Fated to the Promised Alpha

Chapter 2 - Catching his scent

A copious amount of flowers dressed the hallway leading to the main ballroom of the packhouse. The building itself was grand and the largest on Red Moon’s land. It housed all of the younger, unmated wolves of the pack on its upper floors but everywhere else was communal pack areas. The ground floor held numerous recreational spaces, a cafeteria, meeting rooms, two smaller halls and the main ballroom, which was the location of all major pack events such as tonight's. The Luna announcement had coloured the decorations yellow, a smattering of bright daffodils, begonias and roses laced amongst the usual red colours of the pack. It gave the room a warm autumnal feel that kept in well with the season.

Charlie and her father were greeted respectfully at the front door by young warriors guarding the event. Though trouble wasn’t expected, the strength of their presence was important as there would be non-pack wolves in attendance. Their polite attitudes instilled a bit more confidence into Charlie’s step as the pair strode into the ballroom, her head was high, and an easy smile played on her lips as her previous nerves began to drift away.

The room was quite empty, but that was usual for this time of evening. Again, tradition requires the upper ranks and important members of the pack should arrive to events ahead of the others. Why, Charlie gave up trying to comprehend the reasons and often just complained at having to stay longer at the boring occasions. Being a bit older now and wiser to the world, she enjoyed the vantage point that being one of the first to arrive gave her. Only moments after entering, she had scoped out the other occupants of the room, deemed their ranking in regard to her strength, and was able to guide herself to a position which maintained clear lines of sight of the door, ready for the guests to appear.

Chris had allowed his daughter to lead the way and smirked as her eyes snapped back and forth through the crowd, noting the casual second glances she gave to new faces. Once they had stopped and accepted a flute of champagne to mark their arrival, Chris waited for Charlie to finish her perusal of the wolves, having completed his own a mere 10 steps into the room.

“Has Alpha Jayden filled the upper rank positions yet?” Charlie asked, giving a group of 5 male wolves more focus than others.

Chris could understand the curiosity, and dare he say suspicion of her glances. With Charlie growing up around the warriors, she has known most of them for as long as she can remember. Sure, the older ones, like himself, had retired now but she was yet to meet the new blood that had joined in the last 6 years whilst she was away. “Those 5 are unranked but are of interest. The Alpha requested their presence early to reward their training efforts.”

Charlie snapped her hazel eyes up to meet her father’s, as a flash of awe crossed them. She had tried to make her sweep of the room as negligible as possible and yet he had followed her gaze with ease. Pursing her lips to hold back the grumble of being outsmarted, Charlie followed her dad's directed eyeline.

“Gamma, Gamma, Beta, Gamma.” Though Chris mumbled each individual wolf’s name after their title, Charlie didn’t bother to remember them. Not only was she awful with names, but she wanted to meet the wolves with such titles and test their worth. Her eyes glazed across the room at the other wolves that were seemingly unranked but also invited for early attendance. As if reading her mind, her dad continued. “That is the Alpha’s current upper ranks, but he keeps changing his mind. Almost monthly.”

The disapproval rung clear in his tone and once again Charlie was surprised that he would say anything negative against their Alpha. Though, the news was good for her. “That’s great. I’m aiming for Beta so I’m glad the position isn’t fixed yet.” Chris c****d an eyebrow at her, hiding a smirk in his cheek. Charlie turned to face him and gave a crooked grin, “We want to keep the title in the family, right?”

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Over the next hour, the room slowly filled with the rest of the pack. More familiar faces came into view and many of them made sure to welcome Charlie home before circulating to find friends. It warmed her and gave her the comfy sensation of being home. A feeling she hadn’t felt for some time.

As Charlie saw her best friend across the room, somehow having snuck in with the crowd without her seeing, a subtle sweetness tickled at her nose. She furrowed her brows at first as the scent grew stronger and rose over the other smells of the room, though not in an overbearing way. Having heightened senses was a blessing as a warrior but it can easily make the mind fog if there's too much stimulation, however this was different. The sweet scent was calming, cleanly slicing a path through the hundreds of wolves directly to her. A shiver ghosted her skin, the subtle calming scent enticing Charlie’s focus like a crooked finger.

Her body turned as if drawn by a string to the entrance of the hall, noticing others following the same pull. Her curiosity peaked and hazel eye zeroed in on the wolf attracting so may eyes, as Charlie tried to push away the rumble of her wolf in her chest. An urge to shout and demand the crowd to avert their gaze bounced in her muscles, but the thought halted when she saw whom the sweet scent was radiating from.

A tall man with a strong frame that filled a good proportion of the doorway stood still at the entrance. His short blonde hair was styled in an effortless bedhead look that invited the mind to wonder how it really looked after a tumble in the sheets. What caught her attention though was the eyes. Piercing blue with a halo of navy dancing around the edge, staring directly back at her with dilated pupils, as a swirl of azure turned the bright baby blues to darkened hues.

“Mate.” The word escaped her parted lips before her mind could put a name to the face she had claimed. It was Alpha Jayden. Many years had passed since she had seen him, but his familiar features were immediately recognisable to the girl who had watched him grow each day until he was eighteen. Even if his looks were different, the commanding presence that settled on the room on his arrival would’ve led Charlie to the truth.

It wasn’t until the Alpha pulled his eyes away from hers that Charlie noticed the small woman clinging to his arm. Murmurs of her favours reached Charlie, and she couldn’t help but agree, though begrudgingly. The woman had a kind smile, large eyes and beautiful glossy hair that seemed to flow around her as if played with by fae. Charlie’s stomach rolled as she watched the petite girl lead the Alpha into the room. Though it was the way he followed wordlessly that really bothered her.

“What did you say?” Her father asked, forcing Charlie to blink and break the spell she was under. Her eyes snapped back into her head and her thoughts scrambled to fix an answer together.

She wasn’t sure what compelled her to lie. Maybe it was denial or embarrassment, but either way repeating that word to her dad was not going to happen. “Cake!” Charlie exclaimed, pointing wildly at a table in the far corner. She didn’t wait for her father’s response before she trotted in the direction of food, the weight of eyes following her across the room prickling the hairs of her neck.

Awkwardly monopolising the space around the food table attracted attention, but Charlie didn’t care. She continued shovelling cupcakes into her mouth, hoping one of the tasty treats would remove the lump that was stubbornly lodged in her throat. She tried to be polite to the wolves that passed her by, offering icing covered smiles in their direction or curt nods that invited them to keep moving, but her mind was elsewhere. Everywhere she looked, she somehow managed to keep Alpha Jayden in sight, as the new couple made their rounds of the room, greeting as many wolves as possible before the Luna annoucement would begin.

As they neared her hiding spot, the first brush of his voice across her ears made her clench her fist hard enough to crush the latest cupcake in her hand. Her breath became shallow, and she had to fight against the pushing urge from her wolf to go to him. Her mate. The Alpha was her mate. The Alpha who currently had his arm wrapped around the waist of another woman was her mate. Torturous, never-ending thoughts filled her mind and she physically tried to push them away, rubbing her crumbed hand across her forehead.

“Ok?” A deep rumble of a voice appeared next to her, making her jump and spin on the spot. Looming above her was the dark figure of her best friend, Dex, and she sighed, a bubble of laughter falling from her tight smile.

“Yes. Sure am! Isn’t this a great party? Lots of cake.” She rambled, avoiding his calculating gaze. A soft pressure grazed over her forehead and Charlie startled again before looking up to the strange sensation. Dex was frowning and wiping her with a napkin.

“Cake.” He said, like that explained it all, and it did. Dex had always been a man of few words but somehow always managed to pick the right ones to convey his meaning. Charlie allowed him to carry on wiping the smudged cake from her skin and took the time to collect herself, making a silent promise in her head to act more natural for the rest of the party. That promise didn’t last.

“Lottie.” A new voice suddenly beside her made her stiffen. She had heard it call her name countless times before and yet this time it felt different. It was warmer and repeated in her mind like the fluttering echo of an unexplored cavern that threatened adventure.

“Jay.” Charlie turned, hit with a wash of butterflies as she locked onto his baby blues for a moment, forgetting herself and their company. A quick silence fell on the small circle of four people, the only sound reaching Charlie was the howl of her own wolf happily thumping away as the subtle sweet scent caressed over her skin, pulling a delicate pink flush along with it. A small shuffle from her left snapped her gaze away. “Sorry. I mean Alpha Jayden.” A boyish grin toyed on the Alpha’s lips, but she refused to glance down at them. Instead, she moved her hazel gaze to the woman besides him and gave her the friendliest grin she could muster. “You must be our honoured guest for this evening and future Luna. It is a pleasure to meet you, my name is Charlotte, but please call me Charlie.”

The woman easily returned Charlie’s smile, with added enthusiasm. “The pleasure is mine. Your pack certainly know how to welcome a wolf! My name is Olivia, from the Eclipsed Valley pack.” The brown-haired woman thrust out a hand to Charlie which she happily shook, expecting that to be the end of their interaction. As Olivia’s focus turned to Dex, Charlie dropped her gaze to the arm still tightly wrapped around the future Luna’s waist. She swallowed the bile that rose up her throat, the alluring sweet scent suddenly feeling thicker and stifling, sticking to her breath.

Charlie’s hand raised, aiming to nestle a nail or two between her teeth, when another hand was quickly wrapped around it in a firm handshake. Her eyes widen as an eruption of blissful tingles danced across her palm and into her body, igniting it with a heat much wilder than the warmth it received before. She clamped her bottom lip between her teeth to stop the small gasp that threatened to escape.

"Great to see you home, Lottie." Charlie yanked her eyes up to meet amused blue ones, but the tinge of darkness lurking in them gave her some satisfaction that he was feeling the connection too.

If eyes could speak, hers would be saying, ‘What are you doing, are you crazy?’. Since they couldn't, and Jay was clearly enjoying making fun of her predicament, Charlie narrowed her eyes and chose to pull her hand away intentionally slowly, allowing her fingertips to brush along the inside of his palm. The jerking force by which the Alpha suddenly pulled back, had her repressing a bark of laughter.

“Come on Olivia, its time.” Hand back on his chosen mate’s waist and sparing Charlie one last glance, the Alpha led his Luna-to-be towards a raised platform at the centre of the room.

“Ok?”

Charlie had almost forgotten Dex was there, his large build turning invisible in his silence.

“Yeah.” She breathed out and watched the Alpha leave. It wasn’t a complete lie. Somehow his presence had calmed her whilst also sparking the electricity of the mate bond. Though, as he stepped further away without her, the dread returned, sitting heavy on her chest. She turned and saw the concerned furrow on her friend’s face. “Yes.” She said with more conviction, before elbowing him in the side. “Anyway, why weren’t you here for the early attendance. Not ranked yet, ay?”

“No.” A grumble which spoke volumes as her friend folded his arms tight across his chest. He wasn’t easy to tease, but Charlie knew his sensitive subjects and was happy to exploit them to divert his attention. Lucky for Dex, a hush blanketed the room before she could continue, as three figures climbed the platform to address the pack.

“Thank you everyone who came today to celebrate this long awaited occasion.” The man who spoke was the previous Alpha of the pack and Jay’s father. His voice carried over the wolves effortlessly, but Charlie barely took in the words, a crawling itch creeping over her. “Alpha Jayden has led us for the last 4 years and tonight I am happy to introduce his future Luna to you all.” He gestured to the couple beside him, and Charlie couldn’t help the feeling of contempt that clouded her vision as Olivia gave a perfect rehearsed reaction. A blend of happiness and awe with just the right amount of shyness thrown in. She was flawless.

Alpha Jayden took over from his father and introduced the woman at his side to the room. Though her logical brain had pieced together the simple puzzle from the start, hearing the words fall from his lips felt like an acidic burn of poison on her skin. “Please welcome my Luna-to-be, Olivia Eclipse, from the Eclipsed Valley pack.”

A roar of approval sounded like a betrayal in Charlie’s ears as the room gave Olivia the Red Moon welcome. She did not join in with the cheer and instead clutched at her heart, the material of her dress bunching tightly in her fingers. Too many sounds filled her mind as wave after wave of congratulations drowned out her reasoning and the pounding under her fist grew. Her vision blurred around the edges and the room began to tilt, filling her mouth with bile which she had no other choice but to swallow.

A strong hand under her elbow steadied her and Charlie sent a silent thanks, not trusting her voice to speak the words aloud.

“Ok?” The single word was whispered into her ear, but the hot breath just added another roll to her queasy stomach. She gently pulled away and gave a weak smile of reassurance. One she knew Dex wouldn’t believe but would accept for the evening. Without saying a word, she pointed towards the doors and got a curt nod in return. Years of silent communication making words seamlessly flow between the pair.

With that, Charlie turned on her heel and made a beeline for the exit. Needing the fresh air and space to clear her mind. She kept her pace leisurely, so as not to draw attention but felt at least three pairs of eyes watch her departure. She didn’t care. She only had one thought at that moment, and as soon as the packhouse front door closed behind her, she followed through with it. Charlie ran.