"You look like a disco ball," I tell Celestina with her silver and glitter dress.

"And you look like a rat," she retorts with a roll of her eyes.

I had barely woken up since I helped Theo with the paperwork last night and ended up goofing around. Counting down, I had 4 hours left to prepare and 2 hours for travel.

I pop open a can of soda before leaving the kitchen.

I was about to make my way to my room when giggles and laughter reaches my ears. A hand tugs on my shirt and I almost choke from the fabric, but I stop myself from kicking whoever it was.

I turn around and unintentionally growl at the group of children. They didn't cower in fear like I intended and only bursts in fits of laughter as if they were having the time of their lives.

"You guys are so cute. I want to lock you up in my room and play hide and seek and leave you in my closet for forever.....," I mumble.

Approaching the children, I fake a smile and release a playful growl. They run away, laughing their asses off, oblivious to my previous intentions.

It was a good thing. I didn't want angry mobs of parents protesting and throwing weeds at me.

I fix my shirt and soon, I was inside the walls of our room.

Theo quickly did my hair, leaving it in loose curls and a simple half up, half down. I was gonna go through the lazier end and just straighten my hair when Theo volunteered. It was a "brother thing," he said.

I was just glad his styling skills wasn't as bad as his cooking.

To complete the finishing touches, he secures the two strands of hair together with a rose gold flower clip.

"Whatever happens, make sure you don't lose it, you promise?" he makes sure to add.

I give him a nod and beam at him. "Promise. Thank you, Theo."

He gives me one last smile before leaving the room to do some office work, his own outfit hanging off one arm.

About an hour and a half later, I was finished with my makeup and I quickly slipped into the dress as carefully as I could.

The dress accentuated my waist just how I liked it. I sure was happy when the dress didn't feel itchy against my sensitive skin.

"Theo!" I yell at him through the mind link.

"What?"

"Come hereee," I whine to him. Grabbing a red rose from the vase, I swiftly sit on the edge of the bed with my legs crossed over each other. Making sure the stem didn't have any thorns, I place the rose between my teeth.

"Why do I have the feeling that I'm about to see some lewd strip show?"

I ignore him and sooner than later, his footsteps and captivating scent enters my senses. Speedily, I place the back of my hand and arch my back dramatically.

I hold back a laugh when the door opens and the footsteps stopped. There was a moment of silence—not even a single breath.

"Oh my God. My eyes are experiencing extreme overheating and great damage. I have committed a grave sin and must seek for my beautiful Talia for indulgence. Goodbye," Mason rants before scrambling out of the doorway.

I bat my lashes at Theo who continues to button the buttons of his vest, his tuxedo jacket over his shoulder. My eyes didn't dare miss how his muscles flexed when he started rolling up his sleeves.

I patiently wait until he was finished and he finally acknowledges by existence.

He leans towards me with his arms crossed. "Hi, beautiful. You look like my next wife."

"And you look like my ex-husband."

"You're so sweet," he chuckles and places a kiss on the top of my head. "You look gorgeous as always."

"You're not too bad yourself," I retort.

There was a short laugh before he responded, "You do have a thing for stealing my lines."

"No I don't," I smirk at him. "I just have a thing for you."

There was an immediate buzz and chatter upon our arrival. Apparently, it was the first of many years that the Crimson Royal Pack has joined the celebration.

And they were struggling to believe that there was a new Luna.

Cute.

Gatherings are boring and are just plain out dull. Especially when Felix wasn't here for me to bother.

Trouble, however, will give it a little bit more taste.

So I was about to barge in the The Council's VIP lounge and have a peaceful chit-chat with them when a mob of zombie girls rushed to Theo the moment I left his side.

He crosses his arms and keeps his lips tied shut, looking everywhere but the hungry piranhas in front of him.

"It's nice having you here today," one girl starts off with a sultry voice. She wore a stunning satin dress and her light brown hair was up in an elaborate updo. However, she was too close to Theo for my liking. "I must say that you're quite the dashing young man."

I resist the urge to stomp to her and slap her like a madman, but instead I saunter towards her with an innocent smile on my face.

"Babe, your face is a fucking mess," I join them.

Hungry eyes snap to me.

"I'm sorry. Did I ask?" The girl who was first talking to Theo speaks up.

"I'm sorry. Was I talking to you?" I tilt my head at her and fake a frown. I march to Theo and pretend to fix his hair and the collar of his shirt.

Ignorant to the thirsty zombies that was trying to eat him up previously, he beams at me and his muscles relax as if I was giving him a fucking therapeutic massage.

I keep pretending to clean up his look and wait for the sound of leaving footsteps. Soon, there was an angry grumble before heels clacking entered my hearing senses.

"Should I be offended?" Theo questions me, wrapping an arm around my waist.

"Not at all."

I let him guide me around the huge space filled with hundreds of wolves who were all too suspicious of each other.

"Do you see that guy? The one with the shiny head?" Theo asks and nudges his head to the direction of the person.

He was tall, but fit. His hands held another woman's hands. I eye the bald man who seems to be in his mid-50s, his brows were furrowed and a sheen of sweat graces his forehead.

"The man looks scared," I tell Theo. My gaze seems to travel on its own and land upon another lady from another side of the room, who ogled the bald man's back with the most intense look I've ever seen.

"He should be," Theo says, amusement in his voice. "He's a cheater. Caught him and that lady shooting lasers at him red-handed at one of our pack guest rooms a few months ago. His wife is completely blinded by roses and luxury bags."

I hum and lean my head on his shoulder, waiting for my cue to shine.

"That box in his back pocket? I bet you $20 it's not for the unlucky lady in front of him," Theo mentions. Getting the message, the corners of my lips form into a mischievous smile.

When a waiter walks by us, Theo grabs a glass of wine from the tray and plays with it gently, watching the ripples.

"I bet you $20 neither of those two unlucky ladies will even have a chance of seeing it," I respond.

Pull away from me, I watch as Theo approaches the couple, his smile lifting into a smirk when he took a sip of the wine.

Keeping my eye on them as they greeted each other, I analyzed their hand gestures and 1 million dollar smiles.

I raise a brow when they broke out in laughter.

And I didn't dare miss the side glance Theo gave me, his grey orbs lit with mischief.

Taking it as my signal, I keep my eyes trained away from then in a nonchalant way as I walk past them. Slipping the jewelry box swiftly out of his pockets, I eye Theo apologize to the bald man for spilling the contents of his wine on him.

"Good luck with that, my love. I'll come back soon when the situation cools down," I tease him.

"I better have a great reward after this."

"Oh, you bet."

I follow the signs that leads me to the women's restroom. Sliding the jewelry box in my empty ankle holster, I grumble at the memory of the guards confiscating my precious knife.

Rude.

They told me I could come back to take it back but they were dumb for letting me notice them as they tossed it carelessly into a trash bin.

Really, what was the reason?

I return to reality and enter the unusually empty hallway to the ladies room. I slow down at once, ready to turn around back to the safety of people.

It was a miracle that I had a talent in recognizing which situations I should just start running away from.

But is there really a situation where I don't run away from?

Bile rises in the back of my throat as I begin to worry, disliking the absence of talkative ladies of gentlemen. At this point, I was a bundle of nerves.

Remember when I said silence was a gift that I very well appreciate?

Yeah, I take that back.

I hold back a breath and walk backwards in a very slow pace. Feeling for a wall, I place my back on the wall, refusing to be caught off guard. This way, I could see anyone coming my way from every corner.

Still, the eerie silence was making my heart beat uncontrollably. I lick my dry lips and heighten my senses.

"Theo?" I call him out through the mind link.

"What's wrong?"

"Are you busy?"

"Never for you, mi amor," he tells me.

"Well, you see. I'd really appreciate it if you haul your fucking ass right here, right now and save me like the Prince Charming you are. Because right now, I'm a damsel in distress in need of some saving, you hear me?" I rant to him.

My fucking God, why did I leave his side?

"Fuck. You better not have masked your scent," he reminds me.

"I didn't."

"Good."

So here I was, sticking next to the wall and walking away from the uncanny silence that was making me all jittery.

"Fuck."

I stop in my tracks and blink at the two figures staring back at me as they met at the corner.

"Hi," I give them a nervous smile.

The man and woman glanced at each other before looking back at me with a dirty look and a death stare.

"Bye?" I add, only for it to come out as an unsure question. I wait one second, suspecting their intentions.

The narrowing of their eyes was it all it took for me before I pick up my heels and throw it at them aimlessly. I run away to God who know where, panic arising.

That was my first mistake.

"Come on, Theo. I not only left one, but two glass slippers. I need my Prince Charming now," I manage to tell him in a pool of fright.

"I can tell, Alex. Your evil siblings are fucking dead right now. Bleeding. On the floor. Now tell me, what direction are you heading to?!"

I stop running and lean on a corner, catching my breath in an attempt to calm my heart rate and clear my mind.

That was my second mistake.

Feeling the uneasy and tense silence, I was ready to turn on my heel and keep running when an arm grabs me by the neck.

Stupid. Stupid. Stupid.

I make a failed effort to elbow his groin, a painful groan only coming out of the man's lips. Another hand covers my mouth and I almost threw up at the taste of his rough skin.

"Move one muscle and I'll snap your neck," he threatens. His voice was nasally and his scent was horrid.

"We forgot to kill stepmother," I try to joke through the mind link.

And that's when I notice the hand release it's hold on my mouth.

With my eyes wide open, I nervously laugh out a, "Hey, I know what you're doing. I don't think you shou—."

I feel a blunt force to the back of my neck and almost immediately, I lose my consciousness.

___

A/n this ch. messy bruh

I'll edit it...

One day