*Maddy*
I had enough time to go back to my room to change, but once I got there, I was a little lost. Standing in front of the closet looking into the darkened depths which Hannah had filled with clothing in exactly my size, ranging from soft linen and silk lounge wear to the most incredible gowns and dresses I’ve ever seen in my life, I take several minutes to contemplate, wondering what to wear to a family dinner with the royal family.
For whatever reason, wearing a gown tonight feels too formal. Much, much too formal.
With a sigh, I settle for tailored black slacks and a dark blue cashmere sweater. I pull my hair back into a long ponytail, pinning it away from my face. A smidge of makeup completes the look. I don’t have jewelry. I haven’t ever really worn it. This will have to do.
I give myself one last look in the mirror over my vanity and see, for the first time, myself. Not a lowly slave. Not a maid. Not a severely underfed and overworked orphan resigned to a life of loneliness and suffering.
I make my way through the hallway to the dining room where I’m ushered inside by servants. I sit at the longest table I’ve ever seen, and it’s full to the brim. I glance down to the far end at the unfamiliar faces. Then steal a glance at Isaac, who sits directly across from me, his head bent in conversation with his father.
Ella sits to my left, and I feel secure in my decision not to wear a gown. No one here is dressed for a ball, that’s for sure. And, most surprisingly, there are no seats at either end of the table. Everyone is seated facing each other, and a buffet style meal has been laid out on the far side of the room. The unfamiliar people had simply gotten their plates and sat down wherever they pleased.
It is, in all ways, a family dinner. Casual, warm, and full of laughter and the lifted voices of many children.
I sipmy wine as I search each face. There are several men who look like they must be related to Isla. Those blue eyes are a familial trait, no doubt about it. One man in particular sits directly next to Isla. His hair is darker, and he’s much taller, but their faces share a similar shape and those eyes… identical.
Once my presence is truly noticed, I’m introduced to everyone. Queen Isla rattles off who everyone is, but what felt like a million different names barely register in my mind.
“Go fix your plate, Maddy,” the queen suggests.
With a nod, I get up, Ella coming along with me. The buffet is full of delicious looking items, but I just choose randomly, not sure what everything is, my head swimming. All of these people are making me nervous. I wish it was just Isaac and me again.
“You’re fine,” Ella whispers, and I nod, following her back to sit down. She starts eating right away, but I hesitate.
I look down at my place, pushing my food around while the conversation ebbs and flows around me. When I look up, King–or, the retired King, I guess–Maddox is looking right at me, his deep green eyes fixed directly on mine. My cheeks begin to prickle with a blush, but his wide mouth twitches at one corner, and a ghost of a smile touches his lips before he looks away, his eyes on the table and unfocused as Isaac says something to him.
“You act like it’s the end of the world,” Ella says to her brother after a moment, her voice tinged with annoyance as she glares at her dad and brother. “Is it really that hard to enjoy a nice family meal without talking about war?”
Several people look down the table at us, including an exquisitely beautiful woman sitting next to the dark haired man seated next to Isla. Ben and Emery are their names. Ben, the younger brother of Isla, and his wife and mate, the Alpha of the pack Obsidian Temple.
Emery’s eyes flash with understanding as she catches Maddox’s eyes, but she turns her head back to the four children of varying ages seated across from her and Ben.
I sink into my seat, feeling a sense of unease as the underlying electric current that has been plaguing the dining room penetrates my skin, sending shivers up my spine. Someone’s foot slides against mine, and I looked up with a start, meeting Isaac’s eyes.
He holds my gaze for several seconds, his foot resting against mine, and then drops back into quiet conversation with his father.
“The wedding will be in a few days, during the next full moon.” Isla is speaking to a woman seated next to Rosie, who looks remarkably like Rosie. I search through the mental list I’d tried to make, matching everyone’s face to their names, and decide this woman must be Trinity.
Trinity is mated to Elijah… I think. So many names and faces to remember.
And Elijah, Rosie’s father, isn’t at dinner. No, he’s in Moorn, ground zero of the impending war.
I feel suddenly shy as Isla and Trinity speak in low, but warm, tones about my wedding to Isaac. No one has had a bad thing to say about it. Not at all. In fact, everyone seems nothing but overjoyed about it. I have no idea why. Don’t they all want him to wait for his mate? Yet, there’s an air of excitement in the dining hall as the dinner fades into desserts and fresh bottles of wine.
The youngest of the children, nieces and nephews of Isla and Maddox, have fallen asleep in their parents’ arms by the time the people start to leave. I feel like I’m in a haze. Two glasses of strong wine and full from a wonderful meal, I could easily climb into bed and fall asleep or curl up on a couch in some firelit parlor.
But I’m quickly swept up by Ella and ushered into a sitting room on the first floor. Tea and coffee and an array of snacks have been laid out, as well as wine and whiskey, and I find myself seated by the fire while Isla, Maddox, Ella, Ben, and Emery take seats around the room. Trinity and Rosie come in after a few minutes, the mother and daughter duo moving with matched grace.
Isaac closes the door to the sitting room behind him, but instead of taking a seat like the rest, he places a hand on the top of the airchair I’m seated in.
His close proximity is immediately comforting.
I catch King Maddox’s eyes again, and this time I don’t shy away from what I can only describe as a curious gaze. His green eyes search my face, one of his dark brows arched. I notice Isla shifting her weight beside him, her eyes searching her mate’s face. He pulls his gaze from mine and gives his wife a look, something only long-mated couples share. A silent conversation passes between them, something they don’t even need the mindlink for, I assume.
What do they see when they look at me?
“No talk of the war, please. We heard enough over dinner,” Isla says abruptly. I look up at Isaac, whose mouth is parted as if he were about to speak. He purses his lips and shook his head.
“We’re here to make plans, Mom.”
“For the wedding,” Trinity cuts in, beaming in my direction.
“For after the wedding,” Isaac says with finality. A hush settles over the room, and I realize with a start this isn’t just some quiet, after supper gathering of the closest family members.
This is a family meeting.
Isaac steps around the chair, and his hand drops to my shoulder, firm and protective. “Madeline will be Luna upon your wedding day. The Priestess will perform the ceremony directly after our vows.”
I reluctantly glance at Isla, whose eyes are on me. Her mouth is tight, but she manages a smile, her eyes full of sympathy. I stiffen a bit but give her a tight smile of my own.
How did I end up here? Me, a Luna?
“There will be no formal party or announcement,” Isaac continues. “Not until I return from Moorn.”
“When will you leave for Moorn?” Isla asks, her gaze split between her son and Maddox, who has risen and is now pacing near the window overlooking the darkened front garden.
“The morning after the wedding,” Maddox says, not looking at his mate for a long moment before he faces her. “Isaac and I will go and join Elijah and his warriors. The rest of the Alphas who have pledged their support will meet us there in the following days.”
Trinity shifts her weight nervously and grips her daughter’s hand. “I thought we were waiting for Eastonia to strike–”
“They have.” It’s Emery who speaks now, rising from her seat. “This morning, a village only ten miles from Moorn was burned to ashes. No survivors.”
Anyone who isn’t sitting down jumps to their feet, and suddenly the room erupts into collected shock. Isla looks murderous as she glances between Isaac and Maddox. “Why did no one tell me? Maddox?” She turns to him, her eyes flashing with both anger and hurt. “Why didn’t you say anything when–”
“Elijah has it handled until we arrive. The marriage between Isaac and Madeline is the priority right now. He’s right. He needs a Luna established if he’s going to be out on the battlefield. And you, Isla, will be here to train her in her duties.”
“If you think I’m staying here–”
“Mom, we don’t have another option,” Isaac says firmly.
The look on Isla’s face is cold enough to cause the room to drop several degrees. She turns to Emery as if in slow motion. “Obsidian Temple…. It’s only a few miles outside of Moorn. You’re calling your warriors into action, aren’t you? That’s what started this.”
Emery nods, her chin held high. She’s young, only fifteen or sixteen years older than myself, but the look in her eyes tells me she has seen a lot in her young life. She’s the Alpha of her pack, not her mate.
I’ve never seen a female Alpha before.
“I won’t risk my village. This ends now. My warriors are on their way to the base of the mountains as we speak.”
“I need the room,” Isaac says firmly, his tone causing a hush to fall over the space. “Mom, stay, please.” He squeezes my shoulder, looking down at me. “You, too.”
I’m too stunned and wound tight with nerves to do more than nod. If I thought everything was upside down and happened too fast, the fact the kingdom I’m marrying into is going to war in just a few short days has left me absolutely panic-struck and reeling.
The room is emptied save for me, Isaac, and Isla, the door shutting with a thud.
“I need you to stay here with Madeline to help her find her wolf,” Isaac says after a moment of heavy silence. Electricity crackles through the room, and I notice a soft glow to Isla’s skin as she squares up to her son with a look of mingled hurt and desperation.
“I can’t sit back and watch you and your father get killed.”
“That’s not what I’m asking you to do,” he amends, letting go of my shoulder and taking a step toward her. “I believe Alpha King Kane will see our united forces and back off or finally be willing to talk, to come to some truce. We don’t know what he wants, but if his only plan is to invade, he will see what he’s up against and think better of it. If it comes to bloodshed, you will be more than needed, Mom. Here, in the kingdom, with the injured and dying warriors, or, if it comes to it, on the field with us. That’s why I need you to help Madeline find her wolf and train for her duties as Luna. I can’t leave her totally defenseless.”
“And what do you think about this?” Isla asks me, her eyes glistening in the dim light. “Of him leaving the morning after your wedding?”
Isaac growls in warning, but I hold up my hand to him. “I don’t like it. I already feel like I’m not fit for this role but I–” I trail off, unable to finish what I need to say. I can’t find the words in either language. “The kingdom needs a Luna here to rule. I understand that. I will play my part.”
Play my part.
Isla looks at me with tears welling in her eyes. She turns to Isaac, her hurt only growing. “This isn’t what I wanted for you. For either of you.”
Isaac furrows his brow, confused, but Isla dabs at her glowing tears and shakes her head, choking down whatever else she wanted to say. “You’re the king. The family will stay here, at the castle. Ben and his children, Trinity and Rosie, whoever else feels safest here. I… I will stay, but if you’re gone longer than a week, I will come to the battlefield. I swear it on the Goddess, Isaac. I will not sit back and watch you die.”
She whirls and leaves the room. I make to follow her out, my head starting to spin from either the wine or the crushing reality of the situation, but Isaac’s featherlight touch as he catches my fingers causes me to come to an abrupt stop.
“Wait,” he says softly. “We have unfinished business, Maddy.”