Chapter 6 - Meeting with the Wolves

Ciara's POV 

I push open the door and slip in to find the two most powerful men in our pack standing behind the large wooden oak desk - Beta Leon and Alpha Radar.

Alpha Radar gestures for me to take a seat on the leather couch as he takes his seat at his desk while my father, Beta Leon, stands off to the side behind the Alpha’s desk. I scanned the room realizing there are more people in this meeting than I thought would be here. Besides Alpha Radar and Beta Leon, Alpha Radar’s son and future Alpha of the pack, James and Noah, who is my brother and future beta, are present for the meeting. Even the Head Warrior and my trainer, Maximo is leaning on the far wall waiting. All eyes staring at me! A towering group of 6’ foot tall werewolves and suddenly, I’m feeling like a cooked lamb chop on a dinner plate.  Waiting to be devoured.

“Ciara,” Alpha Radar’s eyebrows furrowed in annoyance. “I see you had time for a… snack?” He paused momentarily before looking down at my shirt.

I follow his gaze to my hands and realize in my haste to get to the office I must have flung the potato chips all over the front of my clothes. “Sorry, Alpha.” I bow my head in submission. I swiftly wipe off some of the mess from my clothes, but the chip confetti just lands all over the expensive rug. Damn. “I’ll clean that up afterwards.”

‘Stop laughing, Ember…’ I grumble at my wolf. She’s enjoying my misfortune way too much. 

Alpha Radar briefly averts his gaze, hiding his small grin peeking out from beneath his thick, dark beard. He always calls me a hot mess, and I guess I just proved it once again. Clearing his throat to speak, he quickly changes his demeanor to Alpha in charge.

“As you know, Hazel Summers’s coming-of-age ceremony and her first shift celebration are happening this weekend, which is in a few days. Along with the summer moon festival and moonlight run the following week.” Alpha Radar folded his arms over his massive chest as he spoke. His eyes give nothing away of his emotions, and his gaze never leaves mine.

All the pack members celebrated these two special events in their lives. Each member would celebrate their eighteenth birthday as a Coming-of-Age ceremony and their first shift. It was like a rite of passage for the Crystal Lake Pack, and we took great pride in these monumental moments. Luna Rosaline would make sure everyone was celebrated in one way or another, even if their parents didn’t have money for a big party. She even provided group parties in the gardens for the Omegas who came of age. Since I was shifting by the age of five, I didn’t get to experience these things.

But this time around, I wasn't about to let the celebrations slip passed me because I had a secret wish I was hoping to fulfill. I want to know what the mate bond was like. I have read countless stories describing the extraordinary instant when two wolves sense their destined mate's presence, but actually witnessing it unfold would be nothing short of pure magic. I am curious about the irresistible force that is said to draw them together and what indescribable sensation it brings. I know I am not allowed to have a mate since my multi-shifter abilities would be discovered, but a girl can dream, right?

During pack events, I am always on border patrol. Our warrior units ran in groups, except me. I am able to scout the borders alone and still be undetected. When I am in my owl form, I can see and feel sound waves. Even though wolves are light on their paws, the movement still produces sound waves, and I can detect the movement even before they reach our borders. A few flaps of my wings and my eyes can see all movement even in the darkest of nights.  My fox form is just as useful while patrolling. Once I detect movement, I switch to fox form and make my way in the direction of the intruders. A fox is tiny compared to the average werewolf and my fox is small and stealthy. During training simulations, I can sneak around undetected allowing me to get up close to the enemy and then mind-link the Alpha, giving a play-by-play detail on the potential threat.

“I heard she’s been planning her parties for months now. Should be a successful weekend,”  I smile.

My father, Leon, clears his throat and speaks in a calming tone.  “Ciara dear, have you heard of the Blue Eclipse Pack?”

“Who doesn’t know the Alpha King’s pack?” I scoff, my words laced with sarcasm then quickly realize my brain forgot to think before my mouth spoke the words. “I mean, they are the most elite warriors of all time and the king lives there and he’s our king… sooooooo… yeeeeeaaaaah.” I trail off—Open mouth, insert foot.

Beta Leon raises one eyebrow at me then continues. “That being said… Several weeks ago, Alpha received a request for a meeting with the Alpha King and Queen Luna. They always like knowing about pack inner workings and Alpha Radar thought now would be a good opportunity to create some sort of connection with the Blue Eclipse Pack. Our pack went from on the verge of extinction to thriving in 13 years and it seems like a good time to start creating strong bonds with other packs.”

Alpha Radar decides to take over the one-sided conversation, “After much deliberation with their pack leaders and our council, along with Beta Leon and myself, we have come to an agreement that we would create an additional side alliance with the royal family for the Evergreen Alliance. This is a great honor for our pack and neighboring packs being able to… connect with the Werewolf King and Queen.”

The Evergreen Alliance is made up of six neighboring werewolf packs close to our territory. The alliance was created in case of any emergencies like rouge attacks, shortage of resources, and even potential mating bonds. The Alphas of the Black Ridge Pack, Meadow Lake Pack, Moon Dance Pack, Stone Cliff pack, Green Woods Pack, and our pack, the Crystal Lake Pack created in the Evergreen Alliance to help benefit each other with our own individual pack strengths. Since we are the largest pack of the alliance, we mainly provide the warriors to the small packs in case of emergencies.

I am beginning to feel like Alpha Radar is circling around the drain to avoid telling me the reason why I am here especially since he is using everyone’s formal titles. “Oh… well, that’s good, right?” I prompt, hoping he will just get to the point already because I really have to pee. I shift slightly in my seat and recross my legs, hoping to relieve some of the pressure on my bladder. My foot wiggling to the pee-pee dance.

“Ciara, my sweet girl,” my father speaks. “The agreement is a chosen mate marriage between the soon-to-be Alpha King, Alpha Mars Drake and Gamma Alex’s daughter, Hazel.”