Surprise by moonrise

Chapter 5 - Lessons and revelations

After a quick round at the pack hospital we head to Mr. Cobalta´s office for a short debriefing. Uncle Jonathan knocks on the door and waits for a signal to come in.

I´ve never actually met the pack doctor before. All I know is that he came here from a different pack after our own pack doctor passed away last year. We didn´t have anyone ready to take over his place, as he wasn´t supposed to retire for another 5 years.

I still get shivers when I think back about it. The pack doctor and his family were attacked by rogues when they went on a family trip to Italy. Apparently, they wanted him to work for a new pack that the rogues are forming in Italy, but he refused.

I get pulled out of my thoughts by a door opening. Before me stood a very young guy. He appeared to be in his early twenties, with his black hair and hazel eyes. He had a light scruff on his face, as if he forgot to shave this morning. And that smile… I was shook. How could I not have noticed such a gorgeous man living in our pack?

“Good morning Alpha”, he says as he stretches out his hand to shake my uncle´s hand.

“Good morning Charlie”, the alpha replies. “This is my niece, Charissa, but you´ve probably seen her at the announcement this morning.”

“Yes of course. Nice to meet you Charissa,” Charlie says to me, stretching his hand out to me as well.

As I take his hand, I give him a strong handshake. I cannot let him notice how surprised I am by his appearance. 

He smiles. “Strong grip. Good choice for a successor, Alpha.”

As we let go of each other´s hand, he gestures us to come in. His office is simple, with just two bookcases framing the window on the back wall. In front of the window is his desk with two seats in front. As I approach one to sit down, I notice they are made of white leather. They give a perfect contrast with the mahogany desk. Could this guy be any more perfect?

Charlie informs us on the latest renovations in the pack hospital and about the progress of the residents that are training at the pack hospital.

The time flies by so fast that it seems like a few seconds before my Uncle and Charlie get up to shake their hands once again. I quickly get up out of my chair as well and shake his hand.

“Nice to meet you Charissa. I hope you´ll come by more often,” he says with a wink.

“Nice to meet you to Charlie,” I answer with a slight smile. I can barely control my shaking legs and hope he doesn´t notice.

I can feel the blood rushing to my cheeks and quickly turn away towards the door. I can hear my uncle chuckle under his breath and silently follow me.

Once we are out of the pack hospital I breath in the fresh air and close my eyes for a minute. How can this one man have such an influence on me? Is he my mate? Could he be my mate? Can I even have feelings for my mate before turning 18?

“Are you alright?” the Alpha asks. “You seemed nervous in there.”

I open my eyes again and look at my uncle.

“Yes, I´m fine,” I reply. He doesn´t seem to buy it.

“I just go dizzy from standing up so quickly, so I needed to move and breath to prevent falling over.” I´m lying though my teeth, and I´m positive he is looking right through it.

“You know. You´re not the only girl he has this effect on,” he says with a slight smile on his face.

“You will turn 18 in a few weeks. It´s perfectly normal for you to have feelings for a strong, handsome man like the doctor.” The slight smile on his face has now turned into a very large smile that covers his whole face.

I can that I´m blushing even more, but I can´t hide from my uncle. He knows me too well.

“Yeah. He is cute. And he has a good taste when it comes to office decor,” I admit.

“I feel like there is a second part of that phrase that is missing. On with it!” This time his voice changes and I notice he is not just teasing, but actually wants to know where I stand.

“But I feel like I shouldn´t. I´ll turn 18 in a few weeks, and I want to wait for my mate. Creating feelings for someone else just seems wrong.”

The smile returns to my uncle´s face. “Good choice Charissa,” he says. “I´m sure you´ll find your mate on your birthday and you can start your life with him.”

“How can you know I will meet him on my birthday? He can be at the other side of the world for all I know.”

The Alpha´s eyes flicker from side to side when I say those words. He seems to be hiding something from me. Does he know who my mate is? If my mate is already of age, he can feel the pull where I don´t.

“You know who it is, don´t you?” I close my eyes slightly, staring at my uncle. I cross my arms and tap my right foot, just to get the message across. The surprise on his face is priceless.

“Maybe I do. Maybe I don´t,” he says.

Suddenly his whole posture changes. “You will not ask me anything else about your mate, his possible identity or anything of the sorts Ms. Sanders. Do you understand me?” he says with his Alpha voice.

Even though I´m now officially the Luna in the pack, I still can´t refuse my Alpha when he uses this voice. We are not mates, but relatives, so I´m not excluded from his power.

I bow my head and answer. “Yes Sir. I understand. I won´t ask about it again.”

“Good. Now, let´s continue with our day. We still have a few more meetings before the day is over.”

I follow the Alpha back to the packhouse for the remaining meetings.

He might have ordered me to stop asking about my mate, but I can´t get it out of my mind. My mate is in this pack. I already knew that was a possibility, but with the strange behavior of my uncle, I´m absolutely sure he is around here somewhere.