Chapter 2 Chapter 2

I had only been home a few hours and was settling in. I knew we would be leaving to the royal pack tomorrow, but I wanted to enjoy home for just a little while. Two packs from the other side of the country would be staying with us for the evening due to some travel concerns. One of them had a gamma whose mate was ready to pop and needed to take a break and rest before continuing the trip. I had met them when I had done some work helping their pack so they were comfortable with me. I knew I would need to be a good host and get back in the groove of my duties as an Alpha’s daughter.

“Stephanie.” Mom said through the mindlink. “Will you please change and be at the receiving area in 15 minutes? Our guests are almost here.”

Just like that she was gone. I changed into the red sundress I had waiting. For some reason being home wasn’t the comfort I thought it would be. I felt like everything was overwhelming and I was being pushed into things I wasn’t sure I was ready for. I had been gone so long and been living in a different world that this seemed so tedious and ridiculous. I know how important these roles play into everything, but this wasn’t my world anymore. I had run from it. Run from him.

I was at the receiving area with time to spare. Max walked up surprised to see me.

“I didn’t know you were back,” he said.

“I got back a couple hours ago. I didn’t want to bother you, so I went and got settled some and rested. I knew I would see you soon.” I sighed.

“Max, if you hadn’t been out doing whatever it was you were doing, you would have seen her when she arrived. I know that you are young, but you are going to be alpha soon so I need you to really start showing up.” Mom scolding him. Obviously something else was bothering her but I wasn’t about to ask.

“Dear, he is here now. Let’s get these guests in and we can do something as a family before dinner.” Dad covered.

As if on cue our first set of guests arrived. It was Yellow River Pack. Alpha Jase was bringing 45 of his pack members including 10 warriors. They were ranked 87th out of the 213 in our kingdom. He was very good looking and had worked hard to make his pack continue to grow and prosper under his rule. His father had been a cruel man who had no regard for anyone else in the pack. Jase was nothing like that. I had met him when we were in college but there was never a spark. Surprisingly he was walking right to me, not my parents or my brother as was expected.

“Stephanie it is so good to see you again. You have been a very busy woman since I last saw you.” He said with a full smile.

“Well, it’s good to know that you have been keeping up with me. You have done some amazing things at Yellow River. A true man of your word.”

My father clears his throat next to us, when we look over all three of them are looking at as like they know something we don’t. Jase greets my parents and my brother and they make small talk. I see several of his pack members that I met while working there and rush to greet them. After several minutes Jase calls his pack so that they can go settle in their rooms.

Once they are all inside my mother walks over to me.

“Stephanie, I didn’t realize you had met so many people. You seem to know Alpha Jase very well.”

“Mom, I met him at school and after they had some rogue attacks, I was sent there to help with the rebuild. It’s nothing.”

“There really seemed like there was a spark between y’all. Why are you acting like there is nothing going on?”

“There is really nothing going on. Absolute zero.” 

Thankfully, I was saved by the bell because the second pack arrived. Black Mountain Pack, ranked 17th, comes from the other side of the country. Thanks to my Luna training I knew quite a bit about these people. Alpha Michael is married to his second Luna because his fated mate, Luna Amy, went missing. Luna Jessica and Alpha Michael have 2 kids who were born before his 1st Luna went missing. The kids had to be accepted thanks to the marriage and the need of an heir. A lot of people thought it was very convenient for the Luna to go missing given the affair with the second Luna. 

They were bringing more than 100 people with them. Alpha Michael was said to be a man focused on power and of course his Luna. As people began getting out of their cars, I began to feel unsettled. Something inside me was screaming that something was coming, something bad was on the horizon. 

A man slightly younger than me got out of the car. He had dark hair and green eyes. He turned to help a young woman out of the car. His sister by the looks of her. She had red hair and green eyes. They approached, only acknowledging my father. I had seen this before with people who were looking to latch and find more power. Suddenly, another man was getting out of the car and something caught my eye. He seemed so familiar. Of course at this point though, I was only seeing the side of him. He helped his Luna out of the car. Looking at her, she’s breathtaking. She had the same red hair as her daughter but her eyes were pure black, something dangerous. 

Alpha Michael turned and began speaking to my parents. All I could do was stare, he was so familiar. He had brown hair with red in it, green eyes, with something I could not name. As soon as he looked at me everything seemed to fall into place. Memories began flooding my brain. Alpha Michael having a tea party with me. A woman pushing me on the swing. Things just kept coming. I felt like the world was spinning and then everything went black.