New Place, Old Tale

Elena's POV

The men were seated when we got in, my nerves had totally buried the horrible encounter with Anita. The men looked at me pleasantly for a second before scrunching their faces in disapproval. They must know that I do not have my wolf.

The Grand Luna held my hands and squeezed it, suddenly I felt bold and confident. Even if I ended up not being good enough to be Luna, I hoped silently that they would accept me into the pack so that I could have a home.

My eyes met with Wesley's and he blew me a kiss, I eyed him maliciously before tearing my gaze away from his. There was a smile dancing around his lips and his eyes softened, it did something to my heart so, I averted my eyes quickly.

"Elders, my son and I have brought before you his chosen mate. She is Elena Hanson from Omnidom. He accepts her and so do I." The Grand Luna said and my heart was filled with so many different emotions. I was grateful to the moon goddess, really, some disappointments can be a blessing. I didn't understand clearly what I felt for Wesley yet, but I was sure that I did not despise him or his presence.

The men whispered among themselves for some time, as if deciding what to do. The nerves came rushing back and I wondered if I was ever going to be able to calm down. I searched for Wesley's eyes and met his gaze on me already. He pressed a hand gently to his chest and mouthed for me to take a deep breath.

I took his advice until one of the men, who was obviously the head of the elders cleared his throat to speak. Every walk of courage I had built up immediately fell down.

"The Alpha, may your reign be long." He greeted, bowing with courtesy. Then, he turned to the Grand Luna and bowed to her, "Grand Luna Rossi, May you live longer than your predecessor." He said and then turned to me.

"We are pleased to meet you young woman," he said and I noticed the look of disapproval on Wesley's face. That was obviously not what the man was supposed to say, I felt it from deep within me.

"Is there a problem?" The Grand Luna asked.

The men looked at her like she was shooting to understand what was going on. Even though I knew she knew what was happening, she was not going to acknowledge it in my presence. It was really kind and thoughtful of her to do, but, I knew there was little she could do to defend me. I was cursed and I will never find a place to fit in.

"We do not sense her wolf, but her scent is that of a werewolf." He said and the rest of the elders nodded their heads in unison. My heart sank to the bottom of my stomach, it was happening again. Two mates in how many days with the same thing happening all over again, just that this one was going to be more painful since I thought that I would really be allowed to stay.

"You question the choice of the moon goddess? There's no way it was ever said that the Luna must have a wolf, although I remember it clearly stating that she must be a werewolf which you all will agree with me that she is. So, why are we dragging our legs in accepting her?" The Grand Luna said and Wesley had a smile on his face. It seems he had expected this to happen and knew his mother would take care of things.

"Well, that is true. We were only looking out for the Alpha and the Pack. Nothing more, forgive us if we sounded rude Luna." The man apologized to me, followed by all of them bowing respectfully to me.

Wesley nodded his head at me, signaling to me to address the men who still had their heads bowed. My mouth immediately dried out and I swallowed dryly before I started to speak.

"I am honored to be here. Thank you all for accepting me wholeheartedly, I promise to do my best in seeing the development and progress of the pack and its members. Thank you." I said gently, my voice clear and sturdy.

"Thank you for your merciful heart." The men said.

"Elders, since you all have accepted my bride and the future Luna, I think we can let her go, so she can retire for the evening, there's a lot she has to attend to later at night," Wesley said and I blushed furiously. The Grand Luna had ordered my things to be moved to his room, she had said that we were supposed to be the symbol of perfect mating to the rest of the pack. Hence the need to stay together and do everything we could to the scrutiny of public eyes.

"That is fine." The men answered and I stood up to exit the room. The Grand Luna followed me and touched my cheeks gently at the door before I closed the door behind me. My mind would not let me move another step, so I turned and pressed my ears tightly against the door. The voices began to float into my ears distinctively.

"I do not expect such arrogance from any of you to my mate. She is to be treated and respected in the same measures that I am. You cannot say that to her ever again. If anyone as much as breathes a word of disrespect to her, I will have you ostracized from the pack immediately and your crime will be labeled as treason making you unacceptable to any other pack." Wesley's voice filtered into my ears, it hurt me that he had to threaten them before they could accept me wholly.

I made up my mind that I was going to show them that I was not useless, even though I didn't have a wolf.