The Lorents were due to visit after dinner. It was a late visit, but apparently scheduled, except that no one thought to inform me about it.
"Why doesn't anyone tell me these things?" I grumbled as I changed into the proper Lorent greeting gear.
Savy shrugged from her bed. I was sure she didn't hear me with those earphones on. I found out just a few minutes ago that they were noise-canceling and helped a great deal with nullifying the noises from the construction next door.
It's dark and quiet outside now, though.
"Maybe if you didn't block out all your mindlinks, you'd have heard," Savy said. So she did hear me.
I spared her a glance and noticed her headphones were hanging around her neck.
I guess I was quite loud about it too because, from the other side of the door, Killion answered, "It was in your calendar, Goddess."
Oh, like the one in my phone that I hadn't been checking? I didn't bother to reply. I didn't bother to check the phone either. I was that sure I would just find that he was right.
I pulled open the door savagely once my clothes were in place. Killion startled.
"Next time, don't assume I know anything!" I flared.
Killion considered this, and then he tilted his head at me. "Forgive me, Goddess. Also, should I not assume that you knew Luna Bell dream-traveled here just before dinner?"
Eh? I'm not sure why Killion would think I knew anything about my mate's coming and going. It's not like I knew what my Wolfie was doing a hundred percent of the time. I didn't even know what I was doing half the time!
I looked out at the moon shining serenely in its full glory. Oh, well, that could be a clue too... if I were always watching the moon.
"He had left to dine with his parents tonight," Killion informed me as he opened both boxes of bangles for me to choose from.
But if Mate was here, why was my Wolfie so quiet? Maybe my Wolfie was finally becoming a calm and mature Wolfie.
I nodded. That's right. I didn't care for a Mate who was going to reject me anyway.
{Mate! Mate! Mate!}
I really didn't care.
{Mate!}
"Is he coming back with his parents' visit?" I asked.
Let me be clear, unlike Wolfie, I wasn't overanxious to see Mate or anything. I just needed to prepare myself mentally since I had to avoid him.
Killion smiled. "I am unaware of Luna Bell's personal plans, but since Alpha and Luna Lorent are here for your formal betrothal ceremony, I believe it would be expected."
My what? And nobody thought I needed to know this?
Killion pushed forward the blue bangles. I ignored them to grab my phone. I flicked the screen of my phone and tapped on the calendar. Today's agenda showed I had something on in 20 minutes.
"Betrothal Ceremony"
"Since their son is officially 'abroad' right now, Alpha and Luna Lorent wished the ceremony to be privately held," Killion explained.
"Abroad?" I asked.
Killion laughed somewhat bitterly. "You cannot expect the Lorent Alpha to admit publicly his son is a fight dog, right?"
"It might be good to make the public mating announcement and celebration at your Alpha Investiture in April, though," Killion continued. "This would solidify your claim over all three packs."
"But if Luna Bell remains in the fight cages, then perhaps they would hold the public announcement at your Alpha Inauguration when you turn 18," Killion speculated.
Okay... This was assuming Mate didn't reject me by then. I suppose, since rejection was the most likely outcome, it was just as well that we kept the betrothal private.
Wait, no, what was I thinking? Why was there even a betrothal? Who decided this? Then it occurred to me. It had to be a Lorent thing.
"Killion, explain this betrothal and stuff to me. It's a Lorent thing, right?" It was definitely a boon for me that my beta was a former Lorent.
A Lorent betrothal was a pledge for two wolves to mate. Usually, this was made if one or both parties were unable to mate, for example, because one of them was underaged.
Killion gave me a pointed look here. So I guess that was the official reason for this betrothal. I was underaged, and it had nothing to do with the fact that my mate was currently a fight dog at some vampire coven. Sure.
With it, the parents of the couple also made a pledge, taking the mate of their child as one of their own and fulfilling certain conditions for this child in view of the future mating.
With this ceremony, the male's family gave gifts as a display of their welcome, as well as an indication of how well they would provide for the female. From this ceremony onward, the male's family would provide for the female as their own. Usually, this would be in the form of an allowance and/or family privileges.
The condition of this was that the female's family had to keep her pure for her future mate. From this ceremony onward, she would be regarded as belonging to him. Sometimes it would also stipulate certain treatments or training.
It's like paying a deposit in advance for a car so that the car dealer won't let anyone else test-drive it. In some cases, it also involved paying monthly maintenance, storage, and additional upgrades or customizations.
The car analogy didn't help me understand or warm up to the idea of this particular tradition better at all.
So I'm a car?
The entire fiasco sounded expensive, like something only very rich families would bother with. And it also sounded really dumb in an unnecessarily troublesome way.
I thought mating was just meeting Mate and then saying, "Mine."
Which both of us did at some point or other already.
And technically, since I was the Alpha and he was the Luna in this relationship, didn't that mean my family should be paying the dowry?
Urm, never mind. I'll play the car then. I don't think we could afford to buy Bell if he were the car.
Yeah, I looked at my reflection. I'm all dressed up, white Lorent ceremonial dress, blue and gold bangles down my right arm. Made up just a little... Savy even deigned to drop down from her bunk to put a few pretty braids in my hair.
I shook my head at it all and pulled off the heavy bangles, letting them drop into the open drawer. Then I picked just the gold bracelet with the heart on it.
Killion helped me fasten it on.
That would do.
Now all I had to do was get through the entire ceremony without getting rejected by Mate.
I eyed Savy, who had returned to her bed, still in her sweatsuit. "You're not coming?"
Savy shook her head, indicating a stack of manga books next to her pillow. "I've got better things to do."
Yeah. Right.
I wondered if Dad knew what to expect from this betrothal ceremony. I wondered if he knew his daughter was a car.
{Mate! Mate! Mate!}
Mate was on his way back.
Maybe he managed to tell his parents to cancel the betrothal because he was about to reject me.
Maybe we should actually get this rejection down and over with.
Wolfie shrank back at the thought and then eloquently informed me in no uncertain terms,
{Dun wanna}
Yeah, me neither. Let's just make sure we properly avoid his rejection then.
{Mine}
I wondered how much of this betrothal thing Wolfie would understand. Oh well, it's not like I understood it much either.
Usually, wolves were supposed to be wise. I mean, had you met my Dad in zen mode? I always hoped my wolf would be zen like that.
Beta Lucas' wolf had an automated warning when something was amiss—very useful for a Beta Wolf. Mum's wolf always had sensible advice, a very practical wisdom Dad had often praised. Mrs. Beta's wolf was good at discerning dreams and signs...
Most people would never tell you directly about their wolf's talents; some never even realize it's their wolf's wisdom that helped them. I didn't know how that was possible, but Mrs. Beta had explained that not all wolves were in touch with their inner wolf.
Which was a waste because wolves had good instincts. I had long lost track of how many times my Wolfie's lucky sense of direction kept me out of trouble. (Probably as many times as it got me into trouble.)
Bottom line: Wolves were supposed to be wise and intelligent.
Mine couldn't count, remember names, or speak in proper sentences...
Oh wait, Wolfie did sometimes quote ancient Lycan sayings. Today she even recited a poem... wait, no, it was an ancient Lycan nursery rhyme.
Okay, it's official. My wolf wasn't the brightest dog in the pack.