The Assumed Fake Spell

Chapter 9 - Twisted Moon Pack

Andrea

    Even though it was a long journey, the ride went smoothly. My Murano didn't have a single problem the whole way, and I was beyond thankful for the snacks Jada bought beforehand.

    We were able to stay on schedule, stopping every two hours as planned. It took us exactly eight hours and ten minutes, then we were pulling up in front of a beautiful, three-story mansion. I couldn't help but admire the intricate flower designs etched into the front door.

    Before I had a chance to get out, an older woman came running towards us. As she got closer, I realized it was my one and only Aunt Kay. I hopped out of my Murano and practically jumped into my aunt's arms. After hugging me, she pulled away and cupped my face in her hands. "My favorite niece, you are all grown up now. I can't believe it. You have turned into such a beauty,"

    "Thank you so much for letting us come to visit. This is my best friend, Jada," I greeted while pointing in Jada's direction. My aunt gave her a quick welcome hug, before she turned back to me. I continued to smile while asking, "Can we head straight to your place? My bladder feels like it's about to explode."

    Aunt Kay chuckled before replying, "Sure thing, sweetness, just follow me this way." She led us down a path to a cute little cottage. It was about a five-minute walk from the car. Aunt Kay didn't need a lot of space since her mate fell in battle years ago and her only child was all grown up and mated to a wolf in a different pack.

    Once we got inside, she showed us to the bathroom. We took turns emptying our bladders, then Aunt Kay showed us our bedrooms. The cottage was a lot bigger on the inside than it looked from the outside.     There were enough rooms for each of us to have our own bedroom. The three of us managed to carry our suitcases and boxes into the cottage in less than ten minutes.

    After we got our belongings situated, we took turns taking a shower and got ready to meet with the Alpha. We decided to dress nice, since it's not every day we get to visit a new pack.

    I wore my pink and purple striped sundress, while Jada wore her baby blue sundress covered in purple flowers. We both wore flip-flops that matched our dresses.

    When we were finally ready, Aunt Kay led us to the pack house. The inside was as beautiful as the outside.

    As we walked through the halls, I admired the many portraits. However, when we passed one particular portrait, I couldn't help but to notice the chocolate brown eyes staring back at me that looked almost haunted. Everything else about the guy screamed confidence except for those haunted eyes.

    As I heard Aunt Kay's footsteps stop, I came out of the daze I had drifted into while staring at the portrait. When I heard my Aunt Kay knock on the door, I hurried to catch up to them, as the door opened to reveal an excessively bulky man.

    He stood tall and proud as he took a quick glance at each of us. He had pretty aqua eyes that held nothing but warmth. My Aunt Kay bowed her head and politely greeted, "Good evening, Alpha Drake. Please allow me to introduce my lovely niece Andrea and her best friend Jada from the Forest Pack."

    He flashed us a smile and said, "Welcome to the Twisted Moon Pack. Please come in and have a seat, so we can discuss how long you will be visiting."

    We walked into his huge office, immediately noticing the matching antique furniture. It was a nicely laid out office. Jada and I sat together on the love seat, while my Aunt sat in a chair in front of his desk.

Alpha Drake took his seat behind the desk, before he directed his gaze at me and inquired, "So what made you decide to visit our pack, and how long do you intend to stay?"

    I respectfully bowed my head and responded, "To be honest, we are both eighteen years old and neither of us have found our mate. I wanted to visit with my Aunt Kay, so we came here first. We hadn't decided on an exact time frame, yet. To be perfectly honest, we are winging this adventure. I was hoping after visiting here, my aunt could point us in the direction of some family from other packs for us to visit if we don't find our mates here."

    "I wish you both the best of luck finding your mates. What I will do is fill out the paperwork for two weeks and if you decide you want to spend more time here after that we can extend it. Let me know if you have any problems with any of my pack members. I've already let everybody know that you will be visiting, so I don't expect there to be any problems," he calmly replied.

    "Thank you, Alpha Drake," we all said in unison.

    "It's a pleasure to meet you ladies. Please, enjoy your stay," he kindly remarked.

We said thank you once again before heading back to my aunt's cottage. Again that portrait caught my attention as we walked by it. There was something about the man that was calling to me. It made something stir deep inside me.

    When Jada realized I had stopped, she quickly back tracked to me after stopping my aunt. "What has got you so interested to make you stop and gaze at this portrait twice?" she curiously asked.

    I scrunched up my nose and furrowed my eyebrows as I answered, "I am not sure. Something about this portrait seems to be calling to me, stirring something inside of me. I don't know. It is really unsettling..." I trailed off.

    "Come on, bestie. Don't let it bother you. It's been a long day of driving, and I'm sure you need some rest," Jada said as she pulled me away from the portrait. My aunt continued walking once we caught up to her. It didn't take long to get back to her place.

    As soon as we entered the cottage, I ran to my room and changed into some comfy black pajama pants and a purple tank top. If I'm just gonna be hanging around the house, I am going to do so as comfortably as possible.

    The three of us sat around the rest of the evening and chatted about random things that had happened over the years. It was great to spend some quality time with my Aunt Kay.

    It wasn't much later before I couldn't keep my eyes open anymore. As they began to droop, my aunt insisted that we get some rest. After we all told each other good night, I slowly dragged my feet to the bed and climbed under the blanket, falling asleep the second my head hit the pillow.