Chapter 38 - Let's do this!

ALARIC WAS OBSESSED by Lena. He didn’t know how he was going to do this without her anymore. He thought if he could just scratch his itch, he would be able to do it, but he needed more. He needed her to admit that she was his mate, and most importantly, he needed to mark her.

“Lena, now that Rebecca knows, I want to make it official.” His hand trailed down the middle of her naked body while she breathed in and out calmly, but she didn’t say anything and her face was blank of any reaction. “I want you in my bed every night.” He realized how that sounded and sighed. “I want you by my side as the Luna. I want everyone to know you are mine.” Her laughter wasn’t what he was hoping for and he felt a little hurt when she burst out laughing.

“I don’t know how many people are going to like that. You just ended a war against my people. A war that you led, Alaric.” Sadness filled her eyes for a split second before she gave him that blank look again. He hated that damn blank look!

LENA LISTENED CAREFULLY as Alaric explained how many people already knew and that the most important of them all agreed they should be together. His pack and the council agreed that although he waged war against the blood witches, if Lena was his mate, she should be with him.

Lena thought they only agreed because if he rejected her, he could die. She couldn’t for the life of her imagine that any of them would have agreed with his decision under any other circumstances. She was having trouble believing that he really wanted this. He killed her father! But, if she agreed to this, she might be able to get him off her back long enough that she could actually get out of there …

“How would it work? Would I still be your prisoner or would I be allowed to at least move around freely? I mean …” She hesitated for a moment. “Would I be allowed to go to my home and practice magic?” Maybe it wouldn’t be that bad after all?

“Why would you want to do magic?” He frowned. “I thought going to your home to ground sorted out any problems you might have with your magic.” He sighed and got up to get dressed and Lena knew the spell that hung in the air between them was broken.

“Alaric, you have to understand that me doing magic is just as important as you being able to shift. Just imagine how you would feel if someone told you you could never shift again. You weren’t allowed to.” Lena rolled her eyes as she said it and he sighed. He closed the gap between them with a couple of steps and pulled her into his arms. She had just pulled her shirt over her head but she could feel his body heat radiating through the thin material.

“As long as you promise not to do blood magic, I guess it shouldn’t be a problem.” He didn’t look happy. Lena knew that if he reacted this way, more of the others would react this way or worse. That was her sign that this would never work. She would never be completely accepted, which meant she would always walk on eggs around everybody. She would never be happy here. What if one of her children was like Rebecca? What if she wanted to teach her children about the traditions she grew up with? She nodded and he whooped with joy, picking her up and swinging her through the air.

She realized that her nod indicated to him that she agreed, but before she could set the record straight, she realized that the mating ceremony would be the perfect time for her to escape. People would be celebrating and they wouldn’t be focussing on what she was doing. The quicker they got this damn ceremony done, the faster she could get out of here. She wouldn’t reject him. She couldn’t do that to Rebecca.

Alaric carried her to the bathroom and after they got cleaned up, they joined the pack for breakfast, where Alaric joyfully announced that there would be a mating ceremony and Lena was to become the pack Luna. As they both expected, there were mixed emotions in the air, but most of the people seemed happy about the decision and many of them came to congratulate the happy couple.

Rebecca was beaming and told Lena that she couldn’t wait for the ceremony to be over because that meant Lena would be her sister. It pulled at Lena’s heart to think that she was going to betray the young girl for a second time, but she had to think of herself now. She had to think about her own future. She couldn’t stay here in this limbo any longer.

All throughout the day, Lena worked on where she would go and how she was going to hide right under their noses. She just needed a spell to hide herself and her home from their sight. She was going back home. There she could fix up her parents’ old home and, with the right spell, nobody would even see the difference. She had no idea why she hadn’t thought of it before. She could hide in plain sight and they wouldn’t find her.

Because of her new status, she had been given an omega to help her with daily tasks and two gamma guards who were there to protect her. She could walk about the pack house and grounds freely and Alaric even arranged with the guards that Lena was allowed to go to the old witch's grounds when she wanted to.

OVER THE NEXT COUPLE OF WEEKS, while everyone was under the impression that Lena was planning the mating ceremony, she was slowly gathering what she needed to fix up her home. Alaric had given her grimoire and Athame back to her since he realized how important they were and she was able to copy all the spells she would need from the books in the library into her own grimoire.

But she couldn’t spend all of her time just on magic. She still had to make sure that the ceremony looked authentic. She hesitated a little when she read that Alaric would be biting her and when she asked the Omega to explain, her eyes grew wide. She hadn’t realized that there would be a psychic link between her and Alaric! That meant she would have to take that into account in her spell as well.

Luckily, she found out about it beforehand! With her spells written and a new dress hanging in her cupboard, she crawled into bed beside Alaric on the night before the ceremony. He was talking about all the arrangements and how proud he was that she had jumped into it so enthusiastically, but her mind was on the route she would have to take to get out. Inside her bag there was a small green potion that she needed to pour over herself to hide her scent so they couldn’t follow her.

“Would the mark interfere with your magic?” His question drew her out of her thoughts and she shook her head, making him smile broadly. Her heart clenched tightly as she looked at his handsome face, realizing that soon, she wouldn’t be able to be this close to him again. He seemed so happy, yet she was so incredibly unhappy.

LENA HAD WOKEN EARLY IN THE MORNING and Alaric was already gone. The omega brought her breakfast in bed, which completely caught Lena off guard. That wasn’t part of her plan, which made her wonder what else they had planned for the day that she didn’t know about.

Luckily, everything she needed was ready, so even if they planned some surprise for her, she would be ready. She was right about the surprises. Alaric had arranged for an entire group of people to help her with her make-up and hair and Rebecca was bouncing about their room all morning. Her excitement was contagious and after a while, Lena couldn’t help but join in the fun as the little girl jumped on the bed!

Once the entire group finished what they were supposed to be doing, Lena gasped. She had never looked that beautiful. Her Omega helped Lena into her white silk dress. She explained that should any blood mess on the dress, Lena shouldn’t worry about it because their laundry department would get it out. It reminded Lena of the early days when she came here and she was put into the laundry department to work. It seemed that all the girls did there was wash out spots! But she didn’t say anything as she smiled at the Omega.

Lena grabbed Rebecca’s hand and the little girl was looking so pretty in her soft pink dress that they had made especially for today. The two headed out towards the big hall and came to a halt in front of the closed doors that would lead them into the dining room. Lena could picture what it looked like, since she spent some time there in the morning to make sure everything was ready.

The doors opened and her eyes found Alaric instantly as her heart skipped a beat. She felt Rebecca’s soft pull on her hand and they started walking in.