Chapter 163
DEREK
The drumbeat stopped.
There was a moment of eerie silence, broken only by the creak of a torch swaying in the breeze.
+25 BONUS
Elena and I stood shoulder to shoulder at the edge of the staging area, staring at the enormous painted sign: WELCOME, LAST PLACE TEAM.
I could hear snickering from behind us. I didn’t need to turn to know that most of the Moonstone pack–and probably half the Council guests were already gathering to witness our impending doom.
Elena turned her head slowly toward me. “I don’t like that smile on my mother’s face.”
“She looks far too pleased with herself,” I agreed.
A voice called out, crystal–clear. “Attention! May I have everyone’s eyes on our most dedicated team–the ones who didn’t let speed get in the way of deep bonding!”
Groans and laughter erupted. I glanced sideways at Elena. “We’re going to be mocked for this forever, aren’t we?”
“Oh, without question.”
The Luna appeared, regal and mischievous, flanked by two warriors holding…oh no.
Oh no.
Drums began again–this time with a sultry rhythm.
The warriors carried a large chest forward and popped the latches open.
Inside were clothes.
Costumes.
Feathers. Sequins. Sashes. Something that might have been a lyre.
“Tonight’s performance,” the Luna said, her voice almost too gleeful, “is brought to you by the losing team… who will be reenacting–in interpretive form the sacred tale of the Moon Goddess and the First Alpha.”
There was an audible gasp. Someone choked on their drink.
Elena blinked. “She wants us to act out the Moonbinding myth?”
“Interpretively,” echoed flatly.
“with props.
Elena picked up a sheer lavender scarf and examined it like it had personally offended her.
A moment later, I was handed a shimmering silver tunic, a fake sword, and what I could only describe as… antlers
on a circlet. The laughter from the crowd was already rolling like thunder across the field.
Aiden was near the front, howling with laughter.
“I’m going to remember this when you want a pony,” I muttered under my breath.
Chapter 153.
+25 BONUS
Elena, now barefoot and draped in a shimmering blue cape leaned toward me. “You better commit, Derek. Because if I go out there and make a fool of myself and you just stand there looking: pretty, I will throw you in the Lountain.”
“Is it wrong that I kind of want to see that?”
“Get out there, Moon God.”
I’ve been humiliated before.
I’ve faced battle losses, pack scandals, even a press ambush where I had to explain–live, on camera–why I’d held a funeral for my very–much–alive fiancé,
But nothing, nothing, prepared me for interpretive theater onder moonlight.
“Smile,” Elena hissed from the corner of her mouth as she handed me a silver platter wrapped in a gauzy shawl.
“I look like a moon–themed fruit basket,” I muttered.
“Commit,” she snapped. “Or I’m telling your son you cried during the Moon Pie Bake–Off.”
I sighed and raised my arms dramatically as the drums shifted tempo again, heralding the final act of our punishment: the sacred moment when the Moon Goddess bestowed shifting upon the First Alpha.
A moment the Moonstone pack usually treated with ceremonial gravitas.
Except this time, it featured me in a glitter–dusted tunic and Elena pretending to levitate a foam crescent moon while I presented her with a glow stick taped to a pinecone
We’d gone through three “acts” already. I’d mimed being born from stardust. She’d pretended to tame a howling wolf chorus. At one point, I think I was supposed to embody a falling star, which involved a cartwheel I definitely didn’t land.
But when the crowd erupted into cheers, I realized something wild: they weren’t laughing at us. Not entirely. They were laughing with us.
Because Goddess help me, I was laughing too.
By the time we took our final bow–Elena sweeping a dramatic cape over her shoulder and me holding up the pinecone like it was Mjölnir–we were both breathless with laughter.
The crowd gave us a standing ovation.
Someone threw a flower crown at my feet..
Elena scooped it up and dropped it on my head before winking. “You’ve never looked more radiant, Alpha Derek.” “I’m retiring,” I said. “Effective immediately.”
We stumbled off stage, Elena still giggling as she tried to pull pine needles out of my sleeve. “I think you actually found your calling.”
Chapter 164
Chapter 164
