Chapter 4

Cali

“Oh, my goddess Cali!” My Mums voice pulled me out of my daze, still stood staring at the door through which my mate had just disappeared. How was it even possible to be so affected by such a small thing.

“Tanya. Please remember that Cali is a Luna now.” My father’s voice cautioned behind me, closer than my Mum had been but quiet enough that I could barely hear him. Confused by the words however I turned with a frown to see my parents stood directly behind me and beyond them, dozens upon dozens of unfamiliar faces, all of whom were staring at me with a mixture of expressions, although I was pleased to see that for the most part, they appeared happy or just curious.

“Luna.” A tall dark-haired man greeted with a bow of his head and a wide smile fixed on his face. “I am Beta Roman Kundo, second in command to Alpha Leroux and at your service.” He greeted overly formally, and I worried for a moment that he was taking the piss before he winked at me and smiled wider. “Now that the formalities are out of the way, you look like you could use a drink. Ah these must be your parents?” He questioned looking between my Mum, Dad and myself until I nodded in answer. I had no idea how to take this man, he seemed overly enthusiastic, which certainly was not the personality type of the Beta back home.

‘No’ Thalia corrected in the back of my mind. ‘This is our home now, although I do agree this man is a strange one, even by our standards, which is probably saying something. Hie wolf it as energetic as him, so much so I can feel it.’ Thalia commented inside my head as I offered the man a smile.

“Well, welcome to Blackrock.” Roman addressed my parents. “I have no doubt that Tristan would welcome you whenever you wish to visit. Anyway, how about we all go and get that drink before the mob descends?” He stated with a backward glance at the lingering pack members, although the crowd had thinned a lot while he was talking there was still at least forty pack members of varying ages lingering around, talking amongst themselves and occasionally shooting glances my way.

Avoiding their attention and questions seemed like the best idea right then so I plastered a smile on my face and agreed, following the Beta across the yard and through the open double doors into a spacious hallway.

“This is the west wing.” Roman informed as we stepped inside a wide spacious and tastefully decorated hallway that seemed to go on forever. “The building is quite... ‘block like’ so it shouldn’t take long for you to get used to where everything is. The west wing is typically for entertaining.” He indicated a hallway off to the right and glanced at me before continuing.

“That hallway is lined with offices, they aren’t used very often, usually they are occupied by visiting packs, the stairs at the end of the hall lead up to a load of guest rooms on the first and second floor, it doesn’t connect to the rest of the building though, so you can’t go up there and walk through to the main block.” He pointed to the long hallway directly in front of the door we came in through, which ended in a set of heavy looking wooden double doors.

“The door at the end leads into the main entry hall, you can get to just about anywhere from there. Through here” He indicated the open double doors slightly along the corridor on our right. “Is the ballroom, and our destination for the evening.”

He led the way into the bustling room that must currently be holding at least three hundred people and yet it still seemed spacious, the room was absolutely huge with large tables spaced evenly around the room, a small stage was set up for a band or DJ. The lighting was soft the walls cream the floor grey, it was elegant and classy and screamed money without being ostentatious, it was comfortable.

Small groups of people stood at random intervals throughout the room sipping champagne and laughing, clearly enjoying themselves as they got to know one another or spent time catching up with family and old friends. I took a moment to take it all in, the waiters that walked the room with trays full of glasses and canapes, the loud happy atmosphere. The party hadn’t even started yet but it was obvious that this would be a happy night for so many people. I just wished I could shake off the mood I was in and enjoy it, not that that would ever truly be possible again, I would never again be able to do anything that would risk exposing myself.

I glanced at my parents as they too took in the room, happy to see that they seemed relaxed even if there was a slight twitch to my mother’s eye, and I could understand why.

The shunned she-wolf of Oak creek had suddenly become Luna of all of this. How the hell was I supposed to keep up the pretence of being normal if I was constantly surrounded by the people I needed to pretend for.

“Do many people live in the pack house?” I asked the Beta, speaking for the first time as my brain tried to process a way of keeping everything secret. Roman smiled gently and waived over a waiter with a tray of drinks, taking two glasses and offering me one before speaking.

“Not full-time no. It’s just Tristan, Damien and I who live in the main block, and well, you as well now”. He stated, his words making me nervous for a whole different reason, but he continued speaking before I even had time to fully process my reaction. “The East wing first and second floor is filled with bedrooms that are used by pack members, there is usually a handful of people around, but no one typically stays more than a couple of nights unless there is a specific reason.”

I nodded feeling myself relax slightly. It was an awfully big house, hopefully it would be easy to lose myself in here if there was only a dozen or so pack members around at any one time. “Who is Damian?” I questioned, picking out the name he mentioned.

“Damien is the pack Delta. He’s away visiting a pack on the east coast at the minute with a couple of the mated pack warriors, he should be home at the end of the week, so you will meet him then.” Roman informed and I nodded, slightly surprised. Not all packs had Deltas, most packs didn’t need it or warrant it given the pack size or number of wolves, I had actually never met a Delta, or even met anyone from a pack that had a Delta.

I watched as Roman’s eyes glazed over for a moment before he excused himself with a smile. “Well, he seems enthusiastic.” My mother whispered from beside me and I had to agree, Tristan as well though, did not seem, or behave the way I had expected. Most Alphas and Betas tended to be sullen, moody people by nature. These two seemed anything but, from first glance. Maybe it was all a show for the sake of the visiting packs, but I watched as Roman interacted with a man I didn’t recognise, his face a picture of seriousness and figured it would take me a while to get used to the pack dynamics here.

“I’m sure he is lovely, he certainly seemed welcoming, I would not have expected a Beta to take the time to show anyone around a pack house, not even the new Luna.” My Dad voiced his own opinion. But I refrained from speaking. I was so lost in everything going on I just didn’t know what to think about any of this anymore, as least my parents seemed as baffled by some of it as I did, I was starting to think that I was imagining things.

I tried hard to ignore the glances thrown my way as I scanned the room, taking in the people who milled around before my eyes landed on Tristan at the front of the room through a gap in the crowd. He looked remarkably bored as he stared blankly out at the mingling guests in the room. The Alphas on either side of him sat speaking with whom I could only assume were their Lunas, and I instantly felt a pang of guilt resonate from Thalia.

‘We should be up there by his side. This is our pack now, and that is our duty.’

‘I’m not sure I know how to do this Thalia’.

‘You are stronger than you think, we are stronger than you think. I will do everything I can to help you, staying back and hiding will not be easy, it’s not in my nature to retreat but I understand the importance, the same as I understand the importance of us being by our mates’ side. We should be up there.’

I sighed deeply and took a deep breath before handing my still full champagne glass to my Mum. “I should be up there with Tristan.” I stated not really happy with the idea, the closer I got to him the harder this would all be, but I expected that staying away from the man would be harder still. Even from across the room I could tell without looking when his eyes landed on me, I could feel it, like a pull in my body, an edgy nervousness that told me I should be with my mate.

“Yes, you should.” My Mum answered leaning in and giving me a light hug while whispering in my ear. “He seems like a good man, I am sure he will accept you for who you are. Trust in the goddess Calista, she would not have matched you with someone who could not handle who you are”. She leant back and smiled before speaking in a normal tone.

“We had intended to head home early of course, but if there is space we will stay for the evening and join in the festivities. I did bring a dress for you for the dinner and party just in case. I dare say it is not really an outfit befitting a Luna, but it is certainly better than the jeans you are currently wearing. Go, be with your mate and do your duty, we will be here once you are free.”

“Thanks Mum.” I muttered smiling at them both before turning and meeting Tristan’s eyes across the room and heading that way, trying really hard not to let it show on my face that it felt like I was walking to the gallows.