!

“Leave now. Your female is tired.” Alpha Terrence stared indifferently at my plea, making me start to break. I didn't know what I had expected when I mated with Caleb, but not this! Not being forced to stay here and never seeing my parents again, not even getting to say goodbye!

I was panting hard when Caleb took my hand. I wanted to slap it away but didn't. What was the use?! All that would lead to was his father, my uncle, to see how broken I was, and I didn't want to give him more than I already had!

I said nothing when we walked back to the bedroom, not a damn word making no eye contact with the Beta's still staring at us curious, and let Caleb's hand go as soon as the door was closed behind us, leaving us in darkness in the vast bedroom that was mine now too apparently!

"I'm sorry..." I huffed when I heard that, seeing Caleb still standing by the door. So that was it, then? I never got to see my parents again because I was his mate. They were part of this pack, like everyone else!

"Emilia. Listen to me; this was the only way for me to get Father to accept us. I'm sorry for making you shift, but he needed to see with his eyes that you are an Alpha; otherwise, we would have been exiled, same as your parents! Do you think the laws have changed on that part? it hasn't!" I stared at Caleb's frustrated face, arms crossed, my eyes narrowed; that bastard, he could have told me before he marked me what would happen!

"Tell you what!? That you never could go back home once I marked you, risking that you would say no, leave me?! No, no f*****g way!" I gasped, hearing the dark voice; he was serious, wasn't he? Believing that I would have said no was impossible, and he knew that!

"It's not impossible, of course, it's not! Emilia, please! You could have said no, just like any other mate. It doesn't matter if we are given mates. There is always a choice, and I wouldn't risk losing you!" He was growling and frustrated when I just sat down on the bed. I didn't understand. Nothing he said made sense of what my mother had told me growing up!

"That's because she is a power-hungry b***h, and the only way for her to ever get some glory back is if you mated someone higher ranking, someone like me, and she didn't want to mess that up! Don't you see that?! She used you!

She couldn't stand being exiled anymore, and you being mated was the perfect solution!" I was gawking at his harsh words. Was that true? Was it? Had my mother wanted me to mate any male so she didn't have to? What? Live in the human city?

"I don't know why she lied, but I'm not. I wouldn't lie to you. I want to protect you, and you are so... sweet..." Caleb said the words, choosing them before speaking, making my first tear fall. So that was it then. I was a prisoner because I was his mate.

Caleb stepped closer, and I didn't move and didn't want to look at him. I wanted to go home to my small bedroom and my mother's nagging and secrets smile with my father; that's what I wanted!

"I'm sorry, Emilia... I am... but you can't go back. You are home, here with me." I raised my eyes to meet his when he was kneeling before me, looking scared that I would hate him forever. I still didn't know what to feel about this.

"I want to be alone." I didn't, not really, Caleb was still my mate, but nothing made any sense. Why was I even here if I wasn't welcome in the first place?

"I can't leave this room, not tonight, Luna... but I will sleep on the couch instead of the bed with you...." he got up when I held him back with my hand. Was he going to sleep on the couch?

"Yes, if that is what it takes for you to forgive me, I will spend every night on it. I told you, Emilia, I love you." He smiled weakly when I told him I didn't want him to go; my family was gone, and he was all I had left. Why would I want him to leave me? He stopped smiling when he heard that and sank down next to me, still holding my hand; this was confusing and broke my heart.

"I love you too, Caleb...." I leaned into him, still sitting in the black dress and trying to breathe, the intense panic in my chest wanting to consume me.

"I will help you in any way I can, Luna. I swear... tomorrow at the ceremony…." He stopped when I gasped. Ceremony? What ceremony?!

"Father says it best to have the ceremony of you being my future Luna soon, seeing that every Alpha and Beta is here for the wedding and...." I stopped listening to him talk. A ceremony!? I walked in here yesterday, and now I was supposed to be presented as the future Luna; that was insane!

I stared at him now. Nobody had asked me if I even wanted a ceremony, which was already planned. What was happening here? Didn't I have free will, or was I a prisoner!?

Caleb's face became more distressed and darker when I stared at him. I just wanted to know what the hell he was expecting from me? I wasn't a groomed Beta female. I knew nothing about staying here and his father, my uncle.... oh goddess... I just fell back onto the bed and was shaking.

This was a nightmare, and when I woke up, I was going to be scolded by my mother for dreaming up that I was mated with my cousin and had s*x with him.

"It's not a dream; you are here, and you are my mate; since you accepted that, Emilia, you have no choice but to accept the rest that comes with it." Caleb's voice was harsh now when I closed my eyes. Yeah, I guess he was right about that too... I made a whining sound when I saw him walking towards the bathroom, the tall, proud Alpha who was my mate.

The light knock on the door made me get up. Caleb was flushing water in the bathroom when I opened the door. I saw a girl standing there, smiling, holding an expensive-looking paper bag, head held down, and giggling, not seeing my tears.

"For your mating night, Luna." She bowed deeper when I took it, looking at me even more confused. Mating night? Oh... oh... I stepped back, staring into the bag, holding up the nightgown that was more lace than anything else, so that was what this was. Oh, my goddess, the estate knew, didn't they?! That I was Caleb's mate; wow, that was fast.

I was still holding up the lace gown when he walked out, my cheeks red. I didn't know why when I dropped it. It wasn't like we didn't already have s*x, but this was just screaming s*x; it made me feel more insecure than ever seeing Caleb's slight smugness when he felt it, my embarrassment.

"Don't worry, I can make them take it back..." He chuckled at my flaring cheeks. No, no, I didn't want that... I looked at it, picking it up from the floor. How in the world did they know my size? I stared back at Caleb's grinning face. Was this his idea?

"Me? No, I like you naked... not that I'm complaining if you wear that one...." I was staring at it. It was kind of pretty, wasn't it? It had white and flower patterns on it.

"No, no... I'll try it on..." I was stuttering when he made a chuckle, moved past me, and made me smell him. He had showered and made my mouth water, and I followed him like I was addicted to him; guess what? I was.

"Okay, as I said, I'm not complaining...." he was on the bed now, making me nod, walking into the bathroom, putting on the gown, and staring at me. My boobs only had lace over them, my n*****s showing, and I looked like I would be losing my virginity again.

"f**k!" I snorted, seeing my mate's reaction, standing up the second he saw me, his bottoms bulging. Oh, this was working, and there is no doubt about that part.

"Working, Emilia... you are driving me crazy!" I made another snort; well, that was good.

I walked closer, snapping my arms around his neck, feeling myself being lifted up, kissing my handsome mate. I wanted him more than anything, and nothing else mattered right now...

"Take me, Caleb. Make me feel good, and then we will try to figure out the rest after the mating night." I snickered at his grin, pulling me down from the bed. Oh yes, this gown was so working.