From Beta to Luna

Chapter 8 — The First Meeting

Damien

    My eyes scanned the conference hall at all the pack leaders engrossed in idle chatter with each other. The room radiated Alpha energy as every Alpha and Beta of every pack in the Northern Allyship was here for this conference. My wolf, Alexander, was feeling slightly agitated about something, but I tried as best I could to push the anxiety from my mind as I needed to focus on this meeting today. 

    As the newest pack to have joined alliances with the Northern Allyship just under a year ago, this would be both mine and my Beta’s, Ethan’s, first annual conference with all the other packs. We had to make a good first impression. 

    The sound of someone clearing their throat hushed the crowd, but it was only Alpha John, leader of the Northern Allyship Council, announcing that the meeting would start in 5 minutes and if everyone could please start making their way to their seats. 

    The door of the conference hall opened suddenly, drawing the attention of almost every pair of eyes as a woman’s laughter rang through the hall. The sound caught my attention immediately, and I suddenly got hit with the overwhelming smell of lavender and cucumbers. I didn’t even like cucumbers, but suddenly, it was the best thing I’d ever smelled in my entire life. 

    And the sound of her laugh! It reminded me of the sound of wind chimes blowing lazily in the calm summer air. I wanted to hear that sound for the rest of my life. 

    My palms were suddenly sweaty as I craned my neck to try and get a look at the person that the laugh belonged to, but all I could see was the top of her head as she was vastly shorter than all of the wolves standing in my way. 

    I jumped slightly when I felt a sudden hand on my shoulder, and I looked up to see Ethan staring down at me with concern in his eyes. 

    “You okay, Damien?” he questioned. 

    My throat suddenly felt dry as I fought for the right words. 

    “I don’t know,” I answered truthfully. “I feel… weird. I don’t know what’s going on.”

    While this was happening, Alexander was howling with full force in my head, his pacing even stronger now, and I could feel him trying to fight for control. 

    “Dude, what’s going on? Calm down!” I hissed at him. 

    “Go to her! Get up and go to her now! I think she’s our mate!” 

    I could hear the overwhelming excitement in his voice as he desperately tried to come forward. 

    I froze at his words. 

    Could it be? I had almost given up hope of ever finding my mate since I’d been waiting for six years with no luck. Could it really be her? But what would she be doing here of all places? Was she… Was she someone else’s Luna? That could be the only reason, right? Since this was a meeting meant for Alphas and Betas only? Was she someone’s Luna just here to say hello to her Alpha before leaving?

    I bit back the sudden anger I felt at the thought of her possibly belonging to someone else. 

    Was Alexander right? Was she my mate?

    There was only one way to find out. 

    I had to look her in the eyes; it’d be the only way I could know for sure. 

    I abruptly stood from my chair, but before I could make my way over, I felt like the world stopped turning for a moment, and I thought my heart would beat right out of my chest. She came fully into my view, and I was floored. 

    She was the most beautiful person I’d ever seen in my life. 

    Her jetblack hair was long and cascaded in perfect waves, reaching well past her waist, but falling just short of covering her perfect, round ass. She turned from hugging someone that I recognized as Alpha Xander Bancroft of the Silver Moon Pack, and I bit back the low growl that was threatening to escape my lips at the sight of him touching her. 

    When she turned, though, it was enough for me to get a perfect view of her face, and I immediately felt the anger dissipate completely. 

    Her lips were full and thick, her skin soft and the perfect shade of olive that indicated she spent a lot of time outside in the sun. I could see that her eyes were a unique shade of dark grey, but it wasn’t enough. We had to make mutual eye contact to know. I had to know. 

    I took in her figure, and I almost felt my mouth watering at the sight of her. Even under the loose fitting shirt she was wearing, I could see her breasts were the perfect size, and her hips and legs were perfectly toned, indicating she must be into either working out or sports. 

    I’d never felt this way about somebody before, not somebody I’d just met, at least. I had a suspicion that Alexander was right—that she was my mate—but then I paused for a moment in confusion. 

    Why did she seem so completely unaffected by my presence? Here I was almost unraveling at the seams trying to control myself from jumping over this table and taking her right here and now, not caring about the other people in this room, and yet she stood and easily talked with those around her, seemingly not even noticing my presence at all. 

    But when I studied her more closely, I noticed that while she was smiling and talking easily with Xander, it was almost as if she was carefully avoiding looking over in my direction. Did she feel the same way I did? Was she not wanting to look over here because she didn’t want to confirm that I was her mate? But why wouldn’t she want to confirm it? Every werewolf lives for the day they finally find their mate! 

    I was feeling frustrated and extremely on edge as I watched her interact with Xander, freely touching his arm or throwing her head back in laughter at something he said. Who was he to her? Was she his Luna?

    “Dude, stop staring at her like that, your eyes are almost black,” Ethan suddenly hissed at me, breaking me from my mental torment. 

    I jumped slightly before cursing, closing my eyes for a moment to try and will myself to calm down. The last thing I needed was for any Alpha in this room to think I was challenging them, especially not an Alpha as formidable as Xander. 

    “What’s going on with you? You’ve been staring at that girl like you wanna kill her ever since she walked in,” Ethan muttered quietly to me, leaning closer to try and make sure no one would hear him even though werewolves had extremely sensitive hearing. 

    “I think she’s my mate,” I mumbled lowly in return, careful to keep my voice quiet and even. 

    “What!” Ethan exclaimed quietly, his eyes widening a bit as they snapped over to stare at her in shock. 

    Before we could continue talking, Alpha John hushed the room, and everyone took their seats. I never tore my gaze away from her and was surprised when she took her seat beside Xander. What was going on?

    Almost as if they were reading my mind, I heard someone pipe up, “With all due respect, Alpha Xander, it’s time for the meeting to start. Shouldn’t your Luna be leaving now? Where’s Nathan, your Beta?”

    I looked over to see that it was Alpha Aiden from the Gray Moon pack who had asked this. The room fell in a hushed silence as Alpha John simply looked over at Xander, waiting for his reply.

    Xander stood up from his seat and cleared his throat. 

    Then, in an authoritative tone—as if daring anybody to challenge him—he stated simply, “This is Raina Sterling, and she’s my Beta.”

    I was stunned. 

    Everyone was stunned. 

    The hall was silent, and I looked around to see that everyone had similar expressions of shock on their faces. The only ones who didn’t look surprised were Alpha John, who was standing up on the stage, along with his Beta, Andrew, and the future Alpha of their pack, Alpha Owen, and his Beta, William. 

    I turned my attention back to Xander and the woman. 

    His Beta? A female Beta? What was going on? This had to be some sort of joke, right?

    Before anybody could respond, the woman, Raina, stood up from her chair. I instantly noticed how extra tiny she looked standing beside Xander’s huge, towering frame. 

    She bowed fully, the ultimate sign of respect, before straightening and flashing the most beautiful smile I’d ever seen. 

    Confidently addressing everyone in the room, she loudly stated, “I know this may come as a shock to everyone. A female Beta is certainly unheard of in our world. But I assure you, I am more than capable of helping my Alpha lead our pack, and I fully commit myself to strengthening ties between the entire Northern Allyship. Please don’t view me or treat me any differently just because I’m a woman— that would be an insult both to myself and our pack. I hope to learn a lot from my time here with everyone, and I look forward to getting to know everyone better.”

    I could see Xander smiling at her proudly, and I couldn’t help but to notice Alpha John’s son, Owen, also looking at her with a look of admiration—or was it adoration?—from his place on the stage. 

    Xander and Raina both took their seats again. They had made their introductions with such confidence and finality, that it didn’t leave room for anybody to argue.

    Alpha John cleared his throat again and addressed the hall, “Having gotten to spend these last few days getting to know Beta Raina better, I can also attest to her words—she is a very capable Beta, and I surely hope everyone here will welcome her with open arms.”

    I’m sure he meant for it to be a friendly suggestion, but I got the feeling that this was his way of lowkey warning everyone that if anybody mistreated Raina in any way, they would also have his wrath to deal with, in addition to Xander’s. I shuddered slightly at the thought of anybody making enemies with either of their packs, but to have both of their packs—the two strongest packs in the entire Northern Allyship—as your enemies? That was a death wish. 

    Without further delay, Alpha John began the first meeting of the conference, the first order of business being the discussion about the multiple rogue sightings near our Allyship’s borders. 

    I slowly began tuning out what was being said, suddenly finding my attention drifting back to Raina once more. I was growing more and more frustrated with each passing moment. 

    Why wouldn’t she make eye contact with me, dammit? Why wouldn’t she look at me!

    The rest of the meeting passed by in similar fashion, with me hopelessly wishing that she would look in my direction, and Raina ignoring me and being completely engrossed in the meeting instead. She even piped up with suggestions every now and then that actually ended up being really great ideas. 

    “I suggest a 10 man minimum for each patrol group, with at least 3 of the best trackers assigned to each group, and the rest being the best tactical fighters,” she had said when Alpha John opened the floor for suggestions on what to do about dealing with the rogues' situation. 

    “From the intel we’ve gathered, the rogues like to attack lone wolves they find patrolling, and quickly disperse in multiple directions to try and hide their scent. Once a patrol group comes in contact with a group of rogues, don’t chase individually. Only engage with the whole group as backup. The rogues will likely split up to try and lure our patrol groups into chasing them individually, where another ambush group will most likely come in for the kill. Instead, have the entire patrol group chase the one that seems most likely to be the leader, take that one down, and then give chase to the rest one by one, as a group.”

    She paused for a moment after saying this, and I couldn’t help but to notice that everyone was hanging onto her every word, as if they were amazed by this tiny girl being such an amazing strategist. 

    I noticed a slight flush creeping up her neck and onto her cheeks, which I found to be incredibly cute. 

    She wavered for a moment, but I saw Xander reach out and give her a reassuring squeeze on her hand, which visibly calmed her down enough to finish with, “I know it may seem like a lot more roundabout way of dealing with this, but I truly believe that this is the best way to avoid losing anymore our own wolves while letting the rogues know that they can’t keep messing with our territory.”

    There was a hushed silence before Alpha Aiden, the same Alpha that had mistaken her for Xander’s Luna, stood up from his seat as well and said, “I agree with Beta Raina. I’m actually not sure why we haven’t thought of that before, that’s an excellent idea.”

    Raina beamed at hearing his words, her chest swelling with pride. I noticed them making eye contact, Alpha Aiden giving her a small smile and nod of his head as approval, and she returning the gesture. 

    This angered me beyond belief. She was making eye contact with everyone except for me. Why was she doing this to me, dammit!

    After another hour of discussing various other topics, Alpha John announced that next week Saturday, on the last day of the conference, he and his Luna, Eve, would be celebrating their 30th wedding anniversary and invited everyone to join in on the joyous occasion. 

    “I had hoped to hand over the title of Alpha to my son Owen during this conference, but seeing as how he still has not found his mate yet, we are both agreeing that it is best to wait,” Alpha John stated. “However, we would like to take this time to invite all of you, our closest allies, to still stay and celebrate with us instead.”

    There was a happy murmur spreading throughout the group at the prospect of being able to eat and drink with all our allies once the duties of the conference were over, before Alpha John raised his hand to bring silence over the group once more. 

    “Now, there are only two things left on the agenda for today’s meeting,” he said, carefully studying the papers on the table in front of him. “First. Alpha Xander and I talked this over, and we decided that everyone here must be curious about Beta Raina’s true capabilities.”

    There was a hushed silence as everyone snapped their attention to look over at Raina, whose eyes were widened slightly as she looked up at Xander. 

    Xander, however, kept his gaze fixated on Alpha John, who continued with, “That’s why we’ve decided that tomorrow at noon, Beta Raina will be hosting a training clinic for any wolves who would like to get an up close and personal look at the fighting abilities that have convinced Xander to name her his Beta.”

    Everyone murmured to themselves in excitement, but Raina slammed her hands on the table and shot up from her chair, exclaiming, “What!”

    She turned her furious glare to Xander and asked, “And when exactly were you planning on telling me about this, Xander?”

    “Well, I was going to tell you this morning before the meeting, but you were a little preoccupied,” he responded coolly, finally turning to look at her. 

    She gulped slightly, suddenly flushed in embarrassment again, which made my eyes narrow at her. What was she preoccupied with this morning? 

    “Now sit down,” he ordered quietly, which caused her to sigh but sit down nonetheless. 

    “Beta Raina, do you object to this?” Alpha John asked, turning his attention to her. 

    Raina scanned the many eyes directed in her direction, careful again to avoid mine, before she bowed her head slightly. 

    “Of course not,” she said finally. “I greatly look forward to the opportunity. I hope I’m able to train everyone well, and that everyone will be able to learn something from me.”

    I admired the way she was so eloquent with her words and always quick to respond, the makings of the perfect Beta. Although I could tell she was nervous about facing everyone for the first time, she answered everyone with confidence and never wavered in her opinions. It made me want to confirm more than ever whether or not she was my mate. I had to know. 

    Alpha John smiled in a satisfied manner before continuing down to the last topic of discussion. “Lastly. We’ve recently received a request from the Blood Moon Pack, which resides in the southernmost part of our Allyship’s territory, for admittance into our Allyship. I have also invited their Alpha and Beta to join us this week so we can all get to know them better and see if this would be a beneficial addition to our alliance.”

    At this, the door of the hall opened, and everyone’s attention snapped to the tall, well built men walking in. The first one who walked in was tall and blonde with chiseled features. Even from here, I could see that his dark gray eyes were cold and calculating, and he exuded an overwhelming air of confidence that could almost come off as arrogant at first glance. 

    He must be the Alpha. 

    The man behind him was similarly built, but he had light brown hair and kinder blue eyes, and I noticed he walked with his shoulders slightly hunched, as if he were trying to shrink in on himself. He made sure to stay behind the blonde man, and I couldn’t help but to notice how his eyes were constantly scanning the room as if he were nervous about something.

    Now that’s a Beta if I’ve ever seen one. 

    The men walked up to the front of the stage, the blonde man’s eyes sweeping the crowd before landing and lingering on Raina for a moment. I could see his eyes darken a few shades, which almost caused me to growl at him in anger. 

    How dare he look at her that way in my presence? 

    “Good evening, gentlemen,” the blonde man began before flickering his eyes back to Raina and quickly adding, “and extremely beautiful lady.”

    Raina rolled her eyes at his words, and I had to suppress a laugh at her response. 

    “I’m Lucas Crawford, Alpha of the Blood Moon Pack,” the blonde man continued. 

    He gestured to the man behind him and said, “This is my Beta, Xavier Greene. We hope this week proves beneficial to us all, and that we are all able to reach a favorable decision.”

    I inwardly rolled my eyes. 

    What a pompous ass. 

    Alpha John stood up and addressed the other members now. “I hope you all make Alpha Lucas and Beta Xavier feel welcome. This meeting is now adjourned. Lunch will be served here in about 30 minutes, so feel free to talk and mingle amongst yourselves until then.”

    An excited chatter broke through the crowd as the sound of scraping chairs filled the hall. I immediately shot up from my seat, knowing this was my chance to finally confirm whether or not Raina was my mate, but before I had the chance to make it over there, I saw her whisper something to Xander before hurriedly running from the hall. I almost shifted in anger when I saw Owen take off from the stage after her. 

    Xander suddenly made direct eye contact with me, the piercing gaze enough to make any normal man tremble in fear, but I, too, was an Alpha, so he couldn’t make me squirm as easily. 

    Did he know? Did he know that I’ve been fighting the urge this whole time not to jump over the table and claim his Beta for my own, right in front of him? 

    I wanted nothing more than to run after Raina, but I knew appearances were key at this moment, and I had to first talk to the other members to make sure I didn’t come off as rude to them. 

    Ethan and I politely mingled with the other Alphas and Betas, and before long, lunch was being brought in by some of Alpha John’s kitchen staff. I sat for lunch with Ethan and Alpha Aiden and some of the other Alphas that were from our neighboring packs, even though what I really wanted was to tear away from everyone and find Raina and force her to look me in the eyes so I would know. 

    But I decided to be patient instead. 

    I had already waited six years to find her, another few hours wouldn’t kill me. 

    All I knew for certain was that before the night ended tonight, one way or another, I would find out for sure whether or not Raina Sterling was my mate.