Stronger as One (#1, Completed)

9. The Blackwood Pack

RILEY

Alpha Moreau. Alpha Moreau. He said Alpha Moreau. 

His words just kept ringing in my head as I sat in the car on the way to the Blackwood estate. The hottie that I had just bumped into knew that my brother was an alpha, which could mean only one thing- he was a shifter as well. Was he part of my brother's pack? But before thought further about it, my brother drove past the front gate of the pack's grounds and I saw the packhouse appear ahead of us.

Wow, it was absolutely magnificent. 

When Lucien told me about it, I did not imagine that it would be a three-storey mansion with a beautiful Georgian facade. It blew my mind to think that this was where both my brother and I were born and where we had lived as a happy family before tragedy struck.

The main building was in the north of the parkland on a small promontory which was surrounded on three sides by the waters of Loch Lomond; yet, there were also additional buildings spread around the pack grounds. The Blackwood estate had forty three suites which housed various pack members. It also accommodated the pack's infirmary and the training grounds for the pack warriors, as my brother called them.

The entire estate was breath-taking, especially now in the springtime. The trees and the grounds were a beautiful green colour, with the bushes in the gardens covered in colourful blossoms. The sun was shining brightly by now, making for a picture-perfect view together with the clear blue sky. As we stopped in front of the mansion, I saw the reflection of the trees in the placid, glassy water of the lake. The water was so still that it felt like the lake was holding its breath.

We had barely got out of the car when I saw a beautiful young woman sprint towards us from the mansion's staircase and pounce on my brother. She wrapped her arms around his neck and peppered his face with kisses. The love that you could feel by just being around them melted my heart. Yeah, Anna and Lucien were an adorable couple!

"I missed you so much, Luc," Anna said to him and I felt a pang of guilt for being the reason why they had been apart. As she pulled herself away from his face, I finally had a better look at her. My sister-in-law looked like an angel, with her pale complexion and rosy cheeks. Anna was a natural beauty with her long, toffee brown hair and dark brown eyes that you could get lost in. And to make her even cuter — as if that was even possible — her face was covered in tiny charming freckles.

"I missed you too, my Luna. This is -" but before he could finish, she let go of him and threw herself around my neck.

"I can't believe that you are finally here! I have been waiting to meet you forever!" She was squealing with happiness and I wondered when was the last time that someone had been this excited to meet it. In fact, she seemed so overjoyed by my arrival that she was squeezing me tight enough to push all the air out of my lungs.

"My love, if you keep on hugging her like that, you are going to kill my sister before you even get a chance to talk to her."

Anna must have realised what she was doing because she let go of me as quickly as she had embraced me to begin with, and then looked down at the ground, embarrassed.

"I'm so sorry, Aurelie. It's just that Lucien had told me so much about you that I feel like I have known you forever. He had always been looking forward to the day that he would find you and bring you back here. I'm just so happy that he finally succeeded. I can't wait to get to know you!"

"Anna, it's okay- don't be embarrassed. We are family after all, so I am also very happy that we finally get to meet and to know each other! And call my Riley, please- Aurelie has always felt very formal!" I smiled at her. "Are you okay, by the way? You look a little pale."