Dead Luna
Chapter 56

Amelia's POV

After spending most of the day talking with mom, reminiscing about her childhood, her short time with my father, and my early childhood, we got ready for dinner. I decided to wear my sage green flowered sun dress, while mom wore her new pink pantsuit. She looked pretty good for a woman just turned 40 years old, in my opinion.

The private dining room was seldom used these days, but could easily accommodate up to 16. It was an elegant room, with ivory colored walls, built in cabinets, and a parquet wood floor. The chandelier above the walnut dining table reminded me of the ones in Selenes study, just slightly smaller. I hadn't been in this room in many years, back when I was helping serve meals. I had almost forgotten what a beautiful place room this was.

Derrick had made tonight into a bit of a celebration for his new team, rather than an intimate date just for us. So also in attendance was former Alpha Daniel and Luna Francine, newly promoted Beta Rick Travis and his mate Stacy, their 4 month old daughter Emily, Gamma Jackson, and newest officer Delta Gabriel Simms with his mate Chelsea and tiny son Devon. Rick and Gabriel's parents were also invited, but only Ricks parents came. Apparently there was still some animosity between former Alpha Daniel and Gabe's dad. Jackson hadn't wanted to invite his family due to this being a sort of demotion for him, but his sister Haley came along with her mate Charlie anyway. I was eager to meet Haley, after hearing the few things Jackson had told me about her.

The atmosphere was definitely a celebratory one, and I made sure to congratulate both Rick and Gabriel on their promotions.

Celebratory flutes of champagne were handed out to everyone, except for little Devon and I who were each given a flute filled with sparkling cider. And then Derrick was proposing a toast, first to Moon goddess, without whom none of these celebrations would be possible. Then a toast to the new team of pack officers, and then to me. Then I toasted to Derrick, thanking him for his hospitality in his pack. "May your pack always be prosperous!"

Then the dinner was served, and I was placed to Derricks right hand side, with my mom to my other side, just as it would be if I were his Luna. While this was no longer an official date, it was still a date nonetheless. Derrick didn't want to waste any opportunity at swaying my decision if he could.

"I hope you are feeling well this evening," Derrick inquires. He was probably still interested in the possibility of getting me knocked up, if I would allow it. Which I would not.

"As long as I stay sober, Ambrosia can suppress most of my symptoms." I reply as I start to cut into the tender piece of prime rib. I noted that everyone was served a glass of red wine with the meal. "I will just drink water for the rest of the evening. And I am assured that I should be perfectly fine after tomorrow."

"Excellent!" Derrick said. "I was worried about you being in some other unknown pack while in your condition."

"The Willamette pack is hardly an unknown pack." I assure him. "They are allies of Winter Moon, as well as our close relatives."

"I suppose that's true," Derrick agrees, but sounds uncertain. "Im sure whomever killed the former Alphas family must be long gone by now, as it was so long ago."

I don't know what to say to that.

"Still," Derrick continues. "I would feel a lot better if you took Jackson along with you. I realize you don't trust me, and I know that it's entirely my fault. I was overzealous in my pursuit of you. But I promise not to interfere anymore, and that you can trust Jackson to protect you."

I growl a little in annoyance. Yeah, I'm still not out of the woods yet with the hormones and the mood swings. And while Jackson had given me the information about my family, I was still a bit ticked off at him.

"And if you take him along," Derrick says, to sweeten the deal. "I'll let him borrow one of our pack vehicles. You won't have to keep asking for rides to wherever you need to go."

"Thank you. I think I actually will take you up on that offer," I say before taking a bite of the warm sourdough roll that I had slathered in soft creamy whipped butter. Bliss! I may have even moaned out loud, because Derrick chuckled.

"I love a woman who enjoys her food!" He tells me. I try to ignore him. I was just here to enjoy the amazing food. And enjoy it, I did! I was getting full, but still had that amazing white chocolate raspberry cheesecake to look forward to. It was honestly one of the top 3 meals I ever ate in my life.

Once the party was starting to wind down, Derrick asked to speak with me afterwards. I had been chatting with Haley and Chelsea, and was a little irked that Derrick would interrupt, but I said I'd chat with him in a minute or two. But then Chelsea was saying she needed to get Devon home to bed, and Haley said she and Charlie needed to get home since her parents were watching the pups.

"You look sad," Derrick says as soon as everyone else left. Jackson was taking my mom home and would come back for me, apparently.

"I'm feeling a little left out, I suppose." I confide in him. Derrick throws a companionable arm around my shoulder as we head out of dining room, too. "So many of my friends and acquaintances are mated and have families already. I want that."

"Soon." Derrick reminds me. "Today if you really want. Choose me, right now, and you can be marked and mated within the hour. Pregnant with my pup by morning. You'll be an amazing mom, a wonderful Luna, and I would do anything to make you happy. Anything at all!"

"You make a very strong case, and it's incredibly tempting." I say, because it's true. "But would I be choosing you because I love you, or because I am extra hormonal right now and doing something rash that I will regret later? That wouldn't be fair to you or I." "I suppose you are right." Derrick says, ruefully. "And I hope when you are making your choice soon, that you remember the good things about me, and not the dunderhead I was this last week. Also, I didn't get a full week. Not that I used it particularly well, but I wish I had a chance to do a do-over. A fresh start. Show you the real me, rather than the desperate version of me trying anything and everything to try to make you mine."

"I would hope that maybe you'd understand that the reason I acted this way was because I truly do want you." He continues, now walking me towards home. "I felt drawn to you the moment I saw you in that diner."

"So it's not because of my possible family connections?" I ask.

"What, because we are related?" Derrick asks, looking confused. "2nd cousins are not a such a close relationship that it would cause scandal. And Leo was your second cousin as well."

"I meant the family connections on my fathers side." I corrected him. "Prince Alexander."

"What? You're joking, right?" Derrick says, laughing. "Your mom made that up, didn't she?"

"From what she told me, it sounds legit." I tell him, trying not to get pissed off that he is basically calling my mom a liar. "They found out they were mates less than 3 weeks before his marriage to Eleanor, and he was married before she knew she was having me, and she has kept a low profile since then. He doesn't know about me, but it's really only a matter of time before he replaces out, with all the work I've been doing for Selene."

"If you say so," Derrick says, not sounding convinced at all. But at this point we had been walking almost all the way to mom's little cottage, so I started walking faster. I don't need his negativity, not today. Not when I was still overly emotional from being in heat, as well as having found out about my father really only a few hours ago. If he doesn't believe me, I could care less.

"Anyway, I don't plan to make any rash decisions one way or another," I inform Derrick. "I might even choose someone else entirely if I want to. Moon goddess said it was my choice, I could choose one alpha, all the alphas, or none of them. Or something like that. In my experience with her, the answers were often vague and open for interpretation."

"I see." Derrick says as I step onto my porch, turn around, and give him a little kiss. He grabs me and deepens the kiss until I'm nearly swooning. "A little something to remember me by..."

And then he turns around and walks off, with me wanting more. Wow!