Chapter 2

By 10 p.m. that night, two giant silver wolves leapt from the back porch of Gary’s massive house, trotting west on their way to the Full Moon Feast near Denali Mountain. The night air was frigid, but the wolves were used to the cold, and they continued their run at a steady pace into the woods that led to their destination. Ahead of them other wolf families moved together in packs with the Alpha males taking the lead. Five wolf pack families made up the clan that Gary led. He was the Chief of the clan, and his position was similar to that of a president.

As they continued their journey further into the woods, the wolves picked up speed, their excitement palpable. There were the White, Black, and Golden packs, but the Browns were nowhere in sight. By werewolf law, it was a treasonable offence for a pack to exclude themselves from the feast without prior notice to the Chief of the clan. It was unlike the Browns not to show up, but the Chief was sure that there must be a good explanation.

The moon shone brightly in the night sky, illuminating the woods with silver light, and giving the running wolves an ethereal adrenaline boost as they continued toward their meeting point. When Aubrey and her dad finally reached the deep woods near Denali Mountain, they were surprised to see that the Browns were already there. As if being punctual wasn’t enough, the family patriarch, Antoine Brown, stood over freshly killed meat to let the other members of the clan know that they’d handled the refreshments for the night.

“Chief, Aubrey, my fellow werewolves, welcome to this quarter’s Full Moon Feast,” Antoine greeted everyone majestically. Behind him stood his entire family, including his wife, Rhonda; his younger brother, Andrew; his sister-in-law, Bianca; his sons, Ryan and Reese; his nephew, Eric; and his niece, Erin.

“Thank you, Antoine,” Gary replied, pleased. He took his spot on a boulder in front of a small river that ran across the clearing behind them. The muted sound of running water created mellow background noise that blended perfectly with the overall mood in the woods. “I am impressed by the way you and your family coordinate with each other during the feasts. I may be bold to say that the next chief of this clan might come from your family, except if anyone here objects.”

Aubrey scoffed. Darren White of the White Pack gave a low growl of disapproval and L’atoya Black, the matriarch of the Black Pack, appeared to roll her eyes.

“Thank you for saying that, Chief, but my family and I didn’t do this for the sake of politics. It was simply our way of showing appreciation for the grace you showed us recently.”

The last part of his brief speech caught everyone’s attention except Aubrey. She knew Antoine was referring to how her father didn’t make a fuss after Ryan announced that he didn’t want to marry her. It pained her to remember that tonight would have been their official mating ceremony. I shouldn’t have come here, she thought in a moment of discomfort.

“Oh, yes. About that…clan, please gather around. I have an announcement to make,” Gary declared.

The werewolf families immediately assembled themselves in front of the boulder where Gary sat facing them.

“You all know that tonight was supposed to be the mating ceremony for my daughter, Aubrey, and Antoine’s first son, Ryan. However, that will no longer be happening.”

There was a smattering of confused murmurs amongst the werewolves. All eyes turned to Aubrey, who stood proudly beside her father, ignoring the curious stares from everyone, while Ryan remained beside his father, looking straight ahead as if the situation had nothing to do with him.

“Please, let us be calm,” Gary urged his clan members. “Hear me out. We canceled the betrothal because we realized that there had been some miscommunication on both sides from the beginning. Once that was rectified, it was clear that the two were not meant to be together. So, instead, tonight will be for our customary celebrations, bonding, and getting up to speed with what we have all been up to since our last gathering. Byron Golden, do you have any news for us today?”

The head of the Golden Pack stepped forward to give the clan an update of all the progress made within the clan and upcoming events and festivities planned for their human lives. Byron’s position was similar to that of a press secretary, and all the werewolves went to him with information that they believed rest of the clan should know. His report lasted nearly an hour, and everyone gradually became restless and tired of his incessant droning.

Noticing the growing unrest, Gary cut into the secretary’s address. “Ok, Byron. Maybe you should leave the rest of the report until our next meeting. This gathering is turning into a sleep fest.”

Everyone chuckled and Byron appeared to blush under his golden fur. “Of course, Chief,” he said and re-joined his pack.

“Thank you,” Gary said. “Now to declare the feast open, we shall begin with our seven howls to the moon, the source of our strength, and seven howls in honor of Vak Smallchief, our creator and first werewolf ancestor.”

The werewolves formed a semi-circle around Gary and began their first seven howls in unison. It was a symphony of high-pitched werewolf voices that sounded eerie in the otherwise silent night. The second round of howling began a few seconds after the first, and when it was over, Gary declared the feast open. Everyone immediately began to mingle. Some who were already starved from waiting for Byron’s lengthy speech to end, made their way to the fresh meat laid out beside the Chief’s boulder. Gary had already taken the customary first bite before the hungry werewolves went in for their share.

The Feast was the biggest event in the werewolf clan, and it was a combination of eating, networking, and partying—werewolf style. Aubrey wasn’t in the mood for any of that, so instead, she strolled to the river for a few minutes of peace and quiet. As she observed the slowly moving water, she caught her reflection in the river, and it made her heart squeeze. She looked so much like her mother, and that was one of the reasons she preferred to remain in her human form. The reminder of her mother’s constant absence was too painful for her to bear.

“A penny for your thoughts,” a male voice spoke from behind her.

“Leave me alone, Ryan. I’m trying to have a moment to myself here,” she said without looking at him.

“Yeah, I can see that,” he said, coming to stand beside her. “I won’t take much of your time. I just wanted to apologize for…everything.”

She turned to look at him and she saw the genuineness of his apology in his beautiful brown eyes. The same eyes that she’d once yearned to see his love for her reflected in. She had thought that Ryan was the werewolf that would save her from her lonely life, but she’d been mistaken. He had gone and fallen in love with a human who lived thousands of miles away from him in Africa.

“It’s ok, Ryan. What is done is done. Let’s move on, ok?”

“Ok. Thank you for being so understanding. I appreciate that.”

“Sure,” she said and returned her attention to the flowing river. It was her way of politely dismissing him.

Ryan got the message loud and clear. “Alright then. See you around.”

He turned around and left, leaving her alone with her thoughts and the shiny river. Aubrey lowered herself to a sitting position, gazing into the distance. She could hear the distant noise of the Feast going on behind her, but she wasn’t eager to return and join in just yet. After a while, the monotonous sound of the river began to lull her to sleep and as her eyes began to close, she thought she heard rustling behind her. She thought it was Ryan coming back to meet her, so she stood up and turned around, ready to ask him why he was disrupting her quiet time again, but there was nobody there. Weird, she thought. I could have sworn I heard the crunch of dry leaves under paws.

When she turned around with the intention of returning to her spot by the riverbank, something caught her attention. It was a scent—a strange, yet familiar smell that she couldn’t quite describe. It smelled like something she had heard about before…it smelled like a…mate!

Wait, what? She had a mate, and her mate was here? How was that even possible? How come she’d never smelled him before? Where was he? Who was he?

With those questions running around in her head like dogs chasing their tails, Aubrey put her nose to the ground and began to follow the new scent. It took her farther into the woods and away from the feast, but she didn’t care. For the first time in her adult werewolf life, she’d smelled her mate and she must find him tonight at all costs. She, who had thought that she was doomed to a life of no love and no partner, had finally found her mate. Or rather, smelled him. As the smell became stronger, Aubrey raised her head, and to her elation, she saw a male werewolf ahead of her. He was partially in the dark and he sat alone beside a huge tree with his back to her. Without a moment’s hesitation, she broke into a happy run towards her destined life partner.

I’ve found my mate, she sang happily in her mind. I finally found him!