Seventeen
I didn’t sleep. I would close my eyes only to wake up about thirty minutes later. When I closed my eyes, I would see my mom turning. Over and over again. I couldn’t stop think about it. I woke to a knocking on the door of the guest room that I was staying in. Groaning, I forced myself up. It was the day of the engagement party. I would have to face the werewolves of Moon City and try to be presentable enough to have them want me to be their luna.
I walked over to the door. “Who is it?”
“It’s Lola.”
The hair on the back of my neck stood up. “What do you need?”
She stood there tapping her blood red nails on her hip. “Desmond had to go do something. Calix went with him. They’ll be back to take you to the engagement party. I’m supposed to tell you that you and your little friend—”
“Holly,” I corrected.
She snorted. “Fine. Holly.” She tossed her blond hair over her shoulder. “You two are supposed to use the coven amenities. We have a spa, a hair salon, and shops on the premises. Calix said that you can use his name there.”
I furrowed my brows together. “Use his names there? For what?”
She sighed. “To pay for your outfits, obviously. This is your engagement party. The first public event you have as the future luna. It’s very important that you make a good impression.”
I sighed. “I’m not going to be the future luna.”
“They don’t know that. Whatever you and Desmond think you’re going to do to absolve yourselves of this, the rest of Moon City has to believe that you are together in order for this to work. Otherwise, all of Desmond’s plans mean nothing.”
“Couldn’t he just interrogate people to find out who tried to kill him?”
Lola shook her head. “No, they’ve got to go do something. So, you’re going to go make yourself presentable with your obnoxious friend. You’re supposed to be back here around seven o’ clock, because you have to be there at eight.”
“But I—don’t I—” I struggled to come up with an excuse. The last thing I wanted to was to deal with werewolf society right after losing my mom. All I wanted to do was to go back to my apartment in the DuPont compound and cry myself to sleep.
She made an irritated sound. “Part of Desmond’s plan depends on asserting his power. Having a luna by his side will help with that. You are who he trusts. He’s trying to make it so that you can both get what you want…but once magic is involved, it makes everything extremely complicated. You aren’t dealing with witch magic. You’re dealing with gods and goddesses. Their magic is near impossible to undo.”
“I thought Alpha’s had a choice in who their mate was.”
Lola picked at her nails, bored as she explained things to me like I was a small child who knew nothing about the world of immortals. “Sometimes. but power is too important in this world. Sometimes, the gods will force certain couples together. It would appear that the gods have decided you and Desmond are too important to lose now that Desmond’s declared that you are going to be his mate. If I were you, I would start to assert your power too…if you care about that sort of thing.”
“Do luna’s have that much power?” I knew that my mom had always thought they were important, but I had always thought of them as sort of like the first wife. They showed up to events and hosted charity functions.
Calix’s sister sighed. “I did my job. I told you what you were supposed to do. The only reason I’m invested in any of this is because you have that crush on my brother which that idiot for some reason reciprocates.”
I opened my mouth to say something, but she scared me so much any comeback I had, I forgot. Lola left. When she was gone, I went to go find Holly, who had crashed on Calix’s couch. “Holly!” I poked her.
She jumped up, blinking the sleep away. “Wha-what?”
“Want to go shopping?”
She smiled. “Always. But aren’t you kind of in the middle of a whole life changing destiny thing right now?”
I shrugged. “My mate said go shopping and get your nails done to help save Moon City. So, I’m going to go do that.”
Holly laughed. “I’m always up for some fun. Especially if it means spending someone else’s money. Let’s go.”
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