Annie awoke in her childhood bedroom to the scream of her phone alarm. Hitting the off button, she took in her old room. Amelie had re- decorated it since their father died some twelve years past. Until then, her parents had kept it just as it was, perhaps in the hope of Annie’s return. However, whilst sad to see her go, Annie knew her parents understood why she had chosen to leave.
She sat up, her head throbbing from the copious amounts of wine her brother, sister and their respective mates had drunk the night before. They probably should have had an earlier night, but it had been an age since they were last all together and it had felt good to talk and to be part of the family again. As for the rest of the pack, well, she would have to wait and see. Not every pack member was going to the wedding, Annie’s family were obviously going as the family of the bride, the Alpha of Lunar Meadows, Henri and his Luna Betina, their children, also the pack’s Beta and Delta and their respective mates and children would also be in attendance. Annie glanced at the dress she had hung on the wardrobe the night before and smiled, she loved this dress with its matching shoes and bag. Midnight blue satin halter neck, which came to just below her knee, stilettos and clutch bag, which totally complimented her pale complexion. The toner she had put on her long brown hair earlier in the week had given her highlights which would look lovely when her hair was piled on top of her head in a classic style. As Annie climbed in the shower she realised for the first time that she was really looking forward to this wedding.
"About time." said a sleepy Sabine in her head.
By 7 am, they were on the road in Patric’s people carrier. The Alpha and his family led the way with the Beta, Delta and their families following in their vehicles with Annie’s family bringing up the rear. While watching the countryside flash by, Annie began mulling over what she knew about the Reiver Pack. She had never been to their territory herself as she hadn’t gone to the Moon Festival Ball this year even though it was a major event in the werewolf calendar, a chance to give thanks to the Moon Goddess for their continued survival and prosperity. Each year a different pack would host the Festival Ball and this year had been the turn of the Reivers. While many un-mated wolves used the Ball as an opportunity to try to find their mates, it was also a time to reconnect with old friends, make new ones, establish alliances and generally do business. Annie had missed the Ball this year (and most other years if she was honest), so had never met anyone from the Reivers but she knew of their reputation.
The Reiver Pack were originally known as The Border Reivers, as they lived on the border between England and Scotland, and the old Scottish word ‘reive’ meant to rob or plunder. The pack consisted of both Scottish and English wolves and they raided on both sides of the border with no regard for the nationality of their victims. There was certainly much written about them in human history books, but what Annie found perplexing was that not one single human seemed to have realised that the Reivers were wolves, no mention of them being extremely tall, muscular, vicious or violent, the things humans usually noticed about werewolves when seeing them in their human form. Human historians simply attributed their behaviour to the lawlessness of the border region allowing the wolves to keep the true nature of their species well hidden.
Reivers raided in family or Clan packs where blood ties were unbreakable and loyalty to the pack was everything. They had a blatant disregard for authority and would delight in outwitting the armies of both sides. Their success and growing numbers inevitably led to feuds between the Reivers themselves, leading to what the humans called Clan Wars. It seemed the Reivers were bloodier and more vicious with each other than they were with their human counterparts with murder, arson and pillaging common in raids upon each other. Their demise came with James VI accession to the throne in 1603 and the union of England and Scotland. Little mercy was shown to the troublesome and lawless Reivers and many relocated to the Highlands, the last part of Scotland to be brought to heel by the English. The Reivers remain there to this day and continue to grow and is the strongest, richest pack in Great Britain. It was not clear how they had become so wealthy but Annie had her suspicions that the source of their wealth was not entirely legal. Though they still feuded with neighbouring packs, they had successfully remained hidden from the human world.
Annie wondered if her niece knew exactly what she was letting herself in for marrying into this warrior pack. Aimeè had accepted the mate bond so she must be happy with the Goddesses’ choice for her. Annie knew all too well that mate bonds while allegedly absolute, were most definitely not, although to reject a mate bond had serious consequences for both involved. Given the reputation of the Reivers, had Aimeè felt unable to reject this wolf even if she wanted to, worried that a rejection could start a feud with the most feared pack in Scotland? There was no way her little pack could possibly defend itself against the Reivers, her pack was small, only a couple of thousand members. Though all the warriors both male and female trained to protect the territory and ran patrol like any other pack, in reality it had been at least one hundred years since any of her members had any reason to fight. No one had tried to take over the Lunar Meadows Pack as there was little to gain from a forest, a patch of land and a few towns in the middle of nowhere in North Yorkshire. Lunar Meadows territory was a pinprick in the landscape compared to other packs, so generally, they were just left alone.
“Annie, this is the last food and toilet stop before we get to the Reiver territory.” Jacques voice cut into her thoughts.
“Yeah hang on, I’m coming.” Annie replied snapping out of her reverie and climbing out of the vehicle.
“Well, I guess we will be there soon and we will find out for ourselves.” said Sabine
“That we will.” replied Annie, an uneasy feeling settling in her stomach.