Alpha Nicholas

Bonnie

The journey to the Diamond Pack is long. Between stopping for toilet breaks, refueling the cars, and a food stop, it's been almost 7 hours, and we're still on our way. A delay on the highway added on an extra hour, which I was grateful for. Being stuck in a car with my dad, brother, and sister, you would think that I would hate it, but the truth is it's the complete opposite.

I love to travel, even if it's just by car. I love watching the scenery and all the beautiful things that are out there in the world. And the best part about it is that when we travel, my dad is busy driving while Rowan takes the passenger seat and Blue always has her headphones on while she listens to something, so that means that I get left alone.

I wish I could use this time to read the one book that I own. It's my favorite, it was my mom's and while over the years my dad has managed to take away everything that matters to me, that is the one thing that he hasn't managed to find and destroy. And if this ball goes to plan, then he'll never get the chance to destroy it.

Seeing as I can't read my book, instead, I usually listen to whatever music it is that Rowans picked and daydream about how my life would be without my family around, of what my life will be like one day... soon.

My stomach rumbling brings my mind back to the car as I wonder if I'll be able to eat while I'm at the pack. I know smaller balls usually have meals, but with bigger ones, it's usually more of a help-yourself buffet and if that's the case, then I'm just praying that I'll be able to get food without my dad stopping me. I'm used to going long periods without food, but for some reason, I'm struggling with it more today. I've not eaten since yesterday's dinner time, and I'm starving. When we stopped for food a few hours ago, my dad told the others that I was travel sick and didn't want any food, so I was going to wait in the car while everyone ate. I wanted to cry, but I knew better than to make any kind of fuss about it. He did bring me out a bottle of water when they were done but it turns out that he only gave it to me because one of the she-wolves had suggested it to help with my 'travel sickness' Still, I didn't care how I ended up with it, I was just grateful.

"We will be arriving in a moment." Dad bellows from the front of the SUV. Rowan turns the music down, then I catch my dad's eyes in the rearview mirror as he seeks me out. "Mutt, I'm only going to say this once, and you had better listen up. If I catch even one sniff of you misbehaving or doing anything to embarrass our family or pack, I swear to the moon goddess herself that you will never see the light of day again. DO. I. MAKE. MYSELF. CLEAR!" He starts out talking low but, of course, soon enough, he's bellowing so loud that the entire SUV shakes.

"Yes, sir. I understand." My voice sounds normal to anyone's ears but to me, it sounds exhausted, sad, and just fed up with this life, And if my dad can hear the same then I can only imagine how happy that must make him feel.

"And for the love of god, if I meet my mate, please stay the hell away from us. I don't want him to know that we are related, it would be enough to send him running. No, he doesn't need to meet you until it's absolutely necessary." Blue says from her seat as she starts brushing her hair. I guess we're going to be arriving any minute now. "Yeah, I second that," Rowan grunts from the front seat.

"Maybe she will devastate some poor man and be his mate, then she won't need to be around us," Blue adds, seeming pleased with herself. "There's no chance of that sweetheart. If the poor sole that is her mate is here tonight, then we won't know because he'll run the moment he realizes, and before she even has a chance to see him. Hell. I hope he's not here. Can you imagine the embarrassment for our family?" Dad's words should hurt, but it's nothing that I haven't already heard a thousand times from him.

"I doubt she even has a mate. There's no way the moon goddess would be as cruel as to dump that thing on to anyone." Blue cackles, seeming to find her words hilarious. I stop paying her attention and look out of the window just in time to see that we have arrived on the pack lands and, boy, does it look amazing. Wow, this place is just beautiful.

With my dad being the beta of our pack, our car is second in the line of cars to enter and soon enough, we are parking up and heading for the pack house. While we wait to go inside, I take a moment to look around. The packhouse is huge and looks to be around five floors high, which is pretty big for a packhouse. Our packhouse is known for being big and has four floors. The whole outside of the house is painted in a light gray while all of the doors and window frames are painted white and stand out. There are people everywhere, and it's clear to see that there's excitement in the air and, despite how I feel or the plans that I have, I still find myself hoping to be able to enjoy the little time that we have here.

As soon as we exit our SUV, we are greeted and guided to a room that looks like it is a ballroom. The room is massive and already looks to be pretty full. From what I know, everyone in here is staying either in the packhouse itself or on the parklands but surely that can't be, right? I don't see how they can have room for this many wolves. Just a few minutes later, two men came to the front of the crowd and stand on a stage that I hadn't noticed before, bringing the attention of the entire room to them.

"Good evening everyone. For those of you who don't know me yet, my name is Shane, and I am the beta here at the Diamond Pack. This is my brother and the Gamma, Will. First, I want to thank you all for traveling here today. I understand that some of you have traveled quite some distance and would like some time to rest before tonight, so I won't keep you any longer than I need to. While meet and greets are usually done by the Alpha of the pack, with so many packs arriving today and so close to together it's impossible for him to be able to do this but he sends his thanks to you, and he can't wait to see you all tonight where he will personally meet and greet you all."

I don't mind waiting a little longer to see the Alpha. I've never met him before, but from what I've been told, he is known to be a grumpy git and I have enough of that in my life already. I don't need any more of it.