The next morning Abby woke me up at what seemed to be the first light of dawn. She pulled me from the giant bed still half awake and ushered me towards the bathroom to shower and start getting ready and said something about breakfast before she shut the bathroom door. I hadn’t noticed it the night before but all my toiletries were already placed in the shower for me. I easily found the towels and took a shower. Then after opening a few drawers I found my makeup. I really should have looked in the drawer next to the vanity first but I didn’t notice it among the grand state of this bathroom. It really was too much. I sat down at the vanity, did my makeup and pulled my hair up into a messy bun. If I was going to be trying on dresses there was no sense in trying too hard with my hair just to have it get messy anyway right? When I was done I opened the bathroom door and peeked out. I know this is supposed to be my room but it really was more like an open floor plan house. Confirming no one was around I scurried from the bathroom to the closet wrapped my towel.

I had a wide variety to choose from for clothes but today I am supposed to be picking a dress for the mate ceremony. I needed something comfortable and easy to wear that wouldn’t be easily wrinkled. I chose the most neutral…underthings I could find and then some black spandex leggings, a pink tank top, and matching pink flats. By the time I emerged from the closet Abby was on the couch in the sitting area with a tray of food sitting on the coffee table. She was peeling an orange as she looked out at the view beyond the large windows. Blues, oranges, and pinks painted the landscape with the early morning sun. I could smell bacon and coffee mixing with the scent of Abby’s orange. 

I took in a deep breath before joining her on the couch across from her. I poured myself some coffee and grabbed a piece of bacon, “Aunt Lynelle was naturally given the day off by the Alpha and Beta so she will be taking us into town to get your dress. She should be here in about ten minutes.” I finished my first piece of bacon and grabbed a piece of buttered toast and the cup of coffee and sat back on the couch. I took a deep breath taking in the refreshing scent of the coffee and nodded, “Okay.” I was nervous, scared, and excited all at the same time. But at the core of those feelings, something told me it was okay and this was the right.

As soon as Aunt Lynelle arrived she excitedly ushered us out and to the car not even caring that we had unfinished coffee and food, “Since Anthony and I can’t have kids, this is the closest I’ll get to taking a daughter to get her ceremony dress.” She was clearly more excited than me but it made me happy that I could fill a void for her. Aunt Lynelle was such a kind person and had always been so wonderful to us and the rest of our family, “Since you’re going to be the Queen Luna, normally, a dressmaker would come to you but we don’t have the luxury of the time it would take to make a whole dress for you.” Her features saddened as she said this, “So we have to settle for something already made and just have it altered to better fit you.” I shrugged at this, “That’s okay. That’s how it normally is for human weddings anyway.” She nodded, “I know, we adapted a lot of aspects of the mating ceremony to some of the human wedding traditions. We liked the idea of making it more of a celebration like the humans do. It made it a little more special and not just the instinctual response. After we started making the adaptations, mate bonds seemed even stronger…happier mates and such.” 

We pulled into a parking spot in front of a boutique. It was only a couple blocks away from Jesse’s restaurant, “It's unfortunate we can only embrace things from your culture and not just live peacefully aware of each other.” I looked at her in confusion before getting out of the car, “What do you mean?” We walked towards the door to the dress boutique, “Most humans have a hard time handling the reality of our existence. There have been attempts to coexist before but it always took a turn for the worst so we resolved to keep the humans unaware of werewolves, Lycans, vampires, and fae. It is just safer for all involved that way.” She pulled the door open and gestured for me and Abby to go inside, “So that’s why you and Uncle Anthony were careful of who in the family could know about you.” Lynelle nodded at Abby’s comment, “Yes and I am so happy you two were among those of your family allowed to know.” She grabbed me and pulled me into a hug, “If we hadn’t we would have never found our Luna.” She started to choke up and I hugged her back. 

Luna…a new word that is supposed to be tied to me tomorrow. I was scared. That’s a lot of people depending on me to not fuck up. Lynelle’s happy expression fell. Damn those lycan senses. I shook my head, “It’s okay Aunt Lynelle. I’ll adjust eventually.” I took a deep breath, “This is a case of needing to put the cart before the horse.” I gave her an awkward smile, “I’ll eventually work the horse around to the front.” She cupped my cheek and smiled, “You will be the perfect Luna, don’t worry.” I gave her a hug and then Abby cleared her throat and we looked to find her standing with her arms crossed, “I didn’t know I was going to be the third wheel on this date.” She smiled and we all laughed and finally turned our attention to the door. Aunt Lynelle opened it and there was an attendant who had been apparently standing waiting on us, she must have noticed us coming to the door as we had been talking. 

True to lycan nature she was tall and beautiful with a rich tan and straight dark brown hair feathered into layers that framed her face. The only thing that marred her beautiful features was the very clear, irritated purse she held her lips in as she waited for us to acknowledge her. I gave her a smile. We had clearly kept her waiting, “Sorry! We’re-” Lynelle cut me off, “We’re here for your finest mate ceremony dresses.” The woman’s eyes lingered on me before she looked at Lynelle and then she smiled, “Yes! I have some styles I think will look stunning on you. My name is Melissa. If you’ll-” Lynelle cut her off, “It's not for me.” Melissa stopped her progress to venture further into the shop and turned to look back at us. She looked at me then to Abby. Her lips parted and I saw Abby shake her head from the corner of my eye and Melissa’s eyes moved back to me, “Um…well, anything we have will require a lot of alteration to fit her small frame. A human boutique might be-” Lynelle shook her head, “We don’t have that kind of time and we can’t properly explain the need for the rush on alterations at a human boutique.” Melissa raised a brow, “How long have you been pushing it off?” Her tone held an edge of disgust, clearly judging me.

Lynelle crossed her arms, “She met her mates 3 days ago.” Melissa clicked her tongue, “Oh, well then you have plenty of time.” Lynelle stepped forward clearly having enough of this woman’s behavior, “We DON’T have plenty of time, we had to put her on ice last night.” My face burned with embarrassment as Melissa looked at me with surprise, “Why so fast? Even with a human lycan pairing it's usually at a relatively normal rate.” Her eyes snapped back to Lynelle, “Wait, you said mates…as in plural? Two Mates?” Lynelle nodded. Melissa looked back to me and then walked over to me. She eyed me carefully, “Two mates…I wouldn’t think that would accelerate things. Either way, I think if we put you in a simple enough dress we can have it altered in three days. Come with me.” I started to follow but Aunt Lynelle stopped all of us, “No, she will get ANY dress she chooses and it WILL be altered and ready by late tomorrow morning.”