Calli

“Next we will perform the Beta ceremony.” Ian announces loudly and Finn takes that as his cue to remove his tongue from my mouth. He smiles warmly at me and I grin back.

‘I love you.’ He links to me as he moves towards Cam.

‘I love you too.’ I answer as I let go of his hands.

Ian takes the place in front of me that Finn had been standing in previously and takes out the dagger again.

“With this ceremony, you will be bonded to our pack Calli. It is an honor and a great responsibility. Do you understand this?” He asks solemnly and I nod.

“I do.”

“Good. Now, do you promise to uphold our laws and our customs, to protect this pack and keep them happy and healthy to the best of your ability?” I smile at Ian and nod again.

“I do.”

“Excellent, please hold out your palm again.” I do so and he cuts a little more, not needing much since I already had a wound there.

Then he cuts his own palm and holds it out to me before chanting the same words again.

“With this blood do we bond.”

I feel a surge of energy course through my veins, that grows the longer Ian holds onto my hand. I feel my blood begin to hum with power and the wolves in the front row bare their necks to me.

“You’re feeling Finn’s power.” Ian explains to me quietly. “The power of a Beta.”

He let’s go of my hand and stands to face the crowd while holding his hands out towards me.

“I present to you, Moonbeam Pack, your new Beta Female!” There are loud cheers and applause as the pack stands and welcomes me. I stand and smile at them all, trying to rein in this feeling in my blood.

I look over at Finn and his smile holds warmth, awe and pride.

“Now, let’s go celebrate!” Ian yells and the cheering grows impossibly louder as the pack filters towards the packhouse where grills and trays upon trays of food have been set up with numerous tables, a dance floor and a DJ booth that one of the younger wolves is stationed at.

Finn scoops me up in his arms and carries me straight to the dance floor where a slow song starts. He puts me down and wraps his arms around me as we begin to sway to the music.

“You look so beautiful, sweetheart.” He murmurs to me and I smile up at him.

“Not as beautiful as you. If I knew you cleaned up so well, I would have bought one of these forever ago.” I say and he chuckles at me.

“I think it’ll be more fun for you to take it off later.” He winks at me and I blush which makes Finn tilt his head back and laugh.

We dance and eat and laugh and celebrate with our pack. They are so warm and welcoming to me, hugging me and saying how happy they are with how we’ve been handling things so far. As happy as I am, I still can’t rid of this nagging feeling like I’m being watched. I look around the forest surrounding us, but it’s dark and I definitely do not have werewolf eyes, so I try to ignore it.

Penny and I drink a bit too much, always forgetting that we’re human and can’t keep up with the wolves and end up dancing to a song about windows and walls rather obnoxiously before I feel my eyelids begin to droop.

“Finn?!” I call out but don’t see him anywhere.

“Finny!”

“Finnius!!”

“Finny boo-booooooo!”

“Calli!”

“Yes?” I turn and see Finn standing behind me.

“Do not call me Finny boo boo.” He says seriously as he swings me up into his arms. I hiccup and look up at him innocently.

“Shall we ask Socks how he feels about it?” I ask and he chuckles.

“Um no. That wolf will give you anything you ask for.” I giggle and stroke his cheek with my hand, enjoying the stubble that’s forming.

“I’ll give the both of you anything you ask for.” I say and lean forward to whisper conspiratorially in his ear. “Even anal.”

Finn halts in his tracks and his hold on me tightens while he looks down at me with wide eyes.

“Have you done that before, Sweetheart?” He asks with a sly grin. I shake my head.

“Nope.” I pop the ‘p’ on the end and stop shaking my head as the motion is making me nauseous.

“But you want to try it? Not tonight obviously, you’re too far gone for that but maybe someday.” I nod, less vigorously this time.

“With you, yes. I’ll do anything with you Finny. I trust you.” I whisper the last part and he leans down to kiss me.

“You taste like vodka, my little love.” Finn says with a touch of annoyance.

“And you taste like pure man.” I sigh as I lean my head onto his chest. He chuckles and starts walking towards our house again.

I feel myself sink into something soft and a blanket thrown over me. I feel Finn kiss my forehead gently and reach out for him. He holds my hand for a while as I drift off into a peaceful sleep.

I’m awoken the next morning by a stream of blinding light shining directly in my eyes and pounding of what appears to be bongo drums in my head. I groan loudly and push my face back into my pillow.

“GOOD MORNING VIETNAMMMMMMM!” Finn yells as he bursts into the room.

“Shut up before I murder you!” I yell at him, although it’s muffled by my pillow.

“Oh I see how it is. Last night it was all ‘I love you Finn. You’re so sweet Finn’ and now you’re going to murder me?” He says with mock indignation as he pulls the covers off of me.

I sit up to glare at him until the wave of nausea crashes over me.

Well, this is great.

I run into the bathroom and empty my stomach in the toilet while Finn holds my hair.

“So I’m guessing you don’t want the breakfast I brought you?” He asks as I brush my teeth.

“Is it what I hope it is?” I ask around my toothbrush.

“Breakfast burritos.” Finn says with a cocky smile and I fist bump him.

“Hell yeah!” I cry. “Alright I love you again.”

He chuckles and carries me down to the living room where Cam is playing a symphony on the bottom of our pots with wooden spoons while Penny sits at the kitchen island with her head in her hands.

“I HATE HIM!” She yells at me and I can’t help but smile.

“It’s not my fault you can’t hold your liquor, princess.” Cam mocks Penny as she flips him the bird.

“It’s not my fault I’m not a fucking werewolf who burns alcohol like most people burn carbs!” She’s yells back at him and he laughs.

“If you fuck with my pots, I will kill you.” I tell Cam and narrow my eyes at him. His eyes widen and he begins to put them back where he found them.

“Okay, jeeze. You can put that Beta aura away.” He huffs and I look up at Finn.

“Was my Beta showing?” He laughs and sets me down next to Penny.

“Yeah, babe. It’ll take practice but you’ll learn to control it.” He shrugs as he hands Penny and I both a burrito.

“Did I ever tell you how much I love you?” I say and Finn nods.

“Yes, baby all the time.” I look at him and narrow my eyes.

“I wasn’t talking to you. I was talking to the burrito.” Penny laughs around her full mouth and Finn scoffs at me before handing me some orange juice.

“That burrito can’t give you orgasms like I can.” I hold the burrito up at different angles, studying it and trying to shape it more into a phallus.

“You’re not seriously trying to figure out how to fuck that burrito are you?” Penny asks incredulously and I shrug.

“Don’t act like you wouldn’t marry that burrito if you could.” Penny ponders this for a moment then nods.

“Fair point. Plus, a burrito wouldn’t cut holes in the crotch of all of my underwear for ‘easier access’” She says while glaring at Cam.

“I stand by that.” Cam says pointing at Penny and smiling. I laugh as Finn looks at me like he’s contemplating something.

“Don’t you dare.” I say harshly as his face breaks out into a wide smile.

“Baby, I don’t need to cut holes in your panties. They already make crotchless underwear.” He and Cam both start laughing and I groan, taking my burrito out onto the patio to eat in peace.

“It’s just you and me now, little burrito. The way it always should be.” I whisper to my sweet snack before digging in.