It was decided for Talia's Luna ceremony to be held this night when the mixer for unmated werewolves was organized.
They picked this evening in order to conceal any possible magical effects due to the bond forming between Talia and pack members.
When a new Alpha or Luna are introduced to the pack, every pack member will feel the bond changing to some degree. Considering Talia's unusual background, they couldn't predict how this would affect members of the Dark Howlers pack.
Another risky variable was the point that Talia was an Alpha of the Midnight Guardians pack, and there were no recorded cases of an Alpha having two separate pack links.
Talia's Luna ceremony overlapped with the event where people will be in high spirits. Unless something extreme happened, people would think that whatever they felt was due to the joy of an unexpected event (like a fair where several packs participated). Everyone loved parties.
Damon and Talia considered officially merging their packs, but that was not feasible because the Midnight Guardians pack was still not in a position to come out openly. There was also the challenge of their territories being physically separated with great distance between them.
Amelia's and Cornelia's research on portals was progressing, but they were still far from coming up with a working portal. If they could open the portal into the Midnight Guardians pack, that would open them up to the possibility of merging two packs into one. However, until that happens, Talia's pack still needed to maintain their secrecy as they were gradually being introduced to society.
Another benefit of cramming the mixer event and Talia's Luna ceremony on the same evening was that after the ceremony, they would all head to the mixer. That will give Damon and Talia the perfect excuse not to shift into wolf forms and go for a run. Normally, that would be expected, but Talia couldn't shift due to her pregnancy, and she didn't want to reveal that at this time.
Talia's Luna ceremony was supposed to be private, but the number of people attending was rising by the day.
Other than Mindy and Gideon, in attendance will be Damon, Maya, Caden, Talia's guards and their mates, Elders of the Dark Howlers pack, several high-ranking warriors, and Doctor Travis. They will be official witnesses.
Maya and Caden moved their vacation to one day later so they could attend this event. Maya said that she had no hints of her heat coming (yet), and she didn't want to miss Talia becoming their Luna. Maya was looking forward to it since she realized that the girl coming out of the trunk was Damon's mate.
With everyone important being busy and low-key about Talia's Luna ceremony, Erik, Petra, and Zack were stuck with ensuring everything went well at the mixer event until Talia, Zina, and Mindy (main organizers) returned to their posts.
Talia was surprised that all Elders agreed to attend without making a fuss, and they collaborated in keeping this a secret.
Maya believed Elders were obedient because they already had a pack run where Damon announced Talia as his mate and a future Luna, so any agenda Elders had was ruined. In addition, no one could deny the positive changes happening since Talia came to the Dark Howlers pack. Everyone knew that Talia was responsible for the tribute from the Steelbite pack and the scent-concealing mixture. Those were not secrets before, but now that it was revealed Talia was Alpha Damon's mate, all those contributions became much more significant.
In short, Elders had two choices, either to support Talia as their Luna and maybe get some benefits or to accept being non-relevant.
In addition to the people from the Dark Howlers pack attending, Cornelia was there. She would come to the Dark Howlers pack daily, so she knew about the ceremony. James didn't want to separate from his mate, so he was there as well, and how could Dawn miss this? Of course, George will come with Dawn, and then there will be Cristian, Michelle, Tony, Kalina, Maddox, and Tatiana. Axel and Yasmin were due to arrive with Kai, Meg, Tyler, and Sandy.
Most of them were set to come for the fair-like mixer event, and since they would already be in the area, Talia thought it would be wrong to exclude them.
James and George shouldn't show their faces, so Cornelia performed a spell to conceal their true appearances from everyone other than their small circle of friends.
Somehow, Talia's private Luna ceremony turned out to be a big deal, but Talia didn't hate it. She loved the idea of her friends witnessing this monumental event. She became Alpha of the Midnight Guardians pack when she was at her loneliest, and Damon couldn't remember her, and this will be the complete opposite.
Zina, Trisha, Caleb, Pierce, and Daria were in the garden behind the packhouse, setting up chairs and tables for their guests that were due to arrive soon. It will be a short ceremony, and the afterparty will be at the mixer event, but they still needed some drinks and snacks in order not to look shabby.
Mindy and Gideon were on the platform in the back of the garden, preparing the ceremonial altar. Now that Gideon and Mindy had relocated into their new home close to the packhouse, this platform became the official spot for ceremonies. The stone altar was moved from Gideon's old home to here, and it took several warriors to lift each stone block that was etched with ancient symbols.
Gideon could create a new ceremonial altar, but the old one carried a lot of history, and he didn't want to discard it. Shamans believed everything in nature had a soul and was worthy of respect, stones included.
Gideon was busying himself at the ceremonial altar, and Mindy smiled when she heard him hum a tune; he would do that often since he found out that she was expecting his pup. Gideon was truly happy, and it reflected on Mindy as well.
"Do we need more osage fern?" Mindy asked while showing him the container with dried plants that was among the others on the side of the platform. It was her duty as his helper to pass him ingredients during ceremonies.
Gideon took a glance at what she was showing and shook his head. "No, those are more than enough."
Mindy picked up the next container. "How about climbing sorrel?"
"We have enough of those also."
Mindy puffed her cheeks. "Is there something I can help with? I feel useless."
Gideon shot her a side-glance. "You can help me organize these."
Mindy saw that he was pointing at the altar, and she happily went there.
No matter how she looked at the altar, it looked neat.
"What can I do here?" Mindy asked, and she sucked in a sharp breath when she felt Gideon hugging her from behind. It was not about the hug, but she could feel him pressing his erection on her bottom.
They were both wearing ceremonial clothes that didn't provide much obstruction for their private parts to meet.
"You can do plenty," Gideon's hot breath splashed on her neck, just above his mark, and she felt tingles all over.
Mindy nervously looked toward the garden, where several others were busy with preparations.
"There are people there," Mindy whispered with urgency when Gideon's palm moved up her thigh under her skirt.
Gideon chuckled. "I see no people, princess. It's just me and you and…" He released a low hum when he felt her pumpkin-infused moisture at the tip of his fingers. Mindy's pregnancy was making her super-horny, and he loved it!
