Chapter 9

Harper

I went to go after her, but Louise stopped me.

"Leave her, Harper," she said. "Let her calm down, and we can talk to her at school tomorrow."

"I didn't mean that, Louise," I said, getting upset again.

"I know, but it's hard for Omegas in this pack, so the rank is a sore subject." She hugged me again. "Come on, let's get this over with," she said and headed into my closet.

We spent the rest of the time packing, mostly in silence, breaking it occasionally to discuss whether I should take a certain item or not. I just had to pack what I would need in the next couple of days for now. Louise said that they would likely send a couple of Omegas to pack and move the rest of my stuff this week. It wasn't long before we had almost everything that I needed packed. I was getting a headache because Colton was trying to mind-link with me, and I was avoiding it, which was something that would have normally been impossible. The higher the rank, the more powerful your wolf is and the easier it is for you to overpower the lower ranks. I put my success at blocking it out to Maia being back asleep or something. My mum eventually came upstairs and told me she had received a mind link from Colton to tell me that dinner was ready in half an hour, and he expected me to be there. Louise rolled her eyes and said she had received the same link from her father.

I knew that named ranks had a tradition of eating together at most meals, and then Wednesday evenings were when the pack had its weekly meeting, followed by dinner in the great hall. It was voluntary for all, apart from omegas, who were often expected to work it or not entitled to go. But my dad always insisted on us going. I always found it a nice community event, and we sometimes got away with sneaking Katie in with us. But now, I suspect I would be at the top table for these events, and that was terrifying.

My mum looked over at my suitcase, which was now packed and waiting by the door, and smiled at me with tears in her eyes.

"My baby girl is all grown up," she said, hugging me. "I am going to miss our movie nights."

"Mum, I'm going to the pack house, not another country," I said, trying to wiggle out of her grip, "but if you want me to stay then-" My mum let go of me, cutting me off.

"No, of course not!" she exclaimed. "Your place is there now, with your Beta mate," she beamed proudly. "Oh, I can't wait to tell Susie when she phones later," she went on. My sister phoned every Sunday to update us on things in her life; especially now she was expecting her first pup.

We were stopped in our discussion by shouting downstairs. The door to the study must have opened, and Tommy was shouting at my father.

"I can't believe you really don't care, do you?" Tommy shouted. "As long as you get your cut, ain't that right, big brother?"

"I think you better leave." My father sounded just as angry.

"My pleasure." We heard footsteps as Tommy headed towards the door

"And don't come back. You aren't welcome in this family until you start showing respect."

"Whatever!" The door slammed shut. I put my hand over my mouth in shock.

"Oh my goddess!" I exclaimed. "Did dad just banish Tommy from the family?"

My mum shook her head. "Don't worry about it. They will both calm down soon, and they will be okay." She seemed so sure of it. I knew my dad and uncle argued but had never heard it this bad before.

I heard a sound on the steps, and shortly after, my dad popped his head in the door.

"Are you ready to go, pumpkin?" he asked. "I have an obviously lovesick Beta in my head demanding his mate."

I sighed. I guess I couldn't put this off any longer. My dad picked up my suitcase, and Louise and I grabbed a smaller bag each, and we headed downstairs to Louise's car. Both my parents gave me hugs and told me they were proud of me before getting into the car.

Louise sat in the driver's seat and looked at me with sympathy. "Are you ready?" she asked.

"No," I said, and she smiled weakly and squeezed my hand. I nodded to her, and she started the car and pulled away from my now former home. I looked in the side mirror, determined not to cry as we turned off the street, and I lost sight of my happily waving parents.

Driving up towards the pack house felt a lot more daunting than it did 24 hours ago. It's hard to think that this time yesterday, I was so excited for the ball and finding my mate. And since then, so much has happened.

The house wasn't lit up like last night. Most of it was dark. This gave it an eerie feeling. As we drove over, Louise explained the basic layout. The ground floor was where the great hall was, as well as a pack's common area and a couple of spare offices. The 1st floor was all the main offices and where the majority of the pack businesses were run from, then the 2nd floor had the entertainment centre and gym which was strictly for named and high ranked as well as important visiting guests, who also stayed on the 2nd floor. The third floor was shared by the Beta and Gamma families. The top floor was the Alpha family living quarters, and the named ranked private dining room, where we would have almost all our meals. And then the live-in Omega quarters were in the basement with the laundry and other housekeeping rooms.

The grounds housed the pool house with the indoor pool. That and the surrounding gardens were private to named rank only. The rest of the grounds were open access to the pack. I was aware of the private pool and gardens, but had never seen them. Louise could have invited me in as my father was a higher rank than most pack members, but she was never allowed to bring Katie, so we decided to find somewhere more inclusive and less snobbish when we hung out together.

We pulled into Louise's parking space, and I had just about managed to unclip my seat belt when my door was pulled open, and Colton was reaching in to pull me out. I yipped accidentally as he pushed me against the car, buried his head in my hair, and took a breath.

"You took way too long," he growled, sending shivers down my spine. I tensed up, not sure what to do with this sudden display of affection. I glanced over at Louise and saw that Damien and Alex, Louise's older brother and Gamma heir, were also standing there grinning and witnessing this embarrassing moment.

Colton lifted his head, and his eyes were the full gold of his wolf, and he grinned at me. He grabbed my hand and started pulling me towards the house.

"Colton!" I exclaimed. "My things." I tried to turn back towards the car, but Colton kept dragging me towards the house.

"Leave them. Someone will bring them in," he snapped and kept dragging me along. He was taller than me, and his legs were longer, and I couldn't keep up with his pace and ended up tripping up over my own feet, running to keep up.

"Ow!" I exclaimed. "Colton, you're going too fast."

He growled again and turned and grabbed my arm. I assumed he was helping me up, but the second I was on my feet, Colton grabbed my waist, lifted me up and over his shoulder, and carried me into the house. The last I saw before we were inside was Damien and Alex doubled over laughing and Louise grimacing.

"Colton, put me down!" I cried, and he grunted in response and carried on up the stairs to the third floor, taking two stairs at a time. Once on the floor, he headed down one hallway, and to add to the embarrassment, I heard his mother coming in the other direction.

"Colton, dinner is in ten minutes," she said. I mean, he was carrying a girl over his shoulder, and that was all she said.

"Yep, mum. We'll be there," he responded. I was even more mortified when I looked up from my not-so-flattering position to see his mother looking back at us with a huge smile on her face.

Colton slowed to a stop at the door about halfway down and threw the door open, and walked into a dark room. He kicked the door shut and hoisted me off his shoulder onto something soft, which I quickly realised was a bed. Crap! I was alone with Colton in his bedroom! My heart suddenly started beating as I tried to fumble myself to a sitting position. A lamp came on beside me, and before my eyes had adjusted, Colton was on the bed, pushing his body between my legs. I went to say something, anything, when his lips crashed into mine, and I fell back to the bed.