"There is my beautiful girl" her father entered her room.
She composed herself and faced him, a ready smile on her face.
"Hey dad"
"You look so pretty, your mother would have been so proud and happy"
"Do you think I can do it dad? What if I mess up? What if I lose my best friend?"
Beta Johnson patted her head. "You will do marvelously well. Get rid of those thoughts in your head"
"Dad, I feel I and Jude being friends ruined our friend group. Tina hates me, Tate won't talk to me, for some reason Ryan is avoiding me. I just wish things could go back to normal"
"Eve, that is a part of life, things can't be normal as you grow up, I believe with time, your friends will be okay."
"Thanks dad. I will miss you so much"
"I will miss you too, but you are still in this pack and I will always see you. Now, let's go to the ceremony" he held out his hand and she took it.
...The ceremony
"I take Jude to be my mate and to cherish and respect our mate bond..." Eve repeated the vows after Beta Johnson as she stood opposite Jude.
"I Eve, swear to be Luna of this pack and uphold the pack values and traditions" she repeated the vows to be Luna.
"Werewolves of Moonlight pack, I present your Alpha and Luna. Alpha Jude and Luna Eve" beta Johnson announced.
The pack members cheered as Eve and Jude stood before them.
Afterwards Eve held Jude's hands tightly as pack members surrounded them to congratulate them.
She could see some still had misgivings about her being Luna.
She felt anxious but Jude's presence gave her strength. Some minutes later, she managed to escape to the drinks bar to have a drink.
"Feeling nervous?" Tate asked as he stood beside her.
She almost dropped her drink out if surprise. She and Tate hadn't talked since that night.
"A little bit" she admitted.
"It's actually kind of funny, you hate attention and then you ended up being the Luna"
"It's crazy" Eve gave a short laugh.
"How is Tina?" she asked in a sober tone.
"Angry, still hates you."
Eve looked down. "I understand"
Tate nudged her shoulder, "She will be fine, I think. Besides, she shouldn't hate you, the only person she should be angry with is Jude"
"Talking behind my back Tate?" Jude asked, he had approached them while they were talking.
"Yes, you are an ass hole. The only reason I am here today is because of Eve not you"
"Noted"
"I will leave you two lovebirds alone, congratulations Luna Eve" Tate smiled at Eve and left.
"He loves you deep down" Eve told him.
"I know that, are you okay?"
"Yes, a bit overwhelmed but I am okay"
Jude held her hand, "Ready to escape, we can go into the house"
"won't Luna Alice be angry?"
"Eve, come on let's go" he pulled her with him into the house.
"Sit down" he helped her sit on the bed.
He removed the pins holding her curls in place. When all the pins were loose, he ran his hands through her hair gently massaging her scalp.
"That feels good" Eve sighed.
"I could see how stressed you are, that's why I took you in"
She looked up at him, "You know me so well"
"I am your best friend aren't I?" he asked.
He leaned in slowly, Eve stared at him transfixed. Her heart was beating so fast.
"Jude...I.."
He smiled and kissed her forehead.
"I won't rush you, I will wait for you till when you are ready"
"Thank you"
"now, go take a shower, when you come back outside, I will have food waiting for you"
Eve nodded and stood up. "Can...can you help me unzip?"
"Of course"
Eve turned around and held her breath as he unzipped her dress, they had been close to each other but this was intimate.
His breath fanned her neck as he helped her unzip.
"I will be outside" he told her and left the room.
Eve clutched her dress close to her. Somehow in all her fretting about being Luna she hadn't thought about being actually mated to Jude and what it entailed.
Kissing, being intimate, she would do that with Jude. She blushed at the thought.
She slapped her cheeks, "Eve, focus"
...
Tate cornered Ryan, "you are still avoiding me"
Ryan crossed his arms, "you were the one who ran out of our last conversation"
"You were going to reject me"
"Tate, what do you want from me?" Ryan asked.
"I don't know but not rejection"
Ryan stepped forward making Tate move backwards.
"So what do you want? For us to be mates?"
"I didn't say that either"
Ryan groaned in frustration. "So what do you want?"
"I don't know okay, I just know I don't want you to reject me" Tate yelled.
Ryan looked around and closed Tate's mouth with his hand.
He stared into his eyes. He could feel the mate bond stirring. His wolf wanted to complete the bond and be with Tate.
"Beta Ryan, is everything okay?" a pack member asked looking at the both of them suspiciously.
Ryan cleared his throat and stepped back.
"Just having a friendly talk with Tate"
"come on Beta, let's have drinks to celebrate"
"I am coming" Ryan left Tate and went with the pack member.
Tate held his chest, his heart was beating so fast. What did he really want from Ryan?
...
"Here you go, your favorite sandwich" Jude set a plate down in front of Eve.
"thank you."
"So what do you want to do tonight?" Jude asked.
Eve choked on her sandwich, "Tonight?"
Jude chuckled, "Eve, I meant like playing games, reading"
"We can play a game, I think" Eve managed to reply.
"So what room am I staying?" she asked him.
Jude arched an eyebrow. "my room, where else?"
"right, right, I forgot"
Jude shook his head, "You are so cute Eve"