Chapter 22：Trinity-Luna Preparations and Conditions

~~

Trinity

~~

I was just about to text Juniper and tell her that I wouldn't be in class today when I heard my door being unlocked again. That was quick for breakfast. I thought. But it wasn't someone bringing food, it was Noah again.

"There was one last thing I needed to tell you." He said seeing the phone in my hand. "It seems I might not have caught you in time."

"What?" I asked him, perplexed.

"You are to tell no one about the fact that you are the Alpha's mate and the new Luna. That announcement will be made to the pack as a whole at the gathering this weekend." He was looking at my phone pointedly as he spoke.

"I was just telling Juniper that I wasn't going to be in class today." I told him. "I hadn't even sent the message yet." I groaned showing him the screen.

"That's good. Go ahead and send that message. I would really hate for them to take away your phone while we await the gathering." He told me.

"He would really go that far?" I asked him, shock filling my voice.

"We cannot have the news spreading prior to the gathering." He told me firmly.

"I won't tell anyone." I told him. "I don't want it to be true, so I am not going to start bragging." I told him flatly. Noah just nodded and left the room again. I heard the lock click once more.

I unpacked my things and organized my room. I ate the breakfast that was brought to me. It was delicious, the same as the meal was from the night before. And I worked on the assignments Juniper texted me that were for the classes I had missed.

Noah came around lunch time with a woman I did not know. She was slightly older, tall and thin with hair that had begun to turn from light brown to silver gray. Her bright green eyes were still sharp and focused though, and she had a friendly smile.

"Trinity, this is Gina, she is the top-rated seamstress in the pack." I knew who she was immediately. She was the one who made all ceremonial clothing for the Alphas and former Luna. There was a seamstress before her that did the same thing. If she were here, that meant she knew who I was.

"Good afternoon." She told me, bowing to me slightly. "It is wonderful to meet you Luna." I looked to Noah, concern filling my face.

"There is nothing to worry about. She is sworn to secrecy, and she has been working for the Alpha's family for a long time." Noah told me. I just nodded my head.

"The traditional dress worn at the marking ceremony is always passed down from Luna to Luna, but the problem is, you are so much smaller than the others." She chatted, looking at me curiously. She had helped alter the previous Luna's dress as well apparently and knew what types of changes were typically made. "And we don't have much time." She mused aloud.

Gina set a stool in front of me and directed me to stand on top of it. She took several measurements.

"You're short, and your waist is so much smaller than most of the pack women." She muttered more to herself than to anyone else. "But your bosom is just as ample as everyone else's, but on that tiny frame of yours it still makes the bodice too big." She continued to mutter while sketching something.

Before long she kicked Noah out of the room, telling him that there would be no men permitted in the room for the next stage. Once he was out the door, and I heard the lock click into place again, she was directing me to take my clothes off.

"Excuse me?" I nearly yelled before I caught myself, just barely managing to speak in a civilized tone.

"I need to pin the dress to the right length, so you need to put it on. Chop, chop, off with those clothes so you can put the dress on."

I understood what she wanted, but that didn't make it any less awkward. With slow, halting movements I managed to strip down to my underwear. But as I reached for the dress, she moved toward me, the dress in hand. She was helping me into the dress. Oh Goddess, this is too weird!

After several embarrassing minutes the dress was fully in place. It was not sitting the way it should have, but the feel of the fabric was wonderful. It was softer than the silk of the dress Grandfather had given me.

The base color of the dress was black, but that was lost under the silver that adorned it. There was silver all through the skirt and train so that every time I shifted it caught the light. The bodice and straps were black, but they were covered with silver that hung down to make long shimmering sleeves and a flowing cape that spread out behind me. The black was barely visible unless I moved in just the right way. The dress was so mystifyingly beautiful.

"I don't want to cut away too much, but I fear I will have to." Gina was saying. I couldn't let her do something so permanent to the dress.

"No, we can make it work." I told her.

"Really? And how?" She asked me.

"Leave it long and flowing like it is, just tighten things up in the chest. Making it an empire waist should solve the problem." I told her. I didn't want the dress cut more than it needed to be.

"Hmm. That just might work." She mumbled looking at the dress and sketching something on her pad. "Yes, I think it will." She said looking at me. "You're quite amazing Luna." She was smiling happily. I didn't know how to respond so I just shook my head, I was nothing special after all.

Gina helped me out of the dress. I put my clothes back on. And then she was escorted out and Noah came to join me for lunch.

"I spoke with Reece." Noah informed me, using the Alpha's name, probably in an attempt to make me less nervous about him. It didn't help.

"Ok?" I said, not knowing where he was going with this.

"You can resume classes tomorrow."

"Thank you." I interrupted him.

"Under one condition." He continued.

"What condition?" I was confused.

"You need an escort."

"An escort?" I was perplexed.

"Someone from the pack to make sure you won't run away." He said firmly.

"I'll be with Juniper and the others." I told him.

"They won't cut it. They have not been trained as warriors, at least to our knowledge, and they are your friends and might likely help you escape." He said matter-of-factly.

"And risk the punishment?" I asked him, skeptically.

"You never know."

"So, who will be escorting me? You or Carter?" I was guessing it had to be one of them.

"I cannot do it as I am Reece's personal assistant, and Carter was not chosen."

"Then who?" I asked, getting nervous now. Surely, he wouldn't do it himself, would he?

"A warrior from the pack. Someone the Alpha can trust to protect you. If you remember you were also recently attacked and will need to be guarded, in case it was not a random event." Noah was trying to use the attack yesterday as part of the cause for the guard duty.

"And I handled myself pretty well, if you remember."

"Yes, but you still lost the fight." He said sternly.

"I don't need a warrior following me around."

"Then you don't need to go to class." He looked at me firmly. I growled at him.

"Fine. But after I am marked, I will be allowed to go without the armed escort, right?" I asked him sarcastically. "He said he can track me by my mark, so I was only under house arrest until I was marked." I told him what the Alpha had told me.

"We will discuss that later, when the time comes."

"I am not going to have some random guy I don't know following me around all day every day." I snapped at him.

"Then get to know him." He snapped back.

"Dammit, Noah."

"You brought this on yourself. You were the one that got into that mess yesterday and you were the one that tried to run away. If only you had checked your messages, then things could have been a lot different." He growled at me. I puffed out my cheeks in frustration at him. "Deal with it, Trinity, and maybe it will go away soon enough." I growled again but nodded my head, accepting his terms.