Welcome Back

Grandad was beaming from ear to ear and he spread his arms wide as Ember stepped through the portal.

“I am so glad yer finally here!” He bellowed in his loud booming voice. Ember returned his smile as she dropped her box and luggage and ran into his arms.

“Grandad! I am so happy to be here!” She pulled out of his huge hug and turned to her Grandma, “Grandma Clary!”

“Hello sweetie! My oh my, you look more and more like yer mum everyday!” Clary wasn’t from Scotland but she had been there long enough now that she had picked up a bit of the accent. Ember couldn’t wait to start picking hers up. Grandad grabbed her luggage and Grandma the box. “So tell me how was yer first shift? What does yer wolf look like?”

“She’s a soft silvery grey. Not as light as mums but almost as big! She’s fast too, really fast. My shift went well, shifted in ten minutes.” Ember beamed proudly. Her grandad and grandma asked her all sorts of questions as they walked across the grounds. Ember couldn’t help but stop and take in the castle. Home. It was a very large ancient Scottish Castle. Long forgotten by the humans, of course with some help from warlocks. It was every girls fairytale castle with towers and huge stone walls surrounding the inner castle with walkways all around. They entered through a small side gate and in through the kitchen garden door.

“We’re having a welcoming party for ye at the end of the week, both to introduce ye as my official heir and future Luna. But tonight just a family dinner.” Clary gave David a sideways glance.

“By the way dear, here when they say party, he really means a ball. To give you fair warning.” Clary added in, “and by family dinner he means a gathering of the ranked members in the private dinning hall.” Clary chuckled as David simply shrugged. Ember had missed her grandparents, Ember shook her head smiling. They brought her things to her suite and left her to get unpacked and changed for dinner. In the castle there were three wings; a guest wing, a servants wing, and a ranked wing which all came from the main building which held all the common rooms including meeting rooms, a ball room, dining hall, kitchen, and entertainment rooms. The castle was definitely bigger than the pack house back home. Here Ember had her own suite which had a huge bedroom with a four poster bed, an ensuite bathroom and a dressing room which was basically a giant walk in closet, her own balcony and sitting area. It reminded her of a very expensive fancy old timey hotel. Ember put her clothes away in the closet where she saw her grandma had already had some clothes brought in for her including a couple gowns fit for different occasions. She admired a beautiful royal purple mermaid style one and decided she would wear that to grandads ball. As she walked out of her dressing room she heard a quiet tap on her door. Her heart fluttered a little hoping it was Caleb. She rushed to the door while smoothing her hair.

“Hello?” She pulled the door open and there he was smiling down at her. He was a good foot taller than her and very well built. He had Celtic tattoos on his biceps which were a new addition from last summer, his soft brown hair was shaved along the sides with the top long and brushed back into a braid. He smirked as she stared him up and down. His muscles had definitely gotten bigger since last summer too, his simple grey t-shirt bulged over his chest and arms.

“Hey, long time no see.” He winked, and a slight flash of disappointment shot through Ember. She felt no sign of the bond.

“Hey, look at you getting all tatted up in the last year. Anything else new and exciting to show me?” Ember teased as she motioned for him to come in. Always the gentleman he left the door open as he walked in and sat on the small couch in her sitting area.

“No, not really. How was your birthday? How did your first shift go?” He smiled but Ember felt awkward all of a sudden, she had been hoping so much to feel the bond for him, she hadn’t stopped to think about any other possibilities. “I was really hoping it would be you too, don’t look so surprised. I really like you, a lot.” He stood up and in two strides was right in front of her. Embers heart raced. He had only given her a light kiss last summer, the night before she went home. This felt a lot more intimate and he hadn’t even touched her yet. He reached up and gently tucked a stray hair back behind her ear, his fingers softly trailed down her cheek and across her jaw, his thumb ran across her bottom lip as he gazed deep into her eyes with his own soft brown ones.

“My birthday was great, my shift went well.” Ember breathed out quietly. She couldn’t think of anything else to say. If he wasn’t her mate why did he make her heart flutter so much. He grinned down and leaned in almost brushing her lips with his when they heard a noise in the hallway. They both jumped apart like they had been hit by lightning and Caleb sat quickly on the couch again as Ember turned to make it look like she was busy at the desk beside her.

“Dearest, which would you prefer… Oh hello Caleb, did you come to welcome our girl home?” Clary walked in looking around. She raised her eyebrow at Ember and flicked her eyes towards Caleb. Ember knew she was asking if they were mates, she gave a small shake of her head to inform her they weren’t.

“Luna Clary, I… uh… yes, I was just saying hello. We became… friends last summer I was happy to hear she was back. Well I’ll take me leave then.” Caleb blushed and quickly left the room. Clary followed him to the door, shutting it behind him. She turned to Ember and wiggled her eyebrows. “Well I see you have an admirer.”

“But we aren’t mates.” Ember pointed out, trying to keep the disappointment from her voice.

“That doesn’t mean you can’t enjoy someones company. Honey it may take years to find your true mate, nothing forbids wolves to date until they find their mates. Some even choose to take a chosen mate if their true mate never shows. Look at Thomas and Heather. They never found their true mates so they chose each other and they are as happy as any true mated pairs I have met. Just remember to follow your heart. You don’t need to jump in bed with anyone, but if you were to spend sometime with someone, no one would mind.”

“Grandma! I don’t plan on jumping in bed with anyone other than my true mate!” Ember exclaimed, Clary just laughed. Clary was human she may have taken on Grandads longevity, but she was still human. Ember shook her head laughing. “What were you asking me when you came in?”

“Oh yes, I was simply going to ask you what you wanted for dessert for tonights dinner. Also I wanted to let you know that we have been having some… boundary issues with the Fae, stay out of the woods for now. Your Grandad has invited some of them to come here for your ball as a show of good faith. The day after they are having a meeting to discuss the issues. But don’t worry about that right now, let’s go to dinner.”

They walked together down to the private dining room and when she walked in everyone stood to greet her. There was Grandad, his Beta Lachlan and his mate Lyra, their son Lucas who was 15, the twins Archie and Callum who shared Gamma status, and last but not least Caleb and his parents who were also top members of the pack. Ember was seated on Grandads right across from Grandma. Caleb was seated next to her and he pulled her chair out for her as she went to sit down. She couldn’t help the blush that rose to her cheeks and he gently brushed his fingers across her back as he sat back down beside her. Dinner was filled with laughs and jokes, everyone was as closely knit as her family back home. Caleb kept resting his knee against hers throughout dinner. As much as Ember wanted to wait for her true mate, Caleb was making it very hard for her to think straight. Why did he have to be so hot? How could she feel this way about someone who’s not her true mate?

After dinner Ember decided she needed some fresh air so she headed out the front door and on to the outer wall. She loved the view from up there. The west wall over looked the forest and the lake with the mountains behinds that, Scotland was truly beautiful, she was happy to call this home.

“Hey, is everything alright? If you wish me to back off I will. I just know that I really like you, and even though we aren’t mates I would like to spend time with you.” Caleb had followed her out.

“I had really hoped we would be mates. I honestly didn’t think past that. Do you think it’s smart though? What if one of us finds our mate before the other. I don’t want to get in too deep and have it end in heartache.” Ember sighed as she leaned back against the wall, watching Caleb think over her words. He leaned on his elbows staring over the wall beside her.

“Let’s agree to take it slow. See how it goes. I don’t want to waste my life waiting for something that may never happen, especially when I have something happening now.” Caleb looked sideways at her his lips curved into a half smile. “We don’t need to announce it to the world.”

“I don’t know, I feel like that’s a dangerous game to play.” Ember shook her head as he grinned at her.

“I like a little danger.” He smirked, making her heart flutter again in her chest. This was dangerous indeed. “Well, that being said. May I accompany you to the ball on Saturday? I don’t think you will find your mate by then, and if you do I’ll bow out gracefully.” Ember laughed at that.

“Well when you put it that way, yes I will go to the ball with you. I am wearing royal purple.” She winked at him and the smile that lit his face made her core heat up.

“May I walk you back to your room?” Caleb held his arm out to her bowing jokingly.

“What a gentleman. Yes you may.” Ember linked her arm with his and they walked together back to her room. When they got to her door he paused, smiling down at her. Before she could open her mouth to say goodnight he leaned in and kissed her. Her mind went blank, his lips were soft and warm, he tasted sweet and she couldn’t help but pull him in closer as she kissed him back. He wrapped his arm around her waist pulling her flush against his hard chest while the other hand caressed the back of her neck. He pulled away slowly, both were breathing heavily.

“I should probably go to my own room now. Or I may lose that gentleman status you gave me outside.” He whispered into her ear. He gave her one more swift kiss before winking at her and stepping back. He waved and walked away.

“This is definitely dangerous.” Ember muttered to herself as she went into her room smiling softly, fingers pressed lightly to her lips.