Chapter 2

Twenty-four hours could not go slow enough. It didn’t help that every time I tried to fall asleep in my bed I worried I would wake back up in my rundown apartment before I would get to see my favorite character, but I suppose the moon goddess and the author smiled down on me because thankfully- I am still here to witness the return of Beta Carter to the Lockwood Pack.

And I bought a camera.

Is it considered stalking if I take a picture of his face if he’s not a celebrity or public figure?

We’re not going to think about it.

I previously asked my ‘father’ if they had any plans to throw a welcome back ceremony for Beta Carter but he just shook his head however he did tell me that the Beta would be at the pack house around noon. Apparently several high ranking wolves and their families were going to greet him at the pack house when he arrived.

"I'm surprised you're interested in the welcome party! You usually don't participate in these kinds of things." He remarked with a smile. I was about to inquire on what he meant by that when his phone rang and he left to take his call. Without another word, I decided to join the welcome party.

What was supposed to be just a casual welcome party, turned out to be a giant celebrity ‘red carpet walk’ just for the Beta himself. A crowd upward of two hundred people (mostly young women and teenage girls wolf and human alike) chatted excitedly, some were passing out drinks like it was a tailgate party.

So here I am, in a sea of young women chattering away excited and anxious to catch a glimpse of the newly pronounced Beta. I suppose his fan-base is just as wide in the novel world as it is in real life. The only difference is that they get to actually see what he looks like. Lucky bastards.

“I heard he’s gained over thirty pounds of pure muscle.” A blushing teenage girl giggled to her friend who gasped as her cheeks reddened.

“You’re serious?! In three months?” They chattered away with a gleeful smile. I couldn’t help but smile too as I casually eavesdropped. It reminded me back in my days as a teenager discussing the latest gossip of popular boy bands of the time.

A gasp and a few cheers sounded and I peered through the holes in the crowd to spot a car appearing through the tree-line. Within the next minute, it pulled up to the rounded curve that situated around the pack house and the girls started cheering and clapping for the invisible passenger hiding behind the tinted window.

Heart pounding, I raised my cheap thirty dollar camera to eye level and looked through the lens sight as the most beautiful man I had ever seen came into view.

Thousands upon thousands of words written both poetically and romantically about Carter Lockwood still did not do the breathtaking creature standing before me even an ounce of justice. In fact, merely trying to describe how his deeply tanned skin, russet brown hair and crystal blue eyes painted a beautiful portrait to his perfectly etched facial structures of a canvas; the very sight of him simply left me without words nor thoughts to muster. His gentle russet stubble along the edge of his jawline that caressed his luscious dark pink lips had me tongue tied and brain scrambled. How did the author manage to even depict anything about him without orgasming on the spot? 

The man is sex walking. Not even the fan-art did him an ounce of justice. There were mere child-like imitations to this whole grown man of a gorgeous creature. His body was toned in the perfect proportions, his legs long and calves thick, but the one thing that struck above all- was his slight mischievous smirk that had so many of the girls'- me included- knees weak. His playful mirth dancing in his eyes made him almost look approachable if it weren’t for the intimidating god-like looks that put him on a level above the rest, Alpha and Luna Lockwood included.

His gentle easygoing smile surveyed the crowd with a casual hand raised in greeting and for half a moment, he seemed to look right at the camera.

I snapped the picture before realizing what I truly saw written there.

Then he was walking through the crowd, everyone parting ways for him as if an unseen power forced them to stand aside in respect and admiration, and I too followed their movements. While I snapped more pictures trying to get every cent worth of this god-like man, my mouth became dry, my  heart started to race, my stomach turned, and my panties dripped from his mere presence before me. 

Hey- don’t judge.

As Beta Carter passed right by me in his clear path to the front door of the pack house, he suddenly stopped in his tracks and whipped his head in my direction.

I clicked the button of my camera on reflex, for an unreadable expression made its way through his casual smile- a mask I now realized, and true emotion surfaced for just a moment. One that took me a moment to process.

Overwhelming and pure unadulterated desire.

Several girls in the crowd around me squealed or gasped in delight as they whispered to their friends.

Just as he took a step in my general direction, scanning the crowd thoroughly and intensely, a woman popped out of the pack house and ran into his arms.

“Carter! You’re back!” Luna Grace squealed and threw her arms around his neck, her voice sounding like the tinkling of bells blowing gently against the wind on a clear summer day.

Caught off guard, Beta Carter blinked in surprise and almost fell over from her surprise attack but quickly pulled himself upright and wrapped his arms around his Luna with tenderness and care. They greeted each other for a moment before she gently guided him into the house. With a quick wave to the crowd in farewell, the beloved Beta of Lockwood pack disappeared from sight.

After several minutes of gleeful chattering and loud cheers of praise for the Beta’s return, the crowd started to dissipate as well.

I kept checking all the photos I took as a few people lingered, engaging in conversation about the pack and the Beta’s return as I smiled to myself. Beta Carter’s hair hit the light perfectly in the picture where I caught him looking in my direction. My heart practically stopped at his expression changes as I kept going through them back and forth, smiling to myself in glee.

Darn, I’d make so much money if I could get these pictures to the fan-base in my world.

“I hope I get a commission for those photos.”