Lady Alpha (The Wolves Of Winter Valley)

Chapter 5 - Hollywood Alpha

Natasha POV

“Ouch!” I hissed at the woman who was currently jabbing me with straight pins trying to mark the alterations needed on my gown.

“I beg your pardon, Luna, but your fidgeting is making it difficult to set the pins right,” she said, bowing her head.

I glanced over at Darcy who’d volunteered to serve as the dressmaker’s assistant. She nodded slightly and frowned.

Guilt tugged at me. “You’re right, I’m sorry. I have a lot on my mind, and I didn’t realize it was making me restless,” I told the woman and offered her a small apologetic smile.

“Of course, you do. I simply can’t imagine. You have my deepest sympathies,” she said and continued to pin the small section that bagged under my arm.

This Alpha Ceremony was going to be a historic event and Winter Valley was playing host to ranked wolves from all over the world. Hotels as far away as Bangor had been booked and charter buses had been rented to cover all one hundred sixty-two miles between. Those wolves who were unable to secure hotel accommodations took advantage of surrounding campgrounds and Winter Valley’s plentiful fields. Thousands were expected to attend, including the Board of Alphas and the Circle of Elders, and I was nervous as hell.

I wasn’t before.

I hadn’t been lying when I told Harmony that I wasn’t nervous. At that time, I assumed the event would be kept to our pack, a few Alphas from surrounding packs, and a single Elder. However, because I was to be the first woman to bear the Alpha medallion, the Elders felt a more elaborate celebration was in order. The nice quiet ceremony that I had envisioned became comparative to a red-carpet gala. The simple royal blue cocktail dress, that I had planned to wear, became a shimmering satin gown that fell off my shoulders and would squeeze my torso until I could nearly rest my chin on my breasts after it was altered. Thankfully, the skirt flowed loosely around my legs allowing freedom of movement. The corseted bodice would already impede my breathing, I didn’t need fabric shackles keeping me from walking as well.

A sharp intake of breath startled me, and I jerked my head toward the sound, making the dressmaker grumble. I mumbled my apologies and looked toward the tunnel entry, locking eyes with Harmony. 

“Oh, baby. You look… You’re… Damn, boo!” Her smile grew wider the longer she looked at me. I returned her smile and really wished I had the freedom to go to her. I needed to hold her. Holding her soothed me, but it would have to wait. I was currently trussed up like sausage links and every movement drew tiny drops of blood. Suddenly, she turned back toward the tunnel. “Seth! Come see what my girl got herself into!”

Before I could object, Seth rounded the corner and came to an abrupt halt. His Adam’s apple bobbed as he swallowed, his eyes were wide and unblinking. Slowly, his gaze traveled down my length and back up again. I squirmed under its intensity and earned another jab from the pin the dressmaker had been trying to place in the waist of the bodice. I shifted my gaze to Harmony who was beaming with pride while love and lust mingled in her eyes.

I looked down at the dressmaker. “Are we almost done? I think my legs have fallen asleep.”

The older woman with white hair and pale green eyes looked up and smirked. “We would have been done a half an hour ago if you’d stood still, Luna.”

“We wouldn’t have had to go through this at all if the Elders hadn’t decided to turn a simple Alpha ceremony into a damned Hollywood premiere,” I snapped.

She chuckled and placed another pin where the waist still bagged slightly. “There. Last one.” She rose and started to offer her hand but found both Seth and Harmony had each claimed mine. My breath hitched and I hesitated before carefully stepping down from the small round platform I’d been standing on. For what felt like several minutes, I stood between them, feeling the strain of the secret I carried. I was so tempted to tell Harmony what I suspected, but I knew it would hurt her and it would make our last two weeks together even harder. And even though, he had done nothing wrong, Harmony would not be able to maintain her friendship with Seth. She would see him as her replacement, and she would resent him for it. While I felt guilty for keeping it from her, I couldn’t bear to watch what the information would do to her as my birthday drew closer.

Harmony leaned over and brushed a light kiss over my lips. “You are going to dazzle the world tonight, baby. I can’t wait to show you off,” she said, touching her brow to mine briefly, then stepping back to give me room to go change.

Seth stood frozen with my hand still clutched in his. I lifted my eyes and met his intense stare. He remained transfixed as if in a trance. So, I opened a direct channel to get his attention without alerting Harmony.

Seth, let go of my hand, please. I don’t want her to know. Not yet. Please let us have these last two weeks.

Slowly, he blinked and released my hand. I know. I’m sorry. I don’t know what happened. You just look so… I’m sorry. I’ll be more careful, I promise.

With my heart torn in two, I stepped away from them and followed the dressmaker and Darcy to my bunker to change out of my dress.

Seth POV

After Natasha left the room, Harmony punched me playfully in the arm and grinned. “Tonight is going to be EPIC! I can’t wait to see all the jaws drop when they get a load of my boo! Isn’t she gorgeous?”

She was gorgeous. She was breathtaking and I still hadn’t recovered from the gut-punch shock of seeing her in that eye-popping satin confection. Natasha was going to knock the world back on its heels tonight and it wasn’t going to be because she was being initiated as the first female Alpha.

“You know, I agreed with her about the Elders making too big a thing out of this, but DAMN! I’m all for it now. Hey! Are you listening?” Harmony said, nudging me in the chest.

I mentally shook myself and grinned down at her. She was bouncing on her toes and all but dancing around the room. “So, what are you wearing?”  I asked, trying to sound casual.

“I honestly don’t know. Nat said she wanted to take care of it, and I couldn’t say no.” She shrugged and paced away from me. Even with her back to me, I could see the excitement leave her. Her head dropped forward a bit. “I can’t bring myself to deny her anything. Not when I know the end is so near. I even promised to claim and mark my mate immediately when I don’t want to. If she’s not my mate, I don’t want another. I know it will hurt and it will cut my life in half, but she’s my everything. I don’t want to forget what I feel for her, I don’t want the pain to go away. A shorter life is the only mercy I care to accept.”

I felt like complete s**t watching my best friend grieve for what I now knew would be lost to her. Selfishly, I wondered if our friendship would survive when she found out that I was Natasha’s mate. It wasn’t something that neither Natasha nor I could control, but pain blinded a person to logic. And there would be pain for all concerned in one way or another.

Despite my guilt, or maybe because of it, I went to Harmony and wrapped her in my embrace. The next two weeks were going to be brutal for both her and Natasha and I was literally powerless to do anything other than wait for their world to explode. I was tempted to tell her that I was sure that I was Natasha’s mate, to warn her so she could be prepared for the end of their relationship. She was my best friend, and I didn’t want her to be blindsided. But I’d promised that I wouldn’t. It was important to Natasha that Harmony still have that tiny glimmer of hope as they moved through the next 14 days. The dark cloud that was the end of their relationship would hang over them, but not knowing the inevitability would allow a little bit of sunshine to peek through. At least, for Harmony.

I held her for several minutes while she fought to maintain her composure. When she pulled away, I caught her hand and gave it a squeeze. “Can I offer some probably pointless advice?” I asked her. When she nodded, I offered her a sympathetic smile. “Put what you believe will happen away. Don’t think about the end. Don’t think about your mate. Don’t think about the pain. Shove all of that to the back of your mind and focus on Nat. Focus on what you have right now. Make each day as happy as you possibly can. Don’t let the sadness ruin it.” I leaned down and pressed a kiss to the top of her head. “I’ll take over managing the patrols. You two spend these few hours before the ceremony together.”

Harmony smiled and stepped into me for one last hug. “Thank you, Seth. You’re such a great guy. I hope you find your mate soon. You deserve to be happy.”

Her words landed like blows and stole the breath from my lungs. I eased back and met those sad amber eyes. “You deserve it too, Harmony. Both of you do.”

In a gesture I’d used since we were five, I tapped her on the tip of her nose and quickly made my escape, cursing the Moon Goddess for the pain and sorrow all three of us were now feeling.

I found Phillip on the eastern edge of the village. The field was filling up quickly with tents and RVs from all around the country. The wolves residing in them milled about, hooking up their mobile homes or building cook fires in front of their tents.

“I’ve given Harmony the rest of the night off duty to be with Natasha. She won’t admit it, but she’s nervous,” I said, taking the clipboard he offered, scanning through the names, and passing it back.

Phillip rubbed his chin, his eyes never stopped scanning the field. “I imagine she is. This is the biggest hullabaloo that’s ever happened in Winter Valley. Terence would be nervous if he were here and that man could stare down a dragon without so much as flinching.”

“Do you get the feeling that the elders are trying to discourage Nat from accepting the medallion?” I asked, glancing around to ensure no one overheard.

Amber eyes, like his daughter’s, turned to look at me, then shifted back to the field. “A lot of people are unhappy about a woman being initiated into a traditionally male position. So, it wouldn’t surprise me.”

We watched a large Class A RV being guided into the field by four of our warriors while a fifth made some notes on a clipboard. I turned to Phillip. “Could you spare Harmony for the next two weeks?” I asked.

“I was about to ask you if you’d mind me cutting her from the schedule. This mate business is tearing her up. She loves her job, but she doesn’t really want to be there when her time with Natasha may be over in a matter of days,” he said and sighed. “I hate seeing her like this, Beta. I would go to the Moon Goddess directly if I could, to fix this for her.”

I dropped a hand on his shoulder. “I would too, Phil.” It surprised me to realize that it was true. As much as I wanted Natasha to be my mate, I cared about her and Harmony too much not to do everything in my power to keep them together.

Natasha POV

“You are a vision, baby,” I said, standing back and examining my handiwork.

I’d had the dressmaker create a gorgeous shimmery gown in a creamy off white with spaghetti straps and a flared knee-length skirt. Her hair had been braided and twisted into a crown around her head with small crystals scattered throughout. Though she’d objected slightly, I’d enhanced her exotic eyes with neutral tones and those yummy full lips with a deep red lip stain. I crossed the room and retrieved a full-length mirror. She stood as I brought it back and turned it to face her. Her eyes widened, taking in her own reflection.

“Wow,” she whispered. “You made me look beautiful.” There was a touch of awe in her voice that tugged at my heart.

I set the mirror against the bunk and took her hands in mine. “You are beautiful, my Queen. I just added a little polish.”

Stepping back, I made a show of pursing my lips and studying her.

“What?” she asked, looking adorably self-conscious.

“It needs a little something more, I think,” I stepped over and picked up my purse from the chair by the door. Again, I made a show of fumbling around inside before producing two black velour jewelry boxes. “These should work.” Harmony gasped as I flipped open the boxes revealing a pair of pearl cluster earrings and a pearl choker. I helped her put them on and stood back to admire them against her smooth mocha skin. “Perfect,” I said and kissed her softly.

A knock on my bunker door shattered the moment and reminded me that we were cutting it close. We both picked up our clutch bags on our way out the door. Seth let out a low whistle when we came out into the common area, then smiled.

“Where’s Harmony? I thought she was going with us?” He asked, pretending to look around us and into the room. I pulled the door shut and laughed when she swatted him with her bag.

“Whatcha tryin’ to say Quincy?” she demanded and swatted him again.

He shielded himself from her blows, chuckling. “Dickson, is that you under that paint and glitter?”

Harmony smacked him repeatedly while trying to swallow her own laughter. He winked at me over her head. “Well, is that you under that spit and polish, or did someone grease up some unfortunate soul to look like you?” She stopped swatting at him and straightened her dress with an indignant air.

Seth leaned down and kissed her cheek. “You look phenomenal, Harmony.” He turned to me and brushed his lips over my temple. “You are both gorgeous and I’m sure a lot of hearts will be broken tonight.”

We followed Seth from the tunnels and to the waiting SUV that would drive us to the field on the southern border of Winter Valley. A temporary amphitheater had been built to accommodate the number of wolves attending the ceremony. After we settled into the vehicle, Harmony took my hand and squeezed it three times. I met her eyes and smiled, squeezing hers four times.

I prided myself on my ability to remain calm when in my official capacity as Luna, but tonight for some reason, I could not keep the nerves in check. The closer we got to the amphitheater, the more panicked I felt and the more violent the tremors. Harmony whispered to me and did her best to soothe. It wasn’t working. My chest began to constrict and breathing became near impossible.

“Seth! Stop the car,” Harmony ordered and took my face in her hands. “Nat? Honey, you have to breathe.”

I felt the car jerk to a stop and watched as Seth leaped out and came to my door. He wrenched it open and lifted me out. A cool breeze caressed my cheeks as I struggled to draw some of that air into my lungs. Seth lowered to one knee and sat me on the other. He rubbed my back while Harmony patted my cheeks.

“Come on, Natasha. You can do this. You were born to be Alpha. Don’t let this ridiculousness get to you. This is what they want. They want you to be scared. They want you to give up your birthright,” Seth growled.

The anger in his voice shook me and motivated me. I focused all my efforts on just trying to draw in air. Tears began to stream from the effort. Harmony grabbed a tissue from her bag and blotted them away.

“There you go, baby,” Harmony crooned in my ear. She touched her lips to my head and stroked a finger down my cheek. “Just breathe.”

“They want me to give up?” I asked Seth when my breathing began to return to normal. “Why?”

He lay his cheek against my head and sighed deeply. “Because they are afraid of you. Your father knew just how special you are. They tried many times to convince him to merge his pack with another or to agree to make your mate Alpha. He would not even consider either option. He told my father many years ago that you were born to be Alpha and that you were going to be the greatest Alpha the world had ever seen. He believed that Winter Valley would grow and flourish under your leadership and they know he was right.”

Our eyes met and held for a long moment, then I rose and took Harmony’s hand. I took several deep breaths to steady myself and turned back toward the SUV. “Well, let’s go give them something to be afraid of. Nothing’s scarier to misogynistic men than a strong, unflappable woman.” I lifted a hand to Seth’s face. “Thank you, Seth,” I said and slid into the vehicle.

“My pleasure, Alpha.”