Chapter 2

Harper's POV

I awoke to a timid knock on the door.Dawn was barely breaking outside my window,and I was still sprawled across my bed in yesterday's clothes. My eyes felt puffy and gritty from crying. I had never eaten dinner, and my stomach was complaining. "Miss Harper?" Emma called timidly."The Beta says you should be prepared to leave in one hour."

One hour. Jeezus, they weren't wasting any time in shipping me out of here. I dragged myself to the shower. The pain and weakness in my legs was always the worst first thing in the morning. I braced myself against the sink while I stripped down, and turned the shower on as hot as it could possibly go. I scrubbed and scrubbed at my skin as if I could wash away whatever fault,whatever weakness had made my father choose me. When my skin was pink and irritated, I washed my long, dark hair, and stepped out in a billow of herbal scented steam.

What were you supposed to wear when you were being traded off to another pack? I felt like I should wear something black and ugly. After all, I was mourning the loss of my life,my hope,my freedom. But I decided against the funeral garb, and opted for a sun dress that was pretty, but casual.

I pulled my hair up into a lose bun, and fastened my favorite turquoise beaded choker around my neck, with the dainty,matching earrings. I stared at my reflection critically in the mirror. No matter how flattering the clothes, or pretty the jewelry, the young woman staring back at me was still just... me. The epitome of ordinary. Neither tall nor short,fat nor skinny, pretty nor ugly. I was simply unremarkable in every way...unless today you counted the fact that my eyes were still red and swollen and I was more pale than usual.

At precisely 7:00 am there was a sharp knock on my door. I opened it, expecting to see my father, but instead it was his gamma, Noah. "Miss Harper, your father said I am to drive you to the River Bed Pack. Are you ready?"

It was a two hour drive from our small pack to the much larger River Bed Pack territory. But you know when you DON'T want to arrive somewhere, it seems like the journey goes in the blink of an eye. If I were looking forward to this meeting, the two hours would have seemed forever.

As it was, Noah drove silently, so I wondered if my father had given him orders not to talk to me because I'm a disgrace. That hurt. Hurt on top of hurt seemed to be the order of the day. And I was hungry.I never went down for dinner the night before, and I had been rushed out of the house before I had a chance to eat breakfast this morning.With every grumble of my empty stomach, my mood was growing a little darker.

I'd never been into River Bed Territory. I'd only heard stories of the notorious pack. They were big,and strong,and brutal. Their warriors were considered the best, the elite, and reportedly trained relentlessly. They had no mercy on their enemies,and had reportedly wiped out entire packs who had betrayed them in one way or another. But l always took these kinds of stories with a grain of salt. Every pack wanted to be known as the biggest and the baddest, and stories tended to be exaggerated to bolster that reputation.

My impression as we crossed the boundary and entered into their pack grounds was of absolutely beautiful,wild looking gardens, and a huge manor that would have fit our pack house inside it four times. It was T shaped and sprawled out into three wings,a beautiful structure built from native stone, with big windows framed by black shutters. It was fronted by a huge veranda and two big ornate doors that opened into the main hall.

Noah parked the SUV, and for the first time in the whole trip, Noah turned and spoke to me. He laid his big, rough hand on mine in mny lap. "Stay strong, Miss Harper. You can do this." That is all he said. He climbed out, and came around to open my door,as if l were someone important. He pulled my suitcases out of the boot, and then he escorted me up to the veranda,where a handful of people were waiting for me.

There was a huge man, and I mean HUGE, who seemed to be about my father's age.He should have been nearly seven feet tall, with arms like tree trunks. His ruddy face was framed by two overgrown sideburns and a crazy mop of hair that reminded me of the Wolverine from the X-men comics. His eyes were a piercing pale blue, and quite cold as they watched me approach.

Beside him, in sharp contrast, was a dainty little sprite of a woman.She barely cleared five foot, and was so petite it seemed like a strong wind might blow her away. She had long,curling blond hair, and beautiful green eyes, and a wide, friendly smile. I was so happy to see at least one smiling face, it eased my tension a bit. The other people stood back a bit from this couple,and seemed to be lower ranking pack members. They stared at me curiously.

I concentrated really hard on controlling my uneven gate. I did not want these people to see me limping, and if I worked really hard,I could pull it off, but it took a lot of effort, and l had to move slowly.

Under the circumstances, I thought it would seem appropriate that I approached a strange pack and strange people with slow caution. The pretty woman danced down the steps,and folded me into a warm and unexpected hug. "Welcome to River Bed,dear. I am Freyja, and my husband, Ozzy."

She gestured to the lumberjack-giant who still stood on the steps. She didn't refer to herself as Luna, or her husband as Alpha, but it was obvious enough that they were the leaders. I looked around and wondered where the son was, the Wyatt I was supposed to marry.

As if sensing my inquiry,the Luna shook her golden curls. "My sons are not here at the moment, but you will meet them soon. Come, lets get you inside and get you settled."

She looped her arm through mine, and with one last, helpless glance at Noah, I let her drag me inside. The great pack house was as beautiful on the inside as it was on the outside, tastefully decorated and thoroughly modern. She lead me through a maze of rooms and corridors in a sort of whirlwind tour.

"The conference room is there, and that is the entertainment room... and oh, that's the nursery for the pups... there is a guest bathroom here, and the kitchen is this way. Have you eaten?" She didn't even wait for me to answer, "I'm starving,lets go get some breakfast." She lead me into a huge dining hall,that easily could have seated a hundred people. She pulled me toward a table for two,and no sooner had our backside's hit the seat of the chairs than a uniformed waitress appeared. I recognized her as an omega, by her submissive posture.

"Vida dear, this is Harper Laurier, Wyatt's betrothed." The waitress peaked up at me in surprise, then quickly looked back down at her order pad. "Harper, this is Vida, one of our regular kitchen staff. So,what will you have?"

Before I could answer,she was putting in her order. "I'll have a four-egg omelette, with Swiss cheese and mushrooms, a blueberry muffin,toasted with butter, and four sausage links."

I blinked in surprise. How could such a tiny woman put away so much food??

Luna Freyja looked at me expectantly. "Um...I'll also have a muffin, and a cup of tea,please."

When the waitress had scampered away, Luna Freyja reached across the table and placed her hand over mine. "I'm sure this is a very difficult and uncomfortable transition for you, my dear. But I want you to know that I am here for you and your baby, you are most welcome in this family, and I will do everything in my power to make you comfortable. But Wyatt..." I swallowed... there was something ominous about that. But Wyatt what? I was too afraid to ask.

"Wyatt can be... difficult." She said vaguely. "His father and I, we hope that he will settle down now, and take up his responsibilities."

I frowned and fiddled with the silverware. Difficult? What did difficult mean? I wanted to ask more... I wanted to know more about what this future husband of mine was like. But l couldn't find the words, and I had a feeling that Freyja was done talking about her son.

She had moved on, saying how happy she was to have a woman in the family, that she had heard so many nice things about me... well I was sure that was a bunch of baloney. I bet she knew absolutely nothing about me, beyond my name and my marriagablility.

Still,I liked Freyja, I appreciated her friendliness. I tried to hide my smile as an enormous platter of food was set before the tiny woman, and she dug into her eggs with gusto.I was feeling very hungry, and probably could have put away nearly as much food, but l didn't want to seem like a glutton, so I tried to nibble at my muffin and act lady-like.

After we finished, she lead me up the stairs. I swallowed down my horror as I looked at the flights of elegantly curving staircase that l would have to traverse to get to my guest room on the third floor. Navigating stairs were very difficult for my heavy, clumsy body, and it made my legs and my waist ache something fierce.

Was it too much to hope that somewhere in this gigantic house there was a service elevator? Desperately trying to hide my pain and discomfort, I grasped the hand rail,and pulled myself up the stairs behind the spritely woman as fast as I could without falling flat on my face. When we got to the third floor, she looked back at me, struggling up the last few steps, and frowned, but said nothing.

She lead me down a long hall,and opened the door to a beautiful guest suite, with a big bed, and a private en-suite bathroom. My suitcases had already been deposited inside. "Make yourself comfortable mny dear. I'll send Annie to you when she's done cleaning up from breakfast. If there is anything you need, she can be of assistance. Now if you'll excuse me, I have some business to attend to.." And just like that, she left me alone in the beautiful room, in the big,strange house.