Chapter 8

I was struck by the reality that these weren’t ballet dancers at all. Judging by their clothes these dancers practiced all different styles: hip-hop, tango, tap, flamenco… In short, Black Moon wasn’t a pack that revered ballet. They didn’t even have their own theater which must have been why they had ventured into the center of Blue Moon territory. I sighed at the scene in front of me then turned my back to the group to whisper in Nadia’s ear.

“Am I supposed to teach them ballet?” I asked in a hushed tone, hoping none of the other dancers heard how hopeless I sounded. Nadia gave me a solemn look and I finally understood why Blue Moon was willing to lend their venue to a rival pack in the first place. Blue Moon believed Black Moon could never satisfy the lycan luna, and they wanted a front row seat to Black Moon’s humiliation.

“They’re all very talented dancers ma’am, I’m sure you can think of something,” Nadia said with a cough, nodding her head over towards the dancers who were slowly gathering around. I turned to face all of them and Nadia took her chance to escape quietly away from the oncoming drama.

I figured I should at least try to make the best of the situation. In fact, it was my mother who always told me to find balance in every situation, like a dancer poised on pointe. Besides, Nadia was right about one thing: the dancers were indeed talented, just absolutely hopeless at ballet. I decided to get them started on basic exercises, things we taught toddlers at the academy.

We went over the six main foot positions, practiced a few turns, and I even tried to have them leap across the floor. Between the horribly sickle feet, awkward arm angles, and utter lack of flexibility, I almost gave up then and there. Even these grown adults struggled to maintain their balance despite being professionally trained dancers in other disciplines. Ballet required grace as well as strength, something that was a hard combination to find in most dancers.

After some time, it was clear my efforts were in vain; my troupe’s attempts at ballet were laughable at best. At this point I couldn’t even fear for my reputation. Instead I worried that if I couldn’t solve this problem, Lorenzo would cut his end of the deal and I’d be just as broke as before and would have lost valuable shifts at the restaurant. No, I had to do this and do it well, I needed the money and I needed to get away.

In the middle of running some drills, Cate and her ballet entourage entered the studio. They must have needed some entertainment on their lunch break because what initially alerted me to their arrival was hushed laughter. They were mocking us.

“Just wait until you embarrass yourselves at the lycan luna’s birthday banquet!” Cate called out as her and her groupies continued to laugh at us. I shook my head and turned my attention back to the mirror in front of me, watching helplessly as my cheeks went bright red in the reflection. I remained silent because I genuinely had no rebuttal to her taunts — I once again felt like I was sinking into the floor because of Cate’s humiliation. The only thing I could do was keep working, keep praying that these dancers cleaned up their act enough to be able to at least be presentable performers. My hope at that point was very, very low.

My confidence hadn’t increased as the first day of rehearsal came to an end. Some of my dancers had made progress, able to at least move across the floor without tumbling to their knees. Others could barely keep the shoes on their feet. I was in the middle of packing up my things and dismissing the dancers when Lorenzo showed up. He leaned on the door frame of the studio wearing an expression I couldn’t quite read.

“So, any progress?” Lorenzo asked calmly, though I’m sure he could tell by my posture and expression that very little ‘progress’ had been made. I gave him a look of disdain.

“No, no progress, seeing as you so kindly declined to tell me that these dancers aren’t ballerinas at all! A team like this could never prepare a decent ballet performance in such a short time,” I replied, exasperated. Lorenzo appeared distressed but apologetic.

“If the lycan luna hadn’t suddenly demanded that every pack perform ballet at her birthday, I wouldn’t have had to rush to assemble this team. You know just as well as I do that the best ballet dancers belong to Blue Moon,” the alpha replied, seemingly innocent. He was right unfortunately — most of the ballet dancers, at least the good ones, were monopolized by Blue Moon, making my task all the more impossible. I was about to reply but Lorenzo cut me off.

“Except for you,” he said with a wink, his playboy aura jumping out like it had hurt him to be so innocent moments before. I scoffed and turned to grab my bag and leave, knowing the situation was already hopeless and Lorenzo’s gross attempt at flirting were making it infinitely worse. “Eleanor seriously though, could you help me out with this problem please? I can offer you a raise?”

The thought of more money was the only thing that kept me from walking out the door. A raise? Would that be fair? I briefly hesitated at the thought of accepting more money. That was, until I realized I would be taking it from Lorenzo and I knew I needed it more than him. I decided to agree for the sake of my bank account, though I tried to seem like the decision pained me. Lorenzo must have seen right through me however because he gave me a knowing smile and led me out of the theater. I could already feel a headache coming on.