Bridge

RORY

I stare at my mate in stunned silence.

~Saturday?!~

~He really wants to have a mating ceremony in less than five days?!~

“What’s the matter?” Everett asks, instantly sensing my hesitation.

“Isn’t that… Isn’t that a little too soon?”

“It is,” he says. “But I don’t want to wait any longer to declare my love for you in front of the pack. I’d do it today if I could.”

“I love your enthusiasm, Everett,” I say. “I really do. But I have final exams starting next week. How am I supposed to study ~and~ plan a mating ceremony?”

“I have most of the details already figured out,” he says. “Your only job will be to show up on time. Think you can manage that?”

I stare into my mate’s shining eyes.

He’s brimming with excitement and the last thing I want to do is put a damper on it.

“Alright,” I say, a smile creeping over my face. “Let’s do it.”

“That’s my spontaneous girl,” he says, pulling me in for a deep, passionate kiss.

And with his lips on mine, I instantly feel my stress melting away.

I don’t care when or how it happens…as long as I get to spend the rest of my life loving this man, everything else will fall into place.

***

When we arrive back at the packhouse, Mama and Everett’s Aunt Ophelia are both eagerly waiting for us at the door.

“She said yes!” Everett says as we approach them, hand-in-hand.

Ophelia pulls us both in for a hug.

“I thought I wouldn’t live to see the day that you were mated,” she says. “And then this clumsy little girl came along and healed me. And I think she healed you, too, Everett.”

“I never thought I’d see this day either,” Mama says, a tear streaming down her cheek. “I watched you suffer at the hands of those werewolves for all those years.

“And look at you now. You’re going to be a luna!”

“It really is too good to be true,” I say.

~If only Nickolas and Victoria could see me now…~

But they can’t see a damn thing, because they are locked away in the dark, dingy packhouse jail. I smile at the thought, knowing they’ve gotten exactly what they deserve.

“Follow me,” Ophelia says. “There’s just one last little detail that needs to be finalized for the ceremony.”

“I’ll leave you ladies to it,” Everett says, planting a kiss on my cheek and disappearing down the hall.

I follow Mama and Ophelia into one of the packhouse meeting rooms.

The round table that usually sits in the center of the room has been replaced with a long clothing rack, filled with dresses in every color and size.

“Wow,” I say. “How many mating ceremonies am I having, exactly?”

“Just the one,” Ophelia says with a laugh. “But I thought you might like options.”

“It’s like you haven’t met me at all,” I say. “I’m the most indecisive person on the planet.”

“When you put on the right one, you’ll know it,” Mama says. “I promise.”

Ophelia manages to craft a small changing room out of a curtain, and I begin trying on each of the dresses, one by one.

The first one is too short.

The second is too poofy.

The third is too frilly.

The fourth is too red.

The fifth is too white.

By the time I try on the fifteenth, I have a feeling that I’ll ~never~ find the perfect dress.

“This one is fine,” I say, spinning around in front of Mama and Ophelia in a pink, lacy, A-line number.

“We’re not looking for ~fine~, Aurora,” Ophelia says. “~Fine~ is simply not good enough.”

“Here,” Mama says, pulling a shimmering, pale-blue beauty off the rack. “Try this one.”

I let out a sigh as she hands me the hanger, and I retreat into the dressing room for the sixteenth time.

When I slip it on, a small gasp escapes my lips.

“That sounds promising,” Ophelia says.

She’s right. I look in the mirror and can hardly believe what I see.

The dress hugs every one of my curves perfectly.

The fabric cascades over my body like water, pooling at my feet.

When I open the curtain, Ophelia stares at me with wide eyes and Mama instantly bursts into tears…again.

“You look beautiful, sweetheart,” she blubbers.

“We have a winner,” Ophelia says.

Mama was right. As soon as I put it on, I knew that there was no other dress for me.

“Do a little twirl for us,” Mama says.

I spin around, showing them the dipped back and the long train.

“Well, don’t you look nice, Aurora,” a voice calls out to me.

Out of the corner of my eye, I see Amber standing in the doorframe.

Amber is a senior member of the council. She’s never really approved of a non-wolf living on pack grounds. And she certainly isn’t happy that the very same non-wolf will soon become her luna.

I turn around to offer her a formal greeting, but in an instant, I trip over my train and fall to my hands and knees.

I hear a loud rip as the seam on the back of my dress bursts open.

“Wow,” Amber says with a giggle. “You’re going to take the word ‘luna’ to a whole new level when you ~moon~ the entire pack at your mating ceremony.”

With that snarky comment, Amber disappears down the hall.

Mama and Ophelia appear at my sides and help me get back up onto my feet.

“Don’t listen to her,” Ophelia says. “She’s just bitter. She always wanted to be a luna, but Everett never gave her the time of day.”

“And what about the dress?” I say, brushing myself off. “It’s ruined!”

“I’ll send it off to the seamstress tomorrow,” Mama says. “It’ll be good as new.”

“Thank you,” I say, taking a deep breath.

I’m trying my best to keep my composure, but all I really want to do is punch that Amber woman right in her smug face.

***

When I return to our bedroom, Everett is already lying in bed, a book in his hands.

“Hello, my little mate,” he says, looking up at me from the pages. “How’d it go?”

Instead of a response, I just collapse onto the bed and bury my face in the pillow next to him.

“Hey,” he says, gently poking my side. “What’s the matter?”

I peer up at him and find that he’s gazing at me intently.

“I fell and ripped my dress,” I say.

“What else is new?” he says with a chuckle.

“What if that happens at the ceremony?” I say. “Everyone will call me the ‘mooning luna’ for the rest of my life.”

“I’d like to see them try,” he says. “They’ll get a swift punishment from the alpha if they try to make fun of my mate.”

I rest my head in his lap and he runs his fingers through my hair.

“What’s really going on?” he asks me. “You’ve been a klutz your whole life and I’ve never seen it bother you this much before.”

I think it over for a moment.

Everett’s right. I have been afflicted with this curse for as long as I can remember, and I’ve developed some pretty thick skin—literally and metaphorically.

~So why is Amber’s comment getting to me so much?~

“I think,” I begin, “that I’m really nervous. And not just about embarrassing myself at the ceremony. I find it hard to believe that the council will ever ~really~ accept me as their luna.”

Everett lifts me up to face him and presses his forehead into mine.

“The only thing that matters is that we seal our mating bond in front of the pack,” he says. “Then they will have no choice but to accept you. It’s tradition, and werewolves value tradition above all else.”

“Okay,” I say, although I’m not entirely convinced.

As always, it’s like Everett can read my mind.

“Is there anything else I can do to ease your fears?” he says. “I want you to feel as comfortable as possible on Saturday.”

Suddenly, an idea actually occurs to me.

“Do you think… Do you think I could invite some of my high school friends?” I say.

As soon as I say it, I know how silly it sounds. And by the look on Everett’s face, I can already tell what the answer to my question will be.

“I’m so sorry, Aurora,” he says. “But the wolves will not feel comfortable having so many humans on the pack grounds.

“Besides, how will we explain our traditions to them without revealing that we’re werewolves?”

“Yeah,” I say. “I understand.”

I really do. But I can’t help but feel a little sad about it.

Freya and I once made a promise that we would be each other’s Maids of Honor. I would love nothing more than to have her be a part of my special day.

But my two worlds are completely and totally fractured—and it makes me feel like ~I’m~ fractured, too.

~Will I ever find a way to bridge the gap between these two severed pieces of myself?~