"Wow." My brother and Connor said in unison as I walked down the stairs, while Anna giggled next to them. That was until she saw my hair.

"Oh my god, Riley-what happened to your hair? How did you do that? It looks beautiful but I didn't expect this." Anna exclaimed in surprise.

I couldn't help but give her a playful wink. "A magician never reveals his secrets, Anna."

Lucien, on the other hand, gave me a big hug. This was hardly an emotional moment but there was something about the way he held me that struck a chord inside me, especially as he spoke in a voice low enough for just the two of us to hear. "I am happy and proud that you are going as you, sis. I know that mum and dad would have been too. Now let's go show the world my beautiful sister."

***

The car stopped by the red carpet that lay in front of the Windcrest packhouse and a formally dressed valet opened my door and took my hand to help me out of the limo. I looked at the building in front of me and couldn't help but be impressed. The castle-like Scottish baronial mansion was magnificent and significantly bigger than the Blackwood packhouse.

It's not that the Windcrest pack was richer than Blackwood- Lucien and Connor already explained to me that we were just as rich and powerful as they were. Yet, whereas our pack preferred to spend its money on the needs and development of the pack, the old Alpha Macalister favoured more materialistic things or just anything that would help him show off his financial abilities. The private garage that we drove past on the way from the front gate- clearly open to allow all guests to see the 10 supercars parked inside- was one of his many ways to make his point. The lavish birthday bash for hundreds of guests was another. Still, Macalister was also smart enough to invite the most influential people in the UK shifter world and stay on their sweet side by giving them the VIP treatment.

As we walked into the ballroom, I could see that no expense was spared for this event. Premium champagne and alcohol, exotic flowers for decoration, chandeliers with thousands of hand-crafted crystals, gold chocolate bars covered in 23K of edible gold and filled with £2,000 cognac. Opulent was not a good enough word to describe this party.

I was not here to compare hospitality notes, however, and soon Lucien pulled me to his side to introduce me to different shifter leaders from all over the country. There were bears, foxes, tigers, lions, wolves, dragons- it was truly mind-blowing to be at an event like that as a human. Many of the shifters seemed to size me up, probably suspecting that there was a secret that I was hiding but the fact that I was the sister of the Alpha of the Blackwood Pack was enough for most of them to try and give me a warm welcome at least. I was impressed by the number of women Alphas, Betas and Gammas that I met. Many of them were just as fierce and commanding as the men in the room, if not even more.

"Riley, can you please join us?" I heard Lucien say and motion for me to go over. He was surrounded by Anna, Connor, Callum and some impressive men that I had not met so far. They all oozed authority and respect. I tried to give them my best smile as I finally joined the group.

"Gentlemen, my sister, Aurelie Moreau! Riley is our new Head of Security and Training, together with Connor, so if you have anything to discuss with my pack on those matters, the two of them are the right people to reach out to."

"Riley, you look magnificent tonight- beautiful and unique, as I have a feeling that you are!" Callum spoke up and gave me a knowing smile. He looked delicious in his suit, making me wonder whether we might find ourselves on our own at some point tonight. Lucien must have been reading my mind though as he interrupted my thoughts.

"Yes, you have already made acquaintance with Alpha Andrews, Riley, but let me introduce you to the rest. Jack Reid, Callum's beta. Alpha James Wilson and Beta Maxwell Scott from the Redtails Skulk. And of course, Alpha Cyrus Murray from the Fire Dragons clans." I stretched my hand out to shake theirs and they took turns to do so, some testing my grip seeing as I was Head of Security, others going for a more sensual, even seductive approach.

They were all extremely attractive and muscly- absolute women-magnets. Then again, I was still to find an ugly looking shifter. Both the women and the men were stunning, which ultimately meant that the competition was pretty even amongst them and the bar was just incredibly high for any non-shifter that had the luck to come across them.

Callum's Beta Jack I had already seen at the pub the other night. He probably knew what happened between us, seeing as he witnessed my bold dare, but that also worked out in my favour as he was by far the friendliest of the group. We joked at Callum's expense and I once again felt like I was in the company of fierce but cute and cuddly teddy bears.

The two fox shifters were harder to figure out though- both of them had very sly expressions so it was difficult to read them, but they were also undeniably charming, especially James.

"Aurelie, it is so nice to have such a beauty finally join our group. I think it's crucial that the Blackwood's Head of Security joins the Council meetings from now on- it will finally make them more...enjoyable." He gave me a wicked wink as he finished his sentence. "In fact, you should come by my place before the next meeting- we are hosting it, so I can show you around." His tone was becoming more and more seductive, and I had to admit that I found myself intrigued by him.

I smiled at James but that didn't go down well with Callum who decided to interrupt the conversation. "Oh come on, James, you can't tell me that real women seriously fall for your tactics. Riley is not one of your empty-headed girls." It made me smile to hear a very subtle note of pride in Callum's voice, although I could see that he was trying very hard not to come across as possessive or implying that something had happened between us.

"Is that so, Callum? And what can a simple bear as you offer such a beautiful woman?" I couldn't help but blush profusely and I prayed that James thought it was because of him calling me beautiful. Callum opened his mouth to say something but luckily I managed to pinch his arm without anyone noticing and he backed down.

"Alpha Wilson, you flatter me with your kind words! But I also have to say that Alpha Andrews gave me a very impressive introduction to the area recently and I can confirm that he really made me look forward to my time here north." I smiled innocently and I saw satisfaction flash across Callum's eyes.

" Gentlemen, if you are done measuring your dicks in front of Miss Moreau, maybe we can actually get to more important things to talk about." Cyrus interjected, although I swear I thought that he leaned forward to snuff me up. His face was serious and he somewhat gave the impression that he really did not want to be here.

"You are right, Cyrus. We should really talk about the recent traps in our region. We can't let anything similar to what happened to Natalia Macalister happen again and I really don't understand why Angus is being so uncooperative- it's his daughter, for crying out loud."

"That's not what I had in mind when I said important, Lucien!" I had only met Cyrus for a short while but I could already see that he and Macalister were the difficult leaders in the council. "Personally, I don't see how this concerns my clan. Traps in the forest don't bother us as we fly. You keep on talking about intentional attacks on shifters and magic, but until I see concrete evidence, I am not planning to dedicate any efforts from my clan on this. Now if excuse me, I need to speak to Counsellor Blackburn regarding some dragon matters in Cardiff", he stated and walked away.

"Is he always such a ray of sunshine?" Everyone chuckled. If nothing else, at least I managed to lighten up the mood.

"Cyrus is a little.....particular." Trust a fox not to say things as they are,I thought to myself as James spoke.

"Nothing you can't handle, Riley", Callum added, "I have to admit though that I agree with James- you should join us for the Council meetings. Your expertise will be of use with our current security and threat issues, and I think that you will bring a fresh perspective and good dynamic to the Council."

"Not sure if Cyrus would agree", I joked.

"Don't worry about him- he doesn't actually attend. Apparently most of our regional issues are a waste of his time, so he sends his Beta, Aiden Hayes, instead. Same for Macalister, who sends his son and future Alpha, Rafe, to attend. Both are pretty reasonable guys though. They should actually be somewhere around here- I need to introduce you to them too." Lucien explained but as he looked around the crowd for his missing fellow Council members, the bell to mark the start of the dinner rang and we all had to find our seats.

As we made our way to the seating chart and waited for our turn to check our places, I sensed a masculine presence way too close behind me and my body tightened in anticipation as I felt a warm breath over my ear.

"Don't forget to save me a dance later, beautiful! I'm loving the hair, by the way."