Her Unforeseen Destiny

Meeting the Pack

Emmeline finished packing the last of the clothes she would need for a week away from home. After her eye-opening discussion with Jamie the night before, she had realised that she couldn't just keep living and working as if nothing had changed. She finally had an opportunity to learn more about her parents and, maybe, to find out why she had been abandoned as a baby. 

Checking her watch to see how long she had, she sat down heavily on her bed and stared at the wall. It felt like she was in a dream. How could all of this be real? Werewolves? And her, one of them?

She had agreed with Jamie that she would spend a week with his 'clan', as he called it. It hadn't been hard to get time off work at the restaurant, considering how sick she had looked when she left the night before. Jonathan, her boss, had been oddly understanding and hadn't even asked her to provide a sick note. Luckily, the summer tourist rush was coming to an end since schools were going back in just a few days.

Emmeline had also called Mr Isaacs to ask for the next week off. With him, she had been much more truthful. She had explained to him that she had a possible lead on her birth family and he had been more than happy for her to take some time off to see if she could find out more. He knew a little about her past and was aware of how much she had always wanted to know about her parents. Mr Isaacs had wished her luck and made her promise to get in contact if there was anything he could do for her.

BUZZ BUZZ.

The sound of the intercom jolted Emmeline out of her reverie and she jumped up to answer. 

"Ready to go?" Jamie's voice came through the speaker and she smiled. 

"I'll be right down." She zipped up her bag and hoisted it onto her shoulder. She looked around the kitchen quickly, double-checking that everything was switched off and that the windows were closed. She patted her pockets - yep, her phone was in her jeans pocket. Grabbing her keys off the kitchen counter, Emmeline switched off the light and opened the front door.

As she locked the door behind her, she shook her head slightly. What a crazy two weeks. She had gone from being stuck living with Alice to having the freedom of her own flat... and then to finding out that she wasn't even human. What a whirlwind.

"How far is it?" Emmeline closed the boot after putting her bag in, before hopping into the passenger seat. 

"Twenty minutes or so, depending on traffic," Jamie responded, waiting for her to put her seatbelt on before he put down the handbrake. "It's a pleasant enough drive."

Emmeline looked out the window as they pulled away from her flat. It felt odd to be leaving her new home so soon after moving in, even though it was only for a few days. 

THIRTY MINUTES LATER

"And this is exactly why I hate tourist season," Jamie rolled his eyes as they finally turned off the main road onto a smaller country lane. They had spent more than fifteen minutes stuck in complete standstill traffic. Apparently, everyone was making an exodus back inland as the school holidays came to a close. 

Jamie glanced over at Emmeline. She had been pretty quiet for the majority of the journey, aside from the occasional question about what to expect when they reached pack territory. She seemed nervous, he thought. He didn't blame her - after all, she had just found out that she had spent the last 18 years thinking she was 'normal' when she was anything but. 

Even if she was human, she's still special. Jamie smiled to himself, his eyes tracing the soft curve of her jawline up to her cheeks, which coloured slightly as she noticed his gaze on her. 

"Sorry," he apologised with a chuckle, realising that he had embarrassed her a little. "I just still can't believe that you never knew anything about your... heritage. I don't think I've ever heard of another werewolf who lived among humans and never knew they were a wolf."

"I guess I'm an anomaly or something." Emmeline pursed her lips slightly. She was nervous about meeting Jamie's clan. What if they didn't accept her? What if she was too... corrupted by humans to be welcome?

"Everyone is going to love you," Jamie reassured her as if he could read her thoughts. "I promise."

I'm already falling for you, he thought to himself.

He hated that he was already 24 and still hadn't found his mate. Maybe Emmeline would be his mate. Not fated, since he knew that the mate bond would have made that pretty clear by now, but maybe as a chosen mate. 

She wasn't classically beautiful, but there was just something about her. Her innocence, for one. Jamie just felt like he wanted to hold her and tell her that everything would be okay. She had found her family now. 

"We're here." He snapped himself out of his daydreaming and smirked as Emmeline couldn't hide her shock. 

"This is... the clan?" she asked tentatively, as the big iron gates opened to let Jamie's car through. They had been driving through rolling Somerset countryside before arriving in what seemed like a tiny village. Jamie had taken a left and, suddenly, there were huge wrought irons gates in front of them which had opened as he pulled up.

Jamie drove up a paved road which was lined with trees. Emmeline could see houses dotted around as if this area was a village within the village. Her jaw dropped as they reached the end of the road.

"This is the packhouse." Jamie grinned as he noticed Emmeline's awestruck expression. He had to admit, the packhouse was pretty impressive, especially if you weren't expecting it. "Welcome to Black Down Clan."

He pulled up in front of the imposing building and put the car in park. He hopped out quickly, opening Emmeline's door before she had even had a chance to open it herself. As she got out of the car, she stared up at the building in front of her.

The packhouse, as Jamie had referred to it, was a regal-looking 17th- or 18th-century manor house. The brick façade was covered in green ivy and the ground floor had huge canted bay windows that looked out to the driveway and the fields in front. The manor house was at least three stories, with a fourth storey in some areas thanks to at least three large turrets that she could see from her current vantage point.

Emmeline had always loved the architecture of different buildings and had enjoyed reading about architecture through the ages in the town library. While she wasn't the biggest fan of modern architecture, there was just something about older architecture that made somewhere seem like it was straight out of a fairytale. When she was younger, she had loved imagining growing up in a beautiful old house like this. She had always imagined that maybe her real parents were nobility and lived in a huge Tudor-style manor, or maybe a Georgian townhouse. 

"Are you ready to go in?" Jamie found it amusing how Emmeline was staring up at the manor house with such amazement. He had to admit, the packhouse was a pretty impressive place, especially if you hadn't grown up in it. 

"Let's go," Emmeline replied, letting out a breath that she didn't realise she was even holding. 

"Master Jameson!" An older gentleman grinned at Jamie as they entered the manor house. Jamie rolled his eyes and clapped the man on the back. "Home at last!"

"Morning Frank," Jamie replied, laughing at the older man's way of greeting him. "Frank, this is Emmeline. Emmeline, this is our groundskeeper, Frank."

Frank's eyes lit up as he noticed Emmeline shyly hiding behind Jamie. He proffered his hand and she shook it firmly. 

"It's good to meet you, Emmeline. Jamie mentioned he'd be bringing a friend for a while." Frank spoke in a soft voice with a lilting Somerset accent. "He didn't mention that he would be bringing such a lovely young lady, though."

Emmeline smiled up at the old man's kind face and immediately decided that she liked him a lot. Frank had short grey hair and sharp grey-green eyes. He was at least 60, maybe even older, she guessed, but seemed pretty spritely for his age.

"You can call me Emmie," she offered and the old man's eyes crinkled as he grinned widely. He looked up as the sound of another car arriving in the driveway distracted him for a moment. 

"Jameson, your father and brother seem to have arrived home early," he commented to Jamie, opening the large oak front door to welcome the newcomers. 

Just what I always wanted, Jamie thought to himself sarcastically. His brother had always been the golden boy and destined to be Alpha when their father retired or passed away. Tristan could never do anything wrong and, when their mother had died, their father had seemed to put all his energy into doting on Tristan and making sure the apple of his eye had everything he could ever need. Jamie simply fell by the wayside, or so he felt.

Emmeline looked around as the entryway began to fill with other people. Clearly, Jamie's father and brother were some important people, based on the number of people who had come to greet them. 

"Alpha Randall, Master Tristan! Welcome home." Frank greeted the newcomers warmly as they entered. The man referred to as Alpha gave Frank a swift hug, as if they were old friends. He exchanged pleasantries with the others who had come to welcome them home, using titles Emmeline didn't understand, such as 'Beta' and 'Gamma'. The Greek words reminded her of being in maths class, if she was being totally honest.

"Welcome back, bro," Jamie greeted his brother, but the tall man was staring directly at Emmeline. She looked up at him nervously, hoping he wasn't unimpressed by her presence. Without responding to Jamie, he walked towards her, his eyes never once leaving hers.

When he spoke, his voice was deep and like music to her ears. The word, however, meant nothing to her. 

"Mate."