Chapter 1 – Molly The Broken She Wolf

“Deep Breaths, Molly. Deep Breaths.” I say to myself in the mirror as I place my silver and diamond ear ring in my ear. My dad gave these to me on my 18th birthday, the birthday they hoped I would find my mate, but that was 4 years ago. I’ve spent every day since attempting to avoid meeting anyone who could possibly be my mate to be sure I avoid the pain of their rejection.

I check my hair, falling in perfect dark waves down my back and touch up my nude lipstick one last time before I slip into my sage green dress and head downstairs. Today my brother Robbie will officially be named Alpha Robert of the Lunar Falls Pack. All the Alphas of nearby packs are expected to be in attendance, and some from further decided to make the trip when word spread that the Royal Wolves would be in attendance. I had hoped to just stay in the kitchens, avoiding anyone of any importance, but since the Royal family will be here, I’ll be put on display. This is how I ended up here actually looking presentable in a dress my mother selected because it “really brings out my eyes”.

I roll my eyes at the memory of my mother coming in with an arm full of dresses for me to try, acting as if the King and Queen coming was something special and that she wasn’t the best of friends with Queen Celeste and my father didn’t complete his Alpha training with King Peter 30 years ago. She was right though. The color of the dress did make my light green eyes pop, and the cut was very flattering on my curves.

My mother doesn’t understand though, just how much I hate my eyes to shine their light green when we’re all together. I’m the oldest child- they think. See, my birthday isn’t my actual birthday, but my gotcha day as my dad likes to call it. 16 years ago my dad was helping on patrol and found me curled in a ball asleep under a tree right on the edge of the pack territory. There was no one around, and no scent to follow. He took me back to the pack house and I stayed with them while they searched for where I came from. Days turned to weeks, and weeks to months, but there were no leads- no reports of packs of a missing child. After a year, my parents decided to adopt me and with a blood adoption blessed by the King. This is my family, and I have the scar on my hand from the adoption to prove it. But when we stand together, my eyes always say how much I truly don’t belong here.

My brother Robbie has always treated me just like a real sister, probably even more so. They think I was around 6 when Dad found me, judging by my size. Robbie was 5. He’s younger than me, but as we got older, he definitely took the typical older brother role in our relationship as he grew into his alpha powers while everyone was realizing I was a broken wolf. My family never treated me any differently, but I know it was probably really hard to be the family of one of the kingdom’s strongest alphas with an adopted daughter who was basically a human.

I AM a wolf, though. I smell like one- no one has ever questioned that. But I never had my wolf inside communicating with me. I have advanced hearing and smell- but that’s as far as my wolf abilities go. I think my family had hoped that once I reached 16 a switch would flip inside and my wolf would wake and I’d be normal, but that day never came. “Molly, maybe we were wrong on your birthday. Just wait, someday you’ll shift” my mom would say to me every full moon. But here I am, 22 years old. Never shifted, barely helpful to my pack. But still, my parents love me.

High School was hard once the other kids realized I wasn’t shifting. Robbie tried to protect me from them, but I remember one time during my senior year the pack was attacked and while everyone went to protect the pack and our land, I was shuffled into the safe room of the pack house with the kids too small to shift and the elderly, utterly useless to my pack. I decided then that if I wasn’t able to protect my pack physically, then I would make myself completely indispensable to them. My dad was pretty unhappy with my choice at first. He said cooking was the job of an omega and not the Alphas’ daughter, but my mom and brother saw how much I just needed my pack to need me and convinced him to let me learn. I spent so much time learning from the previous head cook. When she passed away 3 years ago, my dad let me take over the Head Cook position for the pack, though he insists the job title now be called Head Chef of the Lunar Falls Pack.

Generally, the job would go to an Omega who is less likely to leave the pack if they find their mate. Being the Alpha’s daughter, I’m more likely to find my mate in another pack, but being the Alpha’s adopted daughter means no one has any idea what will happen. I’m a broken wolf, and I don’t think I even have a mate, but my mom is convinced that I do. Or she could just be holding out hope because the reality of being mateless is too sad. If my mom is right though and I do have a mate out there, you can be sure that they will reject me as soon as they realize how useless of a wolf I am, which is why I tend to stay in the kitchen and avoid any outsiders when they visit. Whichever theory you prefer, I’m not in much danger of ever leaving the pack and I’m sure that’s the only reason my dad let me have the job.

There is a knock on my door and I immediately smell my dad. He always smells of cedar and tobacco- the most comforting smell. “Molly, Love, you look absolutely beautiful” he tells me, looking at me in the mirror from my doorway. He’s wearing a black suit, with a white shirt and black tie. Very classic, very Dad. His dark hair is sprinkled with some gray now, matching his gray eyes. He looks handsome as he always does.

“Thanks dad. I’m almost ready, I promise. I just need to put my shoes on and run down to the kitchen to make sure everything is ready to go for dinner” I reply with a smile.

“You have staff and have been down there all morning, kiddo. What else could you possibly need to check on?”

“I know Dad. They’re great. But it’s Robbie’s big day- and it’s YOUR retirement, too. Don’t you want your meal to be perfect?”

“It will be fine, but go ahead and run down to check. Meet us out front in 10 minutes- the guests should start arriving soon. I know it’s a big dad for your brother, but who knows, maybe you’ll meet someone special and it’ll be a big day for you, too.”

“It won’t be. But I’ll be there in just a few minutes”, I tell him as I slip on my nude pumps. They really are the perfect addition to the dress as it wraps and falls with a little ruffle just below my knees. I fully expected him to say something about how low the top was on my chest but he didn’t, which means he’s either desperate for me to find my non-existent mate or he’s worrying about handing the pack over to my mateless brother.

I head down into the kitchen and as I get to the door I can smell that everything seems OK. My dad is right, I do have a staff capable of handling this. With one more sniff of the room to verify all is well, and I decide not to enter and head outside to greet our guests.

My mother is the Luna to end all Lunas. There is absolutely no comparison to how she handles her duties. The pack house is immaculately decorated at all times, but for my brother today it is perfection. The deep emerald green and gold colors of our pack adorn the walls and as I step outside on the stone stairs I see that the decorations extended over the outside of the house as well. A banner hangs above the door with the current pack crest- gold embroidery on the green, of the falls we’re so famous for with four stars next to a silver crescent moon. Robbie will update this when he’s ready to fit his family, as it hasn’t been updated since my adoption and my dad (probably mom) had a star added to represent me.

“Oh, Molly. That dress was the perfect choice!” My mother exclaims and pulls me out of my thoughts. She looks perfect as always. She’s tall and thin, with her straight brown hair being pulled up into an elegant twist. She never looks bad but she looks absolutely stunning today. She’ll never admit it, but I know she’s nervous to have the King and Queen here in such a formal setting. She’s been friends with Queen Audrey since they were kids but it’s rare that they’re seen in such a public setting together.

“Thank you, Mom” I return to her in earnest. Her opinion means so much to me.

My brother lucked out and doesn’t have to greet people even though it’s his own Alpha ceremony. “How’s Robbie doing today?” I ask.

“Alpha Robert” she says, emphasizing the Robert “Is doing wonderfully today. He’s prepared for this role his entire life and is ready. I just wish he had found his Luna before assuming the role, but he will be fine. You and I will have to help him out with the Luna duties until he finds her.” she tells me, and while I’d rather do anything than decorate, there’s not a thing I wouldn’t do for my brother.

I hear my dad sigh as he hears with his Alpha hearing what I assume are cars coming. “It’s show time ladies”.

A short moment later, I see a car approach and before they even get to us a second and third cars are seen just behind. The first stops in front of the pack house and a gentleman with salt and pepper hair and a woman with dulling blonde hair step out followed by a large, dark-haired man with olive skin. “Ahh, Blake! So good to have you at the Falls! Thank you for joining us” my dad exclaims, seeing his old friend. “Celeste, Molly, this is Alpha Blake and his lovely Luna ,Amanda. I’m sorry Blake, I’m not sure I’ve met this young man before” he says before extending his hand to the younger, very handsome man with them.

“It’s nice to meet you, Alpha Randall” he says to my dad while accepting his hand to shake. “I’m the future Alpha Chris. Thank you for inviting us to the ceremony. Luna Celeste, Molly, the pack house looks lovely” he says to my mother and I. She looks at me and I know that look. She’s asking if he’s maybe my mate, to which I barely shake my head no.

“It’s lovely to meet you all” my mother expertly says to them with a smile. There’s no social situation my mother can’t handle with grace and while I’m in awe of her skills, I realize I probably should have said something- anything. But I didn’t. They all stand looking at me, waiting for me to pull it together, but alas, I did not. High pressure social situations aren’t my forte. Everyone continues to look at me when my dad finally steps in to save me from myself. “We can’t express how much we appreciate you all making the trip here for our son.” he says to them and they, thankfully, all turn their attention to him.

My mother is the Luna to end all Lunas. There is absolutely no comparison to how she handles her duties. The pack house is immaculately decorated at all times, but for my brother today it is perfection. The deep emerald green and gold colors of our pack adorn the walls and as I step outside on the stone stairs I see that the decorations extended over the outside of the house as well. A banner hangs above the door with the current pack crest- gold embroidery on the green, of the falls we’re so famous for with four stars next to a silver crescent moon. Robbie will update this when he’s ready to fit his family, as it hasn’t been updated since my adoption and my dad (probably mom) had a star added to represent me.

Perhaps I shouldn’t have spent quite so much time hiding in the kitchens because that was the first car and I’ve already messed up. There’s now a whole line of cars waiting for us to greet them. Alpha Blake walks off with his family and as I’m about to apologize to my father his eyes go slightly out of focus, the sign that someone has mind linked him. He gathers his focus back and with a sigh he looks at me and says “Molly, there’s a situation in the kitchen that they need you for. If you could please hurry back after, that would be most appreciated.” Thank the Goddess! I quickly hug my dad and he whispers in my ear “You had better be in there for the ceremony” and I turn around going to the kitchen in a near run. I’m not sure if I’m moving so quickly because I don’t know what the situation in the kitchen is or because I’m hopeful to not greet another guest, but either way, I head to the kitchen and get there in record time.

When I walk in the kitchen, nothing seems amiss. Everything smells fine and everyone seems very calm. With curiosity I say “What happened?”.

“What do you mean?” Katie Mae asks me.

“Someone linked my dad and said there was a situation in the kitchen.” I tell her.

“Oh, I don’t know,” Katie replies, “But Oliver is in your office, Go check with him.”

With confusion, I head to my office to check in with my sous chef who is running things for dinner tonight. I find him sitting back with his feet propped up on my desk smirking at me.

“Just how badly did you do, Molly?” He asks me.

“What do you mean? What’s the emergency?” I ask in a confused panic.

“I do believe YOU are the emergency. Alpha Randall linked me and told me he was sending you back to the kitchen. Apparently, you just needed to be let out of your greeting duties. I was told to never speak of this to the Luna.” he says while trying to stifle a laugh.

I smile and link my dad “Thanks, old man” I tell him and can feel his slight chuckle in return. He’s always looking out for me and probably the whole of the pack if I was supposed to continue attempting to greet people.

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