Elle tries to be the impenetrable women who never breaks, but she is only human, and there's a lot of trauma that she has to live through as well. Kade recognizes this and can help her with it.
KADE I had held my mate while she slept last night. Part of me was wary of falling asleep because I felt like I was failing to protect her at every fucking turn lately. Elle had been through so much horror in her life, but more was still coming for her. She had always been a strong pillar of support for her people, and the only way that she could get through each day was to push aside what she could just to keep moving forward. My heart shattered for her when she broke down about feeling those bastards. People always took what they wanted from her, and I had no idea how she was so fucking strong to keep going, but she did. I wanted to destroy every single entity that ever forced a tear from her eye or touched what never belonged to them. Sadly, reality did not work like that. “Here you go,” Apollo said, breaking me away from my thoughts. I took the coffee and thanked him. I was not certain how much sleep I actually got last night, but I knew that it was not much. “Darling, you h
ELLE Cara had been all for helping out. It was like I offered cotton candy to a toddler. That was her level of pure excitement. I should be wary, but it was endearing. That was how we found ourselves seated in a large conference room. My mother, Ansley, Vienna, and those females from my previous pack were also accounted for during this planning phase. I rethought the fact that it was endearing when Cara opened up a large binder and a detailed slide show. “Wipe that fear off your face, sweetheart. Every detail will pull together until your mate has the breath ripped away from him as he finally sets eyes upon you,” Cara said the exact words that I needed to hear in order to push it all away. I gave her a grateful smile. There was no way in hell I would even know where to start with planning, so I was thankful to have guidance. Five hours ticked by until we had everything planned out, assigned, and were confident in our choices. Kareena had already fitted me for the dress and took
KADE Hold on. Please just hold on. ‘He dared to hurt Mate,’ Tyre snarled in my head. Failure again. I promised her that she would be safe, but I could not even keep her safe when I was three feet away from her. My body would not stay still, so I was pacing the length of the hallway while I waited to hear an update. Anything. I just needed to know that she was okay. It was like a clip stuck on repeat. Apollo must have picked something up from Troy because he lunged for him, but the hidden knife left his hand before Apollo ripped him away. The knife was thrown straight for my mate’s neck and hit the mark. I would never be able to unsee what she looked like with a knife sticking out of her neck. I was a shit mate. Elle deserved so much better than me. My love was not enough to keep her safe, and I never once thought that my fucking pack would end up causing my mate so much pain. Troy was a dead man. I would bask in his screams of agony as I fileted his flesh from his fucking body.
ELLE “I don’t think that’s an appropriate outfit, darling,” Kade said as his eyes swept over every inch of my look. My body turned towards the mirror, and I did not see the problem. I had black skinny jeans on with a maroon top with capped sleeves that tucked at my waist and had embellishments around my chest. The jeans were paired with a pair of leather boots that went up to mid-calf. “What’s wrong with it?” I asked. I actually really liked it, but if it was not appropriate then I could change. My mate wrapped his arm around my waist and pulled me back into his body. His tongue traced my earlobe before nipping it. “It’ll take every ounce of patience I have in order to fuck you wherever we are.” ‘He really should start doing that. It’ll keep all the other females away from him,’ Faye supplied. ‘And all the males away from Mate. Good thinking, Kitty,’ Tyre purred. My head turned to take in the time and I wanted to scream. Now I was horny and had to go deal with stupidity instead
ELLE It was the following morning when we decided to gather those that Troy named. I wanted to do it individually, but I learned from Blue Crest that showing support right away can help promote long-term acceptance and strength. Brianna and Tinsley were both more than happy to help out. I had given them the brief overview of what went down with Troy. They wanted all the details, but I just told them that I made him cry before breaking his nose. Cara showed us to a large sitting room. It was once used for entertaining guest packs. It had plenty of comfortable seating, and the window wall was one-way, so nobody could see in. It gave us a beautiful view of the woods though. The kitchen arranged to bring in carts with drinks and snacks just incase anyone wanted anything. It was 10:00 A.M. by the time everyone showed up. They all looked confused and nervous, so I encouraged them to get something to drink or eat if they would like and find a seat. There was a variation in ages of the
KADE Tonight, was the official Luna ceremony, and I could not be any prouder of the woman who would officially take her place beside me. She was the only one who was truly worthy of standing beside me to lead this pack. There were going to be some additional surprises presented at the ceremony that would make our pack safer, better, and more inclusive as well. Not to mention one that nobody but me knew about. There was a knock on the office door, and Apollo opened it up when I linked him. Brianna, Tinsley, and Bronx entered into the room. Apollo and Dayton followed behind them. “Take a seat,” I said, gesturing the three chairs in front of my desk. “Thank you, Alpha,” the three of them said in unison. I had to bite back my smile because this just proved that my mate had been right in coming to me with this opportunity and these three to take those roles. I never once doubted that my mate could see the potential within others. “I won’t take up much of your time, and Luna Elle wou
ELLE I had been nervous as I was getting dolled up, but it all faded away when I looked in the mirror. All of my nerves were thrown to the side. The off-shoulder maroon satin dress dipped into my cleavage but in a classy way. The bust had diamond embellishments and was cinched at the waist before it flared just a little until it hit my ankles. It was an open back, and there was a side slit that ran the length of my right leg, showing off the high heels that laced up my calf. My hair was loosely curled with gems pinned throughout it and was draped one shoulder so that Kade’s mark was shown off. It was the Nightshade crest with one change. The two wolves looking up both had marks on their foreheads. Those in the know understood what it symbolized, but the rest would not detect anything. My makeup was dramatic but classy at the same time. Black double wingtip eyeliner, silver and bronze smokey eye, with maroon lipstick which all made me feel like royalty. I had never looked like this
KADE So much had occurred since the day I met her, but I would not change it one bit because it was what brought us to where we were right here and now. A beautiful smile was on her face as she admired her ring while we waited on everyone to file in for today’s meeting. I knew that she would say yes, but Tyre and I were still nervous while we waited for her answer. The fact that she agreed to marry me still left me breathless. Not all shifters got married because the mating and marking ritual was even more sacred to our kind than a wedding. However, Tyre and I wanted tie ourselves to Elle and Faye in every way possible. We had quite a few things to discuss on how to move forward with our pack. We would have an in-depth one with those who knew Elle’s secrets later tonight. “I want you to plan our wedding exactly how you want it to be no matter what it involves. It’ll be our final official way of being tied together, and I want there to be fantastic memories to share with our future