Darius’ p.o.v. The past six months have flown by and it has been a hell of a ride, to say the least. Mother brought up the Alpha Ceremony almost every other day and at the same time, she would bring up Daniella. Daxton lasted two weeks before he and Cyran blew up at Mother and neither one of them has set foot in the Pack-house since. Mother’s banishment from the Pack-house didn’t do any good either because she just made sure that she was near the Pack-house to spout her nonsense. Even Pack-members who used to side with her are now avoiding her and walking in the opposite direction when they see her. Daniella is no better than Mother, but she knows when to keep her mouth shut and when to make a remark on her joining us at the Ceremony. Not that it is helping her, Pearl refuses to have her trade places with someone and Preston is backing Pearl in her decision. “Is everything ready for our trip to Shadow Valley Pack?” Preston asks. “Yeah, everyone has brought their suitcase to the Pack-house and they have already placed them in the SUVs. No matter what happens, we are all prepared for this Alpha Ceremony.” Daxton answers. There is enough room for anyone that we need to bring back with us and everyone has a suitcase with them, just in case they are heading for another Pack. It will take about a week to let a connection form into a true Mate-bond and each Alpha that will attend the Ceremony will make sure that those connections form into a true Mate-bond. It is what every Shifter wants and almost every Alpha will make sure that they spend enough time together. Daxton and I doubt that we will find our connection at the Ceremony, but we will never give up on finding it and Camus is making sure I never forget. “Get in, Darius or we are leaving without you,” Daxton calls out and I flip him the bird as I get into the SUV. Pearl ensured that we adhered to the dress code, but she also made sure the tradition was upheld. She ordered us new black ties with our Pack’s emblem in bright pink. Daxton had looked at her as if she had lost her mind until she pointed out the dress code for the Ceremony. “Still thinking about setting it on fire, once this day is over?” I ask and everyone knows who I am asking the question of. “Hell, Yes. This is a monstrosity and I have no intention of keeping it somewhere in my closet.” Preston growls. The rest of the journey is spent with banter back and forth about the ties and what to do with them once this day is over. Daxton wants to toss it out the window on the way home, Pearl wants us to wear it on any Sweet Sixteen in the Pack and Preston is objecting to that idea in a thunderous voice. “Oh, Fuck.” I hear Pearl say and I look out the front window to see what has made my Luna swear. There are lines with little flags in bright pink with their Pack emblem in black on them, there are rows of those little flags everywhere you look and on the side of the road that leads to the Pack-house, there are large hearts in bright pink with the names Nico and Lucy on them in black lettering. The venue behind the Pack-house is even worse and many of the guests are making whispered comments about it. “Why is there a Squad from the Elders walking around?” Pearl asks and another Luna answers her question. “They are here for a learning experience. The Elders do this more often and I must say that it is good for them to see how an event like this works.” She says and Pearl is nodding her head at the Luna’s answer. Their gear is tailor-made for each member of the Squad. It is an almost entirely black outfit, and it has red accents along the sides of the arms and legs. You can only see them on their arms if their coat is off and so far I haven’t seen anyone wearing their jacket. On the chest of their shirt and coat is an insignia and it shows how far they are within the ranks. Those who have just started out have no markings on their chest; those who have made Warrior have a combination of a star and a wing in a circle on their chest. There are five ranks within the Warriors; if you are a second-ranked Warrior, there is a star above the circle and with each rank that you go up, you gain another star. The maximum is four stars above the circle and if you manage to make Squad Captain, it will be underneath the circle. Making it very easy for everyone to see where you stand within the ranks of the Squads and looking around, I don’t see anyone without a star on their insignia. There is an equal number of men and women in this Squad, but I haven’t seen their Captain yet. Whoever is leading this Squad is a force to be reckoned with and I can see his second and third in command not far from Elder Jensen. Their insignia features four red stars instead of black stars and the second in command has a red circle instead of a black circle. It is always beneficial to understand how things work within a Pack or within the Squads. Most Packs no longer teach their children the correct way, and valuable information has been lost. Alpha Leon steps onto the stage, and everyone falls quiet to listen to his speech, although he seems very uncomfortable to me. He keeps looking at the Squad members and at Elder Jensen, but none of them makes a move to silence him. “Darius, behind us,” Daxton says and I lock eyes with a very pissed off Squad Captain; she strides towards the stage with determination. I keep looking at her and when our eyes meet, Camus catches me off guard. “There is a connection.” He growls in my head and even though she doesn’t pay us much attention, she has acknowledged the connection to me and Daxton.