With one last, satisfied look at herself she made her way down the massive winding staircase. She smelled the delicious aromas of breakfast and it was making her mouth water with anticipation. Her current pack-house's lead cook, an Omega named Homer, was literally the most amazing chef this side of the Midwest… that she knew of anyway. Evie made her way to the gigantic natural oak breakfast table where she saw her mother, Clarissa, her mother's husband Alpha Demetrius, and their twin boys; her half-siblings, Leonidas and Lucas. She chuckled as she watched her younger brothers quarrel over the remnants of breakfast and chocolate milk, gave her mother a quick kiss on her flushed cheeks, and said hello to Demetrius as she sat down to eat. Aurelia, ravenous, loaded her plate with crispy bacon, mouth-watering blueberry muffins, and a delicious strawberry-banana crepe.
"Good morning, Evie! Your mother and I have some wonderful news!" Demetrius exclaimed.
Aurelia almost choked on her breakfast, thinking they were announcing they were expecting again. She swallowed and quirked her eyebrows in interest as she took another bite of her heaven-sent blueberry muffin. She listened as her mother excitedly stated "Not only is it your brothers' Baptism of Fire and Initiation Celebration but we also received news that the Royal Storm Riders Pack will be present for their Baptism of Fire! News arrived that their Alpha, Adrian Marcos Damon Vassilis, King of All Alphas, will be amongst those arriving to initiate your brothers into our pack, Whispering Woods, officially!"
Aurelia's jaw almost hit the hardwood floor in amazement as her mother carried on, "It's also rumored that the King Alpha still hasn't found his fated mate and he will take no other in place of her! So romantic! Oh, Aurelia darling you are almost 21 and have yet to find your fated mate as well! Even if the King Alpha isn't your fated mate, he is bringing his next in command Beta Orian Eros Taine Cirillo and Gamma Nikolaos Ajax Kaden Masalis, as well as many other revered members of their pack. The GREATEST pack in this entire nation! Pray Dear Moon Goddess, you find your mate today, Aurelia".
"Wow, she used my birth given name so, she probably had actually prayed to Selene, the Mood Goddess, for me to find my fated mate more than this once." Aurelia thought.
However, Aurelia had to watch her mother grieve, almost to death, for what felt like an untold amount of years over the loss of her father, Cassis; Gamma of the former Silver Moon Pack. She had not looked forward to her 18th birthday when she would finally be able to discover her mate fated to her by the Moon Goddess. Now almost three years later, those same fears she had on the eve of her 18th birthday rushed back into her core, and she had the slightest urge to fake 'feeling sick' just to avoid this celebration at all costs.
Instead, she flashed a smile and managed to get out between bites "I'm sure if the Moon Goddess wills it, it will be" and quickly hurried to busy herself with finishing her plate.
As Aurelia ate, watching the people she loved most laugh and interact, she remembered back when things were inexplicably darker in her and her mother's lives and when that darkness started to slowly fade into the background. Ten years ago, her mother met Alpha Demetrius Nazario Eadric Kyriaku while trying to seek asylum for them into a strong pack when they heard news that Silver Moon Pack was taken over by those same feral Rogues who murdered her father and so many others. Those filthy Rogues had the audacity to rename their home pack, along with other packs they've overtaken, the Blood Moon Pack. They had to seek asylum, first, as it is too dangerous for two lone she-wolves to live outside a pack and well, second, Aurelia and her mother knew from experience what can happen to packs that lack in numbers or are too isolated from other packs. Demetrius was the Alpha of our 2nd and current pack, Whispering Woods, the 3rd largest pack in the nation and 2nd largest in the Midwest. Alpha Demetrius had lost his fated Luna, a human named Raquelle, before they could complete their mating bond, to a fatal car accident three years ago.
Demetrius and her mother were drawn together by their shared sorrow of losing their fated mates. While her mother and Demetrius weren't fated by the Moon Goddess, they had a wonderful bond and marriage. Her mother has been Luna to Whispering Woods Pack for about 18 months and after only 6 and a half months of marriage they had conceived the twins. You wouldn't believe it now but her mother was broken by her father's death. Aurelia helped take care of her; she brushed her hair, picked out her clothes, helped her with household chores, and would often find herself consoling her mother until she finally slept. In those moments looking down upon her puffed, red face which was always streaked from tears of heartbreak, of tragic loss, Aurelia prayed she would never find her Moon-fated mate. She prayed she would never have to know the searing pain and heartache that her mother felt the day her father died to protect them.
"Evie, there are many preparations to make for tonight's festivities and we would love to have your help, if you're able, to assist the Omegas in setting up the Recreation Hall for the twin's birthday celebration. Your mother and I will be preparing the Sacred Grounds and calling upon our pack's Kin-Fetch to bless the boys' baptism this evening." Demetrius stated as he picked her mother up into a bear hug, twirled her around, and planted a loving peck to her nose.
Aurelia couldn't help but smile, thankfully, at the scene in front of her and began to help some Omegas clear the table as she said "It would be my honor" and with that Aurelia gave a wave to her family and headed from the pack house, onto a stone path, into the woods.