The Fated Malachite Luna

Chapter #5 - New Places

Camille’s POV

I follow Larissa inside and what I see before me immediately takes my breath away. Straight ahead of me is a double staircase and above it hangs a gorgeous modern/industrial chandelier. The super high ceiling makes me feel minuscule in comparison. Directly under the staircase is a hallway that leads right through to the back of the mansion. At the end of the hall are big glass doors and windows, leading to what looks like an extravagant backyard. On either side of the foyer that I’m standing in is a large, round archway that opens into what seems like another hallway to private rooms.

“Should we get you settled in for the night? Tomorrow or tonight I guess… we’re holding a banquet that you’re invited to. But you should get some sleep.” Larissa motions to the stairs ahead of me.

“Umm… sure. Could I ask you some more questions though?”

“Of course. Come with me. I’ll show you to where you’ll be staying and you’re welcome to ask me anything along the way.”

She walks ahead of me and I follow closely behind her. She seems very dignified and I can’t help but be charmed by her soft voice and looks. She doesn’t seem like someone who would harm me so I attempt to let my guard down a little. I follow her to the third floor and she leads me to a bedroom on the right side of the mansion. She opens the door and I automatically gasp. This bedroom is bigger than my entire condo!

The light brown hardwood floor flows right into the bedroom. In the centre sits a queen sized bed with gorgeous nightstands on either side. Sconces hang above the nightstands and a beautiful chandelier takes place in the middle of the ceiling. On the opposite wall from the bed are 2 other doors.

“Where do those lead to?” I ask, pointing to the doors.

“Oh. That’s the on-suite and the closet.” She smiles.

“I get my own bathroom and closet?” I ask, wide eyed.

“Of course.” She chuckles.

“Did you guys know I’d be arriving? Why does it feel like this was all planned?”

“Well… Yes. We knew you’d be joining us soon. I stocked the closet for you and bought some necessities for the bathroom as well.”

“What?! How? Is this some sort of cult?”

She laughs loudly at my question.

“No, hun. We’re not a cult. We’re a pack so to speak. This is the pack territory. You’re in the pack house and this is normally our main guest room.”

“Pack?” I think back on the giant wolves I saw tonight. “You mean… like a wolf pack?” I hesitate to ask and expect her to laugh at me again.

But she doesn’t.

“Yes, precisely.” She nods.

“Wait… what? Really?” I choke on my words.

“Really. Everyone you met tonight, and myself… We’re all werewolves.” She says without a hint of sarcasm.

I don’t know how to respond at first, thinking that she might be joking. My eyes didn’t make it up though. I know for a fact I saw Hunter turn from a wolf to a human. Normally I would laugh in someone’s face if they tried to tell me that, but right now it doesn’t seem so far fetched.

I slowly walk into the bedroom, and sit down on the edge of the bed. I run my fingers along the duvet and the softness of it takes me by surprise. I know for a fact once my head hits the pillow I’m going to be out cold.

I whip my head up to Larissa and she simply stands there smiling, awaiting any other questions I have.

“Who are you?”

“I’m the current Luna of this pack, meaning I’m second in command to the Alpha. An Alpha and Luna are normally mates but in this case, the Alpha is my son. My husband, his father was the former Alpha. My son has been waiting to find his mate, so for now I’m acting as Luna until she arrives.”

Thinking back on the events of today, I recall someone referring to Hunter as Alpha.

“Is Hunter your son?”

“Yes he is. You’re quite perceptive.”

“It’s been quite the night. I’m trying to take in as much information as I can.” I chuckle slightly. “So Hunter is the Alpha…” I say quietly to myself. “He seems young to be an Alpha. Aren’t Alpha’s supposed to be like the older, toughest ones?”

“Naturally wolves assume the role of Alpha once they turn 18. He just turned 21 a couple weeks ago. And trust me, he’s the strongest wolf here.”

Wow so he’s the same age as me… and he’s clearly single since he hasn’t found his ‘mate’ yet. I ponder the thought of him being available when I shake the thought from my head. He’s basically betrothed so he’s still technically unavailable. It hurts slightly to think I’m drawn to him somehow but can’t do anything about it. I want to get to know him…

“Do you have any other questions or should we call it a night?” Larissa breaks the silence.

“Honestly I have a ton of questions but I think my head is going to explode… I should go to sleep.” I say to her and she nods.

“Sounds good. When you wake up tomorrow just press this button. I’ll come up and lead you to the breakfast hall.” She points to a doorbell looking button on the wall and smiles. “Have a good sleep, Cami.”

“Thanks…”

And with that, she leaves and closes the door behind her. I immediately walk over and lock it. You never know what could happen being in a strange place with a bunch of men. After exhaling deeply and letting my shoulders fall, I turn back around to face the bedroom. Is this for real? Did this really happen or am I dreaming?

I walk over to the bathroom door and slowly open it. I’m shocked at what I find inside. There’s a double sink vanity ahead and to the left is an enormous stand-alone claw-foot tub. At the other end of the tub is a beautifully tiled shower and across from it is the toilet. I walk over to the vanity and open the drawer to my right. In it sits high-end brands of face wash and moisturizer. Along with a new toothbrush a tube of toothpaste, floss, and deodorant. On the counter sits a beautiful bottle of hand soap. I turn around and in the shower I see brand new bottles of shampoo, conditioner and body wash. Those brands are also expensive and I take a deep breath in. She wasn’t kidding when she said she stocked the bathroom. I open the left drawer and see other items like face masks, hair masks, shaving cream, more moisturizers, razors, a blow-dryer, a flat iron, curling rod, a hair brush, heat protectant cream and dry shampoo.

“Holy shit.” I say to myself.

I continue to open more drawers and cabinets, finding toilet paper, q-tips, cotton balls, feminine products, scented candles, bubble bath, bath bombs, nail clippers, nail files, towels, and more! Larissa didn’t forget a single thing when stocking this bathroom! I feel bad thinking about all the money she spent but at least I have everything I need for the foreseeable future.

I decide to have a shower to clear my mind. As I stand under the stream of hot water, I remember that I don’t have a phone and start to get stressed. Shyla is probably freaking out! What if she tried to contact me to check up on me and couldn’t get ahold of me?! But I tell myself there’s no point in freaking out about it right now because it’s nearly 4am and I’m beyond exhausted.

I get out of the shower and dry off. I grab a pair of pyjamas from the closet and am surprised to find they fit perfectly. I don’t bother looking through all the clothes and decide to do that tomorrow. I climb into bed and snuggle up under the comfiest sheets and duvet I’ve ever felt. Like I predicted, as soon as my head hit the pillow, I pass out.

Hunter’s POV

“You think she’s okay?” I ask Jonathon, pacing back and forth in the common area.

“Dude, I’m sure she’s fine. Try to relax. At least she’s here and safe.” Avery attempts to calm me down.

“Yeah… you’re right. I’m just so worried that she doesn’t like me. You think she felt the mate bond?” I ask, running both hands through my hair anxiously.

“I have no idea.” Avery shrugs.

“I mean, it didn’t really seem like it to me. Maybe her wolf is so suppressed that all her animal instincts and stuff are too buried for her to notice it?” Jonathon interjects.

“I was afraid of that.”

“It’ll probably take time. Just trust that it’ll all work out in the end.” Jonathon pats me on the shoulder.

“Much harder said than done man.” I walk away from him and flop onto the sofa.

We just arrived back at the pack house and my mom had taken her up to one of the guest bedrooms. All I wanted to do was talk to her on the drive home just to hear her voice and get to know her but the last thing I wanted to do was overwhelm her or worse, scare her. It took everything inside me to remain quiet until we got to the pack house. I let my mom take over from there because I figured a woman would make her more comfortable than a bunch of strange men. I hope I can have a real conversation with her tomorrow. Best case scenario she wants to stay for a bit to learn more about us and herself… Worst case scenario she wants to leave and I never see her again. I pray to the moon Goddess that doesn’t happen.

As I’m lost in my thoughts, my mom comes down the stairs from the third floor directly above us.

“How is she?” I immediately jump to my feet.

“She’s fine, Casanova.” She chuckles.

“But like, does she want to leave? Is she scared?”

“No. She didn’t say she wanted to leave.” My mom shakes her head slowly. “She doesn’t seem scared, but she’s definitely new to our world and I think ‘confused’ would be a better way to describe her.”

“What did you tell her?” I ask impatiently.

“She knows we’re werewolves. She knows you’re the Alpha. I explained that I’m acting as Luna until you find your mate.”

“You did mention that she’s my mate right??”

“No. Did you want me to give the girl a stroke right off the bat? She needs to be introduced to us slowly, hun.”

“Ugh…” I flop myself back on the couch and bury my face in my hands.

“Hunter… She needs time and space. We can explain more to her later, but we can’t just blurt out that the strange man who more or less ‘kidnapped’ her is her betrothed.” My mom places her hands on her hips.

Avery and Jonathon stand to the side quietly listening to our conversation.

“When do you think I should tell her?”

“Like I said, we can explain more to her later today. Focus on trying to get to know her first. I told her about the banquet we’re having tonight, but she doesn’t know it’s in her honour.” My mom turns from me to my beta and gamma. “Spread the word that everyone address her as Cami and NOT our Luna. Not yet.” She points to the boys and commands.

“Yes, Luna.” They both respond and nod.

“She goes by Cami?” I ask.

“Yes.” My mom confirms.

“Cami…” I mutter under my breath.

Hmm. I like Cami, it’s cute. And suits her. As I think about her name, I picture running my hands through her beautiful hair and staring into her entrancing green eyes. I don’t even really know her yet and I already feel like I love her. The mate bond is so strong, it boggles me that she doesn’t feel it yet. My sole instincts right now are to protect her and make her feel safe.

“Alpha… we should discuss what to do about the vampires…” Jonathon suddenly breaks the silence.

My mom leaves the room and comes back with a tray of tea.

“Agreed.” She says. “But you boys should drink this and then get to bed. We can discuss everything else later today.” She winks and hands each of the guys a cup.

“Thank you.” They say in unison.

“Yeah. Training is in an hour.” I huff and rub my hands over my face in frustration.

“Alright I’m gonna hit the hay.” Avery says, placing his empty cup on the coffee table.

“I’ll kick your ass if you sleep through your alarm and skip training!” Jonathon shouts behind him.

Avery simply waves his hand as if to say ‘yeah, yeah’ and heads up the stairs to his quarters. The top floor is mine and meant for my family. My parents still have a bedroom of their own up there until my mom is done acting as Luna, then they’ll move into their retirement home in the residential area of my territory. Jonathon has the floor below me and Avery has the floor below him. Their parents moved out the minute they took on their beta and gamma roles. The 3rd floor that Cami is staying on is mainly for guests. The second floor which is the floor we’re on now is the main floor of the house. The common areas, the dining halls, and public amenities for the pack are all on this floor. The backside of the pack house overlooks most of the territory and with the main floor being on the second level, the view is incredible and makes it easier to oversee the area.

The bottom floor is for the maids and cooks of the pack-house. The omega’s are just as important to me as any other pack member. Each member of my pack gets treated with the same level of respect, no matter their status. The omega’s quarters are almost just as nice as mine.

“I’m heading to bed too boys. Please get some sleep if you can.” My mom comes over to give me a kiss on the forehead and then heads to the elevator.

Yes, we have an elevator. It’s not used very often unless we’re moving furniture up to one of the top floors or if older wolves find the stairs to be too exhausting.

“I’ll see you in an hour I guess.” Jonathon huffs and places his empty cup beside Avery’s. “Relax man, everything will be fine.” He assures me before yawning and heading up the stairs.

I don’t end up sleeping a wink that night, and instead spend the next hour pacing around my room until training starts at 5am. It took every ounce of strength I have not to go to the 3rd floor and watch her sleep. As creepy as that sounds, I’ve never been so impatient to see someone’s face before. I crave her scent and count down the hours until she wakes up and I get to see her dazzling smile again.