Chapter 175

Shawna POV

We are driving through a thick forest of trees, the sunlight peaking through the tops to leave beams all around us. The road is dirt, but well-maintained, with no potholes or ruts to be seen for miles. I'm surprised by this, as many packs would leave the road rough to keep out potential humans driving up it. Michael says they rarely have that issue, and wolves are stationed all along the route as lookouts. They keep clothing near, in locked, water-tight containers, in the event they need to shift suddenly and approach humans. I'm very impressed and love the beauty surrounding these mountains. Michael tells me these are very popular and are called the Blue Ridge Mountains.

"Popular how?" I ask, as I roll down my window to take in the scents of the enormous pine trees.

"Humans like to vacation up here, hiking, fishing, hunting. There are many wineries and even places to go on white water rafts. It's a known vacation spot. Our pack actually owns a string of cabins on one side of the mountain that we use as Airbnb's. It's a good source of income."

"What's an Airbnb?" I ask.

Michael looks at me and chuckles, "Your pack was quite sheltered." I glare at him, but his smile is so beautiful that I can't be mad, so eventually I drop the glare and smile at him. "They are rentals, sort of like a hotel, but the person rents the cabin. We supply it with essentials, but don't go to it unless the guest needs something, or once they leave, someone goes to clean it and prepare it for the next guest."

"Oh wow, that's a great idea. I wonder why more don't do that," I remark. "You know the Lone Wolf Pack could make a killing off of that, they are so close to Yellowstone."

"True," Michael replies. "I think Alpha Gabe likes his privacy, though."

"That's probably an accurate statement," I reply and then turn to look out through the trees and we slowly drive up the road. I think I see a wolf running in the trees, not far from the road. "Is that a look out?" I ask Michael, pointing to the moving animal in the trees. I just catch glimpses of his fur from time to time.

Michael slows the truck to a stop and looks. When he does, so does the wolf. "Yep, that would be someone on patrol. Do you want to get out and meet them?" he asks with a smirk.

"Uh no, they don't know me. They might attack me."

"You're with me," he says. "They wouldn't dare. Plus they are expecting us and I told my father what I drive, so they ought to have a description of it. Most likely they know it's us and were given instructions to follow at a distance, more for our safety, like a guard of sorts."

"Guard of what?" I ask.

"A guard of us," Michael replies. "I'm an Alpha remember? My family runs this pack and has for generations. My father is a good Alpha and his father and grandfather before him were as well. They treat the werewolf community here very well, they do not want for anything, so long as they are productive members of the pack."

"I guess I never imagined that someone would be guarding me, beyond you of course," I say with a smile.

"I will always protect you," Michael says, taking my hand and caressing it. "Even when I'm not around, there will be someone near who will look out for you. Now that we are home, you will be protected more than you ever wanted, I'm sure. If they bother you, just say something and I will make sure they learn to be hidden shadows."

I laugh, "You don't have to do that. I'm not that kind of woman Michael. I'd rather have them being overtly obvious than feeling like someone is watching me from the shadows," I shiver at the thought. "That idea freaks me out to be honest."

"Understandable," Michael says. He puts the truck back into gear and begins our ascent up the mountain again. "We've got about ten more minutes," he tells me.

"Seriously? We've been on this road for almost an hour," I comment.

"We need some kind of deterrant from strangers coming up. Did you see all the turn abouts on the road? We want to make it easy for them to just turn themselves right around and leave if they weren't invited."

"That's smart," I say. "I can imagine people get lost up here. It's not exactly close to town."

"No but we aren't back woods and hiding either," he says. "There are short cuts to town, easier routes that only we know. You will see. I will show you once we are all settled in," he says.

"How's our house coming along?" I ask, genuinely curious.

"It's done," Michael says with a smile. "I forgot to tell you. They finished it yesterday. Dad says it just needs painted, if we want something besides white walls. I told him I'd wait for you to make those decisions. You get to dictate the decor and whatever you want in the house. I want you to make this our home Shawna, yours and mine."

"That's so sweet," I say as tears start to stream down my face. I swipe at them in annoyance. "Damn hormones."

Michael just smiles and keeps driving.

We finally pull up to a set of gates, they are steel and stand at least ten feet high. They really want to keep unwanted visitors out. As I look to the left and right of the entrance, it seems like the fence stretches on far beyond what I can see. Michael explains that one of them is only about a half mile long before it ends deep in the forest where its unlikely anyone would be walking and it's heavily patrolled. "How long is the other?" I ask.

"The other ends at a cliff drop, so no worries about any potential breaches there." We sit and wait and after a few minutes, two men just come up to the doors from seemingly out of nowhere. I startle when one leans against my door and pokes his head inside the truck.

"Alpha Michael, is that you?" I shriek and pull myself over next to Michael. The guy laughs. "Sorry. I didn't mean to scare you. I thought you would have heard me walking up."

"It's uh fine," I get out.

Michael pats my leg and then whispers in my ear that he's getting out. He climbs out of the truck and both men give him a big hug, asking where he'd been and if he was back for good. They talked for a couple minutes and then Michael reached into the truck and took my hand, pulling me to the edge of the seat. "This is my mate, Shawna."

"Nice to meet you Shawna. Welcome to the Blue Ridge Pack," the one who had startled me says. "I'm Body and this here is Franklin." He nods towards his partner who is standing back a foot. "We will open the gates and alert the Alpha to your arrival." With that, they both disappear to the left and before I know they stand on the other side of the gate and are opening it.

"What the heck?" I say.

"Tunnel," Michael says as he has me slide over and he gets back in the drivers seat. "It goes under the fence on the left side, steel door keeps anyone from accessing it who doesn't have the authority."

"Oh," I say. Like that, we are in the Blue Ridge Pack, the gates closing behind us with a clang.