Chapter 24

As Lumae walked through the willow leaf entrance, she was met by white rose petals, falling from some sort of contraption that was attached to the tree. A gorgeous crown with eight silver spikes, decorated with beautiful blue moonstones, each spike containing one of the eight phases of the moon, sat at the back of the elder of the pack. The sky blue carpet layed down in front of Lumae, basically matched her dress perfectly. Her long, dark hair, curled perfectly to the side of her neck and her eyes glimmered under the moonlight. With each step she took down the narrow path with Dominic, past the hundreds of eyes watching her closely, made her feel alive and free.

When they eventually reached the front of the isle, Dominic let go of Lumae and sat down next to Jurian. Lumae was now all on her own, she had no one to hide behind. The elder of the pack then came forth to Lumae. "Lumae Moonshaddow, you are here today, before the eyes of the moon goddess, to claim your rightful place as the luna of the Tenebris Lupus pack. You will be trialed in front of all these eyewitnesses and be declared as worthy or unworthy of this position. Do you accept this trial, Lumae Moonshaddow?"

Lumae answered with all confidence, "I do."

"And do you, Lumae, promise to keep the good of your pack in mind at any and all times?"

She once again responded, "I do."

The elder then lifted his hands, "And with that, the trial shall now begin."

He turned around and retrieved a mortar and pestle, mixing something as he walked back to Lumae. "With this, your light from within will be visible to all and all your true intentions will be exposed." He dipped his thumb into the paint-like, white mixture and trailed his thumb over Lumae's forehead, her nose and then her jawbone.

When he was done, he lifted his arms again, "And now you shall be trialed by the moon goddess herself. Let the moonlight expose your true intensions and show us how worthy you are of being or luna." As soon as he finished speaking, two children who climbed into the trees, gently shoved the willow tree's leaves to the side, exposing the full moon at it's highest.

As soon as the moonlight hit Lumae, it was as if she was the stars and the moon herself. A bright light radiated from her, reaching almost every corner of the earth. She shone brighter than any luna before her and almost blinded the people sitting behind her. When the children let go of the willow tree's leaves again, the light disappeared and everyone was silent. The elder didn't even know what to say. He was completely speechless for a second, but came back to his senses.

"We'll there you have it. The moon goddess has made Lumae Moonshaddow the most worthy luna of all. Lumae will give the Tenebris Lupus pack peace and prosperity for as long as she may reign. Peace to the Luna and peace to our Alpha."

Everyone then repeated after the elder's last sentence, "Peace to our Luna and peace to our Alpha."

Dominic then stood up and once again held out his arm, smiling widely as he did so. "I knew you'd be amazing."

Lumae then chuckled as they headed back down the aisle. Dominic led her back to the Casablanca quarters, where Sera managed to hurry off to before Lumae could get there.

"Don't let her be late for the afterhparty. We wouldn't want her making a bad impression on her pack now, do we?"

Sera quickly grabbed Lumae's arm gently. "Yes, Alpha, already on it!"

Sera now moved with the speed of lightning, helping Lumae get dressed into a much more comfortable white dress and flat, silver pumps. They just weren't allowed to wash off the white mixture on Lumae's face, since it's an indication of Lumae's new position in the pack.

When Lumae went back out to find Dominic, he was nowhere to be seen. She didn't know where the after party was supposed to be, and she didn't expect Dominic to now be missing. She then turned back to the door to see where Sera was, but she was also now missing. Something felt strange, this wasn't usual behaviour, and she should've heard the party's music by now.

Lumae slowly walked towards the meeting hall, which seemed like the perfect place for the after-party. When she entered, it was clearly made up and decorated, but no one was there. When she turned back to the entrance of the meeting hall, a firm hand was placed over her mouth and someone ducked her to the ground. When she could finally see who it was, she realised that it was Dominic, clearly distressed about something.

"They're here."

Lumae looked confused.

"My aunt's pack. They're here. One of my men spotted them, so we were able to stand in a defensive position quickly. I'm glad you got out of the quarters when you did though. It seems that they got Sera."

Lumae was clearly now worried, but Dominic's hand still covered her mouth as he looked around for any activity. Finally, being fed up with not being able to talk, Lumae wiggled out of his hand. "Well, I can't sit here and do nothing. Let me go, we might just be able to stop this by talking to her."

Dominic thought for a second. "I doubt that. When she has her mind set on something, she goes for it with everything she's got."

Lumae sighed frustratedly. "We'll at least let me try before letting me give up."

Dominic stared into Lumae's big blue eyes, desperate and confident. "Alright, but I'll only be six steps behind you. Just in case something happens."

Lumae silently nodded her head. Just then, a branch snapped just outside the window and Dominic was immediately alerted. They could now hear footsteps getting closer and closer to the entrance.

Lae and Dominic both prepared themselves to transform. Meanwhile, it was just Jurian coming to let Dominic know about the whereabouts of Lady Victoria. "Hey, Alpha. Lady Victoria and a few men seem to be trying to get into the territory through the west wing. Must we stand guard?"

Dominic thought for a second again, "Not yet. Keep your positions until I let you know otherwise."

Jurian nodded then headed out of the meeting hall and Dominic looked back at Lumae. "Let's go talk ourselves out of a war."