Hello my amazing readers! This chapter... I have no idea how I came up with this😅

But I absolutely loved writing it, hope u live reading it!

53. Royal carriage

Today is the day.

After breakfast, Luke dropped me by our room, excusing himself to go and see if all the others in the mansion are ready to depart for the temple where this ceremony is.

We have to leave in the end, after everyone else, so there’s plenty of time to get dressed.

Fidgeting excitedly, I rake through the closet and find a knee length white dress that looks sophisticated enough.

I quickly take a shower and dry my hair, put on the dress and apply a bit of makeup. Quickly zipping up my ankle boots, I take another look at the mirror.

The door opens, I see Luke’s reflection. I grin at his surprised expression as he sees me and do a little twirl.

“Ta da!” I say excitedly “So, how do I look?”

He smiles as he crosses the room to come up in front of me, his arms up around me as my own hook around his neck.

“Can you ever look less than perfect?” Luke says

“True,” I say brushing back a strand of his hair that fell out of place. Then I cock my head “What are you wearing today?”

Luke shrugs “A suit.”

I gape at him “Luke, you cant wear a suit to your coronation!”

His brows flicker up “Would you rather I wear nothing at all?”

I lightly hit his shoulder “I’m serious. What sort of king wears a suit on his coronation?”

“I’m not a king,” Luke says “And it doesn’t matter what I wear.”

Before I can protest, the door slams open. Habitually, Luke and I jump two feet away from each other.

Casper comes in my line of sight, his face flushed from running, suit clad form hunched, blond hair flying and grey eyes instantly settling on me and Luke.

“All the angels and their babies,” Casper huffs out “You two really are alive.”

The next instant, he has one arm around me and the other around Luke holding us in tight embrace.

“Fucking hell, you two actually won!” he squeezes both of us tightly

Luke scowls, I laugh.
Nevertheless, Luke pats him on the back, Casper lets go of us, beaming.

“When Alpha Jax told the news I almost collapsed from relief,” He says “You’ve really outdone yourself Winters.”

“I think not,” Luke says coolly “It was rather obvious.”

Casper huffs “You should really brush up on your common courtesy, dude.”

“I cant agree more.” I nod solemnly

Casper turns his bright grey eyes to me and the next moment he’s lifted me off my feet in crushing embrace.

“Thank you, Elise, from the bottom of my heart for tolerating this rock and surviving.” He says, letting go of me

“I deserve medals, I know.” I say smugly

All smugness washes off my face when he presses a kiss to my cheek.

“We can get that arranged—

He’s pulled away from me by a very pissed off Lycan. Casper staggers back as Luke lets go of him and I resist the urge to facepalm myself. Why did he have to do that?

“Get a hold of yourself,” Luke’s voice rumbles with a low growl, his hand already reaching for mine

Casper’s wide eyes take in our interlinked hands. He looks at Luke’s dark eyes, then he looks at me, I offer him a little smile, then he looks at our interjoined hands again.

“Is she, are you two,” Casper gestures with his hands, as if they would convey his message but then words splutter out of his mouth “Tell me you bastard, is she the one?”

Luke clears his throat, snapping out of his instinctive haze, with a face absolutely blank, he says;

“Yes. Yes, she is.”

“Holy mother of fucks—

Luke holds Casper back before he can hug us again, but Casper doesn’t seem to care, his lips are pulled in a splitting grin, eyes twinkling.

“This is brilliant, perfect!” Casper says, I can almost feel the elation in his voice “To think we had your mate in our own pack all this time!”

Luke murmurs something along the lines of “Don’t remind me.”

“So, this is our official meeting as Luna and beta,” I say with a grin “Pleased to meet you, Beta Casper Hendricks.”

“The pleasure is all mine, Luna.” Casper gives me an exaggerated bow

Luna, I grin at the title. Yeah, I can totally get used to this.

“Alright, now you two can go downstairs and wait,” Luke says with a glance at his wrist watch “I’ll just change and be down in a minute.”

“Casper,” I turn to my beta “As your Luna, I am in need of your assistance.”

He sketches me a bow “Casper Hendricks at your service, my Luna.”

“Good.” I nod “Now listen carefully to what I’m about to tell you.”

Luke’s face is wary when he eyes me “Elise, do not—

“Luke is wearing a suit to his coronation.”

Casper gasps, his eyes wide as he looks at his Alpha “A suit?”

Luke glares at him “Yes. Like a decent, normal person.”

Casper ignores his comment entirely and clicks his tongue “We need to get you something kingly to wear.”

“My point exactly.” I nod devotedly

And when Casper grins at me and I return it, I know I’ve found an awesome beta. And I know Luke is probably going to hate both of us in the near future.

Luke’s stormy eyes narrow at us in warning “Don’t you dare—

“I know a man,” Casper tells me “Who knows a man whose uncle is an expert tailor.”

I nod, taking in the information “You have connections, Hendricks. I’m impressed.”

“Thank you,” Casper says solemnly “And the man I know, who knows another man, that man’s uncle takes pride in making clothes the likes of which royalty wore in the past.”

“We don’t have time to go—

“And he just so happens to live in the town nearby.”

I pat my beta on the shoulder “I always expected big things from you, beta, but you’ve rendered me speechless with your genius.”

“And you, My Luna, have won me over with your idealism and bravery.” Casper puts a hand on his heart “I shall serve you with my life.”

And then we both turn to Luke, grinning like hellions. Before he can object, both of us have grabbed either of his arms, pulling him out of the room and downstairs.

“This is absurd!” Luke stops, effectively causing both Casper and I to halt “I’m wearing a suit, not some medieval nonsense.”

“Don’t be such a kill joy, Luke,” I tell him “It’ll be memorable! And if it makes you feel better, we’ll both dress like royalty too!”

“Of course!” Casper says, continuing down the stairs “Like a king, queen and their general! It’ll be awesome!”

Luke looks heavenwards and mutters “Why me, universe?”

I press a kiss to his cheek “Because it loves you, that’s why.”

And it might just be my imagination, but when we reach the bottom of the stairs, Luke doesn’t look at all annoyed by this request of ours.

…

I squeal, rocking on my toes, which are barely visible under the voluminous skirts of this dress.

The crème coloured skirts trail after me as I pace in the spacious changing room. The bodice of the dress in fitted to the bone, the tight sleeves making my arms look elegantly slender. The neckline and bodice are shimmering with little pieces of glass, arranged strategically to form flowers.

I gather up my hair and with the supplies the generous shop owner offered me, put it in a neat chignon, courtesy of all the times someone in the pack made me do their hair.

Whistling, I put in the heavy teardrop earning I’d picked up from the section of the store where jewelry is available and voila! I look splendid!

I slip out of the changing room and towards the room where the tailor had dragged Luke to try on the king outfits.  

“Perfection!” I can hear someone saying from inside “Its everything I’ve ever worked for!”

When I turn the knob and enter, I freeze in my place.

Because in front of me, stands a man every girl has, at least once, dreamed of.

Standing by the windows, the sunlight streams down to make the angular lines of his face more pronounced, his dark hair brushed back, yet one piece manages to escape and fall in front of his forehead.

He’s wearing a deep blue doublet, with gold trimming and regal embroidery, dark pants and knee high boots that gleam in perfection.

And after all that, a cape draped over his broad shoulders, dark like the night, the lining like liquid gold—

The tailor steps in my line of vision.

“You look like a king, young lord!” the tailor is saying, I think he might be crying

Feeling just a little bit cornered with the amount of male attention my mate seems to attract, I cough. Loudly.

The tailor spins to face me, and over his short frame, Luke’s eyes meet mine. And by the look on his face, he’s probably describing me in detail in his head. When he meets my gaze again, that impassive face forms a smile that has my breath halting.

I smile back at him as I step inside the room. The tailor, wisely, steps out of my way and goes out the room.

Luke takes both my hands in his and damn that smile, it’s enough to make me blush like an idiot on her first date.

“You look beautiful, Regia Mia,” He says, his deep voice smooth in my ears

And in that moment, I could’ve wept. This is impossible. Things like this don’t really happen. Clumsy, reckless little me doesn’t win the Alpha’s Hunt, or the Alpha Supreme and no man ever looks at me like I’m priceless—

And Luke. My amazing, hardworking, dedicated mate. Everything he’s worked for, everything is going to be worth it today. All his efforts are going to be worth it—

Alarm and concern flash in his stormy eyes, Luke pulls me closer, his hold protective and possessive and possibly a flashing danger sign for anyone in the perimeter.

“Hazel,” His eyes flicker between mine “What’s wrong? Why are you crying—

My embrace cuts him off, I press my face in his chest, taking in the intoxicating scent, memorizing it.

“I’m just happy,” I say to him “For you. For me. For us. I’m just so happy.”

His arms wrap around me and he lets out a relieved breath. With the full moon tonight, I have to admit I admire his hold on himself.

“You’re not going to deny you’re crying?” he says

I look up at him, grinning despite the silver lining my eyes “I only cry when I’m happy.”

Luke takes my face in his hands, brushing away the tears with a soft smile.

I open my mouth to say something when the door slams open and, again, habitually, Luke and I jump two feet apart.

“Your Majesties,” Casper is grinning, dressed in a dark doublet with silver embroidery, dark pants and leather boots, his red cape rippling like blood “Its time to depart for the royal chapel.”

“Of course, General,” I say with a grin of my own “Its time to get our king his crown.”

“This way, your Highness,” He gestures to the door, stepping aside to let us pass “You two look legit, by the way.”

I snort “Tell me something I don’t know.”

“The tailor is weeping by the counter. And smiling.”

“Sure he isn’t a relative, Hazel?” Luke asks me

I elbow him in the ribs “All my relatives are dead, smartass.”

He has the good sense to wince as we leave the tailor’s shop. Casper already left a thick bundle of cash on the counter by the weeping tailor.

I look around the road, and then my brows raise as a limousine stops.

“Not a royal carriage, General?” Luke asks, glancing at Casper

Casper grins as he opens the door “Royal carriages don’t have a food compartment.”

…  

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