Sniffing Her Mate

The luna had spoken at length to Audrey about the pack that were to come the next day. She had spoken about poise and charisma and had told Audrey that she was not to be at the fields, training. She was to exude all the charm that daughters and heirs of packs exuded and she had been bored listening to her mother give her all the detailed lectures. Some of which she did not even need.

"Mother, is it necessary that I act the way you have asked me to?"

She asked lazily at a point.

"It is not how I have asked you to, it is how you should act..like the royal daughter that you are. You are not supposed to carry yourself like any common member of the pack"

Her more replied sternly.

"Well, I will chose to be myself at anytime regardless of the people around and the place that I find myself. Again, I find that having to act like the royal daughter that I am limits me from doing a lot and being myself_"

Audrey said. She had learnt to always speak her mind and she did that everytime no matter what the consequences where going to be.

"Audrey, you have basically all the freedom in the world to be who you want to be and that way. Your father and I give you the liberty to do that. You go out there and do what you want with the sword and sometimes go tearing through the wild on your own and we never stop you. For once, Audrey, I am asking that you act like the royalty that you are for as long as we shall have the Blood Moon pack with us. We do not lack men to train and go for the fights and so we would not want to see you go out and train_"

Her mother said. It seemed more like a command than mere words to Audrey and she knew better than to argue. She only muttered under her breath,

" I am grown up and You do not think I can make decisions that are good for me?"

She did not mean for her mother to hear her and reply but she did.

"This is not about you making decisions. This is about you preparing to host a pack that is coming to our pack and acting like who you actually are. It is never this difficult to have a reasonable conversation with your brother, you do not have to always be this difficult, you hear me?"

She asked as she walked away. Audrey sighed. It will be best if she tried not arguing with anyone over anything that was not comfortable to her anymore. She would better do what she had in mind without having to upset anyone. She was still thinking so when her brother walked up to her.

"Audrey, you look stressed, what is the matter with you?"

He asked her. She looked away, not ready to make him see how utterly stressed out she truly was.

"Well, I am ".

She said without turning to look at him.

"Is that why you are looking away from me? Does proper ethics not demand that you look at someone when the person is standing in front i you and holding a conversation with you? You can't be looking that way, I'm right here" he said as he reached his hand out and turned her to face him " yes, you should be looking at me . Tell me, what is bothering you? "

He asked.

" Johnson, I don't think I want to talk about it anymore_"

Audrey said. She knew he was not going to leave anyway and then she would have to tell him in the end. He was going to probe every tiny detail out of her. She shrugged. She was going to tell him after all.

" Come on, I am willing to listen to you as long as you are willing to speak to me, Audrey. I can always be that friend_" he said. He was giving her the look that he often gave her when he wanted to pry an answer out of her. She was not going to resist.

" It is about the pack that father has asked to support us, you know we will have them tomorrow right? "

She asked. Johnson nodded.

" I know. How about the pack? What is wrong with them? " He asked as he pulled a chair from the dinning and sat.

" You should not do that _" Audrey said, referring to the chair he had pulled " mother will be mad if she saw you do that. "

" Well, I am only going to be seated for as long as you take to tell all your worries to me", he replied with the air of someone who was going to have one's problems solved.

" I do not think having them is a good idea. What do you think? "

She asked him. Johnson looked thoughtful as he seemed to be pondering on her question. She sat watching him while he had his brows furrowed.

" Well, " he started finally, " what makes you think it is not a good idea. You know you must have a good reason to hold that opinion, right? "

He said.

" I told father my reasons but somehow, they were not good enough and I seemed to be wrong but I have had an unsettling feeling about the pack coming here", she said In a hush. The maids had started to arrange the dishes one after the other for dinner and she knew she had very small time to speak with her brother before she retired for the day. The next day, they were to have the blood moon pack members arrive in their entourage.

" Well, maybe you are wrong and you should let that rest. I do not think it is a bad idea and you should banish the unsavoury thoughts you have, okay? "

Johnson admonished as he patted her cheeks and then set the chair again

****

Audrey was nervous. She had never been that fidgety and she found herself rubbing her palms against her dress again and again. She soon felt like her dress was too revealing and that added to her discomfort.

"You look stunning dear!"

Her mother enthused dramatically as if she had read her mind or seen the discomfort in her eyes and was trying to make her feel good. She nodded.

"Thank you. But I suddenly feel like my cleavage is a bit too pronounced",

She said as her hand rose to rest on the mound of flesh above her chest.

"You look perfectly good my dear and there is nothing revealing about what you are wearing!"

Her mother said. She nodded and tried to force a smile.

" Quick, let us go stand outside, I can hear the foot of the wheels. They are approaching and we are to be outside to welcome them! "

Her mother said. She seemed eager to meet them and Audrey decided to ask for the first time,

"Mother, why does it excite you so much to have them? " She asked as her hand moved again to finger the laces on her dress. She was getting sick of having to wear dresses with laces only.. her mother had mentioned once that she looked better in dressed that had laces and since, she had only found that each day, dresses upon dresses with laces were laid out for her in different colours and designs.

Her mother had done her coiffure again and she reached to pat the beautiful heap on her head before replying,

"It makes me feel good to have an avenue like this to meet with packs as prestigious as the Blood Moon pack. You have not heard very much about the pack, have you? They are one of the biggest around these parts and they own half the the forests in California. They have a castle in the forest and i have heard that the castle contains treasures of all kinds and_"

Her voice became faint to Audrey who was no longer paying attention to her as they both walked out to stand outside the pack house where the Alpha was already standing with Johnson.

Audrey stood next to her mother who was standing next to the alpha and last in the line was Johnson, the youngest of them. The gates soon opened and the entourage began to make its way steadily towards the pack house.

Audrey was visibly uncomfortable as she sniffed the air around nonstop until she was too uncomfortable to remain there.. she took a few steps back and ran into the pack house. She stopped once as she began to ascend the stairs and sneezed. The smell was stronger as the entourage drew nearer. There was no mistaking what that meant. She was sniffing around with so much unease because her mate was close. He had to be among the many men. His scent grew even stronger.