Far From Home

Chapter Four - The Basics

A few weeks have gone by. Ryan and I have gotten closer to the point where he is a bit overly protective of me but I don’t mind. We came clean to Liz and she was upset at first but quickly got over it when she found her mate a few days later. Stephen is apparently studying to become the next Gamma of his pack which means he’s the third in line after his Alpha and Betta. He’s been helping me to learn the hierarchy of pack life. He’s extremely intelligent and explains things in a way that I’m actually understanding. I feel like I missed so much growing up not knowing who I was and where I’m from.

Opal fills me in on a lot too and I have to say, having a built in mentor definitely helps. Apparently her coloring is rare and she constantly jokes about how special she is. I’ve tried numerous times to get her to divulge information on my wolf side of the family but she remains persistent that she doesn’t know anymore than I do. Her heightened senses will allow me to identify them by smell if I were ever to meet them though. And now that I have shifted my physical appearance has changed some too. I’m much stronger and more muscular now which has definitely helped with my self confidence.

On the subject of where I came from, Stephen has suggested I talk with his Alpha and see if I can get any leads on my family. Otherwise I will apparently be labeled as a rogue and he says that while times are changing and it’s not as terrible of a thing to be rogue, some older packs still look down on rogues and will even kill them on sight if they cross into their territories. He has taught me about the packs in our area and showed me where each of their territories are. My hometown is five hours from school and apparently lies in a no-mans land full of wolf hunters which provides some insight into why no one told me what I was. Stephen is a part of the Harvest Moon Pack, a rather large pack on good terms with most of the other larger packs and Stephen even said he would put in a good word with his Alpha for me if I wanted to join their pack. Liz is preparing for their mating ceremony which is also providing me with a look into what it truly means to be a wolf. The more I see her and Stephen together the more I am sure that Ryan is not my mate. It pulls at my heartstrings when I think of it so I try not to dwell on those thoughts.

I spend a lot of time at Ryan’s off campus apartment now due to my crazy roommate suddenly being around all the time. For the first few weeks of school she stayed at home because she only lived ten minutes from school but since I shifted she has been coming around more often and something about her makes me uneasy.

“What are you thinking about Lilly Pad?” Ryan asks.

“Just working everything over in my head. Between actually trying to excel in school to keep my scholarship and this new found life I have, my brain is turning to mush. Plus I’m thinking about changing majors,” I reply.

“What are you thinking of changing to?”

“Psychology, so I can understand why my brain explodes when you guys introduce me to the wormhole in space I’ve apparently gone through,” I say with a chuckle and Ryan laughs.

“Allow me to introduce myself to your wormhole and I’ll make your brain explode,” Ryan continues as he lays me down on the couch I was sitting on and slowly crawls on top of me. I groan at his corny attempt at a pickup line.

Ryan is just so damn good looking that when he turns his sights on me, it’s hard to think of anything else. He says it’s because he’s from a long line of Bettas and the goddess just made him delicious and I agree. Before things get too heavy he pulls back and looks at me with an emotion I can’t quite read in his eyes.

“What’s wrong?” I whisper sweetly as he gets up and sits in the chair across the room. I instantly pout which gets me a chuckle from him.

“Are you upset that you didn’t save yourself for your mate?” He asks.

“Are you?” I reply

“I would rearrange the stars in the sky if it would make it possible for you to be mine forever.”

“How about just for tonight,” I smirk.

“Deal.”

He pounces back on top of me and lifts my shirt over my head. My bra clasps in the front today and he takes pleasure in unclasping it with his teeth.

“You’re so f*****g perfect Lilly”

“You’re not so bad your self Ry”

And his mouth finds mine. Each time we’re together his kisses get hungrier. It’s like he’s trying to Will our being fated into existence. I know the things Liz has said about mates and she’s even tried to suggest that we cool it off between us so that we don’t make things awkward in the future when we find our mates but I honestly don’t know how I would do that. I realize in that moment that I’m falling in love with Ryan, and Opal pipes up, “He is not our mate but I cannot deny the connection either. Even I enjoy getting close to Thunder (Ryan’s Wolf).”

With that confirmation I pull Ryan’s head into my hands and make him face me.

“Take me to bed please?”

“I would love nothing more,” he replies.

My homework is long forgotten as we spend the night worshipping each other’s bodies.

“Ok Lilly, lets start with a simple search of your dad’s name and see if anything comes up,” says Stephen one night while I’m at Liz’s helping her prepare for her mating ceremony.

“Richard Harris,” I shoot back.

“Harris?”

“Yup.”

I look back to see an emotion I can’t quite place on Stephen’s face and when I ask what’s wrong he shrugs at me like he doesn’t know what I’m talking about. His eyes cloud over and so do Liz’s so I know they’re mind linking which is something I’d really like to learn to do but I apparently have to be part of a pack to do that so for now I just throw pillows at both of them and tell them to get a room. They laugh and Liz turns back to her vision board. Because Stephen is to be Gamma after graduation, their joining will also make Liz the Gamma female and therefore their mating ceremony has to be even more refined than what is usually planned. I can’t imagine what a Betta or Alpha ceremony must be after looking over all the extravagant things Liz is planning.

I allow my mind to wander and daydream that my mate is a pack doctor. After discussing the various roles in the pack I’ve decided that if he were a warrior I would constantly be worried but if he were a doctor he would be safe and able to be home with me every night. My thoughts drift to Ryan who is apparently of Betta lineage but because he has an older brother who has taken the position he basically gets to live a lavish lifestyle with little responsibility. He is a member of the Red Moon pack and their Alpha is his cousin. They are apparently the largest pack other than the royal pack. He keeps suggesting I come home with him over Thanksgiving break but I haven’t made my mind up yet. I can’t imagine explaining to high ranking wolves that I’m sleeping with Ryan when I know he’s not my mate. I will obviously be viewed as a gold digger but that’s definitely not my intentions. Most days I want nothing more than to be with Ryan but the more I learn about pack life the more I realize we are probably being unfair to our mates and the thought of him with someone else makes my blood boil. I want to be able to be genuinely happy for each other when we find our mates which makes our whole relationship complicated.

I help Liz make some last minute changes and decisions and she happily exclaims that her ceremony is perfect and ready. It will happen on the next full moon which happens to be in two weeks. Just enough time to finish preparations. Then she will continue her studies and Stephen will take over as Gamma since he is officially mated. Education is more of a formality thing in the supernatural world apparently. You are born or mated into your role. I can’t help but wonder what my role will be.