Chapter Three
The Full Moon Gathering
Disclaimer: I do not own Sailor Moon, or the characters.
Mina flitted around Serena's chambers like a butterfly, light on her bare toes. Her bright orange silk dress belled around her long legs when she danced past Serena again. Serena was curled on her small window seat in her solar, a worn book of poetry cradled in her lap.
"Serena! You must wear the dress I brought for you from home!"
Serena glanced up warily from the poem she was reading and regarded the armful of white and silver silk in Mina's arms. "I don't think so."
Mina groaned. "You must! I brought it all this way for you for the full moon gathering! You would look stunning in it!" She draped the gown across an empty chair. "Anyway, it's much better than the ones you have now."
Serena flushed. "The ones I have now are perfectly functional."
Mina raised a doubtful eyebrow, a look Serena had come to remember from their childhood. "Perhaps they are functional but that doesn't make them attractive. No wonder you haven't found any suitors."
"I haven't found any suitors because I haven't wanted any."
"I see." Mina busied herself straightening the unwanted dress. "So Molly is correct. You are waiting for Darien."
Serena leaped to her feet, her fists clenched at her sides. "I am not!"
Mina took in Serena's defensive stance, and tasted her unwilling alpha's scent. Serena may be able to lie to herself but as a werewolf, it was impossible for her to lie to one of her own kind. Well, Mina mentally amended, it was impossible for Serena to lie to another werewolf. She was simply incapable. "Serena, you may be able to lie to the members of the pack here, but you can't lie to me."
Serena sighed and slumped back onto the window seat. Mina was right. She couldn't lie. It was embarrassing to have another know so much about her emotions but even after all of this time, Serena and Mina were still bonded closely. "I'm sorry."
Mina shrugged dismissively. "Don't be ridiculous. You have been raised in an enemy pack for the last ten years but here you are safe, at least. I lie constantly. I must in order to survive in the Valterre pack." She glanced at Serena, a mischievous smile tugging her lips. "I am just better at lying than you are apparently."
Serena relaxed and returned her beta's smile. "I suppose you are. You always have been."
"The girls and I were trained to be better at everything. We had to be. In order to protect you at all times, it meant becoming superior to other members of the pack."
Serena nodded slowly. "I know. Mina, I just don't know what you expect from me. Virtus will slaughter any who stand in his way, especially me. The only thing that is keeping me alive is Darien's claim. What happens when he withdraws it?"
Mina was already shaking her head. "He won't withdraw it. Darien has done everything within his power to protect you. His claim may be keeping Virtus from assassinating you but that is not the only thing."
"How do you know?" Serena felt as close to Mina as she ever had but she sensed there was much Mina knew that she withheld from Serena.
Serena was surprised when a faint blush crossed Mina's cheekbones. "I have sources close to Darien."
"They could be lying."
"No, he wouldn't lie to me." Mina's response was firm, and Serena knew instantly that her source was a male.
"You trust the word of an enemy male?"
Mina nodded. "He isn't our enemy Sere. He is Darien's beta and none of those who are friends to Darien are enemies to us." She still sensed Serena's quiet doubt and felt the need to explain her actions further, despite the fact that her nature told her to guard her emotions closely.
"His name is Malachite." She sat down on the window seat and looked through the warped glass at the outside world. It was drizzling rain now but it would clear up by the time the gathering began. "I met him first when we were released from the dungeon. Warren, Virtus' beta, came with the orders but Malachite followed to be sure we were not mistreated. As soon as I set eyes on him, I knew." Mina glanced at her alpha for her reaction, but Serena's face was expressionless. "He was my One. I think he knew then too, because Warren tried to strike me for not exposing my neck and Malachite intercepted the blow. He was only seventeen at the time, but he stood up to Warren. Warren didn't let it pass. They fought later and Malachite was left with a scar."
Serena listened intently to Mina, her heartbeat slow and steady despite her aching desire to know that someone loved her enough to fight for her. Her parents had died protecting her, along with other pack members but no one had stepped forward to claim her…except Darien. Serena had long ago ceased to count his claim as legitimate. She hadn't seen him since that fateful night.
"You love him."
Mina looked at Serena, her surprise clear on her features. That was something she had not admitted to anyone, and she had barely come to terms with the fact herself. "Yes."
Serena smiled ruefully. "You and Molly." She stood and went to stroke the silken folds of the dress thoughtfully. "I suppose the other girls have found their Ones as well?"
"Ami has but she hasn't admitted it to anyone yet, lest of all herself. Rei is fighting all of it, and Lita is embracing it." She smiled, thinking of Rei shoving past Jadeite in her wolf form, her hair bristled along her neck and back. The last time they had gone running together, the generals had tried to join them. Rei had growled continuously and kept the playful blond wolf at a safe distance; Ami had tentatively backed away from the bold lithe Zoisite, but the excited whines that escaped her had given her joy away; Lita had abandoned all pretense of playing hard to get and had frolicked through the forest with the large, muscled brown wolf at her side.
"Does Virtus know?"
"Perhaps but it doesn't worry him. We have gone to great lengths to prove ourselves as nothing more than insipid females. He doesn't perceive us as a treat anymore."
Serena was still running her fingers over the beautiful dress, her eyes distant and her expression one of regret. It delighted Mina to see the alpha slowly begin to awaken within the girl, but each time the alpha stepped forward, it was as if Serena unconsciously chased her back into the dark. It would take time and patience for Serena to realize her true potential.
"Will you wear the dress tonight?" She finally asked.
Serena smiled thoughtfully. "I suppose."
This chapter is short, but that's all I can get out for now! Thank you to all of you who have taken the time to review—it inspires me to write the next chapter more quickly!
