Chapter 0026
My cheeks burned as Leo explained the event.
A pack gathering? The night of the full moon?
This couldn't be happening right now. I couldn't attend a pack gathering during the full moon. I couldn't attend any gatherings during the full moon.
That was the one night of the month that I transformed into the monster I am. Nobody can know about this secret I harvest deep inside. They wouldn't want me as their Luna if they found out the truth. They would probably hunt me down and kill me... or banish me. Elliot would never look at me the same.
Panic started to consume me, and I bit my lower lip to keep from going into a full panic attack. Noticing my displeased face, Leo cocked his head to the side.
"I'm just not into large gatherings," I told him, which wasn't a lie, but not the full truth either. "Maybe we could do this another time? Or maybe I don't have to attend...?"
"The gathering is for you, Luna," Leo reminded me, his brows knitting together. "Elliot had been preparing for this all month."
"Right," I said, chewing on my bottom lip. "I just don't think a big gathering is necessary."
"This would be your first event as the pack's Luna. You must be there."
I nodded, forcing a smile on my lips.
Later that evening, I tried to have the same conversation with Elliot during dinner. When I brought up having the gathering on a different night, he looked at me like I had gone crazy.
"What's wrong with the full moon? That's when we are at our strongest. It's most appropriate to have the gathering during that time. Besides, the preparations have already been made and the pack is alerted of the gathering."
How could I tell him that I couldn't go to an event on the full moon? How he looked at me right now left me no room for debates. I decided to drop the subject for the time being and hide away in my art studio for the next couple of days.
Elliot was so busy with the gathering preparations and his duties as the Alpha that he didn't even notice that I've been absent and quiet lately.
However, Rebecca noticed.
She barged right into my art studio with her hands on her hips and her lips pressed in a thin line.
"You haven't returned any of my calls," she said, her brows furrowed together. "What's going on with you?"
I explained to her a little about the gathering. Rebecca doesn't know about my full moon transformation, and I wasn't going to tell her about it. The last thing I needed was for my best friend to start looking at me like the monster I was. However, I did express my apprehension about the event and how I was trying to get out of it.Text property © Nôvel(D)ra/ma.Org.
"Why would you want to get out of it?" She asked, sitting on one of the nearby chairs. "You should be happy that your husband wants to show you off to the pack."
"I am," I confessed. It was truly an honor that Elliot wanted to introduce me to the pack as their Luna. But if they found out the truth, I would be done for. "I just don't like crowds."
"Since when had crowds scared you?" Rebecca asked, raising her brows. "You've never been stage fright before."
"I've never been in front of a crowd of people I hardly know," I told her. "With the responsibility of being their Luna. I'll probably have a target on my back. I'm sure Elliot has plenty of suitors that are after the Luna title."
Rebecca nodded.
"Well, when you put it that way. I get why you are nervous," she said, watching me carefully. "You could always pretend you are sick."