Revenge served in a black dress (Nora and Jace) novel Chapter 80

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The day was finally here, and nothing had seemed to go wrong at this point. The musicians had told him they’d been practicing and were ready for all the music he’d chosen. They had their formal attire ready, and he could see the seating for them was all set up and ready to go.

The curtains today were all being drawn back and held in place by champagne rope, and he could

see the windows were all washed and that there was a pack–colored roll of carpet being laid for

Nora to walk along as she came into the room.

He walked the entire ballroom and checked on everything himself. He wanted this to go perfectly. He checked the flowers that were on all the tables to make sure there were no red roses, or buds

even.

He’d gone with varying varieties of champagne–colored roses mixed in with white flowers and a

few pieces of greenery. They looked lovely and would match her dress. Everything was pretty much matched to the dress color she’d chosen because it was the only thing she had picked

herself for her Luna Ceremony, so he was aiming to show her he could tailor things to her color

preference.

Jace stopped and talked to the florist as she stood at a table set up along the wall for her to

continue to arrange flowers. She was keeping the table centerpieces the same but had just told

him that the ones on his table would be all roses with a few leaves mixed in between them, and

she set about making one display so he could see it in a vase with the stems of the roses all bound

by a green ribbon almost the exact color of the stems themselves.

He nodded. “Very nice.” He told her, “I’d like a few large bouquets for the Alpha Suite as well, in the

bedroom and maybe a large display for the coffee table in the living room.”

“The same or different?” she asked him.

“The same for our bedroom but… colorful for the living room. Nora told me she didn’t really have a favorite flower, she likes all the different colors mixed in together.”

“Alright. I’ll have to go back to the shop to organize that, but I can certainly have it done and be placed in your suite before you retire for the night.”

“Thank you.” he nodded and had continued on.

He didn’t get to see Nora at all that day. She was upstairs with her parents and her former Alpha’s Mates. Apparently they were all going to be helping her get ready for tonight. She’d declined his offer of a hairstylist and make–up artist, told him she’d already had Luna Nelly and her women offer to get her ready and she’d accepted it.

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There was he knew nothing he could do about it. This day was about her and so letting her do things the way she wanted to, that was part of it. He could only hope they could all see the effort he was putting in. See that he did truly mean to not only make up for all that had gone on, and he would treat her right from now on, as he was supposed to.

Alpha Clayton and his unit didn’t want to walk about and look around. They just sat in the foyer and chatted among themselves, and he greeted his other arriving guests with his unit. They all smiled at him and stated it was expected that his Luna would be off being pampered and spoiled, before getting ready for the ceremony. When he excused Nora for not being with him to greet them.

Alpha Desmond had looked at him and nodded. “Did you finally heed my words, Jace?”

“Yes.” He nodded.

“A pity it took her nearly dying for you to realize what she was to you.” Desmond’s Luna Chantelle

murmured and shook her head a little.

He said nothing to her, just nodded and waved them inside so he could show them to their suite

for the night. He saw them later sitting with Alpha Clayton, just chatting away, talking about perhaps lining up a mating ball between the two packs. This would be the first time Clayton was

meeting some of these Alphas due to his pack being in Texas and Jace’s was in Kansas. They could make a few new acquaintances and branch their mating balls out from having Nora here. That would be good for them.

They all seemed to be getting along. He was sitting in his office, but something was bothering him. He had the distinct feeling that something was going to go wrong. “Mark, where is Gloria?” he

asked. He’d not seen that she–wolf in days.

He watched the man focus on that thing “In her apartment, from what I can tell. I warned her again. yesterday to stay away from Nora. I saw her leaning on the packhouse when you were greeting Nora’s parents… it was kind of weird.”

“She’s going to try and cause trouble, I think.” Jace sighed. “I don’t even know how or when but…”

“She’s been warned and, as far as I can tell, she hasn’t really done anything at all, just sits in her apartment and does nothing other than go to training every day.”

He thought about that. Gloria hadn’t really gone to training every day before now, twice a week only “You don’t think she’s going to stalk into the Luna Ceremony and pick an actual physical fight, do you? Demand a Luna Challenge… Nora doesn’t have Rosa, and I’ve never seen her train at all. She’d

not win that,” he frowned, would lose very quickly and likely die, as one party in the duel often did.

“I doubt it. Gloria would have seen all that have arrived, I imagine. It won’t be just us protecting Nora but her family and the other Alphas. Though..”

“Though?” Jace prompted.

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“If she does, it would show our affiliated she’s going against your Mate Bond, so even if she won it,

they wouldn’t want to associate with her or you and this pack if you just let it happen, and took Gloria back. It would be seen as you didn’t care about Nora in the first place, that you still want Gloria at your side and this is how you planned on getting it.”

Jace sighed now, “They’d all leave, and cut ties with me and this pack,” he murmured.

“Correct, that would see the pack weakened and Gloria, I don’t think will want others to see her

that way. She was very calculating in all she did, to make sure she looked like the one that was

caring and compassionate and Nora was just…” Mark sighed. “Childish and ruining your bond.”

“That she did.” He nodded. “I was so f*****g blind.”

“We all were,” Mark nodded. “But if Gloria does decide to do anything to interrupt the ceremony, it would give you the opportunity to not only defend Nora, like you’ve never done before where Gloria is concerned, something Nora has always seen and had to deal with.

“You siding with Gloria at every turn, but if something happens you could now be seen, and in front of everyone at the ceremony, defending your Goddess–Gifted Mate and the Luna you want for all to

see.

“You told Nora yourself that she has to be the one to do it, punish Gloria. To bring about the power shift from Gloria to Nora here in the pack, because you’ve never done it before. Always blipped over punishing her, so the pack would see that you were punishing her unjustly.

“So, if Gloria does anything at all out of line during Nora’s Luna Ceremony, even so much as snort with amusement or roll her eyes, mutter under her breath. You will have the right to state she’s

being disrespectful and, on Nora’s most important day, an insult like that Jace. You could in fact take that she–wolf’s head off. That would definitely resolve Nora, always thinking you’ll have eyes for Gloria.”

“It would,” he nodded. “But I don’t really want anything like that to happen at Nora’s Luna Ceremony. It would spoil the mood and ruin the night.” He shook his head. “Best we just contain her and bring her into the ballroom for me to de–rank her down to omega status in front of

everyone.”

He could see Mark’s frown. “Best you remove her from the pack, Jace.”

“I understand that, I think she’ll leave of her own accord when she’s de–ranked and humiliated in front of the pack.”

“Humiliated?” Mark frowned at him.

“Yes, I told her to wear something nice for a reason. When I de–rank her, I’m going to tear that gown off her, and toss a simple smock at her. That is all she’ll ever be allowed to wear inside this pack if she opts not to go rogue.”

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Mark was just staring at him. “Is that your plan to have her leave voluntarily?”

“It is.” he nodded.

“Jace, do you realize what you’re actually doing? You’re not punishing her, but letting her escape unscathed. That is how Nora is going to see that. You letting Gloria leave this pack unharmed. Just a torn dress is all. It could well be seen that you just want one last look at her naked body. You need to actively punish Gloria formally for all she’s done.”

“De–ranking her is punishing her,” Jace stated, and it would be. Going from Luna rank to omega was

a massive thing.

“You might think that, but will Nora?” Marked asked him, “who suffered pain and agony. Literally! And all you’re going to do is make it, so Gloria will leave the pack of her own accord… That’s not pain at all, just humiliation. That will not go in your favor, I don’t think. I think Nora will see it as you’re still trying to protect that she–wolf in some way.”

He sighed now as he actually listened to his Beta and realized it was likely exactly how Nora would

take it. “Alright, I’ll consider something else on top of all that.”

“I’d offer to lash her for every single time Nora got hit with pains of betrayal. That will also tell you how many times she suffered it, seeing as she’s never told you, but even Matt thinks she knows

exactly how many times it was.”

Jace could only nod.

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