Alexander’s POV
“Let me help you with that!” Angelica said, grabbing my bow tie.
“Don’t! Touch! Me!” I growled, extending my canines to warn her.
We were getting dressed in our assigned room, and the situation was already awkward with her and me sleeping in the same room.
I requested a different room, but the omega in charge just shrugged, telling me there were no spare rooms available, and called Paul.
Paul just laughed when I pleaded my case to him. He thought it was hilarious, and that just pissed me off.
“The wheels have turned in my favor,” he said. “Now you’re stuck with a Luna you don’t want, and I can take our precious Gamma and make her mine.”
Luke must have heard what Paul said and quickly stepped inside, dragging my ass out of the office before I had the chance to put my hands on Paul.
The audacity!
Who does he think he is?
Emily is MINE!
“You do know I am just trying to help!” Angelica hissed. “That’s what mates do! They help each other!”
Luke peeked his head into our room, coming to my aid before I could say something and worsen the situation.
“Ah,” he said, seeing the bow in Angelica’s hand and stepping closer. “It seems that you are done dressing. You can wait in the foyer while I attend to our Alpha.”
Angelica hissed something unintelligent under her breath, threw the bow tie on the floor, and stalked out of the room.
“Finally!” Ghost yapped. “I thought she would never leave! That bloody she-wolf is driving me insane!”
“Me too, buddy,” I said, relieved. “Me too!”
Luke picked up the tie from the floor, threw it in the trash, and drew a new one from his pocket. He must have known that I wouldn’t wear anything Angelica touched.
Luke came closer, and he clipped the tie into place.
“There you go, Alpha!” He said, straightening the tie. “All done.”
He took a quick step back and his eyes roamed over me.
“Luna wouldn’t be able to resist you. You do look handsome tonight,” he teased.
“You think?” I asked, checking myself in the mirror. “I did try to make a statement.”
“I believe you have accomplished that!” Luke said, patting me on the shoulder. “She-wolves would be falling over their feet to get to you.”
I chuckled.
“There is only one I would love to court,” I replied.
“Let’s go dance with our Luna,” Luke said, gesturing to the door.
We headed out of the room and found my parents, with Angelica waiting in the foyer.
My mother gracefully came to me, and she linked her arm with mine.
“You wouldn’t mind, would you?” she asked innocently. “It has been a very long time since I could go to a party with my gorgeous boy.”
I was surprised by my mother’s remarks, so I looked at my father. He winked and nodded quickly in return.
“Seems someone is out to make the witch uncomfortable,” Ghost yapped, gesturing to Angelica.
“And angry,” I added.
“Poor thing!” Ghost snickered.
I internally chuckled at Ghost’s remark, keeping my posture.
“Not at all,” I said to my mother, straightening my back. “I will be delighted to accompany you to the ball. It has been some time since I have swayed to the music with you in my arms.”
Angelica’s face twisted with irritation, then flushed red as my mother laughed behind her hand.
My gaze caught hers and her eyes were throwing daggers at me.
“If looks could kill…” Ghost yapped.
“We would be six feet under the ground!” I completed his thoughts.
“Then it’s settled,” my father said, holding his arm out for Angelica to take.
Angelica huffed, ignored my father’s arm, and stalked past him like a bull.
I raised my eyebrows at her attitude.
As soon as Angelica was out of hearing distance, I turned to look back at my father, and a giggle erupted from my mother’s lips.
“Do I want to know?” I asked, cocking an eyebrow.
My father shook his head, looking sideways at my mother.
“I think it’s best to just say nothing,” my mother said, trying to regain her composure. “I can’t believe that I ever thought that girl was good enough to be your Luna.”
“Everyone makes mistakes, Mom,” I said.
“Yeah, but not this big,” she argued.
I suspect that my father might have told my mother everything, and for once I was fine with it.
“It is okay; I forgive you,” I said, pulling her into an embrace.
It felt so good to receive a warm hug from my mother.
“We, your father, and I will do whatever we can to get you and Emily back together,” she whispered in my ear.
That warmed my heart, and a smile floated on my lips. That promise meant so much to me.
“Now that it is all out in the open,” my father said. “Let’s go join the party.”
We headed toward the ballroom, occasionally stopping at photographs and portraits that seemed interesting hanging from the walls.
“This is interesting,” Luke said, gesturing to something other than a photograph or portrait.
I went closer, interested in seeing what he was looking at.
“It looks like some kind of family tree,” I said, shifting my head to the side.
“It seems like it,” Luke said. “But why is King Alpha Xavier not added to the tree?”
My father took a closer look.
“I have seen this somewhere, but I can’t remember where,” my father said. “I’ll see if I can find anything when we get home.”
A few minutes later, we entered the ballroom, and I couldn’t help but gasp in awe at how beautiful the room looked.
Hundreds of tables were decorated in white and gold with huge sculptures of wolves as centerpieces.
I slowly raised my gaze toward the roof, seeing huge, beautiful crystal chandeliers hanging from the ceiling.
“Those are remarkable!” My mother whispered in awe. She was staring at them for a quiet while.
“They sure are,” I agreed.
I was surprised at how many wolves were attending the event, and the atmosphere was somewhat electrifying.
Angelica had already taken a seat at the table, chatting away with some random red-headed girl I didn’t know.
My gaze sweeps over the sea of people, hoping to get a glimpse of Emily.
“She’s not here yet,” Ghost answered my thoughts.
“Then where is she?” I asked, pouting and taking my seat at the table. “Will she not attend?”
“Luna will enter with the royals,” Luke linked, noticing my change in mood.
“How do you know that?” I replied.
Luke shifted his gaze toward me.
“She told me,” he answered.
“And you didn’t care to inform me?” I growled under my breath.
“Calm down,” he said. “There was nothing to report.”
“Don’t tell me to calm the f*ck down!” I hissed, and everyone at the table turned their heads to look my way.
“Fine!” Luke linked. “Luna asked me to come over and pick up something for you.”
Emily sent me a gift?
“What did you collect?” I asked.
“You will see,” Luke said, with a cocky smile playing on his lips.
****