I smoothed my hands over the dress as Mya looked me over. She came over a few hours ago to force me to get ready. She was already dressed by the time she sat me down in the bathroom to straighten my hair. She was subtle with the makeup she put on me before forcing me into the dress.

"I think it's even more perfect than before," she said with a huge smile. I looked myself over in the mirror. I couldn't help but to think of how much I looked like my mother. Mya squeezed my hand gently.

"Ready?" she asked. I nodded.

"Yeah, I just need to grab my stuff. I'll meet you at the car," I said. She left my room and I hurried to my closet to change into black ankle boots, jeans and a red sweater. There was no way I was wearing that dress today. I slid my phone into my pocket and grabbed my keys. I got in the car and Mya frowned at me.

"You changed," she noted.

"We're going to be late," I smiled at her. She rolled her eyes before Mya drove us to the Alpha's house and we went straight to the backyard. There were already hundreds of people talking and laughing with each other. There was a long table full of food and the Alpha family stood slightly elevated on the small hill near the tree line. Liam spotted me almost immediately. He smiled before making his way to me.

This is stupid, I thought to Aria. I knew she was watching, whether she made herself known or not at the moment.

"You made it," Liam said happily. I shrugged.

"Well I didn't really have a choice," I muttered behind my forced smile.

"You look great," he said as his eyes swept over my body.

"Thanks," I said uncomfortably. Liam himself looked like a clean cut model. He was wearing a simple white button up with the sleeves rolled up and the top button loose and khaki slacks.

"Come on," he said, taking my hand. He took me with him to where his family were standing on the hill.

"What are you doing, Liam?" I asked, too late. Luna Addie smiled and hugged me.

"Dani! So glad you could make it," she greeted me.

"Excuse me everyone! Your attention please," Liam addressed the crowd. They hushed as they looked at him. I stayed near Luna Addie, not wanting to draw attention to myself.

"As you all probably know by now, our retired Beta's granddaughter has returned to the pack. What you may not know is that she is also my mate," he announced. My eyes went wide as a hushed murmur spread throughout the crowd.

"Are you insane?" I hissed at him. He looked at me and reached to grab me but I glared at him and took a step back. "Touch me and you die," I warned. He blushed as his face went to one of shock before he recovered and left me.

"So let's give Dani a warm pack welcome," he finished. The crowd clapped and hooted but I could tell that behind the noise, there was mostly confusion. The crowd went back to their previous conversations as Luna Addie chuckled and put an arm around my shoulders.

"Sorry sweetie," she apologized.

"What was that?" I asked Liam as he walked the short distance back to us.

"All new members are introduced," he said smugly. I knew they weren't introduced like that, and he knew it too.

"You know I can hurt you without even touching you right?" I reminded him. He chuckled nervously before turning into a conversation with his father. I felt a wave of weakness hit me and pressed my hand against a nearby tree to pull energy from. The leaves on the tree all turned brown as they died almost instantly. I took the moment to walk down the hill to where the rest of the crowd was eating and talking amongst each other. Liam followed behind me.

"What are you doing?" I asked as I stopped to face him.

"Mingling?" he said questioningly.

"Go mingle over there. I'm going to find Mya," I chuckled. He sulked but stopped following me and I continued on my mission to find my friend. I was stopped many times and given hugs and welcomes by strangers which slowed me down a bit. Well, that and the fact that I was weak from the new moon.

"Welcome to the pack," someone said sarcastically. I was hoping she wouldn't have come at all, but no such luck. I turned to see a very pissed off looking Sophia.

"Thank you," I replied with a plastered smile. I was in no mood to play games with her today.

"Oh, and good luck... you're going to need it," she muttered.

"What is that supposed to mean?" I asked, turning my attention back to her. She shrugged in mock innocence.

"It's just that you're kind of... replaceable, right?" she asked. I chuckled and relaxed.

"No, not really. Last time I checked, you were the replaceable one, remember?" I said, mocking her.

"We'll see," she said, looking up the hill to where the Alpha Family was.

"I guess we will," I said before I continued to look for Mya. I finally found her by the punch bowl. I sighed in relief.

"I have literally been looking everywhere for you," I said as I leaned against the table.

"I haven't left the food," she giggled. "I wasn't expecting Liam to introduce you like that," she said. I sighed and nodded before I settled for pouring myself some punch.

"You're telling me," I muttered before I took a sip. I felt him before I saw him.

"Aren't you supposed to be mingling on the other side of the field, Liam?" I asked without turning around.

"I tried, but you're over here," he said cheekily as I sipped on my punch. I wanted to get inside his head but there were too many people here, and I hadn't quite mastered singling out one thought with a crowd this big. And taking my wall down now would just overload me. I was working on it though. Liam wrapped an arm around me, almost making me spill my punch. Mya jumped in and took the cup from my hand.

"You're not going to ruin her outfit. Even if it's not the one I picked for her," she said, setting the cup on the table. Liam chuckled before he moved to kiss me, I turned my head and pushed out of his grasp. We hadn't kissed since that one time at the high school, and I wasn't about to start in front of everyone in the pack.

"Liam," I warned. His smile was still easygoing.

"Relax, Dani. It's just a kiss," he said. I glared at him.

"I already told you how I feel about that, and I expect you to respect my choices. Just because you finally decided to publicly claim me without asking in the first place doesn't mean that I'll suddenly start acting like a love-struck fool," I ranted. "We are going at my pace," I reminded him. He sighed and all but rolled his eyes.

"It's been weeks," he whined.

"My pace, and I say not yet," I countered. We were starting to draw a few onlookers. Mya looked between the two of us before looping her arm with mine.

"We're just going to go to the ladies' room for a moment. Dani isn't feeling well. We'll be back," she said quickly before dragging me out of the crowd that was starting to get a little too nosy. We went inside the center and straight to the bathroom, as promised.

"I know you are in charge and whatnot, but you should really be careful where you decide to express your 'strong independent woman' remarks. I know you don't care, but the pack is sworn to protect the Alpha Family if someone defies them. Even if it's a future Alpha's mate," she warned. I groaned and rolled my eyes.

"I just hate how he tries to use the crowd to manipulate me. I'm not going to be all over Liam. I hate PDA for one, and he hasn't earned a damn thing more, either," I ranted.

"I know, but they don't. Typically, finding your mate equates to instant babies within the next few months, but I know that your circumstances aren't the same. The pack will only see that you're not following tradition. You'll be questioned for not accepting the role of Luna and carrying Liam's pups. They'll see you as thinking you're too good for him and the pack. I know it's frustrating and annoying and not at all fair, but it's all they know, and right now, you're challenging that which makes you the enemy," Mya tried to explain. Of course, I knew all of that, but I refused to compromise my self-worth for a stupid tradition.

"Of course... you could always do what I would do and just tell them to go screw themselves. But that's not very becoming of a Luna, is it?" Aria input her two cents as she sat perched on the counter with her legs crossed as she examined her nails. Mya jumped backwards in surprise as she gasped.