Chapter 5

Fucking asshole. I shut the mind-link. He technically didn’t say WHEN to keep it open, so I decided that he implied that I should keep it open once the convoy arrives.

I didn’t have much time to think as we descended the grand staircase towards the doors to receive our guests. 

Before I reached the bottom of the staircase, ready for the Burning Moon pack Alpha to inspect me. Afterall, I was his son’s new poised, prized pony of a future mate that they had come to collect. 

I thought about this unfortunate twist of fate forced upon me. I had to try and be optimistic about this. I had to think of it not as a curse, but potentially, a blessing. 

The Burning Moon pack is from the city, unlike our remote, tiny and rustic pack up in the mountains. Maybe I could sneak away and hide in the human cities in society? Or atleast hide the fact that I enrolled in a human university in the city? Maybe I can do an online school? 

I’ve saved, but not enough. I could say I am using funds to improve something in the pack that no one will notice or care about, and use the money to pay for my school.  This might work! 

At that thought, I put on a brighter smile, hoping for the best. 

“And who do we have here?!” A plump and jovial middle aged man smiled happily, coming up to me, towering at least 2 feet taller than me. He took my hand, placing a delicate kiss on the top of it. Wow, at least this guy was nice. I assumed he was the Burning Moon pack’s Alpha.

“Alpha, Luna,” I smiled politely, bowing to my mom and stepfather and the visiting Alpha and Luna with kind eyes, quickly noting that the Alpha heir was nowhere to be seen. I also noticed an extremely strong and suffocatingly delectable scent in the air. I’d never smelled something so wonderful before. It smelled like warm chocolate chip cookies and something else I couldn’t quite put my finger on. 

I made note to run to the kitchens to sneak a few cookies tonight while I stress eat my problems away.

“Ah, there you are!” Alpha Donovan stated with a rather perturbed tone in his voice.

“Alpha Mercury, may I present to you, my stepdaughter, Violet Donovan!”

I despised the surname. When Alpha Donovan took my mom as his mate, she made him accept me as his daughter and change my last name to Donovan so I would receive the same treatment as Sasha. What a waste that was. I always wished I could change my name to my father’s surname, but mom wouldn’t entertain the idea no matter how many times I begged. Now I’m starting to realize why she always refused.

I grind my teeth with that fake plastered smile as I turned to Alpha Mercury. He was the older gray-haired man that had greeted me. He was plump and rocking the “dad bod” but clearly still had chorded muscles to the eye can see. This old man may be old and clearly out of his prime but he never missed a workout a day in his life! The pot belly of a dad bod must be from an over indulgence of wolf’s beer; Strong and able to knock a wolf on his ass, but a killer on the calories. 

“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Alpha Mercury!” I beamed and feigned a blush on my cheeks.

“The pleasure is all mine! You are a marvel and beauty, much like your own mother! My son will have one heck of a time chasing off all the other wolves to keep them away from you until you are both properly mated! I hear a happy birthday is in order for you very soon,” He jeered in his attempt at a compliment.

“You are too kind, sir. Yes, my 18th birthday is coming up this week,” I giggled and smiled, politely taking a seat next to my mother. 

“That’s good to hear! We look forward to your first shift and the impending nuptials in our midst!” He grinned as he turned to Alpha Donovan.

“Shall we discuss those business arrangements you mentioned?” Alpha Mercury questioned.

Alpha Donovan was quick to jump at the suggestion, “O-of course! Come Alpha Mercury, let me show you to my office while the staff settles you and your son’s things into your living quarters while you stay with us. That should give the young Alpha enough time to freshen up and relax before this evening's plans.”

“That sounds like a wonderful idea!” Alpha Mercury smiled, kissing the cheek of his Luna, a middle aged woman with a softening shade of blonde to white hair, clearly showing her gray hairs beginning to overtake the once blonde locks. Alpha Donovan and Mercury sauntered off to the office in another part of the pack house. 

I didn’t miss the fact that neither Alpha introduced their Luna to each other. I guess not all formalities were important to Alphas. Just the ones that insult them personally. 

I had a knot in my stomach since last night that wouldn’t go away. I decided to go scope out the kitchens and nab some of those delicious chocolate chip cookies I keep smelling. I hadn’t really been hungry all day, but that smell made my mouth water and my stomach growl. 

As I proceeded down the back hallway towards the kitchens, the scent grew stronger, almost sickly sweet and I got an eerie feeling the closer I got. 

I felt something inside me shift and my skin felt as if every hair on my skin was standing on end. 

I continued all the way down the hallway towards the staff stairwell across from the kitchens following the sweet scent, to hear a light shuffle underneath the stairs. That was strange. Why were the cookies not in the kitchens?

As I rounded the corner, I turned to see none other than an omega kissing a tall, slender, yet muscular, dark haired man. 

Realization hit that I wasn’t getting those cookies. This man’s scent was the cookies I was smelling. Why did his scent smell so sweet?

“Oh! Uh…sorry,” I apoligized for having rudely interrupted their lip lock session when the couple broke apart. I felt a bit jealous of their interaction, but I had no idea why. Wouldn’t I soon be treated like that myself? 

I could tell the mousy slim and tiny she-wolf was clearly an omega but the dark haired man that looked up and directly into my eyes, clearly angry that they were interrupted, was more difficult to read. He was definitely higher ranking, maybe a beta, but he wouldn’t show much of his aura for me to tell.

Either way, I didn’t recognize either of them, so I assumed they were a part of the convoy, brought by the Burning Moon pack to help with all the additional preparations beginning to get underway.

I laughed a little. If I had a quarter for every time I caught a wolf sneaking a quick makeout session in one of the back stairwell’s of the packhouse, I’d have one heck of a collection of quarters! I’d be pretty damn rich and definitely not the prized pony being sold to get the pack out of debt by my own mother and her new husband.

Just then, a sick thought crept into my mind. The only time a wolf smells a scent so potent it drives them to seek it out is when they finally meet their mate.