I punched the card key and my hotel room's door snapped open.
I threw my Nike backpack over the bed and rushed to push the curtains to watch the view of the town from this height. My lips curled upwards and my eyes shimmered like a child who got his favorite toy, charmed by the unusual sight of Portree.
The shade of blue covered one-half of the earth, whilst the other side was covered in a blanket of green moss. There were several colorful and beautiful cottages built on the hills. I opened the glass window to feel the chilly air touching my flesh making me shudder.
Weak mid-morning sunlight was sparkling through patches of dull grey clouds, but then a fine drizzle began falling in wisps. The wind turned gusty. It did not affect me at the same scale it did to humans, thanks to the genes passed on to me.
It looked like a fairy tale town that came out alive, and the fact that I always wanted to come here made all this more special.
It would be better if it were a sort of vacation, and Ashley accompanied me.
A wave of guilt washed over me at the mere thought of my sister. I wished I had enough time to meet her before leaving, or maybe I could convince her to pack her bags with me. Did she think I betrayed her? I swear it wasn't my intention at all, not in the seven cycles of my life. She's my sister and my best friend.
It happened so fast for me to come up with something less like Sophie Clearwood's style. However, I wasn't the one to be blamed there; I tried to talk to my father, but he didn't listen, and what was more horrible was he was emotionally blackmailing me into marrying a stranger whom I never met before. Someone who wasn't the one chosen by the goddess of the moon for me.
Seemed like a sick joke to me! How could I? It was like they were asking for my soul to perish.
I was not so emotional usually, but it made my heart heavy.
I closed my eyes and spared myself some second of the petty party, before taking a deep breath and promising myself not to be weak again. For an Alpha, having such weakness was a big no-no.
Came to a place that was a complete change to my eyes. I had never been allowed to leave the pack's territory if not accompanied by my father or pack officials. It was going to be a new adventure for me.
And honestly, I was a hell of a lot more excited to unfold what the future had in store for me. I did not know what lies ahead, but I was too stubborn to walk down without getting what I intended to.
And I had a feeling I would find it soon…
I drew the blinds and went in to go for a bath before getting ready for the task I had come here for.
***
Standing in front of the mirror, a reflection peeped back at me. A tall woman with tanned skin. Her body was far from the fragile princess of fairy tales. All credit goes to the years of hard training she endured securing her place in the pack.
Her muscular build, dark brown whirlpool eyes, and wild red manes could force enemies to think twice before striking in.
She was what you could expect an alpha female would be like, rough and tough.
I'm Sophie Clearwood, daughter of the alpha of the Golden pack of Scotland. I turned eighteen today so it's my birthday and to enlighten my current status, I was a runway alpha. In the coming days, you might find my missing poster on every pack's desktop site.
Well, that's for the future. For now, I had the chance to visit others' packs around the globe without fear of getting caught. I was never that grateful for snail speed pack functions. It would take more than a week or two to get the information spread seeing the number of werewolf pack lives all around the globe. Not all of us were internet-friendly.
Today I had planned to visit one of the local packs which were hours away from here. They were not the authorized pack that was another pack here just because this one was near. I choose to visit it first.
Fortunately, the alpha of this pack was a female. She was so sweet and supportive when I called her to ask for permission to visit her territory. She was frightened to let wolves from the bigger pack tapping into her parameters which were normal for such a small pack. However, she understood when I revealed the reason behind this visit. She even sent me a ride to pick me up from my hotel.
As soon as I stepped out of my hotel I spotted a white van waiting for me with a man whom I talked to over the phone earlier. Alpha Jenny sent him to take me safely to the pack.
Jeremy Hills. Pack beta.
"Ms. Clear wood?" He narrowed his eyes and asked to confirm as soon as I got in his line of sight.
"Beta Hills," I nodded slightly, acknowledging him.
Now that he was sure that he got the right person he moved to business. "Please get in. My pack is an hour's drive from here. I will take you there." He moved to open the car's door for me and waited for me to get in.
With not much of a response, I got in. Beta Hills seemed strict.
Soon after he got in and kicked the engine. His eyes were stuck on the road while driving. The air inside the car was thick to breathe, begging me to break the ice.
I turned my head to look at his profile, no not starting just a glance. He was tall and good-looking, not that young though. I better guessed that he might be in his early thirties. And he got some battle scars peeking through the collar of his white shirt. I didn't want to look creepy but I couldn't help but stare at it. They looked old.
"That was from my first battle. Nasty scars." I was startled when he spoke out, suddenly breaking the air of silence lingering around since we got in.
I realized that he caught me staring. I quickly turned in to sit straight. The heat of shame started crawling to my face.
He noticed my reaction and chuckled softly. Amazed.
"Don't worry, I'm used to getting such looks." He turned back to look at the road ahead.
I peeked at him again. My ears didn't miss a sign of sadness in his words. Did I touch the wrong wire?
"I'm sorry I didn't mean to stare, I just got curious." My mother used to say that there's no shame in apologizing for your mistakes.
"I get it. You're an alpha female after all."
***
Visiting the pack turned out well. But unfortunately, I didn't find the person I was looking for. My mate. Yes, you could say it was my first attempt at a mate hunt and I failed.
Worried not, if it was so easy to find a soulmate so everyone would have one right? And where was the fun in that?
And if I look all over I had an amazing day yesterday. Alpha Jenny was an inspiration and all the members of her pack were so kind to me. I felt like I was back in my pack. Maybe I could get to visit them again in the future of course. For now, I had so many packs on my list to check off. Well for today I was not doing that.
Shook off all the sadness with a good night's sleep back in my hotel room. I felt energetic enough to start a new day with a smile on my face.
Well, I did have another reason for that smile though. Last night I got a text from someone and as a result, today we planned to meet after so long. That was the source of my excitement today.
I jumped off the bed and got ready at rocket speed. I ordered a light breakfast from the hotel services to get me through the day. Never skip breakfast.
Before meeting a friend I had other things to do which were quite important to avoid.
After munching on my French omelet and garlic bread with a cup of latte I left the hotel premises to do my things.
Couldn't wait to meet him.
***