This was the Luna Ceremony invitation by the look of it. Pack colors were in fashion, it seemed. She did know Cedar Rapids pack colors were navy blue, silver and, of course, the color of red cedar. She knew why, because the pack had rapids that ran right through it and there were many red cedar trees inside the pack. It was aptly named, she thought.
Wynta opened the box and inside it was an envelope with a wax seal in there. She shook her head and wondered what the box was for. Was it a pack tradition or just that they wanted to be extra fancy.
She broke the seal, which also held their initials L&R, and slid out the actual invitation; a nicely folded invitation, and again there was another seal. Only this one had three fine pieces of golden thread to hold it together and bound to the wax. It was all very fancy, she realized; Edward and Marian were going all out.
She broke that seal and opened the actual invitation, and their names, Lance and Raelynn, were written in a big, bold flashy script, and then the event name time and the place, the pack’s ballroom of course, where all Luna Ceremonies were held, she supposed. Not that she had ever been to one, but she’d heard they were a grand event.
On the inside of the right-hand side was a list of details, of what not to wear and the type of attire that was expected. It was a black-tie event and full formal wear was expected, and no pack member or affiliated guest was allowed to wear anything white or cream, in color. The Luna would be wearing a white gown and any upstaging of her or attempts at it would be fully punishable by three lashings on the shaming post.
The event was mandatory, and the entire pack was expected to attend the event to celebrate the happy couple. Those that opted not to attend would see themselves on the shaming post and given one lash for disrespect. In brackets, it read, (those without wolves, one day on the shaming post and full admonishment by Alpha and Luna)
Then on the left side of the invitation was the RSVP details. There was a QR Code and under that it stated all women had to state the color of the dress they would be wearing on the RSVP. It was preferred that bright or dark colors were to be worn, and all full pastel colors were to be avoided. She just shook her head.
Though she sat and stared at that invitation for a long time, she’d worked for Hayes Industries now for five years, and still she’d managed to never set foot inside the pack itself. She had not attended a single mating ball because she saw no need to. She’d had a Mate once, and rejected him long ago, 14 years now, and so there was no reason to think she’d get another.
She’d, however, gotten three invites a year for the past five years and ticked the decline box on all occasions. After that first year, those invites had stated that she was to list the reason she would not be attending. She’d shaken her head, understanding it was Alpha Edward’s way of trying, she thought, to find a way to get her onto pack territory.
She’d written on three of them ‘not a ranked member’, on three others, ‘I’ll be away on vacation’, and on several of them she’d simply written ‘I don’t fit the criteria for the mating ball.’ She was still a rogue and so held no rank inside that pack, not even when she’d been sent and omega only invite, she’d declined that on not being an omega. But being of rogue status, she actually didn’t fit any of their criteria, and could claim just being a rogue, but it was she thought annoying for Edward to have to read all her reasons as to why she wouldn’t be attending.
The last refusal had been ingenious on her part, she’d thought, because he’d thought he’d had her with that invite for all otherworldly creatures, regardless of having non-pack status within their own realms or the human realm, were invited to come and see if they might find their Mate. She’d actually laughed at the wording of it. It had been so she couldn’t play, she didn’t fit the criteria, or I’m a rogue card as a way of not attending the ball.
Wynta thought she was now even beginning to frustrate Alpha Edward, that he now had to find other ways to try and get her into his pack. It was clear to her that he had read all her reasons for getting out of setting foot inside his pack territory. It kind of amused her more than a little bit to see all the effort he was going to.
She’d used ‘I’m going to a Marketing Conference’ on him, and she had actually done so. It had also been booked four months prior to that mating ball, paid for by his own company. She’d written a politely worded email about she didn’t want to be seen as wasting the company’s money because the event was nonrefundable, and she didn’t want to disappoint her team, who were also all going to the conference with her. It was out of state and fully booked and organized months in advance. She’d attached the booking list of employees and the accommodation and conference details for him to check it all.
She’d laughed softly to herself when she’d hit the send button on that one, it had just been perfect timing for her, nothing more. She’d leaned back in her chair all happy that day and chuckled softly because it wasn’t the first time she’d used skills building courses to get out of mating balls.
She always kept track of when and where those skill-building conferences took place, and if they ever fell on a full moon, or the travel to and or from one did, she signed herself up for them; did it months in advance just so she could state she hadn’t deliberately avoided the invite at the last minute.
She had an education and team building budget to use, and that’s what she used it on. Sometimes she would take the whole team with her. Hell, once all three marketing teams had gone to it, including her and the other supervisors, everyone had signed up for it when she’d put it on the bulletin board in the office. The three departments had even split the cost of hiring a bus to get them there and back.
He couldn’t stop her from continuing to learn what was needed, in the ever-changing world around them, that was considered the best way to target their buyers and promote their businesses; it was all necessary skill building.
This invitation, however, she had a feeling she was unlikely to be able to get out of, he’d already probably checked into it himself. Though she did earn decent money now, and had moved up in the company from a Marketing Specialist to a Marketing Supervisor and that had come with a new office, and a higher pay check.
She still begrudged the idea of having to go out there and buy a formal dress for this occasion. She wasn’t a pack member, so it shouldn’t be mandatory for her to attend, but he’d gotten her to sign for that bloody invitation, and now she had an obligation, even as a rogue, to attend it.
Wynta sighed and shook her head, just knew there was not going to be a way to get out of it. He’d done his homework on this one. He was likely going to push for her to move into pack territory or that new apartment building he’d just finished building. It wasn’t massive, just six storeys high with six apartments on each floor, but the top that only had four and they were considered penthouse apartments.
He’d given her and her team the job of marketing the ground floor space, where he’d wanted a restaurant and a caf? along with two boutique stores to go there for revenue, things that would need marketing not just advertising.
Wynta
Edward had even sent her and her team down to check out that building. They’d all been met there by Chester, the pack’s Gamma, or to her team, one of the founders of the company they worked for. She and her team had been walked onto every floor and allowed to look at the apartments.
Just showing them around so they could get a feel for the type of people that were going to rent the apartments out. Chester had told them they would likely all be executive-type people. Nothing here was more than two bedrooms, and the space was large. There was no real room for children.
Chester had been watching her as they’d walked around. He walked right next to her the entire time and, although he’d been professional in his talking to her and the team, telling them what they wanted. She wasn’t so dumb as to not know why she had been chosen to lead this little project.
He’d stood and leaned on a window in one of the penthouse’s living areas and stated, “It’s a nice apartment, got a fantastic view, close to the office,” He’d even pointed it out in the distance, for her to see. She knew where it was, she had walked down here with her team, a casual 30-minute stroll where they’d all gotten coffee along the way.
“I think this particular penthouse apartment would be fit for a single woman like yourself, don’t you think? It’s got lots of closet space too.”
Wynta had nodded and smiled at him, rolled her eyes a little and commented, “I’m certain one of the managers would like it.” and then casually walked away from him. She wasn’t going to be swayed into moving into a pack-bought apartment. She understood it was Edwards way of getting her to likely take a baby step into being part of his pack.
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