Queen Bitch of the Callowwood Pack (Siren Publishing Classic) (9 page)

“Take me to my seat and sit beside me for a moment. I’ll try to explain as quickly as I can before you must play your part in this pageant.”

Sebrina directed them to the table closest to the podium and Julianna helped her into her seat. Reading the place cards, she noted Sebrina shared the table with Richard, Tawny, and Jeff. She spied her own name on a place card beside Sebrina’s and was grateful someone had seen to it she’d sit with the few people she knew, even if they were the hosts of the party.

Julianna took her seat beside the older woman and smoothed her skirt in an effort to stave off her jitters. Still, her heart pounded, and she hoped she presented a serene and confident façade. Her gut told her something big and frightening barreled her way, a runaway train of events she couldn’t stop. She could see the light coming, but she felt tied to the track.

“Now then, daughter, there’s no reason to be so concerned.” Sebrina patted her hand where it unconsciously clenched in her lap, and Julianna forced it to relax. “I know you’ve only recently returned to Callowwood, so all of this will be a rude shock or worse, but the timing cannot be helped, and you must do the best you can with what’s presented to you.”

“What’s going on, Sebrina?”

The old woman settled herself in her chair. “Since you’ve been home, I’ve scented when you’ve changed into your Sister form, but she seems to have taken most of your choices from you when you changed.”

Julianna blinked. “My Sister form?”

“That of the Moon Singer, the dusky brown wolf who is the other half of your soul.”

Julianna felt all the blood leave her face. “How do you know about that?”

“Don’t look so worried, daughter. We all knew what you’d become the moment you returned.”

“All?” Julianna repeated weakly.

“Everyone here at this gathering.” Sebrina frowned a little, cocking her head to one side like a curious dog. “You’re now among more of your kind. Did you not know? Everyone here is a Moon Singer. You’re sitting with the members of the Callowwood Pack, the largest and strongest werewolf pack in the north central Basin and Range.”

The words hit Julianna like thrown stones:
Everyone here, werewolf, your kind.

Julianna swallowed hard and gripped her chair tightly.
Holy shit! All of them are werewolves.

Candidacy for Luna

Julianna clamped her lips together, trying to avoid throwing up the tea she’d drunk. Suddenly, all of Tawny’s remarks made sense.
Werewolves, they’re all werewolves.
She clenched her jaw to keep everything down as her hands gripped the edge of the table to keep from falling off her chair.
They know I’m one, too. They knew at the funeral, but I was too stupid to see it!

“The whole town?” she whispered.

“Not all of it, but a lot of it. Did you really not know?”

“No, I really didn’t know.”
Oh my God, I’m such an idiot!
“Jeff Lightfoot is one, too?”

Sebrina laughed gently and hope began to bloom in Julianna’s heart.

“Oh, yes, daughter. Richard Lightfoot has been the Alpha, the packleader, for the last hundred years and has ruled well, but he’s getting ready to step down and hand the leadership to his son.”

Julianna’s Sister howled with jubilation.
You will claim your male and be his Mate forever! He belongs to you.
Julianna wanted to shout her joy to the hills, but one thought killed it.

“Jeff is the next Alpha of the whole pack?”

Sebrina nodded with a satisfied smile. “He is. He has been groomed for this position since his birth some forty years ago.”

“Isn’t that a bit old to take over?”

Sebrina laughed, patting her hand again like an indulgent parent. “Oh my dear daughter, Moon Singers can live a hand of centuries, especially when they’re True Mated. Jefferson is quite young to take the reins.”

I’m going to live for centuries?
“I see.”

“Tonight is a very special night because now the pack begins the search for the Luna.”

“Luna? Is that some sort of…Moon Princess?”

Sebrina looked at her shrewdly, her smile full of approval. “In a manner of speaking, yes. The Luna is the female Alpha, the feminine energy that balances the masculine. To be an effective leader, the future Alpha must pick his Luna, the female to rule with him with the Lady Moon’s blessing.”

Julianna bit her bottom lip and smoothed a wrinkle in the tablecloth in front of her. “Will the Luna be the Alpha’s mate for life?”

“Yes. They are a life-mated pair.”

He is your True Mate. Your male.

“How is the Luna chosen?”

“In the first days of the Moon Singers, when the Lady walked this world, it was a simple matter of the Alpha finding his True Mate and she would be the Luna. But as time passed, and Moon Singers were outnumbered by humans, it became harder for the Alphas to find their True Mates. Balanced leadership was still necessary, so the elders of each pack decreed that the strongest alpha females would be presented for candidacy for Luna in hopes that one of them was the True Mate to the new Alpha.”

“Wait, wait. You said alpha too many times here. What’s the difference between
alpha
”—Julianna used air quotes—“and
Alpha
?”

At first, Sebrina looked at Julianna as if she’d lost her mind. Then she lifted her chin in understanding and smiled.

“It is like referring to the president. There are many presidents out there, those of companies or clubs. But only one President of the humans’ United States. For Moon Singers, there are many alpha members, but only one Alpha pair. This candidacy party is for the selection of the Alpha female.”

“So the candidates for Luna are selected in…a beauty pageant?” Julianna’s eyes narrowed in disgust.

“Well, not for beauty, but to find the strongest and most capable female to lead the pack with the Alpha.” Sebrina gestured to the colorful female guests milling under the tents. “That’s what this party is about. This is where the Luna candidates will be presented to the ruling Alpha and his Successor.”

Julianna’s eyes followed Sebrina’s gesture. “Are all these women being presented tonight?”

“No, only the strongest and highest ranking alpha females.”

The older woman pointed toward Cameron Winthrop. The younger woman wore a deep mustard-yellow strapless dress with a matching wrap. Her black hair was piled on top of her head in a complicated coif covered in a net of golden pearls. She spoke with several other guests, as regal in her bearing as Brenda Solaris had been in her entry.

“That one is sure to be chosen as a candidate. Her family has been in this Pack for generations, and her paternal uncle is one of the current Alpha’s cadre.”

“So this party is a presentation of females for the future Alpha?”

“That’s right.”

“Then where is the current Luna? Was that Jeff’s mother?”

Sebrina’s face grew solemn. “Yes. It was a great loss when she died.”

“Is that part of why Richard is stepping down as Alpha?”

“I suspect so. The Alpha does not confide in me now that the Luna is gone.”

Julianna tried to remember when Jeff’s mother died, but she only recalled her mother recounting the news, not the when or why. She shook her head and took a deep breath. It didn’t matter. She had to focus on the here and now.

“If this party is for Luna candidate selection, what does it have to do with me? I mean I was just invited a few days ago. I don’t know very much about pack politics or traditions.”

“You’ve been invited here tonight, daughter, for two very specific reasons. The first being you’re a Moon Singer who has recently settled into the Callowwood Pack’s territory. You must swear to uphold their rules and protocols while living here.”

“I have to what?” Julianna’s chin rose with her indignation.

“It is for your protection as well as the protection of the pack. Should you be injured by anyone while here, the packmembers will defend and/or avenge you, bringing restitution to your family. The pack will also take responsibility for any injuries you cause and punish you accordingly.”

Julianna clenched her teeth around a snarl. “What kinds of punishments?”

“House arrest, wounding, banishment from the pack’s territory. Even death.”

Julianna’s nails dug into her palms. How dare they tell her how to live? Callowwood was her home. No one had the right to drive her out if she didn’t swear to follow the rules of the pack. Gritting her teeth, she closed her eyes and told herself to calm down. She was new to this world of werewolves and just because she was ignorant of the rules didn’t mean she wasn’t bound by them. Or that the others wouldn’t enforce them.

“Fine. I’ll abide by the rules. What’s the second reason I’m here tonight?”

Sebrina’s smile showed satisfaction and anticipation.

“The second reason is you’re one of the most powerful alpha females to be born in the last two hundred years in the Basin and Range, making you a prime candidate for the Successor’s Luna. You’ll be presented as a Luna candidate tonight.”

Amazement slammed into Julianna and dread thundered after it. She couldn’t be a Luna candidate. She knew
nothing
about being a Moon Singer.

“
I’m
going to be presented as a candidate? Why? I know nothing of politics, much less protocols governing a Moon Singer pack. I’m too inexperienced to be a viable candidate!”

Sebrina laid a warm hand on Julianna’s arm. “You’re not as inexperienced as you might think, though you may not know the specifics of the Callowwood Pack. Follow your heart. It speaks to you with the voice of the Lady Moon.”

The only thing my heart is telling me is I’m ignorant and a nobody.

Jeff is your Mate and you must fight for him!
Ah, yes, how could she forget her Sister?

“You already love Jefferson Lightfoot, don’t you?”

“What?” Julianna focused her startled gaze on Sebrina’s smug face.

“Jeff.” The Paiute woman gestured toward the small podium where several people were gathered around Richard and his son. “What does your heart say about him?”

Let me jump his bones and ride him till he’s breathless?

Julianna cleared her throat and tried to look thoughtful.

“I get mixed messages about Jeff,” she admitted. Half of her wanted to throw herself into his arms, rub her body against his as hard as she could, and sink her teeth into his shoulder, never letting him go. The other half of her was furious at his ignorance all those years earlier. If she hadn’t been good enough for him then, what made her good enough now?

Sebrina made a rude sound of disgust. “Stop letting your mind get in the way of the truth!”

“This is the first time I’ve seen him since I left. I was infatuated with him when I was a girl, but now…I don’t know. I don’t know him well enough yet.”

“Rabbit turds!” Sebrina waved dismissively. “You’ve known him in your heart for decades, daughter! Your
infatuation
, as you call it, was nothing more than the recognition of your True Mate!”

“If that’s true, why didn’t
he
recognize me then?” Julianna snorted and shook her head. “If it’s obvious, shouldn’t it be obvious to both Mates?”

“I don’t know what Jefferson felt, but it matters not. It’s in the past. But now, you must claim your True Mate and take your place beside him.”

“I can’t.” Julianna grimaced and turned her head to straighten the tablecloth once more, hiding her expression.

“What?”

“I said I can’t.”

“There is no ‘can’t’, only ‘won’t’,” Sebrina stated flatly.

Despite her chagrin, Julianna laughed. “Who are you, Yoda?”

Sebrina’s face became stoic, waiting for Julianna to get on with the explanation.

Julianna cleared her throat hastily. “Uh, well, I don’t
know
anything. I don’t know the rules, the policies, the hierarchy. I don’t even understand my other form. I can barely remember anything from the days when I shift shape. I just shift back with large chunks of my memory missing.”

She rubbed the fingers of one hand across the smooth silver cutlery. The cool metal soaked into the pads and released a tinny scent of warmed silver. Sorrow bloomed. She’d lose Jeff to some other female because of her inexperience. She wanted him, wanted him so bad it made her gut hurt holding herself still to keep from running to where he stood near the podium. Just the thought of being near him set her senses on fire.

But she knew she wasn’t Luna material, and it killed her. Jeff needed a female who could rule beside him effectively. He needed someone who knew all the ropes, and how to minimize the problems facing the pack today. She idly wondered if there was a
Moon Singers for Dummies
book.

“I’m sorry, Sebrina. I don’t think I’d be the best choice for Jeff’s mate or the Luna.”

Saying the words out loud killed her humor, and she bit her bottom lip. Losing Jeff to her inexperience rankled.