Chapter 7 Adele's Initiation Ceremony

• Alexa was exploring the forest when she hears the sound of water and races in that direction. Soon she finds a waterfall and excitedly jumps into it. This place reminded her of her favorite spot at Silverlake pack. After swimming for a while in her wolf’s form, Alexa looks around to see if anyone is nearby; as there was no one, she changes back to her human.
• Adele swims and relaxes for a while. She was getting too worked up thinking about her mates and was floating from one corner to another.
• Unable to think anymore, she decides to talk to Alexa. “ How do you feel about having two mates?”
• “I feel...... special.”
• That was unexpected, but when Adele sank in those words, she thought Alexa was right because having two mates is indeed special and unique. “ Do you think both our mates would accept us?”
• “ I shudder to think otherwise,” says Alexa in a worried tone.
• While Adele was pondering over that, she suddenly spots something unusual. She sees an opening behind the waterfall and decides to check. The place was covered in rocks and stones. She moves a few rocks aside, and it opens into a cave. She enters the cave and explores further. It was pretty dark inside, and she couldn’t see the end of it. She wanted to explore further but decides to do it the next time, as right now she had no clothes on her. She jumps out of the cave, covers the opening with rocks, changes into her wolf form, and sprints back towards the room.
• The following day, Maria invites Adele for breakfast and then gives her a tour around the Pack. The main Packhouse here was not very huge, but it was stunning and modern. Only the Alpha, Beta, Maria and a few other cooks and maids usually stayed here. The Blackwood pack was huge, which nearly consisted of 80% of the entire rural town. So, many of the werewolf families had their own houses. The main Packhouse had many extra rooms for the guests and the pack members who could come and stay at their convenience. Also, there was a gym, theatre room, Games room, swimming pool, a vast dining hall as many pack members would gather here for lunch or dinner at least once a week. Maria told Adele, Chris and Liam were not so social. Though they cared for the pack members a lot, they never really socialized much. After seeing the garden and the kid’s play area, Adele wanted to check the training grounds, so she asked Maria to show her.
• Maria was surprised and asked, “ Why do you want to check the training grounds?”
• “ I want to see how they train here. Is there a problem? Why are you so surprised?” asked Adele.
• “It’s just that you are a woman, so I was wondering why would you be curious about the training.”
• “ What does it have to do with me being a woman? “ Adele was confused.
• “ What do you need the training for being a woman?” asked Maria.
• “Why? Don’t the she-wolves get trained here?”
• Maria just shook her head as if it were no big deal.
• Adele was appalled. “ How do they protect themselves then?”
• “ Why do they need to protect themselves? We have many skilled warriors and guards who are perfectly capable of guarding our Pack, not to mention our Alpha and Beta. Also, most of the she-wolves have either their mates, brothers or fathers around.”
• “ You mean none of the women here knows how to fight?” asks Adele in shock.
• “No. They don’t need to,” says Maria calmly.
• Then Maria gets a mind-link from Chris asking her to send Adele to his office, so she tells her, “ I just got a message from the Alpha. He wants to meet you in his office. So, you meet him now, and I will show you the training grounds later.”
• Adele decides to let it go for now and follows her to Alpha’s office.
• Chris and Liam were sitting in the office curiously waiting for Adele. Chris seemed to be excited, whereas Liam was more worried. He didn’t know what he wants, so he just decided to go along with Chris.
• Adele entered the office and saw her two mates sitting there waiting for her. Chris smiled at her, whereas Liam just gave her an awkward look. Adele had not spent much time with them, but she still felt they didn’t seem as eager to be with her. Though Adele didn’t want to judge, she always felt something was off. The mate couples she had seen at Silverlake pack seemed to be so much into each other; they couldn’t keep their hands off each other. She had seen her brother Axel who was always following Daisy like a love-struck puppy. Her parents, even after so many years, their love seems to have grown through each passing day. But Adele never felt that special connection from her mates.
• Chris interrupts her thoughts by asking, “ What are you thinking?”
• Adele sees both Chris and Liam were staring at her. Adele couldn’t word out her thoughts, so she instead says, “ There’s only one thing in my mind right now and maybe yours too. So what do you think about this unique connection?”
• Chris nods as if agreeing with her. “ This connection is as per Moon Goddess’s wish, so I think we should not try to go against it.” Chris was always good with his words. He knew exactly what to say to convince someone. The position he is in right now was not achieved just by his strength.
• Adele feels relieved at his words. Alexa was even more thankful as she was worried she would get rejected by one of them, and the mere thought of rejection felt like death to her. Without her knowing, a smile comes on Adele's lips.
• Chris sees Adele giving a smile and looks at Liam. He feels hopeful that things might work as he wants “ I know it will be a tough situation for you having to share two mates, but I sincerely hope you would consider this.”
• Adele blushed and said,” I... I... I know that, but even I don’t like the idea of rejecting my mate.”
• Chris is excited.” So you agree to it?”
• “As far as you guys have no issues, I am fine.” Adele further wanted to ask how to go about it but was too shy. Adele, who was always busy mastering her fighting skills, had no idea how to approach a man romantically. She at least managed to talk with Chris but Liam; he seemed to be worse than her. He didn’t utter a word since she came to this office.
• Alexa chastises her, saying, “ We must spend more time with our mates and get comfortable with them.” 
• Chris was pleased and said, “Now that we have settled this, I think we should have your initiation ceremony as a Luna of Blackwood pack. I will introduce you to the Pack then.”
• Adele was a bit overwhelmed. She didn’t know how the Pack would perceive her having two mates.” How do you think they will react to this?”
• “ You don’t worry about it; they will be fine”. Chris said it casually. Anyways he didn’t care what his pack members thought about her.
• Adele nodded, and Chris said, “ We will have the ceremony today evening. I will inform the pack members about it.”
• In the evening, Maria helped Adele dress for the ceremony. Adele was wearing a beautiful silver color gown that hugged her figure well. She paired it with diamond earrings and a neckpiece. Though Adele felt it was a bit too much, Maria insisted, saying the women in this Pack are usually overdressed most of the time.
• All the pack members were gathered at the vast open ground for the ceremony. Maria takes Adele there, and Chris and Liam were already waiting for her. Both were dressed in suits and looked dashing as ever. Adele couldn’t take her eyes off them. Even Chris and Liam held their breaths, looking at their mate in a silver gown. They felt she looked like an angel descended from heaven. Even the pack members seemed to be awed by her beauty.
• The pack members have gathered around in a large circle. Chris and Liam stood beside an Altar in the center. Chris beckoned for Adele to come forward, and she went and stood beside him.
• Pointing towards Adele, Chris looked at the gathered pack members and said, “ She’s Adele Green, daughter of the Alpha of Silverlake pack.”
• The pack members cheered for her after knowing their future Luna was an Alpha. Adele looked around and gave a huge smile.
• Chris then held up his hand, stopping the cheering crowd and continued, “ She is my mate, and so she will be our Pack’s Luna. I hope you all will accept her wholeheartedly. So, let's start the initiation ceremony.”
• Chris takes an Oath of inviting Adele to the Blackwood Pack. Adele then takes the Initiation Ceremony Oath and pledges her loyalty towards the Blackwood pack. She could now feel the connection with the pack members as she had got access to the mind-link.
• Chris then looked at Adele and asked, “ Do you Adele Green accept the position as Luna for the Blackwood pack?”
• “Yes, I Adele Green accept the position as Luna for the Blackwood pack".”
• Chris then takes out a dagger and cuts his palm. He makes a similar cut on Adele’s palm, and both of them join their hands and drop their blood on an opening in the altar, allowing their blood to mix up and bond together as the Alpha and Luna of Blackwood pack.
• “ I welcome and present to you the new Luna of Blackwood pack, Adele Green.” The crowd starts clapping and bursts into applause.
• Chris then suddenly looks serious and speaks again, “ I have to share another important thing with you all, as something unusual has happened.”
• The pack members all stand at attention, eager to know what it was. Adele was a bit nervous now, and Chris exchanges a look with Liam and speaks to the crowd, “ Adele is not only my mate, but she is our Beta Liam’s mate too.”
• Chris looks at the bewildered expressions of most of his pack members and further explains, “ What I mean to say is she has two mates, which is Liam and me.”
• The pack members were stunned at this news. After the initial shock, they could hear a lot of murmurs going around.
• Adele could hear a few words through her werewolf hearing like, “ How is that even possible?”, “ Is she lying?”, “ She must be extraordinary to be blessed with two mates by the Moon Goddess”.
• Chris was in no mood to explain further, so he silenced them and asked them to enjoy the arranged buffet. Most crowd members scattered towards the tables, and few members came to greet their new Luna.
• The following two hours passed by Adele meeting a few of the pack members. She felt she got mixed reactions from them. Some were skeptical towards her, and some looked at her with pity, while a few were disgusted as if mocking her. Adele couldn’t understand these weird reactions and guessed it must be because of her having two mates. She wanted to discuss it with Chris but couldn’t get a chance as he was busy with the pack members. Soon it was time to leave, and they all went to their respective rooms.
• Maria accompanied Adele to her room, and Adele asked her, “ I feel the pack members are not quite welcoming towards me. Is it because I have two mates?”
• Maria was reluctant to reply as she knew the actual cause for the weird reactions was because they knew their Alpha would never accept their Luna wholeheartedly. They all know about Chris and Liam’s relationship. Some members, including Maria herself, pitied her, whereas others mocked her for being so ignorant. The fact that she has two mates now has become the reason for even more mockery as they feel Moon Goddess gave her two mates, and both of them don’t want her.
• Seeing Maria’s hesitation, Adele further asked, “ Did I do something wrong?”
• Maria felt hurt at the worried expression on Adele’s face. “ You have done nothing wrong, Dear. They must be shocked at the news. It's not common to have two mates; give them some time, they will gradually be comfortable with you.”
• Adele is convinced by her words and decided she would meet up with the pack members and get along. This Pack was her new home, and she wanted to be with them as a family. But first of all, she has to get close and comfortable with her own mates. With a new resolve, she decides she will try her best to be a good mate to her mates and a deserving Luna to the Blackwood Pack.