From Beta to Luna

Chapter 3 — The Clearwaters

    The wooden doors of the packhouse opened to reveal an older, tall, and well built man. His thick salt and pepper hair and bright blue eyes twinkled as he smiled at us, kindness radiating off him in waves. I noticed behind him were three other people, a girl looking to be around my age, a boy probably a few years older than me, and an older woman who I was assuming was his mate. They were flanked by a couple of stoic men with intimidating auras. 

    Despite the intimidating vibes the guard wolves were giving off, I suddenly found myself feeling calmer as the older man continued smiling warmly at us before walking forward, grabbing Xander’s hand in greeting and pulling him into a hug. 

    “Xander, it’s so great for you to join us. You’ve grown up to look just like your father,” the man greeted cordially. 

    Xander chuckled as he pulled out of the hug and grasped the man’s shoulder in a friendly gesture. “Alpha John, it’s great to see you again. Thank you for having us, it’s an honor to be here with you all and soon to be the rest of the Northern Allyship.”

    “Oh please, Xander, you can drop the formalities,” Alpha John responded with a nonchalant wave of his hand, “John is fine. We’re like family, and families don’t bother with silly titles.”

    Xander smiled in response before stepping back and gesturing towards me and Nathan. 

    “You remember my Gamma, Nathan,” Xander introduced while motioning towards Nathan. 

    Nathan bowed his head slightly as a sign of respect. “Alpha.”

    “Ahh, yes, Gamma Nathan. I’m surprised, I would’ve expected that you’d be taking on the title of Beta by now after hearing what happened to your pack’s former Beta, Blake,” Alpha John stated with an almost thoughtful lilt to his words. 

    I felt the sudden rush of disgust fill me at the mere mention of Blake’s name, but I bit back the anger and tried to keep a composed look on my face. 

    Xander coughed slightly as a means of attempting to cut through the awkward silence that had fallen on us. He moved to place an almost protective arm around my shoulders because he knew better than anybody just how much hearing Blake’s name affected me. 

    “Actually, John, Raina—” 

    Xander was suddenly cut off by John’s surprised gasp as his eyes landed on me as if he just now noticed my presence. 

    “Xander!” he exclaimed happily. “Don’t tell me, this must be your beautiful mate! I’m so happy you’ve finally found her!”

    If it weren’t for the gnawing feeling in the back of my mind reminding me that I was in the presence of one of the most respected and revered Alphas in the entire country and therefore had to make a good first impression, I would’ve busted out laughing at the mere thought of someone mistaking me for Xander’s mate. I felt Xander’s arm tighten around my shoulders a little, almost as either a warning or a reminder to what I had just been thinking.

    “Actually, John, Raina is my Beta,” Xander countered with a tone of finality, as if challenging anyone standing in front of us to say otherwise. 

    The sudden silence that fell around us was almost deafening as I felt every pair of eyes that didn’t belong to someone from my pack snap to stare at me in… disbelief? Shock? Disgust? I couldn’t tell. 

    The feelings of nervousness from earlier completely disappeared and was instead replaced by sudden courage. This seemed to be my first test of proving myself to one of our strongest allies, and I’d be damned if I allowed myself to fail it. 

    “Alpha John, it’s an honor to meet you and to be here,” I finally said, breaking the silence. 

    I stepped forward confidently, slightly bowing my head in respect before straightening from the bow and flashing him a sincere smile. “I look forward to working with you and strengthening the ties between our packs. I hope to learn a lot from my time here.”

    Despite the many stares of disbelief directed my way, I firmly stood my ground and kept my gaze fixated on Alpha John’s face, waiting for his response. I felt the many pairs of eyes boring into me, as if they were silently asking themselves how dare I act so bold in the presence of their Alpha. 

    Alpha John stared at me in a calculating manner, his expression unreadable, before he bellowed a loud laugh. I blinked for a moment, my brows knit together in confusion. Was he… laughing at me? 

    I had half a mind to punch him in the gut, but I inwardly calmed myself, knowing that it’d be a death sentence to lay my hands on the Alpha of another pack, especially since we were supposed to be there on the terms of strengthening our alliance. 

    After what seemed like an eternity of him laughing, he finally calmed down before sighing in content. 

    “I’m sorry dear, that was just… unexpected,” he said. “Here I was, thinking our little Xander finally found himself a mate, but it turns out, you’ve been chosen as his Beta!”

    I felt the anger flash in my eyes for a moment before I took a deep breath, trying to calm the desire to deck this man in the face. How dare he laugh in my face, mocking not only me while I’m standing right here in front of him, but also Xander as well!

    “John, I assure you, Raina is one of the most capable wolves of our pack, she’s—”

    Xander was cut off again by John’s hand dismissively waving away his explanation. I felt Xander tense a bit as I bit back a tiny bout of laughter— Xander hated being cut off, but not as much as he hated being waved away. 

    Before any of the rest of us could respond, Alpha John spoke again with a genuine smile on his face, “I meant no disrespect, dear, I was just surprised was all. I have complete faith in Xander and his judgement, and if he thinks you’re worthy enough to be named his Beta to help him lead his pack, well then, I’m sure you’re one hell of a wolf.”

    My heart swelled with pride and happiness at hearing his words, feeling like a great weight had been lifted off my shoulders. I couldn’t believe my ears; it almost felt too good to be true. Standing in front of me was the Alpha of one of the strongest and most respected packs of the entire country, and he was wholeheartedly accepting me. I almost wanted to pinch myself to make sure I wasn’t dreaming. 

    “And besides,” Alpha John continued thoughtfully, keeping his kind blue eyes fixated on my face, “it’s about time we had a female Beta, don’t you think? It is 2020, after all. Perhaps one day, I’ll even live long enough to see the first female Alpha lead a pack of her own.”

    I beamed at him in happiness, suddenly feeling guilty at the earlier desires I had to punch him when I thought he was laughing at me. I could tell Alpha John was a kind man, someone who was compassionate and open minded, yet firm when he needed to be. It’s no wonder he was so widely respected by other packs far and wide. 

    “What do you think, Eve, wouldn’t it be something if Olivia became a Beta, or even an Alpha one day?” Alpha John questioned, turning his attention to the people standing behind him. 

    I could almost see the exclamation point springing above his head like they do in video games when the main character suddenly makes a surprising discovery as he gasped and turned back to us with wide eyes of shock. “Oh my Goddess, how rude of me! I completely forgot to introduce my family!” 

    I laughed at this, realizing that while Alpha John was definitely a formidable leader, he could also at times, be completely clueless and scatterbrained.

    “Come, come, I want you to meet everybody,” he said excitedly as he grabbed my hand to pull me forward while ushering Nathan, Xander, and the rest of our pack to meet the people who were standing behind him, seemingly forgotten until that moment. 

    “This is Eve, my mate and the love of my life,” he introduced, gesturing first to the beautiful older woman with fiery red hair and milk chocolate eyes. 

    He stared at her with such love and affection in his eyes that it almost made me wonder if I’d ever be able to look at someone like that one day— almost.

    Luna Eve smiled warmly at me, and I could almost feel myself getting lost in her beautiful eyes. 

    “Beta Raina,” she greeted, her voice sounding like soft bells, “what an honor to meet the first ever female Beta. You must be quite something to have caught the attention of Xander in such a way.”

    I felt a warm blush creeping up my cheeks as I laughed off her comment. “Please, Luna, the honor is all mine. I feel extremely blessed to feel so welcomed by everyone here so far.”

    Xander stepped up in front of the woman and hugged her before pulling away to give her a dazzling smile. “Luna Eve, it’s so great to see you again. You look beautiful as always.”

    Luna Eve smiled at him in response. “Xander, please. It’s like John said— we’re family, and family doesn’t bother with titles. Just call me Eve.”

    Nathan stepped up next and bowed his head in respect before straightening back up and flashing her his signature smile that made many a girl in the past swoon. “Luna, it’s an honor to see you again.”

    Luna Eve rolled her eyes before pulling him into a hug as well and laughing when Nathan froze up, unsure of how to respond. “The same goes for you, Mr. Davis. No more Luna this, Luna that, it’s Eve. Just Eve.”

    Luna Eve released him as Nathan rubbed the back of his neck in a sheepish manner, the blush indicating his embarrassment creeping up his neck and cheeks slowly. I inwardly laughed at the sight of him feeling so uncomfortable. 

    Nathan was super outgoing in normal circumstances, but he never knew how to act in formal situations such as these. It’s one of the many reasons why he had never vied for the Beta position, perfectly content with his role as Gamma. 

    Moving down the line, Alpha John introduced us—well, I guess more so introduced me, since it seemed like Xander and Nathan had both already met everyone before—to the boy standing beside Luna Eve. I had to look up to see his face since he was around the same height as Nathan, meaning he easily towered over me. 

    My jaw almost dropped when my eyes landed on his beautiful face. The most beautiful hazel eyes I’d ever seen, the perfect mix between his dad’s bright blue eyes and his mom’s warm brown ones. His hair was a dark auburn, also a mix between his dad’s black hair and his mom’s red hair. His face was sculpted almost to perfection, his cheekbones high and his nose perfectly straight. And his body! I almost felt my heart beat out of my chest as his full lips curved into the most perfect smile I’d ever seen. 

    What a damn hunk. 

    “Calm your heart down, and keep it in your pants, I can hear you from all the way over here.”

    I almost audibly yelped at the sudden intrusion of the mindlink before turning and glaring at a snickering Nathan. 

    “Mind your business, I’m just admiring,” I responded through the mindlink directly to Nathan.

    “Could this be? Is Owen Clearwaters your mate?” Nathan’s voice sounded suddenly serious, the hint of teasing and joking completely gone. 

    I faltered a moment. Was he? 

    I looked back at Owen and stared thoughtfully before slightly shaking my head to clear away the thoughts. 

    No, definitely not. 

    I didn’t feel the tug in my heartstrings or the sudden fireworks from just the look he gave me, nor did I suddenly feel the strong urge to run up and claim him as mine in front of everybody. Of course, I’ve never met my mate before, but everyone I know who has, have all shared similar experiences. No, I felt none of that towards Owen. If I felt anything towards him at all, I’d chalk it up to pure physical attraction because hello, you’d have to be blind not to recognize how beautiful of a specimen he was. 

    “This is my son, Owen, and the future Alpha of the Crystal Moon Pack,” Alpha John’s proud voice suddenly snapped me from my own thoughts, as I shook my head slightly and looked up to return Owen’s dazzling smile that was still directed towards me. 

    I reached up to shake the hand that he was offering, which confirmed my suspicions. No fireworks, no sudden tingles, no sparks of electricity, just a warm hand offering a friendly handshake, which meant that Owen was definitely not my mate. I couldn’t help but to sigh an internal breath of relief. Thank Goddess. I don’t know what I would’ve done if Nathan’s absurd joke of meeting my mate this week had actually come true.

    “It’s so nice meeting you!” Owen exclaimed excitedly, releasing my hand from his own. “A female Beta! That’s so cool! We’ll have to make sure to train together sometime this week, I wanna see what you’re made of. Silver Moon is known for producing some of the toughest fighters, so I’m curious to see if you live up to that reputation.”

    He looked at me with a teasing glint in his eyes, a slightly playful smirk making its way onto his lips. I chuckled before returning his smirk with one of my own. 

    “Don’t go crying to mommy when I knock you on your ass like I did to Nathan 3 times in a row earlier today,” I replied smartly, already feeling comfortable enough to joke around with him like I would with Nathan or any of my other pack members even though I had just met him. 

    “Raina!” Nathan cried indignantly, shooting me a look of pure betrayal. “I’ve got a reputation to uphold, don’t go around besmirching my name to other packs like that!”

    Everyone laughed as I continued teasing Nathan before Xander stepped in and pulled Owen into a brotherly hug. “I wouldn’t go and underestimate Raina if I were you, Owen. She may be small, but believe me when I say that she’s even given me a hard time in the sparring ring from time to time.”

    “Oh, really?” Owen asked, turning his eyes back towards me again. 

    There was something in his eyes that almost made me feel weak in the knees. A playful, teasing light that danced brightly in the dark swirls of mixed green and blue and gold that made me want to keep doing things—anything—in order to make sure that that light never died out. 

    “Oh, we’ve got to spar together some time then. Anybody who can give the Xander Bancroft a run for his money must be a worthy opponent,” Owen stated playfully, another teasing smirk dancing across his lips. 

    “Yeah, yeah, yeah, you’re probably thinking you can easily beat me because I’m a girl and literally a foot shorter than you, but just be prepared to take an ego hit when this tiny ass girl manages to pin you in less than 10 minutes,” I playfully retorted with a scoff. 

    “I—” Owen cut off for a moment, looking as if he were considering his next words very carefully, before he smiled and shook his head slightly and continued, “—greatly look forward to our sparring match.”

    I couldn’t help but to wonder what he actually wanted to say but didn’t have time to think about it too hard as Alpha John began moving down the line to the next person, which was the girl who appeared to be about the same age as me. As I turned towards her, I could still feel Owen’s eyes lingering on me, which made my stomach flutter a bit. 

    “Xander, Nathan, this might be your first time seeing her in awhile since she was living with my parents for a couple of years, but this is my beautiful daughter Olivia,” Alpha John introduced next. 

    I took in her appearance and felt a slight blow to my ego. Just like her brother, Olivia Clearwaters was f*****g beautiful. With the same dark auburn hair as Owen’s, fair porcelain skin, stunning honey colored eyes, and thick, full lips, she looked less like an Alpha’s daughter and more like a runway model. I’ve never been one to feel insecure with my looks, but standing in the presence of Olivia was slowly whittling away what self confidence I had. 

    I was broken out of my thoughts by Olivia’s bright smile before she threw her arms around me in an abrupt hug. I froze, unsure of how to respond to the sudden show of affection from someone I had just met, but I didn’t have time to respond before she broke the hug and instead moved her hands down to grasp each of mine in her own. 

    “I’m so excited to meet you!” she exclaimed eagerly. “I can’t believe you’re actually the Beta of your pack, that’s amazing!”

    I felt the blush creeping up my neck again as I chuckled nervously. 

    I hated having too much attention on me at one time, it gave me anxiety. 

    “It’s really not that—” I began to say, but was instantly cut off by her firm, “No!”

    I stared at her for a moment, blinking in confusion. 

    “Don’t you dare try to downplay your achievement,” Olivia fervently explained, still not letting my hands from her grasp. “Raina, you’re the first female Beta of a pack in the entire world. That’s a huge deal! You’re setting the precedent for every other pack out there, and I can’t wait until everyone knows about you. It’s like my dad said, maybe we’ll have more badass bitches running the show in the future.”

    I fully laughed at her statement along with everyone else around me. In the short time since I’ve been here, I’ve been so warmly welcomed by the Clearwaters that it made me feel a little silly for being so nervous during the car ride up here. Although I knew I still had a long road ahead of me once the other packs arrived, it was comforting to know I’ve at least won over the most notable pack so far, and I didn’t even have to really do anything. I guess Xander and Nathan were right; I really would be okay— not that I’d ever let them know that, though. 

    “Olivia, this is—”

    I felt Olivia freeze in my grasp as her gaze fixated on someone or something over my shoulder, and at the same time this happened, I felt someone noticeably tense up behind me as well. Finally breaking my hands away from hers, I turned to follow her gaze to see that she and Xander were intensely staring at one another, neither one daring to break eye contact. I focused my hearing a bit and noticed that both of their hearts were beating erratically. I was completely confused. What was going on?

    Before anyone could say anything, Olivia and Xander both said at the same time in the same breathless voice, never once breaking eye contact, “Mate.”

    You have got to be f*****g shitting me.