Chapter 5

Lily POV

            After teary goodbyes with my family and Kate, I climb into the back of the SUV sent to pick me up to take me to Jared’s Pack.  There were two warriors in the front seat.  They acknowledged me as their Luna.  I nodded to them and smiled, asking their names.  We shared brief niceties and then they were talking about Pack business, which I knew little about.

            One of the warrior’s noted it was unfortunate that Jared couldn’t make it to pick me up.  “Alpha Jared and Alpha Anya are always doing great things in the community and today is a picnic set up for the Pack children,” he adds.  Sitting there quietly, I try to control myself.  I don’t want my waves of anger to be felt in the vehicle.  Jared left me to come to his Pack alone so he could spend time with his chosen mate.  I understand this had been planned, but he could have asked me to come a day earlier, couldn’t he?  Or he could have told me Sunday didn’t work sooner rather than late last night.

            Nodding, I say to the warrior, “Sounds like great work is being done for sure. I can’t wait to be part of it,” I promise them. Smiling they nod and then continue chatting about upcoming Pack events.  I’ve gotten more from this car ride than I have from Jared in our week of talking.  Not to be discouraged I process all I am hearing and start to figure out how I am going to be part of the upcoming events.  I have good ideas to share, Jared better be prepared to make room for me.  I won’t be pushed aside without a fight.

            As I watch the scenery fly by, one of the warrior’s advises me we are starting to enter the Black Shadow Pack territory.  This would be my new home, if all went well.  As we drove through, I was pleasantly surprised.  Although the Pack is smaller than the Golden Moon Pack, it is still well equipped with shops, cafes, restaurants and what looks like a couple clubs.  Oh, I remember Jared saying he keeps busy and that the Pack owns a couple clubs. 

            As we are passing the various areas, we come into an area that has a little community of homes. All are well kept and beautiful.  They vary in sizes I assume based on the size of the family living in them.  I see some children out running around enjoying the sunny day.  I hope they enjoyed the picnic held for them earlier.

            As we pull up to the Pack house, I notice there is nobody standing out front waiting to greet me.  As the car comes to a stop, I am still hopeful as I look up the lonely steps.  Sighing I undo my seatbelt and move to get out of the car just as the warrior named Jasper opens the door for me.  Smiling and thanking him I go to get my bags when he assures me he will take them in and up to my room for me.  Thanking him, I move forward.  I guess the only way is up.

            Putting my best smile on I approach this as I do everything in my life.  I let my bubbly personality and smile take over and calm my nerves as I walk into my new home alone.  As I move into the lobby, I don’t see anyone around.  The lobby is beautiful with a lot of modern furniture and style.  There appears to be a lot of crisp white.  There should be some more colour to compliment the furniture.

            As I am standing there, Jasper comes in and apologizes for nobody being around.  He just had a message from Jared to show me to my room so I could get a chance to rest, if I wished.  He would be up later on to see me.  I’m starting to get a little frazzled but maintain my positive reflection on the outside.  I can feel my anxiety starting to churn inside but I really want to keep it together.  There is nothing I’d rather do than call Kate to come and get me.  This is not the welcome I had anticipated.

            As Jasper shows me to my room, I thank him and close the door to my suite.  It has its own bathroom, walk in closets and a king size bed.  Again, beautiful décor but the colors are not making it pop.  I wonder who decorated in the Pack house?  I think among my first orders of business will be to suggest to Jared that we add some color.

            After using the washroom, I unpack my belongings.  I don’t know how long I’ll be in this room but for now I’d like to be settled.  I don’t smell my mate, so I know this isn’t his room.  As I stand in the middle of the room, I realize I have never been a nap in the day kind of person.  I decide to frig this and head out to explore my new surroundings.  I can feel my wolf, Missy getting a little restless.  Maybe if we find a safe space, I’ll let her out for a run.

            As I move back out of my room, I realize I don’t have a key to lock the door.  Well assuming I’ll eventually find Jared to unlock it for me, I lock the door and head back into the hallway.  As I move down the hall, I keep walking trying to scent my mate.  At the other end of the hall is my mate’s room.  I can smell his scent getting stronger as I get down there.   As I move closer, I can also smell the faint scent of someone else.  Tapping on the door, I don’t hear anyone inside and decide to move on. 

            As I head down the stairs to the next levels, I see rooms on three other floors before I am back down to the lobby.  I move forward through the Pack house roaming from room to room. It is so weird that there is nobody around.  Unless everyone is at the children’s picnic.  As I move forward, I come to what I expect is the dining hall.  It’s not as big as our hall, so I assume not many come here to eat their meals. 

            I move to the kitchen and see some fruit out on the counter.  As I go to take an apple, I hear someone clear their throat from behind me.  Turning with a smile, I see none other than Anya standing there.  “Stealing already, are you?” she comments to me.  “Hardly stealing when it’s my Pack, now is it?” I reply.  “We haven’t been formerly introduced,” I say, “I’m Lily Thompson, soon to be Luna of the Black Shadow Pack,” I smirk at her.  Seeing her face go red was a form of victory for me, “Well Lily we will have to see about that now wont we?  I’m Anya Redding, Alpha Anya to you,” she replies.

            As we stand there, I take a bite of my apple as the back door opens.  “Sweetheart, I need to go find Lily,” I hear a voice realizing it was my mate and that he wasn’t talking to me!  “Oh Jar, I already found her in here eating.  Poor thing must be starved,” she says with dripping sweetness.  As I turn, I see Jared’s face go red as he realizes I heard his comment. 

“What did you need to find me for Jared?” I ask ignoring the comments.  “Lily, I didn’t expect you would be up yet,” Jared says.  “I gathered that,” I reply.  He moves forward awkwardly hugging me while Anya continues to look on, not giving us any space.  I hug Jared back holding onto him a bit longer as I smirk back to Anya.  Seeing her face get flushed, I pull away from Jared, “I was hoping we would have some time together, Jared, to talk.  I’m looking forward to going out for supper, what should I wear?” I ask.

“Lily, I’m so sorry – I forgot I had mentioned taking you out to supper.  I promised I’d take the planning committee out for dinner as a thank you for all their hard work.  We had a picnic today for the children in the Pack.  It was a huge success; I don’t know where pups get so much energy!” he says laughing. 

“Sounds lovely Jared, I love pups as you know, with my education degree,” I say a little snarkily.  I am still peeved he didn’t invite me the day before so we could have attended together.  “Well, I don’t mind sharing you tonight, I would be happy to join you,” I say.  Jared looks to Anya who quickly replies, “Lily, unfortunately we only have enough room for the committee, the space is booked and it’s a busy spot.  We likely couldn’t add another person tonight,” she says smiling in her sweetness.  I could see she was going to be all sweet around Jared and nasty when he wasn’t around. 

“Nonsense, give me the number of the restaurant and I will happily give them a call.  I haven’t met a place I couldn’t work with,” I say with confidence.  I wait expectantly when Jared speaks up, “Lily, I think it would be best if you stay home this evening.  There will be plenty of time this week for you to meet everyone,” he says to me.

Standing there humiliated, I can feel my throat tighten as tears start to form in my eyes.  Not wanting to give either of them the satisfaction of seeing my disappointment in Jared, I turn away from them.  Realizing I need a key for my room, I quickly ask Jared for a key.  Anya quickly jumps in, “Here Jar, Lily can have my old key since I happen to have it on me.  I’m just down the hall, Lily, toward Jar’s room,” she concludes.

Not looking at her I take the key and leave as I hear Jared say my name.  I don’t stop.  This is definitely not how I anticipated my first night being in my new home.  Maybe I should start thinking of it as a temporary home.    Moving forward without looking I bang into a good looking male, excusing myself, I move around him and head toward my room to shut the world out.  As I move forward, I toss my uneaten apple in the garbage.  I have suddenly lost my appetite.

Jared POV

            As I see Lily walk away looking a little dejected, I feel a pit in the bottom of my stomach.  I know I should have made room for her tonight, but I didn’t want to take away from the committee’s hard work and I didn’t know that I would be able to focus on them entirely with Lily there.  When I hugged her, I felt the sparks bounce between us. I had forgotten that feeling over the past week. 

            Anya had been incredibly helpful getting things ready in Lily’s room.  I didn’t have the heart to kick Anya off the Alpha floor.  She was still an Alpha and I didn’t know what her plans were now.  I didn’t know what any of our plans were.  I had told my parents I was postponing the Luna ceremony, to which they were disappointed.  I wanted a chance with my mate, so I needed them to give me some space.

            As I turn to Anya, she throws her arms around me in a tight hug.  “Thank you, Jared, I know it will mean a lot to the committee that you put them first,” she says as I cringe.  Realizing how this must feel to Lily I decide I need to see her before I go out. I can’t leave things like this between us.  I want her to feel at home.  I’ll dedicate my day to Lily tomorrow. 

            As I turn to leave the kitchen, my Beta Rick walks into the room.  “Who was that sexy woman who just walked by like her world was crumbling around her?” he asks.  Feeling even sicker, I murmur, “That’s Lily.”.  Whistling, Rick moves forward, “And you’re here with her?” he sneers.  Rick never really liked Anya and couldn’t have been happier when he heard I had found my mate.  I never understood his issue but had hoped they would learn to get along.  “What are you two doing tonight then, Jared?” Rick asks.

            “I have a committee dinner tonight, I plan to spend tomorrow with Lily,” I reply.  “What?!? She’s spending her first night here alone.  In a new place? What the hell is wrong with you man?” Rick yells.  Anya steps in putting her hand on my arm, “Rick know your place.  Alpha Jared can do as he wishes, and he wishes to spend the evening with his chosen mate.”.  Turning to Anya I look at her a little suspiciously.  “Anya we are going out with the planning committee, not us,” I reply.  “Yes of course, speaking of which we should get ready, so we aren’t late,” she says rushing out the kitchen to get ready.

            As I look at Rick, I can still feel his anger rolling off him.  “Well Jared, if you won’t treat our Luna right on her first night here, I will.  Don’t worry, I’ll look after her and ensure she gets a meal and a tour of the Pack house,” he says turning to walk away. 

            “Rick, she’s mine.  I may have things to work out, but I know she’s my mate,” I say with confidence.  He replies, “Yeah well I’m not the one you have to convince of that now am I?”.