Melina

I had told myself that I wouldn't fall asleep, but my body was too weak from all the hunger and running. Not to mention, I hadn't used a bed for ages, and the feel of the mattress with the soft sheets was perhaps the best things that had ever happened to me. Not considering the circumstances.

It felt like I had barely blinked my eyes shut when the sunrise entered through the sheer curtains. Pale gold light flickered on food-stained dinner plate left on the bed. Birds were chirping outside the window with delusional optimism.

I stepped on the cold wooden tiles and pulled the curtain away. Wow. The nature was unbelievably lush, as if the people living here took great care of it. Chickens pecked on grass and ducks glided across the lake, flicking their feather booties left and right.

My breath hitched when I saw him jogging back from the forest with that guy Hunter. I couldn't hear shit without my wolf senses. I flexed my fingers as hard as I could, but no claws came out.

It was his fault.

I flipped him off even though he couldn't even see me, then double-flipped him off for my own satisfaction. Asshole. Jerk. In a white sleeveless shirt with arms all tan and huge. Fuck you.

"Mel?" Sage cracked my door open a tiny bit, her wide eyes settling on me.

"You're awake!" I ran up to her and threw my arms around her much smaller form.

"Wow, you have big boobs." She seemed half-impressed and half-uncomfortable with her cheek squeezed against them. She groped my butt. "Aw, your butt is small, though."

"You're so weird!" I pulled back, covering myself with a self-conscious laugh. I looked down her body to find an equal comeback. "At least my vag isn't a bush."

"Yeah, we should probably put some clothes on." She chuckled at herself. "I don't think the people here walk around naked."

"Are you hungry? Was there food in your room when you woke up?"

"No?" She knitted her eyebrows. "I thought they're going to kill us, why would there be food?"

"Ugh. I have so much to tell you. But first, you have to eat. We need the energy to—"

"To what?" She tilted her head.

Fuck. I bet everyone could hear us. Well, at least the ones who were in wolf forms.

I scratched my head, searching around for a magical solution when the older woman from last night wheeled a cart full of food in. She was in a black modest dress with a white apron and flats that didn't look too comfortable. The aroma of eggs and bacon immediately wafted the room.

"Good morning! I brought you some breakfast, you must be really hungry. Um, I also brought some bathroom supplies for you, you know, shampoo, conditioner, body wash. Deodorant. And uh, some clean underwear and clothes—"

"Oh my God, thank you!" Sage cried out, yanking a plate of bacon and shoving a handful in her mouth.

"Are you feeling better, dear?" The woman with gray thinning hair frowned at me. "I'm sorry for scaring you last night. I can't imagine what it must've been like to wake up in a stranger's house."

"Well, I..." I crossed my arms and ankles, tucking my chin low. "I'm sorry... for scaring you too."

"Do you need help with bathing and dressing?"

"Is it necessary?" I lifted a weak eyebrow, knowing the answer already. "Can't we just go?"

"Oh, sure. You can go." She stepped aside, leaving the door wide open. "I'm not going to hold you hostage, honey. I don't have the strength. But you should know, Apollo gave everyone strict instructions to keep an eye on you, and no one is going to disobey him."

"Apollo." So that was his name.

"Your mate." She smiled. "And soon our Alpha."

"You're mates with the Alpha?!" Sage gaped with a mouth full of eggs, spitting a few out in my direction. "Since when?!"

"It doesn't matter." I waved her off.

"Yeah!" She scoffed. "How are you going to marry him if you're looking for your—"

"We'll eat now, thanks!" I said too loudly with a creepy smile pointed at the old woman.

"Mhm." She saw right through me, but didn't comment. "Well, you should know we're having a party tonight to celebrate. I'll stop by in about an hour to help you two get ready."

As soon as she left and shut the door, Sage whispered aggressively. "But how can you marry him if you're looking for—"

"Can you shush!" I dragged her to the bathroom and flipped the faucet to let the water run. "They can't know anything about us! If they find out who I am, they'll take me to my dad to make money, then I'll never get to save my mom."

"Shit. This is all my fault. Why did I chase that deer?" She rubbed her watery eyes, bottom lip jutting out. "I'm so sorry, I ruined everything."

"It's okay." I sighed, wrapping my arms around her again. "I told you this was going to be tough, I really wish you didn't come with me."

"How could I leave you?" She sniffled. "'I know you'd never do that to me."

"Actually, I did leave you last night." I grimaced. "You know, when I found out he's my mate...I kind of kicked him in the balls before jumping out the window."

"Okay, we're even."

As weird as it was, Sage and I forgot our worries for a brief moment while trying to work the shower. I'd only washed myself in lakes and rivers before. Mom said it was too dangerous to be around people. But after she was taken, I found an old diner on the side of the road. The owner was a kind widower who let me serve coffee for a few months for food. Of course, he didn't know that I was working there to hopefully run into the same men who took my mom.

But Dave wasn't like the villains my mom warned me about. He treated me like a granddaughter, probably assuming I was a homeless orphan. One day, when customers complained about how I smelled, he took me to his trailer and let me use his shower. And after then, he gave me his wife's clothes, which were still neatly folded.

Sage and I took a bath in a massive tub, making beards with soap bubbles and finishing all the food. Afterwards, Maria, as she said her name was, came back and brought two assistants. They were our age, but with kind of a stuck-up attitude.

I kept my guard on as they tended to Sage, plucking her brows and waxing her pits. I growled when they hurt her, but ended up crying the loudest when they plucked and waxed me.

I found out that many of the guests would be visiting from other packs, which meant I could potentially find an escape. I just had to study everyone, keep my eyes open, and jump at the first opportunity.

I got super grumpy after three hours of pampering nonsense, so they let us eat lunch and nap a little bit. Late afternoon, they came back, but this time there were four of them.

Nails? Buffed and polished. Butt? Suffering in a string. Feet? Well, they looked great in heels, but I also liked standing. And with those on, I'd be hugging the floor every two seconds.

They chopped my hip-length hair to my ribcage, and massaged almond oil into it with a vanilla scent. I didn't like that very much. But it's okay, I'd roll in grass later when it was all finished.

"Wow, look at you so pretty all dolled up!" Maria gushed, while her helping ladies agreed.

I was facing the mirror for the first time since they'd started my hair and makeup, which I had never, ever done in my life. The person staring back at me was a complete stranger.

She was in a floor-length gown that was soft like rose petals and deep red like blood. The fabric draped over my breasts and my back was open.

I stared in awe, my red lips parted as a slow smile started to spread. This was me?

"Stunning."

Apollo's mom stood by the door. I knew it was her. Her stance and gaze held silent authority. Shoulders back, but relaxed. Chin unapologetically up, but subtle.

She walked in, sizing me up with a smirk that was half impressed and half challenging.

"Luna." Her maids and Maria bowed their necks, though I didn't sense nervousness from them. In fact, they seemed happy to be in her presence.

She nodded at Sage who was fidgeting in a shimmery blue gown. "You look just as stunning, dear."

"Oh, uh, t-thank you, Luna." Sage bowed and curtsied.

When she finally turned her attention to me, I acknowledged her with a chin tilt. Enough to show respect, but nothing more. I wasn't going to bow my neck to someone who hadn't earned it.

"Do you want children?" She asked.

"Huh?!" I scowled so hard, my makeup cracked.

"To be the Luna of the pack and carry your Alpha's legacy, do you plan to have children?"

The sound that came out of me was between a cough and a laugh. "I'm not discussing my sex life with you!"

A unanimous gasp cut the awkward tension, but Luna remained unfazed.

"Look, do whatever you want with my son, I'm not interested. I'm talking about you being a parent. What were your mom and dad like?"

An invisible knife flew through my chest, the pain of it knocking me silent.

A memory of a windy autumn afternoon, with my mom and I under a raining tree of leaves. Her chestnut hair sticking out in every direction with little pieces of twigs. The smile that lit up her weary cheeks and crinkled her eyes.

Later that day, men who worked for my dad and have been searching for me, found her walking ahead. I was only a few trees behind, but I took cover as soon as I saw them. I watched them drag her inside a car as she kicked and screamed.

"I'm sorry..." the Luna brought me back to the room, eyes rounded with unexpected caution. "I didn't mean to upset you."

"They died in a fire," I lied. "Ten years ago."

She nodded. "I'm very sorry. I lost my two younger brothers in war. I know that pain never leaves, no matter how many years go by."

My throat tightened with guilt. "I'm sorry too."

"They're here!" A boy ran up to the door. "Alpha and Xander are back from their trip!"

Everyone rushed to the window to see, and curiosity got the best of me too, so I followed. By the patio on the right, all the happy pack members stood to greet them. The Alpha was no doubt the older man. He had a thick neck and skin that had darkened from years of sunlight. He had the same intense eyebrows as Apollo, but his posture was slumped with age and tiredness.

The one on his left had to be Xander. Apollo's brother and rival. He looked like the bulky copy of his dad, with the addition of a thick beard.

"No mate?" Luna asked.

"Doesn't seem like it," Maira answered.

Luna sighed in relief, but by then I had stopped listening. The man walking with Xander looked terrifyingly familiar to the same one who twisted my mom's arm and shoved her in the car.

Flashbacks to that autumn evening replayed on repeat. The same black coat that reached his knees. The same sharp nose and sparse beard. The same fucking eyes and fucking smirk.

"Mel? What's wrong?" Sage's voice echoed. My skin prickled with intensifying heat. My dress ripped and my claws came out. I ground my teeth, a snarl ripping—

"Hey!" Luna slapped me, halting my shift. I stared dumbstruck as she held my face firmly in her hands, staring right through me. "What happened to you? Why are you so angry? Huh?"

I couldn't speak. He was here? Here. And I had to follow him. But how? But I had to. Otherwise—

"Shh... calm down." She hugged me tight, rocking me gently. "Calm down, you're okay. We'll give you some medicine so you don't shift. You don't want to shift in the middle of dancing, do you? No. You're going to have a good time tonight with all of us, no running. Okay?"

I didn't hug her back. I tried to push her away,  but she held me harder. "I don't want to take medicine. I don't want to be here."

"Why not, are we mean to you? Have we hurt you? We gave you food and shelter. All I ask is that you stay tonight. Just for tonight. My son has waited a long time to meet you. This means so much to him, you don't know. Don't leave right now. Okay? Please. I'm begging you. It would mean so much to him. To all of us."

I eyes burned with frustrated tears. This was not my problem. I had enough on my plate. I had my own family to save. Partying was ridiculous.

"Let's find you a new dress, huh?" She wiped my tears. "Maria, why don't you take her to my room? Pick anything you want. I want you to feel like the most beautiful girl tonight so no one can take their eyes off of you."

A/N
Hope you guys enjoyed, please don't forget to vote <3

What do you think her second dress will look like? (Also are you excited for Apollo's reaction?)