Fighting Fate - EXCERPT

Chapter 2

Anna woke late the next morning to complete silence. She lay under the comforter for a minute, enjoying the lack of noise. Anna blinked her eyes open, glancing around the darkened room. Owing to the den being built underneath the mountain, there was no natural light but the lack of windows wasn't so much of a sacrifice when Anna considered the quiet. Anna sat up against her headboard, smiling at the sparse room. It wasn't much, basically a bedsit with a kitchenette and a bathroom. It was a standard space given to unmated pack members apparently, but Anna had no complaints about it. It was the first time she had ever had a room to herself, something that was completely her own that had a lock on the door. The only furniture in the room was the bed and an old bedside table, because Anna had nothing to bring with her when she transferred. The only thing she'd managed to bring was a duffel full of clothes, but even so she was having to washing almost every day so that she didn't run out of clean clothes.

Anna finally pulled herself out of bed and made herself a cup of coffee. Whoever had set the room up for her had made sure that she had coffee, milk and cereal, and even some utensils, cups and plates. It had been a nice surprise on her first morning when Anna hadn't been ready to face everyone in the dining hall. She made a mental note to ask in the hall today about when someone would be making a trip into town so that she could stock up on some more supplies.

She leaned against the kitchen counter and thought about what had happened in the dining hall last night. After Anna's conversation with Piper, the SilverRiver second-in-command had approached their table. Alex had been the one to welcome Anna when she arrived in the alpha's absence. He was a very serious man and Anna had found him very intimidating at first. His hair was dark, almost black, and closely shaven to his head. He was a big man, tall and very broad shouldered. On that first day, Anna had watched him and his expression had always remained impassive, as if nothing touched him... even when a pup tried to tackle him around the legs. Anna had thought for sure that he would kick the pup away, something that her previous alpha would have done, but instead Alex had reprimanded the pup and told him that he should have tried a surprise attack if he wanted to win against a much bigger opponent. 

Last night, Alex had approached the table, his expression still as serious as it was that day but his eyes had focused solely on Anna. After greeting everyone, he had formally announced that Zach, the alpha, would be returning the next day and that the ceremony would be going ahead the following night. Anna's stomach had immediately started churning with nerves and not long after Alex had left, Anna had said goodnight to everyone at the table and retreated to her quarters.

Anna was of two minds. She really wanted to be officially welcomed into the pack so that she would feel more secure and safe in her place here. On the other hand, she was nervous about meeting the alpha, about standing in front of the entire pack and then being found wanting. What if he decided that she wasn't SilverRiver material? Anna knew that she had nothing to offer. She had no skills, no money and her dominance level was pretty low. If it had been higher, if she had been assigned as a soldier or something of a similar level... than maybe her whole life would have been different.

Anna shook the thoughts out of head, finishing her coffee and rinsing her cup. She refused to spend the day worrying about what would happen tonight at the ceremony. She was already here, away from GreyWing and that already felt like the biggest win to her. Anna went to her closet, looking despondently at the two pieces of clothing hanging in there. She had no idea what kind of dress code tonight would be, but she didn't have many options anyway. There was a cream silk blouse, which she could pair with some tidy jeans or a knee length blue floral print dress. She closed her eyes, taking a deep breath before pulling the dress out of the closet. She quickly changed into and went to stand in front of the full length mirror that hung on the back of her bedroom door. She eyed her reflection critically, her eyes taking in her wavy, auburn hair that reached her shoulder blades before looking at the dress. It was an a-line silhouette, sleeveless and with a high neckline. The tulle skirt flowed out from Anna's waist and caressed her knees, the fabric dark navy and covered in floral patterns filled with pink, orange and blues.