Chapter 3 The Acceptance Ceremony

In my first life, Zoe’s appearance at the Acceptance Ceremony caught me completely off-guard. The media had a field day over the reunion of the so-called “star-crossed lovers”, leaving me floundering like a fish out of water. All I could do was force a smile and evade everyone’s questions, which only led to the media branding me as “petty” and “jealous”.

I would not let that happen again. This time, I knew she was coming. I would be prepared.

If I was going to do that, I was going to need some help. That meant confronting the one person besides Noah who would possibly know about Zoe’s upcoming arrival.

I snuck out into the living room, checking various rooms along the way, and found the entire house to be empty. Good. Noah followed his usual routine of leaving the house after our intimacy—or that night, the lack thereof—was over.

I grabbed my phone and scrolled through my contacts until I found the number for Noah’s half-brother and Beta, Scott.

Scott only lived about a ten minutes’ drive away from our house, but the wait felt like an eternity. At last, the doorbell rang, and I answered it to find Scott standing on the other side.

“Come in,” I offered, hoping to usher him past the niceties.

Scott inclined his head, then walked beyond me and into the living room.

“Please, have a seat.”

“I’d rather stand,” he said.

“Well, out with it,” I said as I stood in front of him, hands on my hips.

Scott raised a brow at me. He wasn’t accustomed to me being so forward and aggressive, but I was done playing games. That was part of what cost me my life the first time.

“You asked me if I knew about Zoe’s return,” he began. He scratched the back of his neck, his eyes not meeting mine. “Well, I do.”

I opened my mouth to scold him, but apparently, his admission was not over yet.

“I told Noah that he should inform you,” he continued. “I said that it could cause a rift between the two of you if he kept such a secret, but Noah commanded me, as Alpha, to keep it a secret.”

My left hand curled into a fist. My wedding ring sparkled in the fluorescent lighting, taunting me. Of course, Noah had told him to keep the truth from me.

I glanced up to see Scott staring intensely at me. As soon as he saw me looking at him, he averted his gaze. Turning my head to where he had been staring, I saw that the strap of my nightgown had slipped, exposing a peek at the top of my breast.

I quickly placed the strap back on my shoulder. I could not help the light blush that heated up my cheeks. However, I forced myself to focus on the task at hand.

“How long have you known?” I asked.

“Since her application came in,” he admitted.

“Why did Noah not want to tell me?”

“I honestly don’t know.”

My gaze ran over Scott, trying to find any sign of dishonesty in him.

“It’s obvious to me,” I said, “that Noah is straying from me as his Luna.”

“I don’t know about that—”

I put my hand up to silence him. I drew closer to him, looking him straight in the eye.

“I need to know, if you had to choose one, Luna or Alpha, which would you choose?”

“Of course, you, Luna,” Scott asserted without a moment’s thought. “You haven’t done anything wrong.”

I smiled, inwardly rejoicing at having won Scott’s loyalty.

“Thank you. I am glad to have you on my side. I might just need your help.”

“Anything.”

“I will need PR guidance for the live broadcast of tomorrow’s Acceptance Ceremony.”

A grin broke out across Scott’s face.

“I might have some ideas for that.”

The next day, Noah and I stood before a crowd of hundreds as we accepted new members into Nightcrest Pack. We stood side-by-side, arms linked, but it was mostly for the TV cameras. I could feel Noah’s arm muscles tense as he tried to stand as far from me as was socially acceptable (unfortunately for him, that wasn’t very far).

The line of refugees stretched from the stage to the back of the high school auditorium serving as our venue. They came from all walks of life: some rich and trying their luck at more political influence in a pack on an upward trajectory; some middle class and seeking better opportunities; and some poor and running from whatever got them in that position. They all meant more sway for Nightcrest Pack, so Noah welcomed them all with open arms.

Each new pack member stepped up to Noah, gazing admiringly at him in all his glory, stated their wish to take refuge in the pack, and then proudly spouted their pledge of allegiance:

“I pledge allegiance to the Nightcrest Pack, its Alpha, and its Luna. I pledge my loyalty, my heart, and my life to the Pack and all it stands for. I hereby forfeit all loyalty and claim to previous packs and will, herein, be known as a member of the Nightcrest Pack.”

Even the children stumbled through this mouthful of an archaic pledge.

Then, starstruck, they watched as Noah raised his hands and gave them a blessing:

“May the Moon Goddess watch over you and guide you through the rest of your days with all her glorious wisdom. Welcome, my brother/sister, to the Nightcrest Pack.”

The way that the new pack members looked at him, one would have thought that they had seen the Moon Goddess herself right before them.

After the blessing, the new pack members came to me. I would give them a smile, sometimes a hug, and offer them bags of basic supplies to get their new lives started. It was an important job, and I could feel the new pack members’ gratitude as they took the supplies from me, but watching the adulation that Noah received, I could not help thinking that it could be mine if I were Alpha of Silvermoon Pack.

As Noah and I steadily made our way through the line of refugees—a task that promised to take a good portion of the day—whispers spread among the onlookers. They were all looking in one direction, and I knew exactly whom they were staring at without even glancing at her: Zoe.

I knew what she looked like just from memory.

She had porcelain skin and lush, bouncy golden curls. Her frame was full, healthy—not fat but curvaceous, especially when compared to my rail-thin body. Her eyes shined like two freshly polished emeralds, and her smile lit up any room she was in.

She made me hate my body even more…and what I had done to it.

Instead of Zoe, I looked to Noah. He visibly tensed at her appearance. For one fleeting moment, I thought I saw something unexpected cross his face—surprise.

But why would that be?