Chapter 7

I wake up early in the morning after a pretty restless sleep. My mind is consumed with our plan and the question of where I will go. The very first thing I do is open my laptop and the incognito browser and start pouring over maps. Lucky for me as the alpha's daughter I was trained to know where all the packs in the Americas are located and also who their leaders are. This was supposed to be knowledge for societal use as Luna's were often required to host pack leaders. But instead the information was going to be used to mark locations and cities that I wouldn't be able to travel to or through. That way I can avoid the packs and their societies.

Big cities were best to get lost in and also great for transportation to other places further away. But the packs closest to them or in them tended to be way stronger than packs there were in more isolated areas. Plus the pack leaders in big cities were more likely to be close to my father or worse James Ludvich. Stopping by in a large city airport would be ideal. Especially if I bought a ticket with many connecting cities and even use one of those cities to hop out of the country so that the chances of the packs being connected were lower.

I started to get excited as more details of my plan started to come together. When I hear steps coming towards my door. I quickly click close all tabs, and press play on the video about a woman building furniture from scratch out of bamboo that was growing in her backyard.

"Astra, You up?" Rosemary calls out to me. Instantly, I relax a little.

But when I see Rosemary in my doorway, I am painfully aware that this might be the last time I see her. The sad thought forces me to try to burn every little detail about her into my head.

Like me, Rosemary got every inch of her 5 foot 10 inches from her father. But she got her dark eyes and black hair from her mother. For the last two years, she's worn her hair in a short pixie cut that matches well with her rocker style. Today she is dressed in a black crop top featuring Daria the cartoon character, black ripped jeans and silver studded boots.

As she walks up to me, I can see the remnants of tears on her face. Before I can say anything, she shoves a tiny gift box into my hands. The box is red and white, obviously the wrapping was left over from Christmas. Seeing the gift wrapping makes me smile a little, after all it's already August.

When I rip open the box, I am surprised to see a flash drive, and a black and white friendship bracelet just like the one we made the day we became best friends.

" I would love to go back to that time" I whisper as I gently pick up the bracelet in the box. I look up at Rosemary, her eyes are beginning to sparkle with newly formed tears waiting for their chance to fall.

"We were so simple and free back then. " She smiles "Remember, right after we made friendship bracelets, we ditched the babysitter and snuck into our parents' party?"

"Of course, I do" I giggled, " Your father had to save me from the wrath of my parents, after we tipped the cake onto the floor trying to climb up onto the table. He even picked us up, even though we were covered in cake and icing. I can still remember the smile on all 3 of our faces. I think that was the very first time I even remember laughing. "

"That was the first day of our friendship" Rosemary says as she takes the bracelet from my hand so that she can tie it around my wrist.

"This is a wish bracelet, not just a friendship bracelet. When it falls off the wish will come true. I have one too. " I watch as she holds up her arm to show me. " My wish is that we will see each other again."

I answer her wish with my own.

"And I wish we never have to part." I sigh then look at her before adding. " That way the friendship will never end"

"It wont." She promises.

"Astra" My mother's call breaks our moment. Rosemary quickly grabs the box with the flash drive out of my hand and stuffs it into the back side of my pillowcase. She turns around and plops on my bed a second before my mother enters.

"Oh Rosemary! You're here too. We were about to look at place settings and décor for the Mating Ceremony Reception. Your mother has put enough events together. I'm sure we can find a use for you. " My mother's dismissive tone let us know that there are things to be done today and her plans are going to stay on schedule even if it interrupts ours.

She turns and leaves before Rosemary and I could even say anything. We both have known her long enough to know that we should follow.

My mother leads us to the grand ballroom on the second floor. The room is bathed in a warm golden light that bounced off the beautiful, ornately patterned, redwood floors. From the chandeliers in the ceiling, all the way down to the floor, everything is covered in gold and crystal. The normally empty ballroom now has elaborate tables sporting their own lavish centerpieces and place settings. Some tables are long rectangles, others are circular but they all perfectly match the walls and the lighting of the room that we are in.

Our little party walks up to the closest table, where a woman seems to be straightening up the cutlery. She immediately stops, picks up two tablets, and turns to us at our approach. When she hands me one, I can see the miniature decorated ballroom on the screen. Each table on the screen was decorated similarly to the life size one right in front of us. The second I see the screen is the very second I lose interest. Before the woman even begins her speech, I've already passed the tablet to Rosemary and zoned out.

"Astra!" My mother commands quietly. " Are you listening"

I turn to look at my mother, I don't even bother trying to hide the bored expression that I know is on my face.

In my mothers hands were two long menu cards. Once she saw that she had my attention she placed each against a plate one at a time.

Which do you like better? She asks probably for the second time.

"I don't care," I mutter.

"This is your wedding, you need to put some thought behind it . You also will need to learn to do these things for yourself. The Alpha Luvich has many parties that you will ultimately be in charge of putting together. " She begins to lecture.

Without thinking I turn to look away and tune her out again. Then I see Rosemary's mom starting to set up her table of different hor d'oeuvres, menu and cake samples for us to try.

"You're right," I smile, " but how can we make such important decisions on an empty stomach? Plus the plates and menus should definitely reflect the food " With that I hook my arm in Rosemary's, took the tablet from her, and placed it into the table decorators hands, then I start walking straight for Melody.

By the time we get to her she's already waiting with a smile.

"Astra" She pulls me into a tight hug. One that lasts much longer than any other hug I've had. After a few moments she pulls Rosemary in too. When she finally pulls away from the hug I can see the shine of tears in her eyes. She probably had the exact same thoughts as I did when I saw Rosemary this morning . The thought makes me want to cry too. Chances are she feels my tears coming, so she wipes hers and hands me a slice of carrot cake. My absolute favorite.

We are both smiling by the time my mom gets to us.

"They grow up so fast," she explains as my mother eyes her. My mother doesn't answer her back or return her smile. Melody just hands her a menu of all the samples.

" Now that' everyone's here, let's get started." She states as she gives me a little wink.

When she's done I ask her to join us as we finish walking around to the tables and planning.