6

"Kira dear, look at me." Layla said to Kira, taking her hand in hers and pulling her towards her.

"Take a very deep breath and exhale. You are going to do just fine there, okay?" She assured a nervous Kira.

Marco, Layla and Kira were already standing outside the hall, getting ready to go in and Layla could practically hear her niece's heart beating at an unusual pace. 

Kira could not deny or hide just how nervous she was. She had never been allowed outside her pack ever and she hasn't really had the opportunity to meet other wolves outside her pack members. She could only tell their scents and pack names due to the training she had received but aside from that, she had no real experience with outsiders.

She internally feared that wasn't like her father and she didn't know how to handle situations like this or how to be around other dominant looking Alphas. 

Kira nodded her head slowly, whilst staring at her aunt.  

"I'll be beside you every step of the way so all you have to do is trust me and follow my lead and I promise you'll do just fine. Sounds good?" Layla assured, smiling at her. 

"Now smile sweetie you look ten times prettier when you do." She tells her niece and Kira awkwardly did as told.

  She steps forward and walks into the hall with Marco and Layla following from behind and together they all walk in. 

  All eyes turned to look at Kira, Layla and Marco as soon as they walked into the hall to Marco's arm around Kira's. They all wondered who she was at first and after hearing she was the representative of the Redmoon pack, they wondered why she was here and why exactly Frederick wasn't. 

No one knew of Frederick's demise yet because the Redmoon pack had not let it out so as to protect themselves from their rivals and to also protect Kira. 

Simon, the Alpha of the Bluemoon pack who also happened to be Frederick's old friend, walked towards them with a curious expression on his face. 

"Layla, Marco..." He trailed off as he stared at the young lady standing with them in confusion. 

"Simon!" Layla exclaimed excitedly at the sight of a long time acquaintance of hers.

"It's been a while dear Layla." He said to her with a smile on his face before quickly drifting his attention back to the young lady in front of him.

"May I ask who she is and also, where is Frederick?" He asked, his eyes not coming off Kira for one second. Kira felt uncomfortable under his gaze and felt the urge to punch him for staring at her like she was insignificant. 

Layla smiled, "What a beautiful way of welcoming your guests Simon. This place really looks beautiful." Layla said, with her eyes roaming the beautiful hall. 

She could tell the hall was beautifully redecorated but that was actually the least of her interest as she only tried diverting his attention slightly from Kira, who she could already tell did not like the way he had been staring at her. 

"Thank you dear Layla, it definitely wasn't easy but I guess we were able to make it happen." Simon replied with his eyes still fixated on Kira. He immediate taps his palm together for a waiter and orders them to bring a specific type of champagne for his dear friend Layla.

"Good to know you still know what I like." Layla said with a small smile, taking one of the glasses of champagne offered to her from the tray.

Kira immediately shook her head, refusing to take any drink to keep her mind sharp and alert while Marco said he would prefer to take water.

"Still the same old Marco I see, always wanting to be the sober one." Simon teased a serious looking Marco, who simply smirked a little at his remark. 

"You still haven't told me who this young lady is though cause I mean no disrespect but, this event cannot just be attended by anybody and you all know this. So, I'll need to know who she is and why she is here." Simon pressed on and just when Layla was about to reply to him, Kira quickly stepped in to stop her aunt from speaking on her behalf. 

"Let me Auntie." She said to Layla, who immediately stepped back to watch what her niece had in mind. She knew Kira was definitely not a huge fan of the smug look on Simon's face and she was curious to know how her niece planned on dealing with him. 

"I apologize for the delayed introduction Alpha Simon. The name's Kira, daughter of Alpha Frederick and new Alpha of the Redmoon pack. It's nice to finally meet you, I've heard quite a lot about you." Kira spoke up confidently, her eyes not looking down even once. Lucky for her, she wasn't what you'd call short, as she was easily taller than an average number of she wolves that she had met.

"The new Alpha? Why, though? What happened to Frederick?" Simon asked with a surprised expression as he wasn't expecting to hear anything about a newly inaugurated Alpha. 

"It's a long story dear Simon but all I can say to you now is that my niece, Kira is officially the new Alpha which is why she is here in place of my brother." Layla chimed in calmly. 

"Oh well then, it's nice to meet you dear Kira and congratulations on being the newest in town. I wish you good reign and a little advice, keep up with the attitude. You will be needing a lot tonight." Simon said to her, knowing very well that just like he did earlier, she would be looked down on by a lot more people. 

  "Thank you Alpha Simon, I'll keep that in mind." She replied with a curt nod and Simon is quick to wrap up his conversation with them before going back to whatever it was he was doing previously. 

"Are you okay Kira?" Layla asked. 

 "Am I okay auntie? Of course, I am. I'm more than even okay. Didn't think I'd enjoy introducing myself this much and you know what? I think it's time I meet even more people. They need to know that there's a new Alpha in town and her name starts with her a freaking K." Kira replied to her aunt excitedly, as a new found feeling of confidence and pride overwhelmed. She could not believe that she had actually thought she would be intimidated by any of this people. After her short exchange with Simon, she knew better than to stutter in front of misogynistic men and she could care less if they didn't like the fact that she was female.

***** 

  "Why do they keep staring at us like that? Olivia, Damien's cousin, who also happened to be his third in command, asked curiously as she noticed every person walking past them always stopped to stare. 

"Can you really not guess why?" Draco asked as he wasn't really surprised by the attention. 

"If I could guess, I wouldn't be asking you bozo." Olivia hissed back in irritation, earning an eye roll from Draco who also happened to be her mate. 

"When you learn how to speak politely, I'll give the reason why we're being stared at." Draco snapped back, gradually getting on Olivia's nerves. 

  Draco and Olivia had never really gotten along as kids and their constant bickering got worse as soon as they found out they were fated to be mates. They would constantly bicker at every little thing and their contrasting personalities only made matters worse. 

"Can you two not start today? I can't really afford to deal with this at the moment." Damien pleaded in frustration as he watched his two best friends go at it. He knew for a fact that they liked each other but the constant arguing never failed to irritate him which is one of the many reasons he did not want a mate and he did not want the moon goddess choosing on his behalf.

"If you want me to stop, explain to me why we're getting stared at by all these old nosy people?" Olivia hissed as she was genuinely confused with why they all seemed suddenly intrigued by them. 

"It's probably because we all look pretty young and they don't really expect to see young people in such an event so they're probably wondering who we are and what business we have here." Damien explained briefly to her and she slowly nodded in understanding.

"So you're telling me that they're staring at us this intently simply because we're younger than they are? What the actual hell." She scoffed, staring back at them in irritation. 

"Well, it seems we're about to get approached by an overly curious onlooker." Draco pointed out as soon as he noticed the Greymoon Alpha approaching them. 

"I hear he's a good ally though so try as much as possible to be polite Damien but toss the bastard away once he talks out of line." Olivia advised quickly. She was known to be the better strategist of the group which is why she got the position of being the third in command. 

"Noted." Damien replied simply and soon enough as predicted, the Greymoon Alpha, Alpha Aaron, approaches with a smug look on his face. 

"Hello there, young men!" He greets in a loud tone that irritates Damien a little too much. 

"Lovely evening, Alpha Aaron." He replied, trying as much as he could to contain his disgust.

"Aren't you a little too young to call me by my name son?" Aaron replied, unhappy with the fact that a young lad had audaciously called him by his name.

 "Excuse me? What else should I call you then?" Damien asked, genuinely confused on why this was even a topic of conversation.

"Hold on, weren't you taught manners in your pack son? Only a fellow Alpha has the right to address another Aloha by his name! A young man like you should have been taught how to show respect for your elders." He responded with so much pride and audacity that immediately pissed Damien off. 

 "Sorry to interrupt Sir but I think you haven't been properly introduced yet..." Draco attempts to speak up but is immediately cut short by an upset Aaron. 

"I can already tell that you boys were not taught on how to properly respect an Alpha. Let me guess, you are from the Silvermoon pack, am I right? It's no wonder then. I've never known a well brought up lad from your pack and everyone knows just how unbearable you people are. Who in the world let you into such a prestigious event?" He hissed and just when Damien was about to lose his patience with him, Olivia chimed in.

 "Alpha Simon did sir because this young man right here is the Alpha of the Silvermoon pack that you just rudely disrespected with the excuse of trying to make a point and with all due respect sir, just like you had mentioned earlier, only an Alpha should call another Alpha by his name which means that he has every right to call you by your name and you have absolutely no right to demand respect from him when you do not give the same respect to him and to his pack." Olivia blurted out, nothing bothering to hide her anger and her intense disgust. 

 "He's an Alpha?" Aaron exclaimed in shock, as his eyes grew slightly wider and his jaw dropped lower. He had heard about young Alphas but never had he actually met one. He didn't believe anyone less than thirty years of age should be given the position of an Alpha as he didn't believe they'd be ready to take on such a great responsibility. 

 "Yes he is Alpha Damien and beside him is his Beta Draco and I am his third in command, Olivia, which means all three of us are very much allowed to be here." She fired back fiercely.

Aaron suddenly felt embarrassed that he had ended up getting insulted by three children who weren't even half his age. He cleared his throat uncomfortably, thinking of the best way he could walk out without embarrassing himself any further. 

 "I'll take back what I said about the Silvermoon pack because I don't wish to seem disrespectful but here's a little advice young lad, having a woman speak on your behalf is quite embarrassing, I must say. If you wish to be respected as an Alpha and you don't want to get looked down on as a child, make sure you address people yourself and do not allow an ordinary third in command to do all the talking. If you'll excuse me, have a good evening." Aaron replied with a smug look on his face that infuriated all three of them. 

 "Oh, if this wasn't a public event, I would have torn that old piece of garbage apart with my fucking claws. How the fuck does his pack survive with him around?" Olivia hissed furiously, glaring daggers at Aaron's retreating figure. 

"Let's ignore the sicko. At least we know now that he is nothing but an airhead and an alliance with him is a complete waste of our time. I can't even imagine dealing with him again." Draco spoke up but Damien still said nothing. Although he was furious, he decided against reacting to avoid getting triggered to the point where he might end up causing a scene. He already expected to be disrespected so nothing about anything that just happened surprised him too much. 

 "Damien, you good?" Olivia asked. 

"Yeah sure Oli, I'm good. Let's just keep moving till all of this is over." He replied and they both nod in agreement, following Damien closely from behind as he decided to mingle around with less disrespectful Alphas.

*****

   Layla left Kira temporarily in the hands of Alpha Leena, another female in attendance. They both seemed to have clicked since they weren't that many female Alphas and since most of the men preferred to interact with only the males, Kira and Leena in one way ended up bumping into each other while walking around and they haven't stopped chit chatting and Layla couldn't be more proud. 

  Marco on the other hand had decided to move around and say hello to a few of his old friends and also make new ones since it seemed most of the men kept avoiding the female Alphas for weird reasons best known to them. 

Layla had moved a bit more, inspecting each and every face in the room and thankful that at least the Silvermoon pack Alpha did not show up. She had hoped that she wouldn't have to clash with that bastard, especially not on Kira's first day as an Alpha. 

 Her gratitude is soon cut short when her six senses picks up the ever familiar scent of a Silvermoon member and when she traces the scent further, she's met with the presence of an already aware Olivia and immediately, they both growl internally. 

Gradually, everyone started to notice the glaring that was going on between both ladies and whispers and gossip immediately started to fly since there was no pack who wasn't aware of the life threatening enmity between both packs. 

 "You better walk away, old lady!" Olivia snapped with her eyes not leaving Layla for even a second. 

"I see you people still have no manners. Why am I not surprised?" Layla hissed a reply, wishing so terribly that she could shift and teach the brat in front of her a lesson. 

 Kira and Leena noticed the atmosphere in the room had suddenly changed and when she started to pay attention to what could be happening, she heard the waiters mention her pack name and she immediately got worried. 

She quickly excuses herself from Leena to go find Marco, who was also already heading her way. 

 "What's happening uncle?" She asked. 

"It's the Silvermoon pack, they're here." Marco informed her and she immediately felt frustrated. The last thing she wanted was running into them and creating a scene, especially not on her first day as the Alpha. 

 "Tell auntie I said not to do anything that'll lead to any kind of altercation. We're getting out of here as soon as possible." She is instructed and Marco immediately attempts to communicate with Layla through a mind link. 

Damien and Draco noticed the sudden distraction and they both sigh in frustration when they realise that Olivia had run into the enemy. 

 "Couldn't she have just walked away?" Draco wondered out loud as both he and Damien made their way to where she was. 

"Are you just knowing how much of a hothead your girlfriend is?" Damien asked, as he wasn't exactly surprised by Olivia. All he planned to do was get her and get out as fighting was the very last thing on his mind. 

 Both Damien and Kira alongside their Betas head towards their third in command who hadn't stopped glaring at each other. 

"Olivia!" 

"Auntie!" 

 They both call out at the same time and as soon as people realised that both Alphas had come face to face, their breath seized as they expected a war to break out but something completely unexpected happened instead. 

 "Mate." Damien and Kira mutter as soon as both their eyes meet and they both stand still with wide eyes as realisation of both their words slowly dawns on them, taking the entire room by surprise.