From Beta to Luna

Chapter 2 — The Ride

    After corralling the 15 pack members who’d be making the trip—me, Xander, Nathan, and 12 of our best warriors—it wasn’t long before we were on the road heading north towards Crystal Moon territory. I sat up front with Nathan who was driving, while Xander sat in the back responding to various emails and texts on his phone. The rest of the pack was split between three other cars which were driving behind us. I was quiet for the first hour of the trip, my chin resting on my hand with my elbow resting against the door while I stared thoughtfully out the window at the quickly passing scenery. 

    “Hey, Rain, you ok?” Nathan’s curious voice broke through my thoughts. 

    “Hm? Oh yeah, I’m fine. Just a little nervous,” I softly mumbled in response. 

    Nathan chuckled. “You, nervous? C’mon, Raina Sterling doesn’t get nervous about anything.”

    I smiled slightly but couldn’t bring myself to respond. I was too lost in my own thoughts. I couldn’t help but think about what would happen when the other packs learned that our pack had a female Beta. I’m sure we’d become an easy target in their eyes, and I was worried I’d be bringing unnecessary stress to Xander and the rest of my pack members. 

    It didn’t take long for my pack to accept me as their Beta, but that was different because most of them had either grown up with me, or had trained alongside me for years. I’d have to completely start from scratch in order to prove myself to these other packs, which isn’t an issue to me personally, but the last thing I wanted was to cause Xander grief over his decision of trusting me to be his Beta. 

    “Hey, Raina, seriously, you have nothing to worry about,” Nathan’s voice broke through my mental babble again, and I looked over this time to see him flashing me a genuine smile before averting his attention back to the road. “The other packs will love you. And if they don’t, they’ll have us to deal with, isn’t that right, Alpha?”

    My eyes flickered to the rear view mirror to see that Xander was smiling reassuringly at me. 

    “He’s right, Raina,” Xander agreed, never taking his eyes off me. “I never would’ve named you my Beta if I didn't truly believe you were the best one for the job and deserving of the title. You’ve already proven yourself to us… just do it again with the other packs. Beat some sense into them if you have to.”

    I chuckled at this and felt the nervousness slowly disappearing. But the nagging feeling of bringing unwanted attention and judgment to Xander and the pack just wouldn’t go away entirely. 

    “Aren’t you worried at all? What if the other packs view us as weak, as an easy target, and try to start s**t with us? I don’t want to be an inconvenience to you and put the pack in danger,” I blurted out before I could control myself. 

    Xander leaned forward in his seat and placed a comforting hand on my shoulder. The tension in my body that I hadn’t even realized was there dissipated a little as he smiled at me again through his reflection in the rear view mirror. 

    “Raina, as your Alpha and your older brother, I promise you that I will always protect you,” he reassured me. “You will never be an inconvenience to me, or to this pack. Silver Moon knows that you’d lay your life on the line for the pack, and we’re willing to do the same for you. I will never regret my decision in naming you my Beta, no matter the backlash I may receive. Don’t worry. You’ll be fine.”

    “And besides,” he continued as he leaned back in his seat again, taking his hand with him, “the only packs that will be attending this event will be our allies. They have faith in my judgment, and I’m sure after meeting you, they’ll quickly realize why you were the obvious choice as the next Beta.”

    I smiled at this, the nervousness almost completely gone now. It was reassuring to have the complete faith and trust of both Xander and Nathan, the two most important people to me in the world. This wasn’t the first time they’ve had to talk me down from spiraling in my own thoughts, and I appreciate it just the same every time they take the time to do so. 

    “Alsoooo, maybe you’ll get lucky and even meet your mate there,” Nathan teased, wiggling his eyebrows at me in an attempt to lighten the mood. 

    I scoffed at this and playfully shoved his arm in response. “You know I have no interest in finding my mate, if he’s even out there. Who knows, maybe I’ll be lucky and the poor dude’s already dead so I never have to worry about that.”

    “How could you say that!” Nathan exclaimed, his mouth agape as he stared at me with a wide-eyed expression. 

    “Eyes on the road, buddy,” I responded, grabbing his face by the chin and forcing his attention back to the road. “I don’t know why you’re so surprised every time I say it, I’m not gonna magically change my mind about it.”

    “But finding a mate is our sole purpose in life! The Moon Goddess created someone out there meant just for us, and you’re telling me you aren’t excited to find him?” Nathan exclaimed incredulously, then paused for a moment. “Or her, no judgement here.”

    My nose crinkled in laughter as I shook my head slightly at him. Nathan was the ultimate romantic, believing fully in the mate bond. I admit, the idea of the mate bond was something every wolf craved. The idea of having someone created solely for you—and only you—of having a bond so deep and sacred that you’d die without them once the bond was solidified was enough to make any girl or guy weak in the knees in anticipation. But I never wanted to find my mate because I knew what would happen if I were to be mated with an Alpha of another pack. 

    I would have to leave my pack in order to go and join his. 

    Maybe I’d be lucky and my mate is actually some lowly Omega that would be able to leave his pack and join me in the Silver Moon Pack instead, but on the off chance that he wasn’t? Was that a chance I was willing to take?

    Hell no. 

    I loved my pack and my position as Beta too much to give that up for anybody. I would rather die than abandon the pack that I’ve sworn loyalty to protect and serve. And Nathan knew that, better than anybody. 

    “You already know why I have no interest in finding a mate, Nathan,” I stated sternly, snapping myself from my own thoughts. 

    “Yeah, yeah, yeah, but you’re already 19! It’s been over a year since you should’ve felt the mate pull now, aren’t you scared you’re gonna die an old maid?” Nathan asked with a hint of teasing in his voice. 

    I gasped as I flicked the side of his head, laughing when he cursed at me and brought his right hand up to rub the spot where I had flicked him.

    “What about you? You’re 21 and haven’t found your mate yet, what does that say about you?” I retorted indignantly. “And let’s not forget that Xander is 23, almost 24, and still hasn’t found his mate yet, either.”

    Xander growled quietly in the backseat in warning. 

    “Don’t remind me, it’s f*****g killing me that I haven’t found her yet,” he interjected, and I could see from the rear view that he was scowling slightly while staring out the window. “And don’t pull me into your childish arguments, leave me out of it.”

    I smiled sheepishly at dragging him into the conversation, knowing that his mate—or lack thereof—was a sensitive topic for him. Everyone unlocks the ability to feel the mate pull once they turn 18, but there’s no timeline of when they would actually meet their mate. Some people—the lucky or unlucky ones depending on your feelings on the matter—meet them the moment they turn 18, while others, like Xander, have to wait years before finding them. However, I knew why Xander was feeling the way he was. It was almost unheard of for an Alpha to be waiting 5, almost 6 whole years to find his Luna. It was slowly starting to affect his confidence in leading the pack, though he’d never let on to his true feelings. 

    I smiled at him through the rear view mirror, feeling like it was my turn to comfort him.

    “Hey, I’m sure she’s out there. The Moon Goddess probably took extra time to make someone extra amazing just for you, which is why it’s taking a little longer to find her,” I reassured him gently. “And besides, like Nathan said, maybe you’ll be lucky and meet her this week.”

    Xander gave a hollow sigh before meeting my eyes in the mirror with a small smile. “I’m sure you’re right. I’ve already waited 5 years for her, what’s another couple of months added on?”

    Before long, the sun was beginning to set as the calmness of dusk settled around us. The green fields passing by our windows gave way to tall trees on either side of the road, indicating that we were getting close to crossing over into Crystal Moon territory. A few minutes later, the first couple of houses came into view, and not long after that, the giant white, Victorian style home that I was assuming was the packhouse loomed ahead of us. I took a deep breath, trying to calm the nerves that suddenly made its way back into my mind. 

    Aside from the anxiety of meeting the other packs, my wolf, Amelia, was agitatedly pacing in my mind as if she knew something else was fixing to happen this week, which was making me even more nervous than I already was. I chewed my lip thoughtfully as Nathan smoothly pulled the car into the circle driveway in front of the packhouse’s front steps and put the car in park. 

    Giving a last sigh, I opened the door before walking around back to grab my duffle from the trunk. The other pack members pulled in behind us and stepped out one by one, stretching away the achiness left behind by the 3 hour drive. I stood and stared at the front of the packhouse, my heart beating wildly in my chest as Xander came up behind me and placed a reassuring hand on my shoulder. I looked up at his kind face and gave him a weak smile in return. 

    I wasn’t sure how I knew it, but deep down, I had this gut feeling that something was going to happen this week—something big. 

    And I honestly wasn’t sure if I was ready for it.