~Alyce/Faelyn~

The door to the room opened and Tristan slipped in with the tray of breakfast, Mat right behind him, lingering in the doorway.

“No, Sir! Out!” Kami screeched at Tristan.

“Kami, let them enjoy breakfast, we can set up everything across the hall while they eat, and then Tristan promises to leave and be a good Alpha-to-be until the ceremony.” Mat coaxed, giving me a narrow eyed look at Tristan when he spoke about his promise.

“Absolutely, I promise.” He looked determined to stay for breakfast, regardless of Kami’s answer, but she seemed to think about it for a moment, eyeing him sideways.

“Alright, then I don’t wanna see you on this floor until after the ceremony.” Kami conceded as she left with Mat to go prepare the other room.

He sat the tray down on the coffee table and came over to me, kissing me softly as he grabbed my hand. I let him lead me to the sitting area and we sat down to breakfast together.

Tristan left after breakfast, or rather after Kami came in and made him leave. Apparently we were drawing it out too much. I laughed at his pouting and Kami’s demanding that he leave. Then she rounded on me and my eyes went wide. She was a damn pistol, “Into the shower with you. The stylist will be here in an hour.” Kami ordered me and frankly I had no desire to set her off today.

I jumped up and disappeared into the bathroom. I drew out the shower as long as I dared, enjoying the hot water running over my muscles before quickly scrubbing myself off and stepping out to dry off. I left my hair unwashed, as I wasn’t sure whether the stylist preferred to work with wet or dry hair and I had just washed it recently. I tried not to wash it more than once or twice a week unless necessary.

I left the bathroom, wrapped only in a towel and headed for my closet, getting a pair of panties and my dressing gown. I had no idea what Kami and Mat had planned for the day, so I would try to make this easier on all of us. Stepping back into the room I saw that Mat had rejoined us.

“How’re your ribs?” I grinned at him.

“A little sore, but fine. I always know the risks when I drag you out of bed.”

“Mmhmm, you do know better.”

“Yeah, yeah. The stylist is in the room across the hall waiting, she brought reinforcements as Kami and I have to get ready as well. You and I are going over there. Kami will be gathering your outfit and joining us shortly.”

I nodded, “Ok. Let’s do this.” I looked at Kami, “Were you able to fulfill that request I made?”

She held up a small bag with a smile and a nod, “I sure was.”

I gave her an excited smile, “Good. Thank you so much.”

“Anytime. Now get going.”

Mat and I left the bedroom, heading across the hall. I had no idea what I was in for as we entered the room. The stylist had brought two others with her and they had set up traveling salon stations, which was actually kind of neat.

“Ah, Luna Alyce. It’s a pleasure to meet you. My name is Sophia, these are my assistants, Danielle and Mya. We also brought Derek and Jordan with us, but they will be down with the men.”

“It’s nice to meet you all, thank you for coming to help us prepare for tonight. Please, just call me Alyce. I dislike titles unless absolutely necessary. I wasn’t sure what you preferred when working with hair, so I left mine dry. Easier to wet it than dry it with as thick and long as it is.”

“Of course Alyce, come have a seat. We’ll start with your hair and then move onto makeup and wardrobe last. I understand Lady Kami will be joining us with your outfit shortly?”

“Yes, she will.” I sat down in the chair she indicated to and she wasted no time putting a cape on me and brushing out my hair to see what she was working with, “So, what did you want to do with it?”

“I was thinking of cutting it off a bit, maybe bringing it up to about my mid back?”

“We can do that. If you’re just wanting to take off what’s unhealthy, we only need to take off four to six inches though.”

“No, I’m just ready for less time consuming hair management.”

“I understand. Any particular style you want or just an even, basic cut?”

“Maybe a little texture at the ends? Otherwise just a basic, even cut.”

“You got it.” She set up a small table next to the chair, organizing her supplies for the job before getting to work. I closed my eyes, not wanting to watch as she cut off about 12 inches of my hair in one go.

I let out a breath I didn’t know I was holding, both at the act being done and the relief of having half as much hair to care for. I opened my eyes and looked in the mirror, watching as Sophia set to work on the smaller details of the cut. She partitioned my hair, using clips to hold the sections as she textured the ends and made sure everything was even and laid properly. When she finished with that she set about styling my hair for the ceremony.

Three smaller braids were done on either side of my head and brought around the sides to come together in the back. The braids were held in place with a celtic infinity knot clip. The clip was silver colored and accented with sage green jewels that matched my dress perfectly. She added some definition into my natural waves by curling the ends of my hair loosely. With a smile she handed me a mirror and spun the chair so that I could see my hair from all sides with the mirror.

“It’s beautiful Sophia. Thank you!”

“It’s been my pleasure, really.”

About this point Kami came into the room, carrying the garment bag that held my dress, a smaller day bag that I assumed held my surprise for Tristan, and another two garment bags. I assumed those were her and Mat’s attire for the evening. “Wow, Aly you look amazing!” She squealed with delight.

“Thank you.”

“Makeup next. Let me hang these up and I’ll be right with you Sophia.” Kami went behind the dressing screens that had been set up to get ready and hung the bags behind the appropriate screens before planting herself in Sophia’s chair while I relocated to Mya’s chair to get my makeup done.

“Light and natural please, I’m not big on makeup.” I smiled at Mya.

“No problem Alyce, maybe just a little eyeliner, shadow and mascara? Your skin is great, no foundation is needed with you at all. I’m not sure we’d even have anything light enough for you to be honest.”

“Sounds great.”

Mya set to work on my makeup while Sophia started in on Kami’s hair. Who knew getting ready could take so long? It took hours just to get everyone through hair and makeup, except Mat, he was relatively quick through the hair stylist’s chair and no makeup needed for him of course. The only break we took was an hour for lunch.

“Alright, time to get dressed, the ceremony starts in an hour.” Kami sang out excitedly.

“Wow, is it that time already?” I looked at Kami, nerves finally hitting me a bit as I chewed my bottom lip nervously.

“Breath Aly, everything will be fine.” Mat gave me a hug and then slipped behind his dressing screen.

“Yes, now go get dressed.” She gave me a reassuring smile and I returned it as we all slipped behind our dressing screens.

I slipped into the lingerie set that Kami had gone back to pick up for me and then slid on the evening gown portion of my dress. Next came the skirt, which I tied offset to the left, leaving the left side slit exposed in the dress, “Mat? Shoes?”

“There’s a few options on the bench in your area.” He responded.

I walked over and looked at the three pairs of shoes they had brought over, “These are all heels!”

“Kami picked them out, don’t take it out on me.” Mat snickered.

“Kami… Are you trying to kill me?” I whined at her.

“No, just following Tristan’s suggestion. I did make sure they are all wide heels and not anything too high though.” She giggled.

“I hate you all…” I grumbled as I looked at my options. A black, strappy, peep toe style that would wind up my calves with a wide heel, a pair of white wedges and a matching sage green pair of chunky heeled pumps. I grabbed the black pair and put them on, hoping that I’d be less likely to make a fool of myself in them.

“Are y'all ready?” I asked from behind the screen, peeking out at them. Mat and Kami were standing by the door, waiting on me.

“Aly, get out here so we can see!” Mat was more excited than I was. Kami was bouncing on the balls of her feet, motioning for me to come out from behind the screen.

I stepped out, looking at my feet, as I waited for their appraisal. Kami squealed, “You look amazing! Oh, I can’t wait to see Tristan’s face when he sees you!”

“You’re going to turn everyone’s head Aly. You’re beautiful.” Mat smiled at me, holding a hand out for me.

I blushed and placed my hand in his before stepping to his side, linking my arm through his, “Thank you.”

“Let’s do this.” Kami grinned, opening the door.

I took a deep breath and nodded. I didn’t know why this made me nervous. With everything I had been through in my life, this made me nervous. Made me question myself. Whether I was good enough for this, deserved this. Mat gave my hand on his arm a knowing pat, reassuring me, “The answer is yes. Stop getting in your own head.” He whispered.

I smiled at him and we followed Kami out of the room. It was time to meet our new path head on and confidently. We had a new home and a new family and I had a renewed hope in the ability to achieve my goals and find the answers I needed.