Chapter 8

“If you would like to make your way down to the lawn, which would be lovely!” Jenny smiled, waving her hand towards the lawn that was rapidly filling up with people. “It was lovely to meet you Rosalie.”
“Yes, and it was lovely to meet you too, Luna Jenny.” I replied, smiling gently at the woman that could become my mother-in-law if the Moon Goddess had anything to do with it.

Breathing in a huge gulp of air, I gently held on to my Dad’s arm, and I gingerly walked across the stone patio and down a large flight of stone steps towards to the sprawling lawn and made our way to the where the rest of the new-borns had begun to gather, with their expectant families. Large Fountains with crystal clear water splashed gently and all you could hear around you was the hum of hundreds of voices, deep in conversation, mixed in with the soft classical musical that was playing through speakers dotted around the garden. Waiters in black and white uniforms, carrying large silver trays weaved in between the groups of people, offering flutes of bubbly champagne and tall glassed of fruit punch. I gratefully took a tall flute glass from a passing waiter and sipped daintily. Cool fizzy liquid pooled into my mouth and as I swallowed, a sharp burning feeling ensued, and I could feel the champagne swirling around my tummy like molten lava. For some strange reason, I felt a great deal calmer and braver about what may come.

“So, what happens now?” I whispered to my parents, while shuffling uneasily on the spot.
“Well, the Alpha’s and their Beta’s will come out and stand in a line along the patio. Then, all of you new-borns will line up and take it in turns to walk up to the alpha’s, introduce yourselves and then, one of them will pick you for their pack.” Dad replied gently. “Don’t worry, it’s all over in a matter of minutes!”
“And I guess, depending on what pack chooses me, we will have to leave straightaway?” I asked quietly.
“We will cross that bridge when we get to it. For now, don’t worry about it,” my Mum soothed, squeezing my shoulders gently.

The air changed direction and a slight breeze gushed over the lawn, bringing a fresh new scent with it. Swivelling my head back towards the house, like many of the people around me, I spied a large group of men in sharp black suits now exciting the house and standing on top of the stone steps, gazing down at the crowd below them. Turning slowly to face the group, I scanned them eagerly. All of the men were clearly athletic and heavily toned with chiselled jawlines. Their suits were perfectly tailored, and their shoes polished heavily. The smell of expensive cologne and their masculinity filled the air, turning all the female wolves around me into putty. Hearing them whisper sweet nothings about the men to one another excitedly was sickening and slowly I rolled my eyes. Just hurry up and get this over with! I glanced around at the other new-borns around me and noticed the young men standing tall and proud, attempting to make themselves look bigger and stronger.

*Typical male egos. *

I looked up again and noticed that the men had now separated in to five groups of two, except for the middle group, which was a group of three. Frowning slightly, I looked up at Dad and whispered, “It’s time isn’t it? Which one is our Alpha?”
Dad looked down at me and smiled. “That would be the middle group. That’s our Alpha Julian and his son, Jace!”

Peeling my eyes slowly from my Dad and back over towards Julian and Jace, I eyed them up inquisitively. Julian was tall and well built, but you could tell he didn’t have an ounce of fat on him. He had soft, fluffy brilliant white hair with a matching white beard and moustache. His skin looked tanned and weathered and even though you could tell he was getting older, he still looked fairly fit. I watched him as he shook hands with a guy next to him before introducing his son. Slowly, Jace turned his head and for a few seconds, our eyes just locked together. He was tall and slim but he too, like the other men had muscle. His blonde hair was shaved on both sides with it long on top and swept up and styled in to a sexy boybandish style. His face was covered in three-day old blonde stubble which oozed sex appeal. His chiselled jaw seemed tense as he scanned the crowd slowly with his piercing blue eyes that shone like freshly cut sapphires, before they landed back in my direction. Locking my own eyes into his, I watched as his body tensed and his eyes narrowed before he looked away and fiddled with his cuffs.

Without warning, my wolf whimpered and whined deep inside my head. I want to meet him. I need to get closer. Let’s go Ros! Ignoring her and pushing her back to the deepest part of my mind, I watched as Jace lowered his head and whispered into his Dad’s ears, who paused his conversation with the large, balding man beside him and then briefly looked up in my direction. Slowly, I raised my glass to my lips, and without breaking eye contact, I took a long swig of champagne. Before I knew it, three burly strong men came marching over to me and my family from out of nowhere and grabbed me gently on the arm.
“Excuse me, Miss, but you’re coming with us!” one whispered quietly.
“Ow! Let go of me! What do you think you doing!” I hissed furiously, not caring at who was watching. “Let go of me!”
One of the men just looked at me and smiled gently before leaning down and whispering in my ear “Jace would like to see you in his office.”