Page 79 of He Claimed Her Heart

“Dad, did you hear us?”please say no, please say no I thought as I pulled out the pancake mix from the pantry.

“No, I didn’t hear anything. Was I supposed to?” dad answered me with a confused look.

“No, just asking,” as I swiped at Tom for making me ask dad that question. “Jerk.”

“No, you’re still just a brat,” Tom stated as he pulled out a frying pan.

CHAPTER 16

The Luna Ceremony

As the day wore on, I was kept busy with instructions from Aunt Yvonne and Aunt Sophia. I was told when and where to go by Beta Charles. I was escorted back to the suite when it was time for me to start getting ready. I hadn’t seen hide nor hair of Drake all day. I was told he was trying to handle his family issues. I would see him shortly.

I was taken to another room to prepare. This ceremony in werewolf culture is an epitome of a royal wedding in human culture. It’s a big deal. I was being prepared for the ceremony by my aunts and Angela. They insisted that they be the ones to help me prepare, no one else was needed.

After all, they already knew that I was pregnant. They didn’t want anyone else to know or find out before the announcement at the ceremony tonight. Aunt Sophia was in charge of makeup. She knew I didn’t like a lot of it, I liked the natural look. Aunt Yvonne and Angela were in charge of the hair. They had an idea of what they wanted to do to my long brown locks.

I tried tomind-link Drake again to see how he was doing. I couldn’t get through. I sighed in frustration. I was close to tears because I couldn’t contact him, nor could anyone tell me what was going on with him.

“He’s all right, Bree. If something was wrong, you would know. Now, don’t cry. I know it’s hard with the hormones,” cooed Aunt Sophia as she dabbed my eyes with a tissue.

“I know he’s dealing withhis father and Uncle Reese. His father was being a complete ass this morning saying something like ‘I will not be conducting a ceremony for a family member of his’ or something like that,” Aunt Yvonne stated with a frown.

“I know that Drake and his father are not on good terms. I’m surprised he contacted him to conduct the ceremony,” I replied as they continued to fix my hair.

Knock. Knock. Knock

“Now, who is knocking at the door? Don’t they know we are not to be disturbed,” Angela muttered as she made her way to the door. “Luna Sophia, it’s for you,” Angela stated as she stood back and allowed Aunt Sophia to greet Uncle Bennett at the door.

“Bennett, why are you here? We’re still getting her ready.What’s the matter?” Aunt Sophia suddenly exclaimed as she took in his appearance.

“May I come in for a few minutes? Is everyone decent?” Uncle Bennett asked as he hugged his mate tightly and inhaled her scent.

“He can come in. What’s going on Uncle Bennett?” I inquired as he came into the room with a serious look on his face.

“Bree, I need to prepare you for what you’re about to walk into. Just like I did with the Alphas and the dating game,” Uncle Bennett explained. “Drake reached out to his father so he could perform the Luna Ceremony per the pack protocol for the ceremony. His father had heard of the ‘list’ and of you. He has had a long-running feud with Reese or rather grandpa. He is refusing to perform the ceremony tonight. Uncle Reese contacted the Council, and the council has said that he could perform the ceremony tonight in his stead. However, Drake’s father is crying foul saying that pack law says it has to be the former Alpha, not a council member. It’s a mess,” Uncle Bennett explained with a frustrated sigh.

I felt so bad for Drake. I wanted to be with him so I could comfort him. No wonder he shut me out. He didn’t want me to feel his anger orget upset because of the pup. All of this just made me love him more.

“Uncle Bennett, are we going to have a ceremony tonight?” I asked himwith a slight tremor in my lower lip.

“Now, Bree. Please don’t go getting upset. Drake doesn’t want you tobe upset. But he felt you needed to know everything ahead of time so you could prepare yourself emotionally and mentally. We are having the ceremony. The council will be there to support you and Drake’s choice of having Reese perform the ceremony,” Uncle Bennett explained. “We will begin the ceremony in about forty minutes, so you need to finish getting ready, okay?”

“Okay. Thank you, Uncle Bennett. I’ll be ready. Will you please ask Drake to open his mind link? I want to talk to him. Thank you,” I asked him as I hugged him before he left.

“I will do so. Ladies, I will see all of you out there soon,” Uncle Bennett exclaimed as he left the room.

About five minutes later, Drake sent me a mind link saying how sorry he was he blocked me.He didn’t want to upset me with everything that was going on. I told him I understood, but I was starting to get worried about him. I asked him if everything was settled yet, and he said as well as it could be. Whatever that means. Is your father still here? Or has he left? Drake said he asked his father to leave, but that didn’t mean anything. I hoped his father didn’t cause any problems.

Drake ended the mind link when we were ten minutesaway from the ceremony and I had to put on my dress. The dress was beautiful. It reminded me of the dress Cinderella wore to the ball except it wasn’t so puffy from the waist. Instead, the waist flared slightly and the hem in front came below my knees. The back of the dress had a train that flowed down toward my ankles. I loved the shimmer the dress had as well as the shape of the front. It was just like Cinderella’s dress. It was absolutely beautiful.

After I put the dress on, Aunt Yvonne and Angela made minor adjustments to my hair. They had my hair half pinned up and half down as I had it for the celebration at Uncle Blaine’s pack house when I learned about the list.

Someone knocked on the door and Aunt Sophia opened it. We were told it was time for us to be escorted out to the ceremony. Uncle Blaine escorted Aunt Yvonne; Uncle Bennett escorted Aunt Sophia; Beta Edward (dad) escorted Beta Angela (mom); and dad, Alpha Theo came to escort me to my ceremony. We walked out of the pack house and towards the training grounds where the ceremony was to be held. I was in awe of how the area had been transformed due to the lanterns marking the path we were to take.

Dad had the biggest smile on his face. “I’m so proud of you, Bree. Despite everything, you have always come through it all with your head held high. I love you very much,” dad gushed as he walked me towards the platform. We made it to the aisle and had to wait until we were given the signal to make our way down the aisle.

Just then, I heard the music start to play. Then, Uncle Reese started the ceremony. “Ladies and Gentlemen. We are gathered together tonight for a very special occasion. Tonight, you officially welcome your Luna into your pack.”

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