Sophie POV
"Becca, tell me what you think is going on, then we can talk about calling our dads and the Alpha." I pleaded with her for the fifth time, but she just kept looking at me without saying anything. She finally breaks her silence, looking as if she just can't find the words.
"What do you think is happening Soph?" She mutters out.
"How the hell am I supposed to know? Why are you being cryptic? Just tell me what you are thinking!" My voice came out harsher than I intended. My head is killing me and I feel like I might freak out any second. I try to calm my breathing and really think...
"Becca, am I mated to a wolf?" I ask, thinking that it is the only logical explanation.
"I think there is a lot more going on than that, Soph, but I don't want to scare you, so let's just talk to my dad and see if he has any answers." Becca grabs my hand and squeezes it reassuringly.
"Ok, call your dad and set up a meeting please" I sigh feeling defeated. Becca immediately pulls out her phone, calling Beta Noah. Becca walks over towards the river to speak with her father privately, leaving me with my own thoughts again.
Am I missing something? I have never seen Becs act this way, especially with me.
Becca breaks me from my thoughts.
" OK Soph, my dad wants us to come to the packhouse. He has some questions about your dreams, and about how you have been feeling lately. He may have some answers as to why any of this is happening." She gives me a reassuring look. I have to admit, as long as I've known Becca, I have never been to the pack house before. The wolves always come here. I stood tall, refusing to let my mind go to anything that could be bad. The thought of me turning dark fills my mind, NO! I shout at myself in my head. I have to at least stay positive until I know more. " Well, no time like the present." I muster up a smile with the words I'm saying, even though we both know it's fake.
Becca nods with a confident look and we walk back to the training facility to Beccas' white Tahoe and head to the packhouse. It's only about a forty-minute drive to the old plantation. It was called Houmas House until Wolves took it over in 1876, and has been the Crescent Moon House every since. It is one of the only plantations that did not create a money pit for tourists.
We were both quiet on the drive, both caught up in our own thoughts until I turned on the radio and started singing and dancing to lighten the mood.
"Might as well enjoy the ride", I holler over the music to Becca. She smiles and joins in quickly. We sing and dance and laugh as if nothing has happened. Maybe I shouldn't have told her, I thought, staring out the window.
Becca makes a left turn and about a half a mile down the road we are in front of a tall wrought iron gate with spikes at the top, each spike in the shape of a fleur-de-lis. Five guards stood at the gate and, to my surprise, opened the gate to let us through without a word. I turned in my seat looking back at the guards gawking in shock at how large they were. Okay, also how hot they were! I think back to all the wolves I've met, realizing that not one has been ugly, short, or small in stature. It's like the moon goddess took man and turned them into the freaking Thunder from down under str**p**s! I'm not complaining one bit!
"Like what you see?" Becca teases me, pushing my shoulder for dramatic effect.
"Hell yeah I do, please explain to me how you have never been kissed and yet you have all of these hunky magic mike-looking guys surrounding you all the time? Bless your little heart", I exaggerated the last part with a deeper southern accent than I already have and fanned my face with one hand and put my other hand over my forehead with my palm up. "I told you the moon goddess loves us." Becca sighs and she almost looks like a cartoon batting her eyelashes.
I rolled my eyes and chuckled at my best friend. I take in the scenery in front of me as we get closer to the pack house. Both sides of the road are lined with giant oak trees, there is a huge circle-drive with a beautiful white fountain surrounded by white water lilies and beautiful greenery in the water. The house is stunning. There are four floors, large white columns supporting wrap around porches on each floor with a red brick base and all white trim. It's absolutely breathtaking. My jaw must have still been on the ground when I got out of the suv because Becca had to wave her hand in front of my face to snap me out of my trance.
"What Becca, I didn't know you lived in a place like this" I whisper, throwing my hand up and down in the direction of the mansion in front of us.
" You live in a hotel" She shoots back. " I hold my hands up in defeat shrugging my shoulders and cocking my head to the side as Beta Noah comes walking down the large steps leading up to the house.
"There are my favorite girls in the world". Beta Noah gives us both a hug and a reassuring smile before he escorts us inside the pack house. My jaw drops again once inside. There is a very unique natural wood stair case that curves the higher you climb to my right. There is a beautiful glow in the foyer due to all the windows surrounding the room and on the floors above us letting in the natural light. Everything is bright and modern looking. The walls are the lightest shade of gray, almost silvery white. The whole place is decorated with hints of green using accent pillows on white couches with plants everywhere, and natural looking wood to give it a rustic feel. I have to admit, it is not what I was expecting. Honestly, I assumed it would look more like a manly cabin with dead animals all over the walls. I was wrong! This place is stylish and sleek with its open floorplan design.
Beta Noah leads us up the beautiful staircase to the top floor. There are at least 15 doors that go all the way round in a square shape, being able to look all the way down to the first floor working as a balcony around the entire floor. If ever attacked inside, they definitely have the upper hand with this design. There are several glass doors leading to the outdoor balcony as well. He leads us to a large double wooden door and knocks.
Someone on the inside opens the door and we usher ourselves in. The man that opened the door is another linebacker-looking man with arms the size of tree trunks, short spiky black hair, and tattoos peeking out of his collar. Sitting behind the desk in the middle of the vast space is an older man with salt and pepper buzzed cut hair and a slight beard, despite slight wrinkles around his eyes, he still looks fairly young, and has bulgy muscles like the rest. Beta Noah introduces tree trunk guy as Gamma Casey, and the distinguished-looking gentleman behind the elaborate desk as Alpha Ryan.
" Sophia, nice to finally meet you. You and Becca, come have a seat" he said, kindly motioning to the two chairs infront of his large dark wood desk. The two chairs seemed to bring everything together in the room. They were matching dark chocolate leather with dark green and gold embellishments lining the wood. Becca and I sat in the two chairs he motioned for us to. Beta Noah and Gamma Casey sat on the dark leather chocolate-colored couch over by the window covered in elaborate dark green tapestry with subtle darker green Fleur-de-lis woven intricately into the material, giving the illusion of dimension. This room is decorated a little more masculine than the rest of the house in shades of dark green and gold and darker wood shelves line one wall filled with books, I want to touch them but refrain from going to the bookshelf and only admire its beauty from afar.
"Sophie, can you please tell us about the dreams you have been having, and about what happened at the sandwich shop with Luca?" Alpha Rayan asks. I can tell he is trying to be nice, but as soon as Lucas' name is mentioned I feel my cheeks heat up and my eyes go wide. I give Becca a knowing look. She will not look in my direction at the moment. Alpha Ryan is looking at me to respond and I know everyone in the room can see I'm embarrassed.
Mortified, I took a deep breath and explained everything in as much detail as I can remember. I left out that I almost creamed my pants when I saw Luca not wanting to embarrass everyone else or myself further. Once I finish, everyone is looking at me in shock like I have grown two heads in the last 20 minutes. Alpha Ryan gained his composure, quickly realizing I was done with my story.
"Sophie, has there ever been a woman in your dreams?" He asks with furrowed brows. I thought for a moment. "No, why do you ask Alpha?" I responded with the same look of confusion I had since this whole wolf dream started. "It's always the same, nothing ever changes? He retorts, not answering my question.
"Well, the voice I heard in the last dream was new, and I think this was the first time I actually had my feet in the water. I didn't make it that far in my first two dreams. Come to think of it, I see the wolf in every dream, but with each dream I get closer to the wolf. This time I was face to face with it and I couldn't tear my eyes away from it. Its eyes were unlike anything I had seen." I answered honestly, not realizing the dreams were different at all until now.
"How did you feel in the dream being face to face with the wolf?" Gamma Casey's question made me jump in my seat. They had been so quiet I forgot they were there.
"Sorry, I didn't mean to startle you." He says softly with his hands up.
"Calm, safe, I felt drawn to it. I wasn't afraid at all. I think I actually felt peace." I answered with my eyes closed, remembering my dream and how the wolf made me feel. When I open my eyes and look around the room at everyone, they are all smiling at me with endearing looks.
" What?" I ask finally when they are starting to give me the creeps.
"Well, I definitely think you might be mated to a wolf. I can't be for certain, as these things have a way of working themselves out. But we will have to wait and see about the rest." The Alpha voices his opinion nonchalantly.
"What the F**K do you mean you think I might be mated to a wolf, and the rest, the rest of what?" The words just spewed out of me and I stopped putting my hands over my mouth, "I'm soo sorry Alpha Ryan, I mean no disrespect." I rattled the words out quickly remembering who I was talking to silently praying he didn't kill me for disrespecting him. I am completely taken aback when they all burst out laughing at my outburst.
"So you're not going to put me in a dungeon and whip me then?" I ask with raised eyebrows. Becca laughed so hard she snorted. "What do you think we are barbarians?" Beeca spits the words out through her hysterical laughter. I laughed at myself with them and they finally all calmed down after making fun of me for a few minutes.
" In all seriousness, we don't know what any of it means for sure, but we would like you to go and see our pack doctor and let us take some blood samples from you and see what the geneology department can figure out, if you are comfortable with that." Alpha Ryan tries to reassure me. "Geneology department? You mean like ancestry.com or 23 and me?" I raise my eyebrows at the Alpha.
"Something like that" Alpha Ryan chuckles at my expense again.
"So I have to wait until my birthday to truly get answers?" I asked, already knowing the answer but hoping I was wrong. "Unfortunately, yes. I know that it's not what you want to hear, but it's the truth. I won't lie to you ever. With us, honesty is always the best policy. We can't work together and trust one another without complete honesty." Alpha Ryan says sincerely. I can see he is being sincere and feel that I can trust him. He has a powerful but gracious and kind aura around him, and I can tell he is a good man.
"Thank you for your blunt honesty sir, and thank you for taking so much time out of your busy day to try and help me make sense of my dreams, and Luca." I blush slightly saying his name and everyone chuckles at my expense again.
"Why don't you stay the night here tonight since its getting late and I don't want to drive you back." Becca pouts, pushing her bottom lip out.
"I don't have any clothes here or makeup, and we have work in the morning," I protest.
"I have everything you could possibly need, you can even pick any outfit you want out of my closet. Please. Please", Becca kept repeating please until I caved. She hates being told no. Another reason why she is the perfect person to be my assistant at the training facility.
"Have fun girls", Beta Noah yells as Becca pulls me out of the office and down the hall and around the corner through another door, shutting it behind us after rushing me through it. She starts bouncing up and down again and squealing. " You are gonna have a wolf mate!"
I take in the boho sheik vibe in her bedroom. The room is decorated in light dusty pink with dark green accents and gold finishes. There is a cream-colored hammock chair hanging from the ceiling by the window, a huge king-sized bed against the far wall
with a comforter tying all the things in this room together with accent pillows. It's beautiful and very Becca.
I thought about it for a minute,
"You don't know that for sure, alpha Ryan admitted that he could not say for certain, so that is just speculation for now." I shot her down quickly, hoping that she would at least stop squealing. When that didn't work I started asking her questions about Luca. Once we got past the man w***e stuff, which seemed to be a lot. Becca explained that there were really mostly rumors that a lot of the she wolves started trying to put some kind of claim on him. He sounds like a decent guy other than the rumors.
Just when she is finally spilling the tea about him eventually taking over this pack, when Alpha Ryan retires, Becca's eyes glaze over and she stops talking. When her eyes go back to their normal shade of green she jumps up, grabbing my hand, and yanking me back out of the room, back to the stairs and down, then goes the opposite way we came in.
"We have to get you to the pack Dr. to get you checked out and get your labs drawn,, I forgot." Becca shrieks. We go out the back door and quickly make it through a huge flower garden and I can't wait until we come back through so I can appreciate the park like feel of it. We go through what almost looks like a small town and go straight to a large white building with a red medical cross with a dark green fleur-de-lis in the center.
A guard opened the door, allowing us to enter the pristine white facility. White tile floors, white walls, white furniture. The receptionist at the front desk comes around and greets us cheerfully, letting us know that Dr. Carter was ready for us, taking us back to another all-white room with typical Dr. Office medical equipment and a medical bed. Dr. Carter walks in with a folder in his hands, greeting us cheerfully.
"Good evening ladies."
We both say hello. Dr. Carter gets right to it examining me and drawing several vials of blood, asking about my medical history or the lack there of, as he is working. I don't get sick, so not many answers to give.
"Do you have any questions, Sophie?" He asks with a small smile.
" What exactly are you looking for with my heritage?" I finally asked the question that has been bothering me since Alpha Ryan asked for my blood.
"Genetic makeup." He says simply.
"But I know who my parents are, so what is this going to tell me that I don't already know?" I ask, feeling brave.
"The testing we do in geneology doesn't just tell us who your parents are like with humans, it lets us know your supernatural bloodlines, and where they were derived from." He states matter of factly.
"Oh." is all I could muster up to reply.
"We will have results in about a week, maybe less. If you don't have any other questions, I think we are done for now." The Dr looks at me waiting for more questions. When I do not respond, he shakes our hands and tells us to have a good day, leaving the room. My stomach grumbled loudly, making me jump and Becca laughs, " let's go get some food." She took my hand, leading me out of the room.
We walked back to the pack house to the dining hall. There are long tables in five rows of five with dark green and white tablecloths. She leads us to the actual kitchen. I can't believe how large and elaborate it is. It's a chefs' kitchen with 2 walk-in freezers and a walk-in refrigerator. Gordan Ramsey himself would kill for a kitchen like this.
"We missed dinner, but Alphia, our head chef, always wraps up leftovers in individual Tupperware for the late stragglers." Becca explains as she pulls two covered plates out and pops them in the oversized microwave. Once the microwave goes off, Becca grabs our food and takes me into the pantry, which is bigger than her bedroom, to get any and all snacks we may need for the night and head back up to her room.
We decide to eat and chill while binging countless episodes of The Originals on Netflix. I know they have it all wrong, but it's still fun to watch and make fun of the creators. I always find it soo humorous how they always romanticize vampires. I can relate to a lot of the characters and what they go through. I got Becca hooked on it back in high school, so it's one of our go tos.
"Hey Becs, why have I never been here before? I know we always hang at my house and I haven't thought much about it until now, but this place is amazing. Why did you keep it from me?" I asked, not upset but just curious.
" Oh, I have never been allowed to invite anyone from the outside before. That isn't a wolf." She says matter of factly.
I shrug like its no big deal and continue to grill her about Luca until my eyes are too heavy and sleep takes over me.
I'm walking in the bayou again. Everything is the same. I get to the water line and am face to face with the wolf again. We are staring at each other when the wolf turns its head, suddenly looking behind it. There is another wolf approaching slowly. They look identical except for the Crescent moon is over the right eye of this wolf. If they looked directly at each other, it would be almost a mirror image. I watch them both standing in front of me. I'm amazed at their beauty and want to say something, but I can't speak. I reach out my hand to touch the one I have seen before, but it backs away. OUR TIME IS COMING booms in my head and I'm jolted awake back in Beccas' room.
It's still dark outside but I am wide awake now. I look over and Becca is lightly snoring sprawled out on the bed. I get up and tiptoed to the bathroom, trying not to wake up Becca. I splash some cold water on my face realizing I am drenched in sweat again. I get in the larger than life shower and turn the knobs until I get the water the right temperature. The rainfall shower-head cascades down on top of my head, slowly washing my worries away. I think back to my dream while washing my hair and am still in awe of the second wolf. What could this mean? I ask myself over and over but I can't come up with an answer. It's hard enough dealing with one wolf in my dream, but now there are two. Maybe I am going crazy.
Once I finish with my long shower, I decide to go ahead and get ready for the day. I go get my phone. It's only 4:30am. I decide to let my hair air dry and go to Beccas closet to find something to wear.
When I open the closet door and went in, I understand why Becca acted like borrowing an outfit was no big deal. It's like a bougie department store in here. Everything is separated by style and color. There are two large dressers facing eachother in the center, with shelves lining the back wall holding every pair of shoes a girl could ask for every occasion. The wall on the left side had racks and racks of clothes for business, casual, and workout. The wall on my right side has more designer-styled dresses of every shape and color, from t-shirt dresses to evening gowns. I'm going to have to shop here more often, I joke with myself.
I decide on a dark green cami-style top with large black polkadots covering it, black dress shorts, and black beaded strappy sandals.
I come out of the closet dressed as Beccas' alarm goes off. She grumbles something and sits up startled when she sees me standing at the edge of the bed.
"F**K Sophie, you almost gave me a heart attack" she whines.
"Oh suck it up buttercup", I teased her.
"Hey, can I go talk to Alpha Ryan again before we head out? I had another dream last night and, brace yourself, but there was another wolf. I want to tell him about it to see if this changes anything we already know." I asked Becca, hoping he wasn't busy.
Her eyes glaze over for a few seconds before she answers me.
" He is in his office, he said to go ahead and come in, but I want details on the way to work." She replies yawning.
" You got it" I replied, heading out the door.
I let myself into Alpha Ryan's office as instructed. He is sitting at his desk and looks like he slept less than I did.
"Good morning Sophie, how can I help you this morning?" He asks with a small smile that doesn't quite meet his eyes.
I sit down in the same chair from last night and explained the new dream with the new wolf and the voice again, trying not to leave anything out. " He looks at me with shock and almost fear in his eyes before responding.
" I honestly don't know what to make of this. I'm going to make a few calls today to the elders, and let them know what is happening to you. They have been around for centuries, so maybe they will have some insight for you. Does your father know any of this yet?" He asks
" I have not told anyone else about this, and I would prefer not to until we have answers. Especially my mother." I give him a pleading look.
" I understand where you are coming from, but we should talk with your father the moment we have any solid information." He states. I agree with him and we say goodbye before I head back to Beccas' room.
I head out the door and am almost knocked down when i run into Luca. He catches me before i fall backwards and I swear I am in heaven if only for a moment. I am staring at him mortified again crushed against his chest. His arms are strong around my waist and he lets out a soft growl that makes me jump.
"I'm soo sorry, I wasn't paying attention to where I was going", I say trying to pull out of his grip. He holds me tighter, lowering his head into my hair taking in a deep breath. F**K he is hot. He smells so good like roasted hazelnut and cafe'au latte, and I have butterflies dancing in my belly. He slowly lets me go stepping away from me.
"You can run into me anytime, love." His voice is sultry and I feel my panties get wet just listening to his voice and the way he said love. I'm soo screwed when it comes to this Greek god of a man. I blush a deeper shade of red at his words.
"I'll try to do that more often then." I say confidently, walking away, looking back at him over my shoulder, trying to give off the sexy vibe. I fail miserably when I run into Beccas' door and rush in quickly from embarrassment. I don't know where I got the courage to act that way but I'm glad I did.
Once in the safety of Becca's room, I do a little silent happy dance just as Becca walks out of her closet looking like a f*****g runway model. She opted for dark purple high-waisted belted shorts and a black cam with black stroppy heels.
"What has you soo giddy" she asks.
"Oh nothing, I just ran into Luca in the hallway, literally ran into him." I say with a cheesy grin on my face.
"Oh girl, you got it bad!
Come on lovergirl, let's get breakfast before we have to head into the office. She teases.
I will never live this down. I don't date, and when I do, I purposefully drive whoever the poor guy is away because I've never really liked anyone. It is pointless to have relationships that are doomed from the start.
We head down to the dining room and sit at one of the long tables with Beta Noah, Alpha Ryan, Gamma Casey, and to my embarrassment, Luca. I inwardly cringe when he looks up at me and winks. We all say good morning.
There is every breakfast food you could think of spaced out along the center of the tables. Becca and I fill our plates and I have to admit I'm starving! Becca and the guys all take notice to my heaping plate of food and me scarfing it down. I smile shyly and continue to eat. Luca breaks the silence.
" Sophie, would you mind having lunch with me today? I will be in the quarter around 1130 after a few meetings this morning." I stop mid motion of taking a bite and stare at him with a raised eyebrow.
"Umm, sure." I answer with a little hesitation. Luca lets out a breath looking almost relieved at my answer.
" I'll pick you up from the training facility around 1130 then." His smile meets his eyes as he pops a large bite of pancake in his mouth. I smile back, feeling giddy again. What is it about that man? I think to myself.
" Well we need to get to work!" Becca says, cheerfully standing up, taking both of our almost cleaned plates into the kitchen.
"Thank you for breakfast, it was delicious." I say, standing from my chair and walking toward the foyer.
" See you soon love", Luca calls after me. I look back at his cheesy grin and he winks at me again. "Sooner rather than later, loverboy." I retorted with some sass, giving him a wink of my own before turning away again. I almost gasp at my cockiness.
Becca almost rushed past me linking her arm in mine.
"Sooner than later" she whined, the words distastefully teasing me. "Yeah Yeah Yeah, you will have your own loverboy soon Becs." I, retorted. She sighs "I wish."
"Maybe it will happen on my birthday, all the packs are coming. I bet your mate will be there". I squealed happily at her. Her eyes grow wide at the realization that what I just said is a possibility. "Only three days left!" Becca is now as excited as I am on the drive home. I explained on the way about my new dream and what Alpha Ryan said. I have a knack for shocking werewolves. I laugh to myself. I just hope my dreams are not a warning alerting me something bad is coming.