The dress was too short.

This one was too shiny.

That one gave me the wrong figure.

Catherine said no to the next dress and the one after that until the poor sales woman was on her last leg and out of breath. I didn't know how she expected to get anything done if she said "absolutely not" to everything.

I guess when you've basically been a queen for as long as she has, you're kind of used to getting everything perfect. 

I hope I'm close enough for her as she's been promising to teach me the ways of a Luna as soon as we got back to the pack house. Right now we were sat in a dress shop about 3 towns over and roughly 5 hours away from my Papa.

And Mike.

He hadn't even come to see me this morning, I was left with Catherine only as Kian and Holly had gone to help Tyler and Nova with their house and Jack was still very injured. Meeting my father and making that deal with him seemed to take a lot out of the old dog.

I promise that's not my pun, Catherine said it. Her voice cracked halfway through before she shook her head, wiped at an imaginary tear and picked up a binder to help shoo me into the van sitting outside.

Maybe I'll ask Mike if I can have a car of my own. 

When we're on better terms, that is.

This all seemed like wishful thinking as I stepped out in a tight wedding gown with a high neck and no sleeves. A small train adorned in flowers trailed behind me and I did my best not to trip in my sneakers.

"No, no, no," Catherine said into the earpiece while she violently crossed out something in her binder," We can't serve a hundred of our own wolves, the Alphas, Lunas and Betas of our allied packs and Lacey's own guests with a cake that size.

"You listen to me; either I get 2 of your white and gold 6 layer wedding cakes or else. Understand?"

I flinched at the threatening growl in her voice. Her binder was thick and the pages were fraying. She must have been working on this for a long, long time. She wanted everything to be perfect.

And I couldn't care less.

"Yes? Oh, I'll ask her," she turned to me, frowning at my dress," Lacey, dear, what kind of cake is your favorite?"

"Vanilla."

"Make one French vanilla and one dark chocolate- that's Mike's favorite," she added to me," Oh, and make the red one in a turquoise and silver. We can't let Beta Nickson eat the wrong one. Last time you catered for us he bit into a chocolate cupcake and we had to rush him to the infirmary.

"Ok. Ok, thank you."

She looked me up and down before standing and going to choose one herself this time. She promised she would last time I had exited in a Cinderella style ball gown. I sat myself down and started to drink a glass of the white wine they'd provided us.

Technically, I'm only 20 so it's illegal for them to give it to me. Apparently this is a wolf owned store so it's fine.

They just assumed I was a wolf.

Catherine came back just as I tipped the last drop of the glass into my mouth. I even went the extra mile to tap the bottom to make sure I got it all. Alcohol content is going to be what gets me through mother-of-the-groom-zilla.

She had 3 dresses in big packages slung over the attendants arms. The attendant placed them in the dressing room which Catherine told me to go into and get started.

The dresses were all quite beautiful. One had a tank top build with a trumpet skirt and a floral drape over it. The second had an empire waist and a sweetheart neckline. The last one-

The last one was my favorite.

This one was sweetheart like the last one but it was slightly deeper with an "illusion" neckline in lace. It was a cream color while the other two were white and it came down fuller in the bottom to make it look more princessy and a train that followed me closely behind.

I love this dress.

Out of habit I tried the first dress first, second second. Catherine was very impressed with the first one and she like the second a lot. I even had to try on a few different veils with it before I could even try on the last one. 

She pursed her lips together when I stepped out. I couldn't stop myself from fearing that she might not like this one, the only one I actually liked. Maybe this would be the best time to-

"I like this one, Catherine."

She stared at me for a moment before giving me a slight nod to proceed.

"It's such a good color," I breathed out, turning to face myself in the mirror," The bottom looks so awesome and- and you said you wanted something to make me look like a Luna which is basically a queen and how much more queenly can you get? I mean, look. I like the sleeves, I hate the idea of showing my arms like that. It looks so gentle and beautiful and- and- and..."

"Would Mike like it?"

"What?"

"Would your mate like it, Lacey?"

"I..."

Would he? I guess I don't really know. I can't exactly ask him, the groom isn't supposed to see the gown before the wedding. Have I ever even thought about the groom? When I was little I always dreamt about my wedding day- the dress, the cake, the joy of it all- but I guess I didn't even think about the man I'd be marrying.

I looked at Catherine through the mirror. She was still watching me with her eyebrows slightly pulled together. I thought I saw something a little different in her eyes and that something made me go sit by her on the couch.

"What was your dress like?"

"Oh, I didn't have one," she waved her hand in the air between us.

"Then what's this," I gestured to the binder.

"It's something I put together when I was little," she smiled," I wanted to be a wedding planner for the humans."

"Why didn't you?"

"I met Jack. We mated and I became a Luna. Mike came along then Kian. I couldn't help but keep it up to date whenever I could. It's just a hobby now."

"Maybe when I become Luna, you can be a wedding planner? You won't have anything to do after that."

"Let's not talk about this," she stood up, picking up my hands and pulling me to stand by her," You look beautiful, Lacey Thomas. I can't wait for you to be my daughter."

"So, I can have the dress?"

"Yes," she laughed," You can have anything you want. It's your wedding!"

I smiled with her and we spent the next hour or so picking out accessories to go with it and decided what kind of flowers would go best with my dress.

Luna pink roses.