Chapter 3 - Differences

Leah’s POV

Life in Sebastian’s pack is entirely different than life in Eli’s. For starters, the pack dining tables are packed out in such a way that there is no real division of ranks, whereas, at home, your rank is clearly defined by the table you sit at. The closer you were to the Alpha’s table, the more important you were. Emily showed me to the seat right next to Sebastian, and he held out the chair for me. Nobody had ever held out a chair to me before, which made me blush bright red. I was an omega for goddess’s sake, but I told them I was a rogue. I rolled my eyes internally at myself for being so damn hung up on rank.

The food was brought out and everybody dug in all at once, which reminded me of home. There, everybody had to wait for Eli to fill his plate first before anyone else could touch the food. As if there wouldn’t be enough for the Alpha! People were happily talking, eating, and drinking, but I could feel their eyes constantly looking my way. I was sure that most of them already knew who I was. That was the one thing that was definitely the same in all packs. Word of the new Luna, even if she hadn’t accepted yet, would spread through packs like wildfire. I have to admit that I was a little shy to just fill my plate, but when I didn’t, Emily started to do it. I tried to protest but she ignored me flat out, telling me I was too thin as it was.

“How do you expect your wolf to stay healthy if you don’t feed her properly?” Emily was built a lot like her brother. Strong, but fit, and her plate was even fuller than mine. The meat tasted better than anything I’d ever tasted. As my eyes scanned the room, I realized that the same food had been prepared for everybody. They were all eating the same quality of food, whereas in Eli’s pack, the lower your rank, the lower the quality of food you got. Eli’s pack didn’t abuse anyone, they just didn’t care about everybody, and here it seemed as if everybody was family. I wondered if perhaps they were all related in some strange way. You never know, some people do strange things to keep their bloodlines pure! But I couldn’t exactly see Emily mating with her cousin! I burst out laughing out loud, to which Sebastian cocked one eyebrow, wanting to know what was so amusing.

“Sorry, I was just thinking how funny I must have looked, sitting in my car and not opening the window.” Yeah, since I left home, I have learned to think fast on my feet. Especially in those early days when I had to fake being a waitress, and the memory of it made me laugh out loud again. I quickly slapped my hand in front of my mouth and looked at Sebastian with wide eyes.

“Okay, it was funny, but not that funny.” He grinned at me. “What were you laughing at, really?” He leaned his elbows on the table and bit into a huge piece of steak. I wondered how much I should tell him. If I went on the run again, I wouldn’t want him to find me that easily. If Eli’s actions were anything to go by, Sebastian might also decide to chase me to the ends of the earth! What was I going to do then? Go underground? Live in city sewers?! So, I decided to shake my head and tell him it was just a nervous tick. I laughed out loud like that when I was nervous. I heard of people doing that and hoped he would believe me, and it seemed like he did.

“So, were you born rogue, or did you leave your pack?” Emily jumped right into the deep end and I swallowed hard. This was the only negative about thinking up lies fast. I had to be incredibly careful when expanding on that lie. I pretended to be chewing so I could think before I answered. Stick as close to the truth as possible, I thought to myself.

“I was born in a pack, but when my parents died, I left. I’ve been on my own since my eighteenth birthday.” That wasn’t that far from the truth, and I almost breathed a sigh of relief when Emily nodded and her attention was drawn by her youngest. I knew there would be questions, and I hated having to answer them. “Sebastian, can you take me to my car after we finish? I need to grab something.” I hoped that I had sounded casual enough that he wouldn’t suspect anything and he nodded. After we were done eating, I wanted to help with the dishes, but Emily took them from me and Sebastian slipped his hand on my lower back before guiding me out of the dining room. We walked outside and I breathed in the fragrant air from their gardens. The gardens were absolutely breathtaking! Eli’s grounds had a very small piece where flowers were planted and the rest were turned into training grounds for warriors. Here the grass was perfectly cut, and I could see the training grounds, but there was a beautiful garden filled with flowers between the packhouse and the training grounds.

We walked to the back of the packhouse where there was a small parking lot and I could immediately see my car. All the cars were pretty luxurious compared to mine and it stood out like a sore thumb, making me feel ashamed. I remember when I bought it and how happy I was that I had bought my very first car all on my own, which made me feel awful for feeling ashamed about it. She had given me many happy miles as I kept running further and further away from Eli and home.

Sebastian didn’t hand me the key though. He unlocked the door and stood waiting while I rummaged through my car in search of something to take back to the house. I owned one backpack and all my clothes fit into it, and my backpack was upstairs in Sebastian’s loft. By the looks of things, he wasn’t going to hand me my keys either, so I had to fake it until I could make it out of there. I found a spare toothbrush in the glove compartment and pulled it out.

“Didn’t you brush your teeth this morning?” Sebastian frowned and I looked at him with wide eyes for a split second before frowning.

“Of course, I did! That was my soft brush that didn’t hurt my gums. This is my harder brush for after I've eaten meat.” Wow! I was a good liar!

“I’ve never heard of such a thing, but whatever makes you happy, makes me happy.” He laughed and I knew he didn’t believe a word I said. He locked my car and we walked over to the garden where he gave me a quick overview of their pack history. If I was totally honest with myself, I would have loved to stay and be his Luna. He seemed kind and his family seemed as if they had already accepted me without too many questions about who I was or where I came from. But I couldn’t. Sooner or later, Eli would find me again and what was I going to say to Sebastian and his family then? “Oops, sorry, I forgot to mention I already had a mate?!” Nope, I had to stick to my plan. I had to leave.

After a tour of the gardens, he showed me their training grounds, which looked way more impressive close-up, and they even had a proper gym that everybody could use. Eli’s pack only allowed ranked members and warriors to use the gym, and it was about half the size of this one. The equipment at Eli’s gym was ancient compared to here, which made me wonder where the pack’s money came from. Most packs had businesses that supported the packs, but I didn’t see anything like that around here. I wondered if they perhaps had something nearby, maybe in town. For a moment, I thought if that was the case, that meant there was a town nearby where I could find work, but I immediately crushed that idea. It would be no use to find a job in a town near where Sebastian’s packground was! For all I knew, the town might even be part of his grounds, and then running would have meant absolutely nothing.

Lunch came around and it was yet another family affair with so much food that I earnestly started to wonder where their money came from, but I couldn’t bring myself to ask. I hadn’t even been there a full twenty-four hours and I was already wondering how rich they were! No, I had to find out where Sebastian kept my keys. That was the main thing that needed my attention, and then I had to figure out a way to get out of there undetected. Carl, my Gamma, was discreet in the way he looked after me, but he was still there. Gammas, I knew for a fact, took their jobs very seriously, which could only mean there would be no getting away from him or any of them without being very good. Which I was! I was very good at running and hiding.

My mind wandered to Eli again, and I wished that I could be the fly on the wall when his people told him that they weren’t able to find me. That was one of the reasons why I used a car and didn’t run from place to place. Driving hid my scent just enough to give me some peace and quiet for a little while. Now that I was with Sebastian, I was sure that my scent had been covered by him and his pack's scent, and that was if Eli’s warriors even dared to come into Sebastian’s territory. They were probably not as stupid as I had been, and wouldn’t have absentmindedly just wandered into strange territory. I rolled my eyes at my own thoughts as I realized that I hadn’t thought about Eli and home so much in a long time, but it was difficult not to compare them all.

Since I left home, I hadn’t seen another pack or found myself in another pack’s territory. I was incredibly careful. It was because I was so damn angry at Eli that I didn’t focus on my whereabouts. Fucking Eli! If he hadn't interfered, I would still have had my job at the diner. I would still be free! I wouldn’t be the prisoner of a Greek god who seemingly only wanted to make me happy. My wolf purred again as I looked at Sebastian and he smiled at me. Yes, leaving here was definitely going to be harder than it was leaving Eli, but I had no other choice. There was no way that I could stay. There was going to be no way I would be able to explain my real situation and expect Sebastian to accept it.

My wolf whimpered and I tried to comfort her, but we both knew that we would have to leave soon or we would probably not be able to leave. We had both already fallen totally in love with Sebastian and his incredible family. Yes, this was going to be the hardest thing we would ever have to do, but we still had to do it.