Chapter 8

Harper

My mum popped her head in the door.

"Sweetie, Colton said he wants to go home," she said. Thank the goddess, I thought. Maybe I could get my head straight without him being around. Plus, I still needed to get ready for school in the morning. You'd think that becoming engaged to the future Beta might mean no more school, but there were only two more weeks left, and then it was done. Plus, despite it technically being legal in the UK to leave school at sixteen, our pack had a requirement that all pack members continued until eighteen, at the very minimum, within the compulsory pack training curriculum.

I smiled at my mum. "Okay, I will come and say goodbye." I went to leave my room, but my mum blocked my way.

"Harper, where are your bags?" she asked, looking around my room.

"Bags?" I asked, confused.

"Oh, you have got to be kidding me," Tommy muttered behind me, and I turned and looked at him, still confused.

"Sweetheart," my mum said. "You're moving into the pack house. You knew that, didn't you?" Erm, no, I did not! This was news to me. I knew that I would eventually be expected to move into the pack house, but not today, not straight away!

"What, mum, no!" I exclaimed. "It took Susie two months before she moved."

"Yes, I know, sweetheart, but you and Colton are engaged now. I mean, the engagement party will be this weekend!" My heart plummeted at what she was saying. They had already started planning the engagement party! Things were moving way too fast for me. I started to feel faint and sat down on the floor before falling down.

"Oh no! Harper, sweetie, what's wrong?" My mum started fussing, but her voice was faint. There was a loud rushing in my ears, and I felt like my eyes couldn't focus. It was all too much, and this was my way of shutting it all out.

Then I felt sparks across my cheek, and I was shocked back to reality. The room had got crowded, but my focus was brought to Colton, who was kneeling right in front of me, stroking my cheek. He even looked concerned and smiled when I focused on him.

"Hey, Strawberries," he cooed. "What's up, baby girl?" He leaned forward and grazed his lips against mine, and the sparks sent shivers down my spine.

"I think she's just a little overwhelmed with everything," my mum said. "She has panic attacks sometimes."

"Aw, Strawberries," Colton purred. "Why don't we get you home, and then I can take care of you properly?" There were awww's and ahh's from others, but I saw Colton's eyes as he said it, and the sinister look that flashed through them made me shrink away from him. I shook my head and moved further back.

"I-I have nothing packed," I stammered, hoping that it would be a reason to stay home. I was out of luck.

"Fine," he said, his tone clipped. "You have ten minutes, and then I want to leave." I could already tell that he was angry and probably tired of holding up the pretence of being the loving mate. I bit my lip to hold back the tears, and then Louise spoke.

"Colton, why don't you go home? Katie and I will help Harper pack her things, and then I will bring her home later." As the Gamma's daughter, Louise lived in the pack house alongside the Beta and the Alpha family. At least I would be living with one of my best friends. Colton glanced up at Louise and grinned.

"That sounds perfect!" he said and then looked back at me. "I will see you at home soon then, mate!" He leaned over and kissed me again, this time much harder, before pulling away and standing up. He headed out of my bedroom without a second glance, and less than a minute later, I heard the front door close. It was reminiscent of last night, and I couldn't help but burst into tears.

"Well," my mum said, uncertainty in her voice. "I will leave you girls to it," she added before she left the room. My dad stood in the doorway, smiled down at me, and then glanced behind me.

"Come on, Tommy," he said. "I think it's time we had a chat." Tommy stood up and headed out of the room, but stopped at the door.

"Don't worry, kid," he said. "I'll figure something out. I'll fix this shit." And then he left.

------

I sat on the floor, not moving. If I moved, then I would have to pack, and once I had packed, then...

I didn't want to move to the pack house; I had lived here in this house my whole life. Even when I go to University in September, it will be a local one so that I can drive home every night and sleep in my bed.

"Harper, sweetie." I looked at Louise, who had kneeled beside me and was rubbing my back. "We should get started on some packing." I shook my head.

"I don't want to," I said, fresh tears welling up in my eyes, and Louise pulled me into a hug.

"I know, sweetie, I hate to say it, but I don't think you have any choice right now." She pulled away and smiled. "But plus side, we'll be living together." I smiled back and nodded my head. Louise helped me up off the floor, and I turned around to see that Katie had already pulled one of my suitcases out of my closet.

"I have put in some underwear so far," she said. "Although, Harper girl, we are gonna have to go shopping again pretty soon because your lingerie collection needs some work," she giggled, and I rolled my eyes. Katie loved to shop a lot! She also loved all that girly stuff, like makeup and clothes and nails. She always said one of the worst things about being a werewolf is that you couldn't wear acrylic nails because they popped off when you shifted.

"Katie, I think that sexy underwear is the last thing on her mind right now, don't you?" scolded Louise, and Katie stuck her tongue out at her.

"Well, it's not gonna be for Colton." Katie winked at me. "He was all over you just now, and now you will be living with him." I could feel the colour draining from my face.

"Oh my goddess!" I whispered. "I am going to be expected to have sex with him." I felt sick all of a sudden.

"Well, yeah, he's your mate," Katie chuckled to herself as she started folding the underwear she had pulled out of my drawers into the suitcase. "And Colton is a Beta. They have quite the insatiable appetite. In fact, you could probably skip clothes altogether. I don't think you'll be wearing them all that much!"

"Katie!" Louise snapped, and Katie looked up at her, shocked.

"What?" She looked between us. "I don't get it. You've slept with him already, haven't you? What's the issue?"

"Yeah, she slept with him, and then he rejected her," Louise said. "He showed his true dickish colours, and now she is being forced to mate with him, after what he did." I could tell she was getting angrier and angrier with each word she spat out. This would have been Louise's nightmare to have her choices taken away. This was why she hated the mate bond. She believed it took your choice of whom to love away. I put my hand on her arm, and she closed her eyes and took a breath.

"I'm sorry, sweetie," she said. "You don't need me and my issues right now."

"I'm sorry too," Katie said. "I was just getting excited. To be mated to a Beta, or another named rank would be life-changing for me." Katie was an Omega, and they were the lowest rank in the pack. They had more rules than the rest of us. They couldn't become warriors, and they weren't allowed to leave the pack territory and borders without express permission. Katie wouldn't be allowed to go to the University in the city like Louise and me. She wanted to run her own beauty salon, but Omegas weren't allowed to own property, and Katie had to settle for the local college in town and a job at her aunt's salon. Her aunt Sheila had ranked up when she mated with one of the warriors, but it was rare for an Omega to mate up the ranks unless fate deemed it. And unless they found that fated mate within their pack, then it was unlikely they would ever find them.

It was an awful system, one that got Louise angry all the time. I had heard that other packs had started an Omega exchange system where they could go stay in another pack for three months and work there, and hopefully, they found their fated mate and could stay there. Midnight Moon wasn't a part of the program. Our Alpha said that it went against tradition and gave people false hope, plus he didn't like strangers in his pack.

"Anyway," Katie said. "It's my eighteenth birthday soon, and you never know I might end up being Damien's mate. He was showing me attention at the party last night," she giggled, and I glanced at Louise, who half shook her head. But Katie saw the exchange.

"What?" she demanded, looking between Louise and me. "What's with the look?" I started to fidget and went to grab some clothes from my closet, so I had more than underwear to put on.

"Louise, Harper. Tell me." She knew that Louise wouldn't break, so she zeroed in on me, and I caved straight away.

"Damien was showing you attention, so you didn't see when Colton took me away from the party," I said. "Colton didn't want anyone to know we were fated mates," I explained. I didn't tell her that we knew this because Louise had overheard Damien and Colton boasting about it at the party afterwards. She didn't know I was the mate in question or that Katie was the filthy omega airhead that they were talking about.

Katie glared at me with tears in her eyes. "I can't believe you, Harper," she snapped. "Louise, I expected this from, but I thought you were better than this." I stood there dumbfounded. I had no idea what I had done. "Geez, you are mated to a Beta for less than 24 hours, and I am already not good enough for you, is that it?"

"Oh my goddess, Katie, no," I cried. "I never meant that at all." Katie stood up suddenly and headed towards the door.

"Well, don't let my lowly status drag you down, ladies," she growled and stormed out of the room.

"Katie!"