"The best part of the journey is the surprise and wonder along the way."

Few minutes into watching the movie I had settled for, boredom had already creeped its ugly head. I rolled my eyes in a fed up fashion.

"So much for the hype on this movie by those classmates of mine." I muttered under my breath, feeling nothing but irritation.

With the amount of irritation and annoyance I was feeling, I knew oh so well that it was not just the overhyped movie that later turned out to be really boring that was the issue. It was this meeting and its possible outcome at the end. That was all that clouded my mind and for goodness sake, I needed a distraction. That was why I decided to watch a movie but that did not turn out well.

I briefly glanced at Lily and Seb. While Seb's gaze was fixed on the window of the plane, obviously thinking hard as usual, Lily was fast asleep, her legs sprawled every which way on the sofa she was lying on and in a way, dare I say, she looked really peaceful.

Suddenly, flashes of the dreams I've been having of the Griffin tattoo hit my memory in waves, accompanied by a random feeling of nervousness. That thought of him being my mate was ever so subtle on my mind, but it was there and to God who made me, it made me really worried. I needed to find a distraction, and fast.

I pulled out my airpod and decided to take in my surrounding.

Due to the fact that there were several other packs in Washington, all the Alphas whose packs were situated in Washington had decided it was best for their children to fly together in a private plane which was large enough for every one of us. Although both the Alpha of Crescent Moon and the Alpha of Pacific Rock made it crystal clear that the idea did not sit well with them. But regardless, they agreed at the end.

The interior was really captivating. The highlight of it all for me, were the sofas placed close to the inner wall of the plane which made it seem like a mini sitting room of some sort, with a glass table in the center. The windows of the plane which were tinted made the purple fairy lights stand out even more. It gave the plane a homely feeling.

Just then, I began to take cognizance of the people who were around me. Unlike me who had on a plain outfit, they seemed to outdo themselves. Someone even went as far as putting on a skimpy gown. I rolled my eyes at that.

Along with taking in their appearances, I equally heard them conversing, loudly, if I may add. It was actually annoying, considering the fact that they were werewolves and they had this mind link thingy where they can easily communicate in their heads or they could talk in a low tune and the person they are conversing with, can easily make out what they are saying due to their really sharp sense organs. I rolled my eyes again clearly annoyed.

One thing almost all their conversations had in common, or rather, name, was "Griffin or the Alpha king's son."

"I can't wait to meet him. I mean, imagine my wolf, Sally, recognises him as my mate. Like can you just imagine that? Everyone would address me as Luna. Luna Skyler. And for once, my pathetic dad would see that I am useful even as a girl. And that I am better off than the son he was expecting, instead of me." A brunette obviously named Skyler said.

For some reason, her sentence seemed to have set my teeth on edge. Her sentence aggravated me. I felt like going over there and giving her a piece of my mind along with giving her a proper beating which would serve as a factory reset for her dumb brain, one she would never forget. But who was I kidding? I was a weak human.

Besides, I had no idea why I felt like that. Maybe it was how she seemed to fantasize and day dream about Griffin. "My Griffin." A voice in my head added, which I decided to ignore. But why did that little harmless act have such an effect on me?

Others were still relentlessly talking about him, still, in an incessant manner. In order to avoid doing something I would regret, I forced myself to dream land.

I fell asleep even quicker than I could say Jack Robinson.

To my utmost surprise, sleeping did not exactly work as my little means of escape from that feeling. At first, it was working and then suddenly, it was not. The fact that the dreams I had before, became even more vivid at the moment, was not helping matters at all.

I saw him, again. At first, I saw the large tattoo which covered his left forearm. Sadly, I still couldn't make out what exactly its body was; either a panther or a lion.

This time, I watched as his long slender fingers ran through his messy hair, the colour, I could not properly make out. His broad shoulder came into my line of view. I could only see his back.

Just then, I had woken up from my sleep. I had decided to connect my phone to my airpod and listen to songs through out the flight.

A few hours later and we had finally arrived at our destination; Southern Canada. As the plane landed, I felt my heartbeat escalate along with it. I rubbed my palm against the jean I had on, taking in deep breaths to calm my throbbing heart, preparing myself for whatever Canada had in store for me, or so I thought.

I easily carried my backpack as I made my way out of the plane while Lily on the hand, was struggling to carry her three suitcases.

"So much for being prepared. If you had carried one which I bet is enough to fit all of your stuffs, you wouldn't be struggling this much." I said teasingly to my sister.

Remember how I said her glare could cut glass after I had teased her about her wolf strength? Yeah. The manner at which she was glaring at me this time around was even more intense and I could literally feel her eyes make holes on my body. Yes, it was that intense.

Fortunately for her, dad made the Omega of our pack come along with us, so he would help her carry her suitcases. "Given he wasn't really useful in the pack, he could at least help Lily out with her suitcase." Those were dad's exact words.

"Billy!" Lily exclaimed, her voice having a tinge of frustration and exasperation attached to it.

"He's sleeping rather than assisting me over here! I see why you were made the pack's Omega. Wake up and get your lazy ass here." She said to him or rather, ordered him around despite the fact that he was older than her with a few years. On hearing her voice, he woke up and helped her as instructed.

We all alighted the plane. Just as I had thought, Southern Canada was cold. Even colder than I had expected. I mentally gave myself a pat on the back for putting on a jacket. 'Way to go, Clark!' I said with glee to myself, smiling like I had won a trophy. However, the smile disappeared as quickly as it came as I thought of what the others will think of me if they were to see me smiling like that.

'This is it.' I said to myself. Less than sixty nine hours left and I will be on my bed.

***

The Alpha King's palace wasn't high up in a palace in the mountains like Lily had said. And his palace wasn't exactly "fancy" either. "Fancy" makes it seem like something befitting a girly girl and not someone of noble blood, a king at that.

It was magnificent in an ostentatious manner. It was really beautiful and captivating.

The exterior was white while the interior was gold and brown. On arrival, we were taken to a waiting room, where we were told that our rooms would be assigned to us in a short while. It turned out that we were the last set of alpha children they were expecting. We arrived later than the others. To my profound astonishment, we were actually more than I had initially thought.

Just then, I saw Lily walk over to me with a look on her face which I couldn't exactly decipher. Her blue eyes held a minuscule amount of nervousness and something akin to fear along with ecstasy.

"Look at those two over there." She said excitedly. "They are from different packs. As they got here, they recognized each other as their mate. They look so cute together. That is Allan and that is Chloe." Lily added, looking at the new couple with dreamy eyes.

"Anyways I have to go and and interact with others, rather than stand around and look at everyone in a jobless manner." She said teasingly.

"Toodles!" She added, flipping her locks to the side dramatically, as she went to God knows where.

"Hey, you look lost." For a second, I felt my heart skip a beat. In all honesty, I don't think I was ready to talk to anyone here or make new friends. I think I was just fine with Cara. Besides, I didn't want anyone mocking me just because I was different so it was better I chose to maintain a low profile and be on my own.

Thankfully, it was Sebastian that had spoken to me.

"Woah and you also look tensed." He added as he walked towards me. It wasn't until he had mentioned it that I noticed it too.

"Calm down, okay? You'll be fine." He said soothingly, rubbing my right shoulder in a bid to calm me down. Unlike Lily's, his blue eyes were warm and for some reason, it seemed to have worked its magic. I felt more at peace.

"The guards will lead you to your rooms where you are to freshen up and rest. By 5:45 pm, you would all be required to be at the dining hall for a meal with the Alpha King himself." A random female said with a warm smile.

As I had arrived my room, I noticed I was paired with that girl from the plane who almost got me worked up; Skyler. I rolled my eyes in exasperation. I saw two other girls there which I couldn't recognise.

The room was big and beautiful. It seemed like the colour theme of the palace was brown and gold because this room too had those colours. The decorator really did a good job with the design. The room had a vanity mirror too. There were four beds, each of them placed vertically in the room, side by side. And then the remaining space was vast. It also had lockers.

Since the bed which was the farthest to the door and closest to the balcony was empty, I took it as my own. I placed my backpack on it.

I didn't feel like freshening up or resting, so instead, I walked over to the balcony of my room, leaving my three talkative roommates to themselves. They literally just met and they are talking as if they've known each other their whole life.

My eyes were going through the outer environment of the palace. I saw a gardener pruning the flowers and then some people whom I believe were part of the Alpha King's pack, were in a corner, in their wolf form, doing God knows what.

And then without my control, I felt my eyes dart over to a certain part of the palace; the archery field.

Someone was there, showing off his archery skills. I rolled my eyes at that. The fact that he was shirtless made things worse as I felt more annoyed for some reason. I mean, did he have a shortage of shirts? No one wants to see that.

Just then I recognized the tattoo on his arm. Although it wasn't really all that clear because I was really far from him, but I knew it was that tattoo. I would not mistake it for something else. His shoulders were broad just like how it was in my dreams.

He turned as though he felt someone looking at him.

I felt my grip on the rail of the balcony tighten.

And then, his eyes met mine.