Chapter 2

I curled my fingers into fists and uncurled them, only to repeat the process as Sade, the Beta’s mate, tried to decide what I should wear for the evening’s little meet and greet. We were now in Blue Crescent territory and tonight would start the week long meeting where all the alpha’s of the country discussed policies, issues, and other politics. Under other circumstances, I’d be excited to be here, but Father made it clear, I wasn’t allowed in the actual meetings, only the social events.

Jon was right, as hard as I tried, Father wouldn’t budge. I was to come and be his bait for his replacement. It was now up to my friend to work his magic and find me some idiot willing to be my fake mate. I really hoped he found the guy quickly, I wasn’t sure how long I could play along. I already wanted to hit something.

“How about this?” Sade said, holding up a navy blue dress with white collar and cuffs.

“No,” I ground out. “It looks like something you’d put on a doll.”

She pursed her lips with her hands on her hips. “You’ve said that to everything I’ve shown you so far.”

“And it’s been all true.”

Sade sighed, rolling her eyes and put the dress back in the closet. “I get you don’t like this, Nic, but your father’s orders are clear - you -”

“Need to look like you which never is going to happen,” I said. She had thick brown hair that fell around her like a waterfall, bright blue eyes, dainty frame but plenty of curves, Sade was the essence of what it was to be a woman. I was average height, broad shoulders, and muscles that took out any softness I might ever have.

“It could if you tried,” she said, turning her back to me and looked through the closet of clothes she’d brought for me. “What about this?” She held up a black dress. I wrinkled my nose. “You know what, you’re wearing it. No arguments.” Sade threw the dress at me. “Go, get dressed.” I started to argue, but she narrowed her eyes at me.

Okay, so I wasn’t the only one at my limit. “Fine,” I spat and pulled on the dress. It was a little tight, and the knee length skirt would be hard to walk in, but at least I didn’t look like a doll. She handed me a pair of strappy heels, giving me the same narrow-eyed glare which told me these were it, end of story. I rolled my eyes and put them on, wondering how women walked in these things. Yet, at the same time, they looked kind of lethal. Nice.

I smirked, standing, trying to get a sense of balance. “There, done.”

“Actually,” Sade said, waving a make-up brush at me.

“Seriously?”

“Yep,” she said, returning my smirk.

A half hour later, we left my room and met my father and Wesley in the hall. The beta rubbed his chin, obviously trying not to laugh as Father looked me over with a narrowed glare. “Well, it’ll do I suppose. The hair is a problem, but there’s nothing to do about it now.”

I curled and uncurled my fists, doing my best to keep my temper in check. “I think,” Sade said, smiling and giving my arm a squeeze. “It makes Nic unique and exotic. She’ll be something they don’t see every day, and I believe that will work in your favor, Alpha.”

Dad stared at me a little longer before nodding. “Fine, let’s go.”

We came to a large room filled with people, and I followed him, trying my best to play the part. I noticed Jon was there as well. He gave me a thumbs up with a nod of approval, though he was also trying not to laugh. I narrowed my eyes at him and discreetly flipped him off before giving whoever Father was talking to a tight-lipped smile when I heard my name mentioned. I nodded mutely which seemed to be the adequate response.

I scanned the room and saw the auburn-haired woman I’d met briefly when we arrived, walking over to me. “Hey,” she said with a wave.

“Hey.” I lifted my chin in greeting as I strived to come up with a name. I remembered it started with a B - Brandy? No that wasn’t right.

“You settled in alright?” she asked.

Again I gave her a tight-lipped smile. It wasn’t something stupid like Bambi. “Yes, your alpha has been very generous letting us stay here.”

“Well, you can’t exactly invite someone to your house then expect them to get a hotel, right?” she said with a laugh.

“True,” I said, my smile easing into a more authentic one.

“So would you like a tour or I could introduce you to some people?”

“Oh, thank you but you-” I started, but my father give me a little push.

“She would love that, Future Luna of Blue Crescent pack,” he said.

The woman stiffened and gave him a wooden smile. “Great.” She turned to me. “So, follow me.” She waded through the crowd, and once she was halfway across the room, I heard her mumble. “The next person to call me future Luna I swear I’m going to scream at them. God, it’s so much easier to just say, Brook.”

Brook. Of course, that’s what it was. “What’s wrong with it. It’s who you are?”

She flushed as she turned to me. “Yeah, well, it makes me feel depersonalized. It’s like that’s all I am to anyone. It’s either that or the future alpha’s mate,” she ranted then sighed, running a hand through her hair. “Five years and I’m still trying to get used to werewolf craziness, sorry.”

Oh right, she’d been turned when she nearly killed herself pushing the Alpha of Black Mountain’s alpha off a cliff to keep him from taking over Blue Crescent.

“You don’t like to talk much do you or is it the scene? Not your thing or too many people?” She said when all I did was nod in reply.

Well, she’s perceptive, or I wasn’t doing a very good job at going along with the plan. “No offense is intended,” I said, again forcing a smile on my lips.

She snorted and waved at me dismissively. “None taken. Until I met Ryder, I was a loner myself. How about we make our rounds, I’ll introduce people, so everyone’s happy we’re playing our parts, and then we can get out of here.”

“Cool,” I said, offering her a small grin.

“Great.”

We were almost finished going around the room when Brook at the sight of a blonde woman and man. The blonde spotted Brook said something to the man with her. The man glanced over towards us, smirked at the future Luna then shrugged. When they started walking over here, Brook swallowed and muttered, “Great.” She forced a friendly smile on her face. “Hey, Alice, right?”

The blonde grinned. “That’s me. I didn’t see you when we arrived, and I wanted to say hello and thanks for your help a while back.”

“No problem,” Brook said then took a breath before addressing the man. “Hey, Mike. Oh, this is Nicole, daughter of Alpha Joseph of the…” Her eyes widened as she scrambled.

Mike snorted with a smirk.

“Golden Plains pack,” I said, saving her. “I’m the future alpha of the pack.”

“Don’t you mean Luna?” Mike said.

“Nope,” I told him and gave him a pointed glare, daring him to say otherwise. Mike Howe was a strong alpha, I’d love to have a chance to fight him. See who’s the strongest.

“Right,” Alice said, furrowing her brow at me for a moment. “It’s nice to meet you and good to finally meet you in person.” She smiled at us. “Well, we’ll have to make the rounds. Hopefully, we’ll see you around. Come on, Michael.”

“Whatever you say, Peaches,” he said, then nodded to both of us. “Brook. Luna.” He gave me a smirk.

“Meet me outside and see what happens, Howe.”

“Sorry, Luna, but I’m taken, and I like my women to actually look like women,” he shot back.

“Michael,” Alice said, shaking her head at him.

“What, she asked for it,” he said, following her into a crowd.

Brook blew out a breath. “That wasn’t so bad.”

“Impressive, I think if I were you, I’d go kick his ass,” I admitted honestly. To my surprise, she started to laugh.

“It’s crossed my mind a few times,” she told me then gasped, and I jumped when some guy ran into her, nearly knocking her over, and hugged her to him.

“Hey, Brookie!”

“Dean, you idiot! You scared the crap out of me,” Brook complained.

“Aw you know you still love me. So who you talking to?” he asked, releasing Brook partially from the hug and face me.

His scent, a fresh, almost citrus smell, washed over me and I felt as if the floor dropped away from my feet. The guy, Dean, got a similar expression of surprise. My heart raced, and my mouth dry as one word jumped to my mind — Mate. He let go of Brook and stepped towards me, in which I stepped back.

“Wow, you’re…” he said with a goofy grin on his face. “I started to think...and you’re wow..and wow.” The smile grew, and my heart sped even faster. My whole body was high alert with sensations and feelings so new and intense I could hardly breathe. “So what can I call you besides beautiful?” He asked and reached out for my hand.

Panic seized me and instinct took over - I jerked back and punched him hard. The guy’s eyes rolled up, and he fell flat on his back, out cold, blood and rushing from his nose.

“Dean,” Brook yelled, patting his cheek. “Why did you do that?”

My throat tightened, my eyes were wide, panic still in control. I turned and ran out of the room, shoving people aside if I had too. Back in my room, I slammed my door closed and leaned against it. I covered my face with my hands. What the hell did I just do? Brook called the guy Dean...as in Alpha Brent’s second son? Oh crap, Father was going to kill me!