77. Rain

**Rain**

Sarah and Viki are helping me prepare for the Annual Meeting of the Alphas and the Lunas. We usually love to joke and gossip about who likes who in the pack or other random things. But not today. 

Viki is doing my makeup while Sarah is finishing curling my hair. Sarah has been slowly teaching Viki how to do makeup, and they are gradually becoming a team.

“What about Hannah?” I ask while Viki is applying stuff to my face. I don’t even know the names of half the products Sarah has. 

“Still in her room,” Sarah replies. 

We lost many warriors, but Holgan’s death is the one that hurts the most. Everyone loved him. Caleb is hurting so bad that I feel like I can’t breathe. He is trying to block his pain from me, but I can still feel it through our bond.

I feel sorry for Hannah too. While she has been a bitch to me, I was happy for her and Holgan. I can’t even imagine the pain she is going through. During the fight, I felt Caleb getting hurt very badly, and I felt like dying. Luckily, he returned unharmed to me. But I can’t forget the way his eyes looked—dead. And he felt empty inside like he wasn’t feeling any emotions. 

The door to my room opens—Caleb had been kind enough to get ready in Conon and Katherine’s room—and Tatiana and Naomi enter. I am still unsure how to feel about Naomi. While she saved my life, I still can’t forget that she let me suffer for years. 

Naomi has a beautiful white dress draped over her left arm. “Time to get dressed,” she says. “The ceremony will start in less than half an hour.”

Viki and Sarah hurry to finish my makeup and hair. When they step aside from the chair I am sitting on, I stand, remove the robe I am wearing and let Sarah and Tatiana help me with the dress. 

“You look stunning!” Viki and Sarah say at the same time. 

I look in the mirror, and I have to admit I have never worn such a beautiful dress in my life. The skirt reaches my ankles, and the back is in the shape of a deep V. It has thin straps, and Tatiana gives me a silk shawl to cover my shoulders. The skirt has a long cut, revealing almost my entire left leg while I walk.

Sarah gives me a pair of black shoes, and I put them on. 

“Time to uncover the vine flower tattoos the magic trees gave you when Caleb and you fucked in the Magic Grove!” Tatiana says.

My eyes go wide. “Tatiana!” I hiss.

“What? Werewolves call it differently? Shag? Screw? Bong? Hide the salami?”

Viki and Sarah laugh so hard I see them cleaning their faces with their palms. Bitches! 

“We call it fucking, but that doesn’t mean I want everyone to know what Caleb and I do,” I reply. 

Tatiana chuckled. “As long as he has a cock and you have a coochie, I think we all know what happens when you two are alone,” the damn witch says, removing the spell that hides the marks from the Magic Trees.

While Viki and Sarah ‘uh’ and ‘ah’ at my arms, Naomi stands in front of me. “The spell I am going to put on you will wear off at midnight. “Till then, my little gift to you will allow you to see what you never thought possible and have long wished for—faces,” she offers. I open my mouth to say something, but no sound comes out. “Close your eyes!” Naomi instructs, and I do as she asks. I feel her blowing over my eyelids. “You can open them now,” I hear Naomi say, and I shake my head.

If this spell does what Naomi said it would, I know which face I want to see first and last. “Can someone tell Caleb I want to see him?” I ask.

“I will go look for him!” Tatiana says. 

While I wait for Caleb, a thousand thoughts run through my head. I don’t recall ever seeing a face, and I wonder how it would be to see my cherished family and friends. 

Tatiana quickly returns to the room. Caleb is with her. 

“Red, is everything alright? I can feel you are very nervous,” he says while he stands in front of me. 

I inhale deeply and open my eyes. In the beginning, nothing happens, and I am disappointed, but half a minute later, I see Caleb’s eyes. I smile because I have never seen a more beautiful shade of silver. He looks at me, and it’s hard to tell what his expression is, because I only rely on Safia or my nose to guess what the other person is feeling. Safia sends me a heart, and I know he gazes with eyes full of love at me. I can still feel his sadness but also his feelings for me.

I stare at his face, and while I don’t know how to describe it entirely, he is the most handsome male I have ever seen. He has high cheekbones and perfect lips. I touch his face with my fingers, and he smiles. A dimple appears on his right cheek, and I forget to breathe for a moment. If I were not already in love with him, his smile would have convinced my heart to be his and only his.

“You are so beautiful,” I whisper, and Caleb laughs. I frown. “You are!” I insist.

“Red?” Caleb asks, and I hear the confusion in his tone. 

“Naomi put a spell on me, and I can see faces,” I answer his question.

“What do you mean you can see faces?” Viki asks, but I ignore her as I am busy staring at my soulmate. 

I know the spell will wear off at midnight, and I want to memorize every little detail about Caleb so I will never forget what he looks like even when I can’t see his face anymore.

“I am sure Rain will answer any question you have but later. Now it is time for Caleb and Rain to go down to the Ball Room!” Tatiana says and rushes Caleb and me out the door.

Before Tatiana closes the door I look over my shoulder and see the faces of my friends for a moment.

I put my hand in the crook of his elbow and slowly walk to the room where the meeting takes place. I trip a few times because I can’t take my eyes off Caleb. 

“Now that you can see faces, you will probably leave me for a better looking male,” Caleb chuckles. 

I grin. “I might. But I marked you, and you marked me, and I’m afraid this isn’t permanent. The spell will wear off in a few hours, and then I will be stuck with the memory of your ugly face forever!” I pout.

“I don’t know how you do it, but you always make me smile, even when I am sad,” Caleb says.

We make it to the Ball Room. I have never seen so many Alphas and Lunas reunited in the same place, and all the faces and scents make me dizzy. I use the shawl to cover my arms, lean my head on Caleb’s shoulder, and keep my eyes on the marble floor as he guides me to our table. Two couples are seated at the table, talking. Caleb greets the females first and then the males before helping me with the chair. He sits next to me, grabs a plate, and puts some food on it for me and water in a clean glass. I smile because I love how Caleb takes care of me.

While I wait for the meeting to start, I share a few words with the females. One is the Luna of the biggest pack from Cluj-Napoca, while the other is the Luna of a smaller one from Constanta. They express their regrets about the warriors that died in the battle and how worried they are about the Demon King and the Vampire Queen. 

Waiters bring in appetizers, and I am munching on crackers and cheese when the Elders enters the Ball Room.

“Alphas and Lunas!” an Elder starts speaking, and while I don’t recognize his face, I know his voice—Elder Riad. He had been badly injured during the battle, but Tatiana healed him, and he fully recovered. “Usually, this meeting is about sharing news and experience, seeking help if needed, and other things. This meeting is different. It will be short because I just received word that the Demon King has found the city of the Angels, and they are asking for help to win the battle. Besides Bucharest, the Demon King has enslaved other cities, and his army is getting stronger and bigger with each passing hour.” 

“What should we do then?” a Luna asks. “Even if we fight against him, he is invincible! We could ask the witches to open a portal and help us run to another realm!” 

More than half of the Alphas and the Lunas present agree with her.

“Let’s say the werewolves and the witches flee and hide in another realm,” Caleb says. “What about the other communities?”

“The witches can help them too!” an Alpha replies. 

Caleb folds his arms. “They could if they want, but when did we, the werewolves, become such cowards that the idea of dying on the battlefield makes us want to hide like small pups behind our mothers’ skirts?” 

Elder Riad smiled. “What do you propose, Alpha Caleb?” 

“I say we unite forces and take the Demon King by surprise! Why wait for him to find us when we can ask the witches to take all the warriors from our pack to the City of the Angels and destroy his army? When he and that Leech Bitch have no more warriors left, we will send them to the Demon’s Realm!” 

Many Alphas nod their heads in agreement with Caleb’s plan. Even the Elders seem to agree. Not all of them. The last one frowns, and he looks at us. “Are we going to listen to the words of an Alpha who was a rogue not too long ago? Many of you have called me many times worried that the Rogue Alpha will attack your pack!” the Elder asks, and from his voice, I can tell he is Elder Adam. When he looks at me and I catch glimpses of his eyes, my eyebrows go up. It can't be! I look at Caleb—he seems amused by Elder Adam. “Not only that, but for a long time, he had been the whore of Queen Crimson! Recently Alpha Caleb and Luna Rain have been in the Vampire Palace, and how can we be sure they are not spying for the Vampire Queen and the Demon King?” 

Many Lunas gasp, and the Alphas speak among themselves. When I hear them say ‘the rogue whore,’ my Fire tickles my fingers, wanting to burn all who talk badly about Caleb. Starting with Elder Adam. 

Caleb stands. “Funny you mention my time spent in the Vampire Palace as a slave, *father*!” he snarls. At this point, everyone is saying something, but my attention is on Caleb and Elder Adam. 

“You are not my son! Don’t you ever call me that! Your slut of a mother slept with another male, and you are the result of that afair!” Elder Adam says with so much hate I am sure he is spilling venom, not words.

Caleb snorts. “Yet we have the same eyes! And even if you were not my biological father, selling a twelve year old pup to the vampires makes you worse than my mother!” 

“You lie! I have been a respectable Alpha for many years! Do you think anyone will believe a werewolf who has been a rogue for many years and has a child with a vampire? You became friends with the Queen’s son and went to the Vampire Palace because you wanted to!” Elder Adam says. 

I lift my left arm, but Caleb puts his palm on my shoulder, and I lower it. “Leave my daughter out of this!” Caleb snarls. “It is true Tristan is my friend, but I never went with him to the Vampire Palace; I was taken there against my will! If I have been a ‘whore’ for the vampires, it wasn’t by choice but by force!” 

Elder Adam turns his back on Caleb. “Alpha Caleb and Luna Rain should be excluded from this meeting! She is not as innocent as she seems! At only three years old, she burned the house she and her parents lived in, killing her mother and father. Not only that, but she is the reason why the Demon King returned! He is after Luna Rain, and I say we should give her to him! Maybe then he will spare us!” 

I can see many Alphas and Luna looking at Caleb and me with hate and disgust. Some stand, wanting to attack us. Caleb growls, and when I stand, ready to fight, he puts an arm around my waist.

“Anyone who dares to take a step towards my soulmate won’t be leaving this room alive!” Caleb says in a loud tone.

“Are you going to be intimidade by the one Alpha and his Luna?” Elder Adam asks. 

Tatiana and Naomi enter the Ball Room. The Oracle has a magic staff in her right hand. She hits the floor with the end of the staff, drawing the attention of everyone present. 

“You should not listen to the words of a sick male that thinks his soulmate cheated on him and let his hatred poison his heart! Caleb Black is the son of Adam Brown!”

“It’s not true!” Elder Adam says. “My soulmate did cheat on me!” 

“Are you implying I am lying?” Naomi asks. “Caleb has the same birthmark as you, in the same spot—a small tear on the inside of his left wrist. Not only that, but he looks identical to you when you were his age! We can use my magic to prove he is your son if what I have told you until now is not enough!” 

“But I felt the Pain of Betrayal!” Elder Adam protests.

“It has been a black spell, you fool!” Tatiana says. “And I have the proof you sold Caleb to Queen Crimson!” she adds, taking a piece of paper from her bag. “This is the contract you signed on the day you met with the Queen! I also have proof that you told Sinn where Caleb and Rain were staying in Sinaia! The information has been passed on by another female—Ruth. Is she here?” she asks and looks around. “I suppose she is yet to arrive! So you see, Elder Adam, you sold your own son to the vampires and let them do all kinds of despicable things to him!” 

Elder Adam’s mouth hangs open, and he falls to his knees. “Caleb!” 

“Don’t!” Caleb snarls. “I already told you I will never forgive you for what you did to me!” 

“You should all follow Elder Adam’s example and bow before your new Luna and Alpha Supreme!” Naomi says. 

My Theta Knights enter the Ball Room. All three of them—Elton, Katherine, and lastly, Kevin. They stand behind Caleb and me—their weapons in their hands. While Elton has chosen a bow and Katherine the scythe, Kevin chose a trident, like Poseidon, the God of the Seas.

I knew Kevin was my Theta Knight since the day Caleb marked me. When Kevin hugged me, our hands touched and I heard my instinct telling me Kevin is a Theta Knight. For a while I was in denial, but the mark from my left hip—the head of a wolf with a trident behind it, is the only proof I need. Kevin too struggled with it for a while, because he is not only Jordan’s best friend but also his Beta. Or was his Beta. 

“Take Elder Adam to a cold cell!” Caleb says. 

Two Royal Enforcers rush to do as Caleb orders, but before they take Elder Adam away, two females enter the Ball Room, and I recognize their scents. They look around, nervous.

“Welcome to the party!” I say to my aunt and Ruth.