Two Alphas, One Mate
The Ceremony

Diana

The outside of the Pub looked pretty much the same, but I could already hear the booming music and the loud voices raging inside. A few warriors stood on guard outside the door as people entered the building.

“Oh, there she is!” Phyllis called out to short slender old lady holding a clip board. She wore a lose fitted navy blue business suit, and her grey hair was tightly placed into a low bun. The thick rimmed black spectacles she had on covered the obvious appearance of her age, but there was only so much it could do to hide the wrinkles.

“Phyllis! My, this wasn’t the venue I was expecting to host such an important event, but I know you Fenrir wolves love this place.” She spoke with a British accent. She wasn’t part of the pack, and her scent made me believe she was human.

“Nice to meet you, I’m Hippolyta, and this is Luna Diana.” She put her hand out to shake the event planner’s hand, but instead, she laid eyes on me, completely ignoring Hippolyta.

“My, my, my. What a beauty you are. It was a pleasure for my company to put together your ceremony Luna. My name is Isabela and I’ve been in the business for 45 plus years!” I reached for her hand and she grasped on tightly, shaking vigorously in excitement. For such a small old lady, she has some wits about her.

“I must say, your Alpha reached out to me personally and offered assistance with straightening up in the interior of this train wreck – er – no offence. You will appreciate all the changes, I give you my utmost assurance.”

“Looking forward to it.” I looked to Phyllis who was looking just as confused as I was. I wasn’t aware Damian reached out to her.

“I’ll let you get to the party, and if you have any other events to be planned, please let me know! I will always be available.” She winked her wrinkly eye and handed me a white business card. I glanced down at it to see her contact info and a couple of flowery images outlining the outer edges of the writing. It was tacky, which made me worry a little more about what I was about to walk into.

I placed it in my purse and starting walking towards the door, “Thanks, appreciate the last-minute accommodation.”

“Anytime my dear! And remember I’ll always be here to assist the Luna for any event!”

I turned to the girls who were walking behind me, “She seems fake but maybe she did an ‘ok’ job.” I chuckled.

“You’re telling me. I took one look at her and wanted to punch her in the face. Arrogant humans have no idea what it is to be loyal.” Hippolyta growled.

We all laughed as we stepped inside, and surprisingly, the stale odor of beer magically disappeared, and we were met with a beautiful floral arrangement that filled the air with subtle hints of lilac, peony, and hyacinth.

“Well, the smell is gone.” Phyllis sniffed.

“That’s not all ladies, look.” Hippolyta’s eyes trailed the rest of the bar.

“How was this done in a day? Impossible.” Etta gasped.

I was shocked, the bar was completely transformed. All three of us were unable to move any further as we were too enthralled with analyzing the new décor. It was like we entered a completely different building.

“Is this the same bar?” I stepped forward, looking at the specific changes that seemed like a near impossibility considering it was done in 24 hours.

The rugged old bar with warn wooden stools were now replaced with a marble stone that was lined with tufted fabric stools.

The old lights were replaced with new copper fixtures that gave it a more industrial look that offset some of the more feminine features. The tables that scattered the room all had Peony centerpieces and candles.

How did she know that was my favourite flower?

Waiters in white uniforms held trays of food while guests ate and drank to their hearts desire. It seemed like a good mixture of male and females tonight which made me happy to see. Sometimes when it was a bar full of male warriors it could get a little rowdy.

“Well, I thought this place needed a face lift, so I let the event planner do what she needed to do. I mean… I do own this place.” A familiar voice came behind us.

I felt myself heat up as I turned around. “Damian?”

“Di, you look so BEAUTIFUL.” His face lit up as we made eye contact.

“MY LOVE.” I couldn’t care less of who was watching as I jumped into his arms. Maybe it was my inner wolf trying to get free to touch her mate. I couldn’t help myself. I wrapped my arms around his neck and brought my lips to his. Our kiss was brief, but it felt just as amazing as all the other times.

I heard Hippolyta tell the girls to go wonder off while Damian and I caught up. I nodded to her briefly as she walked away into the crowd.

Damian placed me back down on the ground, but I kept my eyes locked onto him.

He was dressed casually; he wore a long white sleeve button down shirt and jeans that fitted tight enough to show off his incredible physique. He didn’t need to wear much to get my gears turning.

“This place looks way better than the last time we were here.” My eyes started to wonder off as he held my hand.

“Yea, it was time for a makeover.” We started walking towards the bar, and I could feel the eyes of guests following us as we past them. Some even gave a small bow as we walked by.

“Care for a drink beautiful?” He was already waving over to a male bartender who was busy serving multiple guests, but of course, Damian was the Alpha, so he immediately came to our assistance.

“What will it be Alpha?” He asked.

“Double whiskey, neat, and how about the same for the Luna.” Damian gave a quick wink to my direction and smiled.

“Right away Alpha.” The waiter bowed his head and went to work.

Shit, what was I supposed to do if I was pregnant and hiding it from everyone?

This was a bar, and a party; I think he will know something is up if I deny this drink. Maybe I can fake it? Maybe I can pour it out somewhere when he wasn’t looking.

My mind was trying to think of ways to get out of this sticky situation. It was only a couple more hours until I was going to tell him. I wanted to wait until we were alone to break the news. Not when most of the pack was here.

“Here you go.” The waiter placed the shiny crystal glasses filled with whiskey on the bar top. It made me want to puke looking at it. I used to enjoy sipping on whiskey but now the smell horrified me.

I picked up my glass and analyzed the new shiny glass.

“New crystal I see?” I smirked at him playfully.

“Did you see what we were drinking out of before? Everything needed to be replaced.” He laughed and started to drink.

I had to act quickly to keep my charade up, this was my chance while he was focused on his drink. While he tilted his face upwards, I quickly poured the drink in an empty glass on the bar. Thankfully, I was quick enough to put the empty glass to my lips before he took notice.

“Wow Diana, might want to slow down there.” He went wide eyed as he looked at the empty glass in my hand.

“Just thirsty.” Little did he know I would be sober for the entire night, while most of the pack drank to their hearts desire. I was unsure how the ceremony will go as each pack had different traditions.

My eyes focused in on a huge bowl sitting on a small table in the middle of the room with a steel ladle sitting inside. I wonder if this had anything to do with the ceremony.

As my mind wondered I could hear Damian speaking to the same bartender.

“Two more.” He gestured his hand and the bartender immediately started preparing the next set of drinks.

This was going to be a long night.

An hour already passed, and I was so preoccupied formally meeting everyone with Damian. I couldn’t believe how close this pack was, they were practically family.

I met the warrior elder’s who were retired warriors who consulted on strategy and tactics. After I was done with them it was onto the warrior leaders who held sub leader positions right under the Beta.

Speaking of Beta, I have yet to replace Eric in the sea of people.

“Where’s Eric Hun?” I turned to Damian who was busy speaking to another guest. I knew he can hold his alcohol well, but he was starting to slur his words. I think everyone was slurring their words by the amount of alcohol flowing through this building.

“He’s-” Since he was the tallest one in the room it was easy for him to look over the crowd. “There!” He pointed to Eric who was seen flirting with a short brunette waitress walking around with appetizers. I couldn’t keep my eyes off her, she looked so damn familiar, but I couldn’t put my finger on it.

We started walking towards them. Eric wore a plain dark blue button up with black pants. He was looking very handsome from his usual workout gear, and he seemed to be really into this girl who was actively flirty back. She twirled her finger around her hair while Eric spoke to her.

“Eric! Hey!” We approached the couple leaning against the shiny new marble bar top.

“Hey, Eric, I’m so shocked with today. I wasn’t expecting all of this.” I kept my eyes on the familiar looking waitress who was trying her best to avoid eye contact with me.

Who the hell was she?

Why couldn’t I clue in who she was?

“Well, I’m glad you and the three musketeers could help make it happen. This lady Isabela is something else. Hopefully, we didn’t break the bank for the party.” Eric laughed and I began to notice his reddening face from the drink he sipped on.

“And who is this?” I looked to the girl who was exchanging the same look. She looked nervous, and I was really starting to wonder why.

“I’m sorry Luna, I must get back to work.” She turned away, immediately retracting from the conversation.

I felt a new part of me fire up, and I needed to get to the bottom of this woman’s identity. I grabbed her arm to stop her mid-step. I could feel how tense she was.

“My name is – is - uh.” She trembled as I stepped in closer, looking her up and down. I didn’t want to come off as rude, but this was my pack, my party, my safety, if I were going to make someone feel uncomfortable, they could just LEAVE.

“Her name is Jessica.” Eric interjected.

“Have we met before?” I released her grip. I wanted to feel her mind and her body, but there was no connection. She wasn’t part of our pack. Her scent told me human, but for some reason, I could shake the feeling there was more to her.

“She works for Isabela from out of town.” Eric looked to me with concern, “You alright Diana?”

Jessica paused, she stood there like a deer in headlights as I kept my eyes on her, analyzing every square inch of her body.

I felt myself lose control for a moment, it was an emotion I’ve kept hidden away. My inner beast protecting my child and pack.

My teeth retracted and I clenched my hands into fists.

“DON’T LIE, WHO THE FUCK ARE YOU?”