From Rags to Royalty

The car drove off as Katherine Bell looked through the rear window, waving goodbye to her family until they were mere specs in the distance. Katherine, the daughter of the Desert Fringe Pack Alpha, was headed to Montana where the Northern Crest pack lie, where her betrothed, the son of their Alpha. She didn't like this idea, but she would do anything for the good of her people, including marrying Samuel Wallace.

Their fathers' thought at an early age that allying their two packs through the marriage of their children was an excellent idea. It found Katherine a good home once her brother took over as Alpha and the hope that Katherine would provide a stable influence on Samuel. Katherine had heard many stories of Samuel, none of which were given in good light. He was reckless, cavalier and hot-headed. But she trusted her father's judgment, surely this was just the phase of a young man in his early twenties and he would become level-headed and thoughtful of his actions.

The ride was long with many stops for fuel and bathroom breaks. The two men sitting in the front took turns driving so that they never had to stop for sleep. Katherine slept when her body told her to but her spirit Lycan was so restless at the idea of marrying someone that wasn't her mate. It had been almost a century since someone other than the royal family could turn into their Lycan form. So it was easy to blend with the humans and on the full moon everyone of age to possibly turn simply stayed indoors. The packs still had their rituals to the Moon Goddess and had strange-looking eyes compared to the humans.

It was almost morning the next day when they pulled into the Northern Crest pack territory. Katherine was nervous to meet the Wallace family, though she expected no one would be awake at this hour. Katherine had to go through a pack-binding ritual before she was even presented to the pack as their future Luna. It was a painful process her father had told her as she would lose her binding to the Desert Fringe Pack, unable to join again but he believed in her silent strength that she could persevere without anyone noticing.

The car pulled up to a large packhouse. It was a three-story-style house. One of the men opened her door and escorted her into the packhouse while the other unloaded her luggage. Katherine had decided not to bring much as she would probably need more seasonal wardrobes here in Montana. When she entered she was greeted by the Alpha and Luna themselves.

"Katherine Bell! So good to see you again, it's been a while." Clive Wallace's voice boomed through the empty foyer and extended his hand to shake Katherines. He was a large muscular man, as most Lycan men were built, his hand engulfed her petite hand.

"It's an honour to become a member of your pack Alpha Clive," Katherine said more demurely with a slight head bow.

"Sweet Katherine, you look so much like your mother." Tracey Wallace opened her arms and embraced Katherine. Tracey was a petite woman but she was muscular in her own right.

"Luna Tracey. Thank you for your generous compliment. My mother is a beautiful woman and I'm proud to look even a portion like her." Katherine bowed her head again when they separated from the embrace.

"Sarah will show you to your room, Katherine, breakfast will be served in the great hall in a few hours, that should gain you a bit of rest beforehand. Clive will meet you in his after promptly at nine to swear you into the pack."

"Thank you, Luna." Katherine followed a woman in her later years up the grand staircase to the second floor. There were over two dozen bedrooms on this floor, specifically for guests and dignitaries, the third floor was for the Alpha's family and any single member of their counsel. Mated members had a place of residence along either side of the packhouse.

"Here is your room, Miss Katherine," Sarah said after they had turned to the left of the staircase. She opened the door, turned on the light and motioned for Katherine to go in first.

Katherine looked around, her two trunks were stacked by the bed, though it was fairly dark with the curtains drawn over the windows even with the light on. Sarah had made her way past Katherine and pulled the curtains open. The sun was just peaking over the horizon. "Your bathroom is just through that door and your closet is through those doors beside the bed. You can make sure of everything in here to your whim. I will come and knock on your door at six forty-five to wake you up for breakfast." Sarah left and Katherine let go of a breath she didn't realize she was holding. Without a second thought, Katherine walked over to the bed, took off her shoes and laid her head on the pillow, instantly falling asleep.

~

A knock on the door came all too soon and Katherine could hear Sarah announce the time. She decided to at least needed a quick shower and a change of clothes before going down and meeting everybody. Katherine found her bathroom bag and made her way to the bathroom. It was fairly opulent with beautiful tile and gold faucets. 'This is a dignitary's room. Wonder why they gave it to me?' Katherine thought as she turned on the water and after a moment went into the stand-alone shower. To not wet her hair, Katherine had put it in a high bun, though she desperately wanted to just stand under the scalding water until every muscle stopped aching. She washed briskly, dressed in a navy blouse tucked into a pair of high-waisted dress pants and slipped on a pair of ballet flats before going down to the great hall for breakfast.

As she entered the room there was already a bunch of people seated and mingling. Katherine made eye contact with Luna Tracey who waved her over. Katherine nervously took the seat beside Luna Tracey. She had been taught that the seat next to the Luna was sacred and was never filled by anyone outside of the counsel. 'Not all packs are the same Katherine' a whispy voice echoed in her mind. Astrea, her Lycan spirit, had finally come out of her hiding place deep in Katherine's subconscious. Astrea was right, Katherine was in for a major learning curve. She sat down and folded her hands on her lap, awaiting instruction.

"Were you able to rest a bit, my dear?" Luna Tracey leaned over so that Katherine could hear her over the noise coming from the rest of the room.

"It was sufficient enough. I did get some sleep during the drive up here."

"Good. Well, eat up before it's all gone. We've got a busy day ahead of us, lots of teaching and wedding planning to do. It's only a month away now."

"Of course." Katherine was about to reach for a bowl of fruit salad and plated it. It helped break the ice with those around her when she needed to ask for a dish out of her reach. When breakfast was done, Luna Tracey had Katherine follow her to the Alpha's office.

It was a beautiful room filled with wall to ceiling bookshelves, a large wooden desk with a tall leather chair behind it and two shorter leather chairs in front of it. The corner bank of windows let in the beautiful sunlight where Alpha Clive stood facing outward, palms facing upward in prayer. Katherine bowed her head, sending up a prayer to the Moon Goddess that she would prosper here in Northern Crest.

Alpha Clive turned and smiled at her "Ah Katherine, are you ready to be a thriving member of the Northern Crest pack?"

"Yes, sir."

"Then please kneel before me, lay your palms upward on your knees and we will begin the ritual. Trace would you please close the doors, light the candles and draw the curtains. Now Katherine, I believe the Desert Fringe do this ritual publicly?"

"Yes, sir."

"Here we do it privately; not everyone transitions from one pack to another gracefully and we feel that it adds comfort to the new member to do it this way. Are you ok with that?"

"Yes, sir."

"My dear, please do not agree on principle here. You are a member of our pack and we take that responsibility seriously. We know your father stayed to the old ways very strictly and while I respect that, it is not how I do things here."

"It will be hard to start speaking more forwardly but I will do my best."

"Good. Thank you, Trace. Now Tracey will stay here to aid you if you need it and it also keeps rumours from starting."

Katherine simply nodded and smiled at Luna Tracey.

"Please close your eyes and clear your mind. Now I'm going to lightly drag a knife over both your hands and mine, then I will hold yours."

Katherine sat as still as possible trying not to be too nervous. As Alpha Clive dragged the knife over her palms, her heart rate spiked but she kept her breathing steady. Her father's voice invaded her thought 'Be strong, do not show any weakness, we are counting on you to solidify our connection with Northern Crest.' 'Katherine! Clear your mind! Your father is no longer in charge of us.' Astrea interrupted. Katherine refocused, cleared her mind and in that moment she felt the hands of Alpha Clive merge with hers. As he spoke sacred words in an ancient language only learned by the high families of a pack, their blood mixed and a pain struck her heart. Katherine let out a short cry and tried to reach for the pain but Alpha Clive grasped her hands so she couldn't move. Tears rolled down her face, she knew the pain was because first she needed to disconnect from her other pack. The more their blood mixed the more the pain abatted until all she could feel was the warmth and welcome of her new pack. Astrea howled as the final connection was made and Alpha Clive released her hands from his.

Katherine opened her eyes as Luna Tracey opened the curtains, blew out the candles and wiped the blood from her palms.

"Welcome, daughter of the Northern Crest pack." Luna Tracey smiled at her. "You were so brave and handled yourself phenomenally. You will make a great Luna. How do you feel?"

"I feel good. Thank you." Katherine took her Luna's hands and got up to her feet. Before she could say anything else the doors to the office burst open and in stumbled a young man, clearly intoxicated.

"Where is my beautiful bride-to-be?!"