"Whoa! Miss, you don't look like you're doing too good – did you get lost on the way here?"
"..."
As I was completely focused on calming down my breath, I heard a concerned voice of some man leaning over me, but the only thing I was able to do was to lift up my hand to signal him to wait a bit.
"Poor thing, I don't recognize her - must be an intern or a new blood... I've told Selene that we should have waited for everyone and not make them come here on their own!"
Then another voice joined in, this time it was a woman – and she sighed with concern.
Whoever that Selene was, they clearly had nothing to do with me, since, well, I didn't know any of those people but they clearly misunderstood the reason for my presence at their... party...? Gathering...? Celebration...?
Once the initial fear of being stranded in the middle of the wild woods at the base of a mountain faded a bit, I kind of felt a suspicion slowly sipping into my guts.
...what kind of people organize any sort of gathering in such a remote place?
...did...
...did I deliver myself in the hand of some weird cult that made human sacrifices to the sound of the hardstyle blasting through the loudspeakers...?
"Hey, are you alright? You're shaking."
The woman asked with concern.
I...
I was afraid to raise my head – If I did and those two turned out to be some creepy hooded cultists I would completely lose it – but at the same time, if they were some creepy hooded cultist it would be better if I confirmed it before I was captured and tied up, right?
So, I took a deep breath and looked up, facing my possible oppressors...!
"Oh...!"
Just to be faced with an extremely normal-looking couple in their thirties standing over me in casual clothes – the man was holding plates with steaming grilled food while the woman was leaning down looking at me with a worried face.
"I... I'm..."
Turns out I was exhausted enough for my tongue to not work properly – ugh...!
"Late? Oh, no – don't worry, the real celebration didn't start, the singles are just going crazy like always."
The woman only laughed and waved her hand dismissively, motioning at the tables on the left side of the giant bonfire crackling into the night sky.
"Umm..."
I tried to speak up but failed once again.
"Oh, right, where are my manners. I'm Cindy from the accounting, and this is my mate, Jeff."
"Hello."
Cindy introduced herself and the man with the plates who nodded at me with a smile.
This situation was... odd to say the least...
But- on the plus side – neither of them looked crazy, though Cindy's choice of words did make me raise my brow.
Her mate...?
Like, her friend, or something more...?
"I'm guessing that you don't have a mate yet, am I right?"
"E-eh?!"
Cindy's next question made me gasp and I felt my face growing hot – I mean, I didn't have a 'mate' but, was that something you should ask about during the first time you met someone? This woman was something else!
"Aww, just as I thought. That means that you should seat with the other singles but..."
Cindy nodded with understanding correctly reading the answer from my flushed face and she looked at the most rumbustious bunch by the tables – who seemed to be enjoying themselves a bit too much if you ask me – and made a worried expression.
"...don't take it as me picking a fight with you, but, you look really fragile – the night of the full moon isn't the best time to introduce you to any of the boys..."
She sighed with concern and looked back at the man by her side.
"We should take her to seat with us."
She declared with a serious expression.
"Yeah."
Jeff nodded and turned to me with an understanding smile.
"Normally we would send you straight to Selene, but she's probably the wildest of all the singles. Makes me wonder will she ever find a mate."
He scoffed and just like Cindy before, he pointed at the tables where the people were having the most fun – and more specifically, on a tall, buff woman with dark skin and short black hair – who, judging by the insane amount of empty beer bottles on her table, was in the middle of a drinking competition with basically every single man on the left side of the bonfire – and she was winning.
"Jeff! Don't be like that! You know that's a sensitive topic for her!"
Cindy smacked Jeff's arm, scolding him while furrowing her brows.
"I didn't mean it in a bad way! Today's celebration is for Lucian to chose his Luna, right? Selene is clearly in the best position for that – she's not only the strongest female, but she is also the strongest one of all of us after Lucian, period. And she cares for the pack with all her heart too."
Jeff laughed and explained.
...though that so-called explanation of his made me that much more confused.
Putting praising someone's strength aside, who in the world calls their group something like a pack?
What, is this some fraternity thing or something?
What did I get myself into?
Still, Cindy and Jeff don't seem like bad people, I should just explain to them that it's some misunderstanding and I'm just lost and got here by mistake and they should point me the right way to leave... right...?
"There seems to be some sort of misunderstanding..."
"Oh? Ah! Don't tell me, you want to nominate yourself to become Lucian's Luna? Aren't you a brave one! Let's go take a seat and wait for him to show up!"
I finally managed to put up a coherent sentence and was about to set things straight, but that was the exact moment when Cindy grabbed put her hand reassuringly over my shoulders, and began walking to the much calmer tables on the right side of the bonfire.
...despite not liking like much, she was surprisingly strong...
No, not even surprisingly – she was straight up lifting me up effortlessly using just one hand!
Wh-what the...?!
That shouldn't be possible! What is going on in here after all?!
After being carried to the tables – which, by the way, were all taken by couples – I was sat between Cindy and Jeff, and someone else offered me a plate.
"..."
I... I think I am stuck here for a while...
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