The stairs felt like she was climbing down from Mount Everest. It wasn't that far yet she thought of asking the beta to walk down faster.
"It's just the stairs woman." Her wolf told her, she groaned. It was back.
"Are you okay?" The beta asked as they reached the last stairs. Gal nodded and stared at the door and then at the beta. As if the beta sensing where Gal's thoughts were he asked her to follow her and reassured her that the meeting was only going to talk a few minutes.
Gal followed the beta silently as he headed to a room that Gal knew would be where the meet was supposed to be, arriving they entered and found a woman and a young lady.
"Good evening, Luna, this is Gal Maxwell." The beta introduced Gal to the woman.
Gal stood there awkwardly and could hear her wolf saying, "For a 24-year-old woman, you are hilarious. What are you supposed to do when you meet someone? After someone has introduced you to them? Dance maybe? Greet them? Sit down? Oh, wait a minute I know what. Gal run!"
The wolf was being sarcastic and it was enjoying how Gal was behaving at that moment, but the last option wasn't that bad. Run. She looked back at the door. "What is it with you today with looking at the door? You can walk backward you know?" The wolf again spoke to her.
Gal found herself smiling, walking backward didn't sound like a bad idea after all.
"So you can be my eyes, yeah?" Gal asked her wolf. She was there, just meeting the Luna, and instead of greeting her, she was communicating with her wolf. Gal shook her head.
"Hi, are you okay?" The voice brought her back, and she found the woman standing in front of her.
She told her she was okay and apologized. The number of apologies she had that day was too much, she looked around hoping to see the alpha but they were the only people there. She remembered her manners and greet the lady in the room.
The lady only gaped at her. And Gal could feel herself getting bothered.
"Oh My God! Is she, our mate?" The wolf asked sounding serious.
"Oh, come on. Just because she is gaping at me you are ready to jump out and claim her as your mate?" She asked her wolf.
"Our, Gal. It's supposed to be ours. Our mate." The wolf told her.
The Luna turned around and looked at the young lady and from their resemblance, Gal was sure the lady was Luna's daughter. The Luna slapped her lightly and said to her teasingly, "Young lady, how many times do I need to tell you even if you gape at any beautiful woman as soon as you meet doesn't mean your wolf will jump out and claim her as its mate?"
The lady shyly greeted Gal back and stared back down.
Jealousy crept inside Gal's heart from the tone of Luna's voice to her daughter. She missed that tone from a mother, she missed her mother talking to her and even if her mother was angry when she had done something wrong, she would still talk to her lightly. Asking her why.
She longed for that.
"Gal, my husband told me to tell you he is coming. He is outside talking to a friend."
"Perfect, just perfect." She thought.
If she stood there for a long time she would lose it. She put her hands into her pocket to get her phone and text Timothy's mother. Why didn't she think of that first? She felt silly, one call away would have done the magic, but the phone wasn't there.
Gal looked around as if the phone would magically appear from nowhere.
"So, Gal I hear your brother attends school at Humble Hearts?" The Luna asked her, she was trying to make a conversation while all Gal could think of was where the hell was the alpha. Like she was supposed to stand there waiting for him.
"Yes." She answered hoping she didn't sound as bored as she felt. That wasn't a great way to reply to someone. She smiled at Luna knowing her smile always had that trick, even if she hated smiling at that moment.
"Yes, it's a good school. My kids attended there."
Gal nodded; she wasn't a talking person and most of all she disliked small talks.
"Which pack are you from?" The Luna asked. Gal wondered if the Luna was interested in knowing that or she was just asking to fill the silence. She was still standing; she had already been offered a sit but she knew she couldn't sit still and decided to stand, and wait.
She stared at her, wishing the beta would say something, anything to make the question go away. He and the lady were staring at her. Luna asking the question wasn't to fill the silence, it was a way of knowing her.
They all were interested in knowing which Pack she came from.
Panic.
If she answered the question it would lead to other questions, why was Luna even interested in her. That wasn't how Oceans Pack worked, no one wanted to know where anyone came from.
If she told them she was from Ryder Pack it would not be good for her and Jordan's life. Every werewolf from any pack knew Ryder Pack, after the death of alpha Mia Ryder and her mate, the news traveled fast, and what happened after that in the pack.
Just the mention of Ryder Pack's name either brings pity to people's faces or questioning looks. Gal didn't want that.
She looked at Luna, the beta, and then the young lady. She wanted to ask the lady what she was doing if she was attending Humble Hearts. But she knew it would be rude to do that, to avoid Luna's question. That wasn't only in the supernatural world but also in the human world.
"Ask them where in the world is the alpha, and for my sake woman. Can you please sit." Her wolf told her. It was confusing Gal, did the wolf want Gal to sit down or go find the alpha, and by Gal standing what was it doing to the wolf? It wasn't like they were on all fours.
Luna was still staring at Gal, she wasn't sure if Gal hadn't heard her question which was impossible, they were in the same room.
"I am from…" Gal began feeling like her world was going to end.
"Good evening, apologies for making you wait." The alpha said.
"Saved by the bell. Well, not a bell but bell, whatever let's hear what the alpha wants." The wolf said to her. Gal silently thanked the moon goddess for that, she ignored her wolf. Seriously who was it trying to explain to what save by the bell meant?
The alpha went shook their hands and went to sit down. He asked Gal to sit down, Gal thought of saying no but sat anyway, she didn't want to spend any more minutes being asked why she was standing while others were sitting.
"I was out speaking with a friend of mine." The alpha began while smiling.
From the smile, Gal knew even if she hadn't sat with the alpha before, he was a great leader.
"He told me about you and your brother, and how he is an excellent swimmer. What is his name again?"
"Jordan."
"Yes, Jordan Maxwell." The alpha continued as the beta, Luna and her daughter looked at him, they were all fascinated. The alpha then began getting serious, Gal's heart pounded and she knew they would hear it. She wished the alpha would just say why he wanted to see her. Although she has been in there for fewer minutes, she felt like she was in that room forever.
To her utter shock, it wasn't even something serious, the alpha wanted to ask her if she would arrange for a swimming competition for the kids staying in the pack house. Gal thought of how that wasn't fair to her, she thought it would be an important thing.
The alpha continued explaining how he thought it would be a great idea, it wasn't like they were going to a warrior training or something like that. He wanted the kids in the pack house to have some fun just for some weekends or in the evenings. Once in a while.
Gal knew agreeing wasn't a good idea, but she wanted to get out of there as fast as possible. It wasn't like the alpha would want her to start preparing right away, at that moment she had no other choice but to agree
"Okay, I would love to." She told him and say her goodbyes to them. She walked towards the door silently and as soon as she was out of the room, she bolted towards the door. She didn't even see the women from earlier on sitting in the sitting room. They had been listening to her conversation, to know what the alpha wanted from Gal Maxwell.
Gal regretted why she agreed to meet the alpha, she would have gone to find her brother first.