"Good morning." Esmee said as she snuggled into Hunter's chest, waking him up.
"Good morning to you too, my beautiful Esmee." He replied, kissing her forehead. "We should probably get up." Esmee groaned.
"But I don't want to." She complained.
"Neither do I." He replied. "But we have a pack to lead, and you have a lot more learning to do." He said as he managed to untangle himself from her embrace. "Come on, let's get moving."
"Ugh, fine." She replied, climbing out of the bed.
"Good morning lovebirds." Valentina called as Esmee and Hunter entered the kitchen. "Have a good night's sleep?"
"Ha ha." Hunter replied. "Get your mind out of the gutter. You know that I wouldn't put my darling Esmee in that much danger."
"Well whatever you did or didn't do last night, if you don't get up to the table you don't get breakfast." Valentina replied, bringing a large dish over to the dining table.
"Hey, have either of you two seen Jason or Liera?" Hunter asked.
"No, why?" Shilo replied as Hunter looked at Esmee with wide eyes. Why do I feel like this is going to end badly? She asked herself.
As delicious as breakfast was, Esmee was glad for it to be over.
"Thank you for breakfast." She said as she brought her plate over to the bench. "It was delicious."
"You're welcome." Valentina replied as she brought another stack of dishes into the kitchen.
"Do you need any help with the dishes?" Esmee asked.
"No, thank you." Valentina replied.
"Okay. If you want to find me, I will be up in my room." Esmee said as she left the room.
As soon as she got to her room, she got out her notebook. Jason and Liera have disappeared, she wrote. While I know they don't like Hunter and I, given the look that Hunter gave me this is not normal for them.
"Knock knock." Hunter said as he leaned on the door frame.
"Can I help you with something?" She asked as she finished writing the note.
"No, but I can help you." He replied. "May I come in?"
"Certainly." She said, putting her notebook and pen away and moving onto the bed. "Does it have something to do with learning the different ranks of the pack, outside of the command branch?"
"Something like that." He replied, sitting down on the desk chair that she had just vacated. "I even brought flash cards."
By the end of the lesson, Esmee's head hurt so much that she was positive that it couldn't possibly take on more information.
"You've done well, my beautiful Esmee." Hunter complimented her. "You have managed to memorise everything I have taught you in a single sitting. Normally, it takes at least a week for new initiates to fully grasp the concept."
"I had a good teacher." She replied modestly. "But thank you for the compliment."
"You are most welcome." He looked at his watch. "I hope you feel ready to put your knowledge to the test, because you have an hour before the New Moon Festival."
"And what should I wear?" She asked.
"What do you think that a Queen would wear to a barbeque?" Hunter answered. "That is what you should wear." He said as he left. Esmee went to her wardrobe.
Half an hour later, she was ready. Decked out in a knee length velvet dress the same shade of blue as the night sky outside with matching heels and a pair of earrings the shape of crescent moons, she went downstairs.
"Look at you!" Valentina, dressed in a knee length dress the colour of red wine, said as Esmee entered the room. Esmee felt the blood rush to her cheeks.
"You really do look beautiful." Hunter said as he took her hand and kissed it. "Are you ready, my beautiful Esmee?"
"As ready as I will ever be."
"Good. Let's go."
"How are you feeling?" Hunter asked as they drove to wherever the ceremony was going to be.
"About as calm as I can be, given the situation." She confessed. "I don't like that Jason and Liera have disappeared, even though there is little love between us, but other than that I am just excited to meet new people."
"I don't like the situation with Jason and Liera either." Hunter replied. "But both can handle themselves."
"When you said that this would be a whole village affair, I didn't think you really meant the whole village." Esmee said as they approached the park, completely filled with people.
"I did say that a lot of people would be initiated tonight." He replied, pulling the car into the carpark. "After you, my beautiful Esmee, the Moon Bearer." He said as he opened the car door for her.
"Why thank you, my handsome Hunter." She replied as she got out, only to be completely surrounded by werewolves. "Hello!"
It was as if her greeting was a command for the rest of the pack to bow. What the hell did I do? She thought as she looked at Hunter. What the hell do I do?
"They think of you as a goddess, which you might as well be." Hunter explained as he closed the door behind her. "You should tell them to rise."
"You may rise." She said, her voice shaking. Slowly, one by one, the werewolves started to obey her.
"I think, before we start the ceremony," Shilo said as he and Valentina emerged from the crowd, "there are some introductions that need to be made."
"I agree." Hunter said. "Where are the Deltas?"
"We're here, sir." Four werewolves made their way up to the front of the pack.
"Esmee, these are the Deltas." Hunter said. "This is Rhonen and Katharina, and this is Cole and Sherie."
"It is lovely to meet you." She responded, holding her hand out to shake.
"Not as lovely as it is to meet you, ma'am." Katharina, a redhead who looked suspiciously like Claudia, replied. "Though we don't tend to shake hands here."
"Right." Esmee replied as she dropped her hand, embarrassed.
"Is Blake here?" Valentina asked.
"I'm here, ma'am." Another werewolf who was already at the front raised his hand. "It's nice to meet you, ma'am. I am the Gamma of the pack. And these are my troops." He motioned towards a group of uniformed werewolves, who had arranged themselves in neat blocks of rows. "These are the Sentinels." He said as he motioned to the werewolves dressed in red.
"Aren't they the guardians of the pack?" Esmee asked. "Why aren't they in a more inconspicuous colour?"
"I see our great Alpha has been making you do your homework." Blake replied. "Yes, they are the guards. This is them in their ceremonial outfit, normally they wear a more inconspicuous shade of green. These are the Spies." He motioned towards the soldiers dressed all in black. "Normally they are dressed in civilian clothes to blend in with the public, but given that this is one of the few ceremonies that our pack has, they are dressed in their ceremonial outfits. And these are our pack warriors." He said as he motioned towards a group dressed in a light shade of brown. "They are the lowest rank of our militia, and they are always dressed like that."
"Good to know." Esmee replied. "Who's next?"
"Where are the messengers?" Shilo asked.
"We're here, sir." Six more werewolves made their way up to the front of the pack.
"Luna Esmee, these are the messengers." Shilo said, motioning towards the group that came to the front. "This is Abram and Meghan, Rusty and Victoria, and Xavier and Aster. Where are the Dignitaries?"
"Here, sir." Four werewolves made their way to the front of the pack.
"Esmee, these are Lawson and Amanda, and Amos and Sheila." Hunter said. "They handle most of the inter-pack paperwork. Where are Hemming and Vivvienne?"
"There was a small hiccup with the alliance with the Nightwalker pack." Lawson replied. "So they couldn't be here."
Wait, there is more than one werewolf pack in existence?! Why didn't this come up in any of the flash cards? Esmee looked at Hunter, panicked.
"We are trying to establish a trading relationship with a neighbouring pack, the Nightwalker pack." Hunter explained, trying to assure her.
That doesn't answer the damn question. She thought. Never mind, I will interrogate you about it later.
"Where is Jericho?" Hunter asked, in an obvious effort to get Esmee's intense scrutiny off him.
"I'm here sir." A werewolf with nut brown skin raised his hand.
"Esmee, this is the leader of the hunters." Hunter replied
"It is nice to meet you."
"Not as nice as it is to meet you, ma'am."
"Where is Petra?" Hunter asked.
"Here, sir." A brusque woman replied. "It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance, ma'am. I am the leader of the Selsas, the equivalent of a police force."
"Sybil?" Valentina asked.
"Here ma'am." An elderly looking woman walked to the front of the crowd.
"Luna Esmee, this is Sybil. She runs the local hospital, and is thus the leader of the Phi, Chi, Salutary and Guardians."
"Thank you for your lifesaving work." Esmee told the woman.
"Thank you for your kind words, Luna. I do hope that you will live a long and happy life, and soon we will be seeing you in our birthing suite."
"Wouldn't that be marvellous?" Esmee asked. "I will be there as soon as I can."
"Where is Antonio?" Hunter asked.
"I am here, sir." An unnaturally pale werewolf with salt and pepper hair came forward.
"Esmee, this is Antonio. He is the head of the sigmas, and thus is the principal of our school."
"It is lovely to meet you, sir."
"Not as lovely as it is to meet you, ma'am. I look forward to working with you." The man replied, just as a swarm of children and teenagers swarmed around them. "And I expect that the Omegas and Pups will enjoy getting to know you better."
"I don't doubt it."
"Now that we have met our new Luna," One of the elders said as the rest of the crowd calmed down from the excitement of meeting Esmee. "I do believe that it is time for us to get on with the ceremony."
"Agreed!" Theo bellowed. "Bring out the Sacred Chalice!" An enormous, bath sized cup on a pedestal that was taller than Esmee was brought seemingly out of thin air. "And now it is time for the induction ceremony of the New Moon Festival to begin!" Cheers erupted from the crowd, so loud that she thought she had lost her hearing. "This knife," Theo began again, brandishing what looked to be a knife made of stone, horribly chipped with use, "was the knife that separated the first Moon Bearer from the first werewolf." That wasn't discussed in my research, she thought. "Luna Esmee, come forward."
What the hell is going on? She mentally screamed at Hunter, who looked back at her with eyes as wide as hers. Hesitantly, she stepped closer to the monolith of a chalice and took the knife.
"I don't know what to do." She told Theo quietly.
"Don't worry, I will guide you through it." He replied. "There is no need to be anxious." Somehow, I doubt it, She thought.