The next day I went to office as usual. Adrian didn't accompany in my walk to the office. He must probably be busy. I still have to ask him what he does, what being an alpha means.
I got a feeling that people were staring at me when I entered the office. I ignored and walked to my desk. I was getting ready to start work when Eric walked in.
"Good morning", he wished and I wished him back.
"You just need to finish those three reports on your desk and then you are required to be present at the pack house. Adrian and Ronan will meet you there." He was about to leave when my question stopped him.
"What about the rest of the work? It's middle of the week and I already have missed doing two days of work."
"It can be done later. It's not important right now", saying that he left. I quickly finished my work and went to the pack house. It was empty. I was waiting for somebody to show up when my phone beeped indicating a message.
AdiRay: Where are you?
Me: At the lunch house. Or what you call the pack house.
AdiRay: Come to the office room at the back.
I went to the hallway like yesterday and went into the same room. Adrian and Ronan were already there. They were discussing something. Adrian was sitting behind a table with many files lying around and a laptop in one corner. Three chairs were there on the other side facing him. Ronan was sitting on one. I went and occupied the one next to him.
"Hi", Adrian gave me a warm smile which I had come to love.
"Hi", I smiled back.
"Hello! Acknowledge the presence of this poor soul as well", Ronan jokingly added.
"Hi." I giggled which turned into a yawn. I hadn't slept properly yesterday night. I was thinking about the green potion. I had decided not to take the potion today and see what would happen. I suppressed the yawn and turned to look at them.
"Didn't sleep enough? Wonder what kept you awake the whole night?" Ronan had a mischievous glint when he said that. He was wiggling his eyebrows.
"Shut up Ronan." Adrian told him and then looked at me with concern, "You didn't sleep?"
I shook my head and looked warily wondering how much Ronan knew. Adrian must have read my mind.
"He knows whatever I know", Adrian told me.
"Hmm yeah. I was thinking about the green potion which I told you about."
"So you drink that everyday and the one day you happened to miss you turned into a wolf, correct?" Ronan asked me. I nodded in response.
"Then I'm guessing your parents know about werewolves, though they are not." Ronan added.
"Yes, Adrian told that his beta confirmed that they are not", I replied. Ronan was smirking.
"What?" I was missing something.
"I am the beta of the Silver Creek pack." Ronan told with pride.
"Oh okay." That was stupidity on my part. I have been so ignorant these past few days. I need to immediately rectify that. I didn't even know their pack name.
"Coming back to your parents", Adrian started but I interrupted him before he could finish his sentence.
"I'm sure my parents have their reasons for whatever they did." My voice had a challenging tone. I did not want them to judge my parents or question their motives. I shall do all the questioning when the time comes. I guess it is my right as their daughter and also because of the fact that it concerns me.
"I'm sure they do." I was not sure if Ronan was serious or mocking me.
"Anyway, we think you need to ditch the potion today. Let's see what happens." It was Adrian who spoke.
"Yes, I had already decided to do that."
"Good."
"Can you tell more about this werewolf thing and your pack?", I asked them both.
"Sure. As the future Luna of this pack it is essential that you do know", Ronan started explaining.
"Our pack is called the Silver Creek pack and Adrian is our alpha. Alpha is the head of the pack and beta is the second in command. Alphas's mate, that is you, is the Luna. She runs the pack along side the alpha. Eric is our pack adviser. Paul with his computer knowledge is an excellent tracker, though all the wolves are good trackers on field." Ronan would have continued but Adrian interrupted him.
"I'll explain the rest later. Since we don't know the motives behind the kidnappings we need to stay alert. And you need to train with the rest of the pack to improve your defenses. You'll be starting today and no excuses." Adrian had a very serious expression. I think this is his alpha mode.
"Okay. Where does this training happen and when?" Wonder what kind of training he was talking about.
"Right now. Go with Ronan. I'll join you guys later." Adrian dismissed us. We went to the upper levels of the pack house. I hadn't been here before. We entered a huge room with many boxing bags hanging. People of all ages were practicing. Ronan tossed me a pair of gloves. Thank God I was in comfy clothes and not in a dress. It would have been awkward boxing, with me wearing a dress.
"Okay, let's see what you have got." We took a boxing bag in a corner which was unoccupied.
"I have never done this before." He just smiled in response.
"Just hit." I did as he told and the bag was about to hit me back when Ronan pushed me out of the way.
"Be careful okay. Watch out after you hit." For the next one hour I followed Ronan's instructions. I was completely exhausted by the time Ronan told that it was enough for the day. We headed downstairs and it was full of people. It was lunch time.
"Come. Let's have lunch. Others will join." Ronan told me and went to the soup queue. Alexa was serving soup. I asked her how she was doing when my turn came. She seemed to be fine. She replied that she was all healed.
Ronan and I took a table reserving place for others. He didn't explicitly reserve but I think it was an unspoken reservation. The old man who had told a scary story to his grandson was sitting alone in the adjacent table. Before I could think of inviting him over he was joined by the young boy.
"Grandpa I got soup but I don't want it." The young boy was making a fuss to eat like the other day.
"If you be a good boy and eat I shall tell you a story." The old man promised to which the boy nodded enthusiastically.
"Hello. How did your training go?" Adrian got his plate and sat down next to me.
"Tiring", I said with a sigh.
"You will get used to it", Ronan chimed in.
"Moreover werewolves don't tire easily", Adrian added giving me a meaningful look.
That night after dinner my mother gave me my potion as usual. Without her noticing I poured the contents into the sink. I was waiting for some change to happen in me and didn't go to sleep but retrieved to my room. After midnight I slowly crept outside. I somehow knew that Adrian would be waiting for me and as I guessed he was there.
"You smell different again", he told as soon I was near him. It was just the confirmation I needed.
"I want to shift into a wolf." Me being a werewolf was still a little surreal. I wanted to shift again and confirm that this whole thing is not a dream. Adrian stared at me for a whole minute before replying. He must be making sure that this is what I wanted to do.
"Not here. Come with me." We went to the pond near his cabin.
"As you already know your clothes will shred while shifting. Hence, as a precaution always keep an extra pair or remove your clothes before shifting." Well I didn't have an extra pair now.
"To shift, call to your inner wolf. Think about it." He reminded me of my high school mathematics teacher. She used to have the same serious expression while instructing her students. I nodded.
"I'll just go inside and change and come back." I started walking to his cabin when the language barrier issue popped up in my head.
"Wait, a doubt. How do we communicate when we are wolves? Do I need to learn some wolf-bark language?" I asked him. He lost his serious expression and started laughing.
"Wolf-bark language", he told and laughed more. I didn't find this issue amusing. I narrowed my eyes and looked at him.
"Wolves of the same pack can mind-link each other. We don't have to talk out loud." He had stopped laughing but there was still a hint of a smile. He then had a faraway look.
"Did you just do that? That mind-link thing?" I asked him remembering all the times I had seen that look before.
"Yes, I just mind-linked to my pack." He answered.
"You mean you can send a message to your whole pack at once?" I was still dazed by the whole mind-linking concept. It was an awesome way of communicating.
"Yes", he answered and was about to continue telling something but decided against it.
"But how do I communicate with you? I don't belong to your pack. You said wolves of the same pack can mind-link. What exactly is the procedure to join a pack?" I was really curious now. This is not exactly some club where I fill in a form and join.
"Do you want to join my pack?" He asked, gave a pause and then added as though fearful of my answer, "Do you accept me as your mate? Do you want to be my Luna?"
"Yes, yes and yes", I answered him firmly. The expression of joy and happiness on his face on hearing my response cannot be described.His face broke into a million watt smile. I didn't realize how close we had moved to each other in the course of our conversation. He suddenly put his hand on my waist and pulled me to him. He then leaned down and placed his lips on mine.
The kiss was soft and sweet. His lips were hard but it felt so soft when he moved against mine. He tugged at my lips and I opened my mouth in response. A sudden cheering and howling sounds erupted around us. I jolted and broke our kiss. I looked around to see people clapping and cheering. There were a few wolves who were howling.
"Was that what you did a while ago? Call your whole pack?" I whispered to him. All the people around took me by surprise. I was in awe. It was past midnight and from the looks of it his whole pack had answered their alpha's summons.
"Yes, not everyday a pack gets a new Luna." He whispered back.
'Please don't get angry. The pack needs to see their Luna. And, you officially belong to me and my pack now.' I gasped and looked at him. He hadn't spoken a word. But, I could hear him clearly. Mind-linking is awesome. I smiled at him. He looked relieved.
'Mind-linking is awesome.' I tried to mind-link and knew I was successful when he replied back.
'Yes it is.'
'Congrats Luna.' It was Ronan's voice in my head. I looked around to see him standing with the rest of his family. The woman next to him, who I supposed to be Adrian's mother walked up to me and hugged.
"Welcome to the family dear. I am Fiona Black. Johan and Ronan have such high praises for you. Though the actual person who should be praising was hell bent on keeping you a secret from us." She gave a stern look at Adrian. He sheepishly bent his head and smiled.
"I thought she was a human mom." He told her in his defense. Mr.Black walked to us and hugged me and congratulated.
'Congratulations Luna.' 'Congrats Luna.' My head suddenly filled up with different voices congratulating me. After a few seconds I thought my head would explode. I clutched my head in between my hands and turned to Adrian for help.
'I hate this mind-linking.' I told him through the mind-link. He chuckled.
'Send a thank you message and then you can block the link.' He told me. I did as he told and the voices faded. Ah peace. My head was again clear and free.
'You still want to shift?' It was Adrian's voice. What? How did he do that? I thought I had blocked everyone.
'You'll get the hang of it. Don't worry. For now you can't ignore me. Want to shift and go for a run before the night ends?' He had a goofy grin.
'Oh yes I do.' I linked back. I was looking forward to it.