Her Unforeseen Destiny

Edinburgh

Emmeline gasped as their car approached Castle Rock Clan. Lyall had explained about the clan on their drive from Sligachan, which had taken almost five hours. Emmeline hadn't minded much, since the views had been spectacular. 

Lyall was the ideal guide as well since he made sure to explain what she was seeing and also inform her about any important historical events - both human and werewolf - that had happened in the area. She hoped that they would have more time on the way back so that they could make stops along the way.

Their route had taken them past Eilean Donan Castle, a stunningly picturesque castle located where three lochs met. Lyall had explained that the castle was once where Clan Mackenzie called their home. Emmeline couldn't imagine a more spectacular place for the pack to be located. Apparently, the packhouse was still in an actual castle and she had made Lyall promise to take her on a tour of some of the Scottish clans one day. 

"Especially if they live in castles!"

"Not a bad place to call home, right lass?" Lyall noticed her amazed expression. Castle Rock Clan was currently the largest pack in Scotland with more than 700 pack members. 

He had told Emmeline that the name came from the rock on which Edinburgh Castle stood, to which she had asked whether the clan lived at that castle. He had laughed at the idea, before explaining that Edinburgh Castle was just a little too popular with human tourists to be a safe place for the pack. 

Castle Rock Clan was an amalgamation of a few different clans in the area that had decided that there was safety in numbers. The various clan's alphas had all fought for the position as Alpha of the new clan, with the strongest Alpha gaining the title. The Dalmahoy Clan's Alpha had ended up being granted the title of Alpha of Castle Rock Clan, with Clan Borthwick's Alpha becoming the Beta and Clan Kincaid's Alpha becoming the Gamma. Emmeline had found the idea of the different clans combining to increase their power in the region incredibly interesting. Castle Rock Clan was now in a much better place to hold their own against any power-hungry Alphas or any rogues in the area who wanted to attack the pack.

Emmeline gazed around at the huge red brick building in front of them. 

"This area was home to eleven grain mills at one time," Lyall started to explain a bit of history about the area. "This grand-looking building right here was actually built as housing for workers, if you can believe it. It looked beautiful from the outside but it was incredibly cramped for all the workers who lived there. The clan took over the village after the milling trade here diminished and most of the workers left for other jobs. They converted this housing into their packhouse. What was previously an orphanage is now the pack school and many of the workers' houses and warehouses were all converted into homes for pack members. It's pretty impressive what they've done here."

Emmeline could only half take in what Lyall was saying about the place since she was too busy being overwhelmed by the stunning architecture in front of her. An old-looking bridge arched over a river that ran next to the imposing building. It was a beautiful, serene image. She was in love with it already.

"Alpha Dougall." Lyall addressed the clan's Alpha after he'd parked the car and they had both stepped out of the car. 

"Alpha Lyall!" The man he had called Alpha Doughall stepped forward and shook his hand firmly. Emmeline assumed that they had met before as they seemed pretty familiar with one another. 

"Former Alpha now," Lyall corrected the man with a smile. "My son Conan took over last year. More time to actually do things I enjoy now! And this here is Emmeline."

Lyall gently pushed Emmeline forward and she proffered her hand to Dougall as well. He shook it and smiled warmly at her. 

"Welcome to Castle Rock Clan, lass. I hope ye will feel more than welcome. I've heard great things from Lyall here. We'll get ye settled in first and then go for dinner in the Great Hall, I'm sure you've had a long drive from Skye today." Emmeline liked the man already and was already intrigued to find out just how great the Great Hall was. As he took them inside the packhouse, Dougall continued. "We're having a few guests tomorrow from other packs so we hope you'll both join us for that."

"As long as it ain't no ceilidh, Dougall." Lyall raised his eyebrows at the other man. 

"Och aye no, I remember how much you hate any dancing Lyall. I dinnae want anyone getting hurt from you and your two left feet, ye ken?" Dougall laughed a deep, hearty laugh and Lyall smacked him in the shoulder. 

"I'm nae young hen, Dougie, I'm nae meant for dancing!" 

Emmeline struggled to keep up with the two men as they laughed together. She hadn't attended a ceilidh but Moira had told her about the one they always had at the end of each school year. According to Moira, it was a big party that involved a lot of Scottish country dancing and traditional songs. People seemed to either love them or avoid them entirely, and it sounded like Lyall was definitely one of the latter. 

TWO HOURS LATER

After a shower and a change of clothes, Emmeline felt much more awake and ready to meet more people. She wasn't sure if Lyall had told the Alpha that she was still new to all of this and that was why they hadn't had a big welcoming party but she was thankful for not having to deal with many people after a long drive.

A knock on the door alerted her to someone's presence.

"Alpha Dougall requests your company at dinner, Miss Emmeline." Emmeline opened the door to find a young girl - presumably an omega - waiting for her. The girl couldn't have been much older than Emmeline herself.

"Just Emmeline is fine," she told the girl. She found the difference between the werewolf 'classes' strange and wondered how most omegas felt about being the bottom of the totem pole. She would have to research more about the clans that Hanne had told her of, the ones where they were less stuck in their ways of being Alpha by birthright. 

"Yes Mi- Emmeline." The girl quickly corrected herself. "Can I fetch you anything before dinner?"

"I'm good, thanks," Emmeline responded and grabbed a small bag from the bedside table. "Just show me the way."

As they walked through the packhouse to get to the Great Hall, Emmeline marvelled at the architecture and the interior design. 

"Luna Eilidh loves interior design," the omega - Flora, as Emmeline had found out as they chatted - explained as she pointed out areas of decor that had the Luna's handiwork. "She actually runs a small interior design firm here in Edinburgh. They mostly cater to the wolf-run businesses in the city but she has a few human clients as well. You remind me a little of her. She's very headstrong too."

The girl glanced up at Emmeline quickly, as if she was worried that she might have offended her. Emmeline flashed her a wide smile. 

"She sounds like an awesome woman." Emmeline was intrigued to meet Castle Rock's Luna. Eilidh sounded like a woman that she would get on with. "Do most packs run their own businesses, Flora?"

Emmeline had explained a little about her background to the girl since she knew that most other visitors wouldn't ask the questions that she had. Flora had been more than happy to explain details about the pack's structure and how they lived.

"Usually, aye. A lot of packs either come from old money, from wealthy ancestors, or from new money. The new money packs tend to have earned their wealth from business. For example, Gealach Dubh - the main clan up by Inverness - runs a big construction business. Other clans run accounting firms, law firms and so on. Solas Làn, one of the clans in Glasgow, does pretty much all the accounting for the Scottish clans." 

Emmeline found the concept intriguing and noted to talk more to Lyall about it later on. 

"I did wonder how the clans had all the money they would need to keep a place like this running," Emmeline commented. 

"Just like any other large family, I guess! Most ranked members are expected to go into the business when they finish school or university." Flora stopped outside of a pair of grand, imposing doors. "Here we are. I hope I didn't blether too much."

She smiled shyly up at Emmeline. Clearly, house guests weren't usually quite so friendly towards those working as staff in the packhouse. 

"Not at all!" Emmeline exclaimed, shaking her head and giving the girl a quick hug, surprising Flora even more. "Thanks so much for taking the time to explain everything to me. There's so much I need to learn and I really appreciate you indulging all my questions."

"Anytime, miss." The girl blushed. "Sorry, Emmeline. Anytime you have any more questions, I'd be happy to answer any of them."

Flora turned to one of the men stood at the doors and nodded to him. They were dressed like footmen, Emmeline noticed, but they were wearing kilts. Clearly, this clan took their Scottish roots pretty seriously. 

The two men opened the grand doors and Emmeline's jaw dropped at the spectacular hall. The walls were painted in a vibrant red with intricately carved timber panelling covering the bottom half. The high ceiling caught her attention as well with its hammer-beam timber style that she recognised from reading about Medieval architecture in the library. 

Filling much of the space in the huge room was a dark oak dining table that must have stretched at least three or four metres in length. Chairs with high carved backs lined each side of the table and Emmeline's eyes alighted on Lyall, Alpha Dougall and a few other people to whom she hadn't yet been introduced.

One of the men who had opened the doors led her to an empty chair next to Lyall, before he pulled it out in order for her to sit down. 

"Thank you, Malcolm." Alpha Dougall dismissed the man and smiled warmly at Emmeline. "I hope everything has been to your satisfaction so far?"

"This place is amazing!" Emmeline couldn't help the excitement in her voice as she gazed around the magnificent room. "It feels like it's a secret castle or something!"

Alpha Dougall chuckled and tilted his head at the dark-haired woman sat next to him. 

"That's all thanks to a chiall mo chridhe Luna here, Eilidh." He gazed lovingly at the woman next to him, who Emmeline assumed must be Luna Eilidh herself. She hoped to her herself that one day someone would look at her with that much affection in their eyes.

"Oh stop your haverin', Dougall Dalmahoy! I didn't do any of the hard work at all, just the design." Despite her words, Luna Eilidh looked pleased with her husband's complimentary words.

"Did you really design all of this?" Emmeline stared up at the spectacular room they were in. "It's incredible!"

Eilidh blushed slightly and nodded. 

"It's not entirely original, I have to admit. I designed it based on the Great Hall at Edinburgh Castle. I loved going there as a bairn with my grandmother." Eilidh smiled fondly at the memories. "When Dougall became Alpha, I begged him to let me turn the old dining hall into something much more deserving of the title of Great Hall. After all, the Castle Rock clan needs their castle."

Eilidh chuckled softly and Dougall leant over to kiss her forehead. 

"Anyway, enough of me bletherin' on about that. We haven't even been introduced!" Eilidh smacked her husband's arm gently. 

"That's me told." Dougall grinned at Emmeline before turning to the others sat at the table. As he did so, omegas approached with bowls of something that smelled divine to her. "This here is Beta Mitchell Borthwick and his mate Isobel and on my left here is Gamma Ross Kincaid. This is my lovely mate Eilidh, the Luna. Last but by no means least, I'd like to introduce you to our resident historian and genealogist, Robert Buchanan."

As he introduced them to her, each person at the table greeted her warmly. She hoped she would manage to remember everyone's names by the end of the evening. 

"It's good to finally meet you, wee lassie. Lyall already mentioned a lot about you." The man introduced as Robert Buchanan was a large man, both in height and stature. His light brown eyes twinkled as he grinned at Emmeline. "I hear you're a canny wee lass as well. Much more so than Lyall, I would think. Not that it's too difficult."

Robert winked at Lyall who rolled his eyes at his friend. 

"If ye weren't ma sister's mate I'd give ye a right skelp, pal," Lyall retorted, waving his soup spoon in Robert's direction. Robert smirked back at him. Emmeline had learnt from her time in Lachlann's training that a skelp was a slap since he threatened a lot of the boys with one most sessions. The first time she'd heard the term she had thought it sounded like some kind of fish, which had really made the conversation quite confusing. 

"We all ken she'd have done the skelpin' herself!" 

Hearty laughter from everyone at the table filled the air. Emmeline finally started to relax and joined in the laughter. Clearly, Lyall's sister had been a force to be reckoned with. Joining in the conversation, she felt like she was finally starting to truly find herself in this crazy werewolf world she'd been thrown into.