Ava looked at Adrian, her blue eyes flickering with gold reflected from the fire in the sconce. “Mate.” She agreed.
His lips dropped to hers and she opened up for him. They kissed and he was home. How had he lived without her for this long he would never know but he wouldn’t let her go again. She was his.
His lips left hers and she made a small noise of protest, he wanted to keep kissing her. To keep his mate happy but he needed to make sure she never left him first. To make sure everyone knew she was his. He dropped a kiss on her nape then let his wolf come forward as he bit down on her nape marking her.
Ava gasped and her hands clutched him bringing him even closer as she surrendered to her instincts and bit him in return. Marking him. Marking her mate. Marking Adrian.
They separated and she saw his eyes clear as her mind cleared.
The entire pack was watching them.
What had she done?
One minute Gabrielle’s dreams were about to come true, the next everything was in shambles.
When the ceremony started she noticed Adrian was uncomfortable. She had thought he was having cold feet and silently prayed for the priestess to hurry along the coronation so that she could finally get to the joining of both of them.
Only when the ceremony for their mating just began, Adrian turned away to look at something.
“Adrian.”
He didn’t respond. He didn’t even seem to hear her. Surely whatever he was looking at wasn’t–
Gabrielle turned to see Ava. Her worst unspoken nightmare had come to reality.
Gabrielle reached out to hold Adrian but he stepped away moving towards Ava.
What was he doing? Was he going to show the entire pack that Ava was so important to him that he would put his mating ceremony on hold just to welcome her?
Gabrielle would not let that happen. She had worked too hard for this. As she moved to stop Adrian however, Anya stood in her path wearing a distant smile. Gabrielle tried to move around her but she moved with her blocking her way.
“Move or so help me goddess I will not spare you.”
Anya’s smile broadened. “As much as I would love to see that, I am merely preventing you from making a grave mistake.”
“And that would be what exactly?” Gabrielle said agitatedly. Adrian and Ava were standing in front of each other now, she had to do something or else–
“Coming between a true mate pairing of course.”
Gabrielle’s heart stopped. No. She tried to convince herself. There was no way they were true mates. She had been there at Ava’s eighteenth birthday party, it had been hers as well. There had been no indication.
Hadn’t Adrian gotten back together after that party? If he had found his mate, he wouldn’t have done that. And as for Ava, surely even betrayal had its limits. She had confided in her about her relationship issues, if she was Adrian’s mate she would have told her then.
Anya was just messing with her because she had never liked her.
“Mate.” Adrian’s voice carried in the quiet night even though he spoke softly.
The entire clearing went silent at that word.
Gabrielle’s jaw dropped as both of them kissed passionately in front of the entire pack. They didn’t seem to notice or even care about the fact that they were being watched.
Arthur and Martha exchanged equally astonished looks and Alexander was at sea. What exactly was going on? Was this the reason that Gabrielle had asked him and their parents to not invite Ava or give her any information on the mating ceremony?
Callie stood with Nelson wondering if she was in any way responsible for what had just occurred. Was it because she had forced Ava’s hand to come for her own mating ceremony?
The rest of the pack expressed varying degrees of surprise and murmuring amongst themselves then things had come to a head when they went a step further and marked themselves.
When Ava realized what she had done, she was in shock.
Her journey to the clearing was a haze with the only clear thing on her mind being her destination. She didn’t even remember where her luggage went. She didn’t know. One minute she was in a cab on her way home, the next she had marked Adrian Gavin and taken him as her mate.
She looked at Adrian and saw the horror mirrored in his gaze. He had also lost his mind it would seem.
Then she was pulled away from Adrian and a slap landed across her face so hard that her ears rang.
Ava held her cheek and looked at Gabrielle who had just hit her. Her eyes were bloodshot with tears ruining her beautiful bridal makeup.
“How could you? You are supposed to be my sister. My family. How could you betray me like this?”
“Gabby, I…” Ava had no words. How could she explain that she had tried her best to not be with Adrian only to end up betraying her sister in the most extreme way possible by stealing her mate on her wedding day.
“Cynthia warned me but I believed you would never do something like that to me.” Gabrielle pointed her index finger at Ava in accusation.
“You were mates all this while and you couldn’t tell me? Each time I had a problem with Adrian, you were just laughing at me behind my back, weren’t you? I must have seemed so pathetic to you, right?”
Ava began to cry.
“Gabrielle, that’s not how it was, don’t blame Ava. She tried–” Adrian tried to reason with her.
“Enough, Adrian… Alpha Adrian. Now that you have marked each other, of course, you will take her side. Both of you were just making a fool of me from the scratch.”
“Gabby, I’m sorry. I tried, we both did. The last thing I ever wanted to do was to hurt you or make a fool of you.”
“Well look around, Ava, not only have you hurt me but you have deceived the entire pack as well.”
Ava looked around at the silent pack members that were looking at her, waiting. She was their Luna now she realised. She was no longer just the daughter of Beta Arthur. She had a responsibility to explain herself to them.
When she spoke next, she didn’t speak to just Gabrielle but to them as well. To her parents who stared at her like she was a stranger, to Callie who looked at her like she wanted to give her a hug, and to her many friends and acquaintances that she’d interacted with before she had left. To the members of the pack who she didn’t know personally but she had run with, played with and celebrated many festivities with before everything had happened.
“I apologise for not being open with you all. I apologise to those who have been hurt by this and as the Luna of this pack I sincerely regret that things had to begin on this note.” Ava felt Adrian’s steadying touch on her waist. He wanted to speak as well but he didn’t want to undermine her. Ava wondered how she knew this.
“I wanted to preserve the happiness of my sister whose mate turned out to be dead but by doing so I have hurt and deceived so many of you. I am sorry that I didn’t inform anyone that I am Adrian’s true mate.”
“You bitch.” Gabrielle raised her hand to hit Ava but Adrian caught it and gripped her hand so hard that she flinched.
“That is enough, Gabrielle. I have had enough of your attitude. She is my mate and your Luna. You will address her with the respect she deserves or you can leave this pack.” Adrian turned to address the rest of the pack. “The same goes for the rest of you. Ava is your Luna and will be addressed as such. Anyone who falls out of line will be severely disciplined and exiled.”
He flung Gabrielle’s hand away and pulled Ava closer to himself as if to shield her from any unseen attack.
Gabrielle glared at them, her anger and hatred were undiminished. “Congratulations Alpha and Luna Ava.” She said sarcastically. “I will accord my Luna the respect she deserves but as of today, I no longer have a sister. I break all ties I have with you, Ava Gavin.”
With that Gabrielle stormed off.