They both grinned in response and gazed down at her, forever grateful for the favour that they would never be able to repay.
A quiet hum filled the room as more wolves joined them and they started up the movie again. At first, she had found it very strange and unnerving about being on pack lands and surrounded by every wolf but now, she had grown quite fond of it.
She hadn’t come across any wolf that was unpleasant or rude in front of her, grateful about the fact that those that didn’t agree with what they were doing chose to distance themselves from them. In fact, she found herself making a few friends from the pack and was glad with welcoming the whole experience had been.
However, she was certain that the news that she was quarter-wolf and currently carrying a pup helped tremendously with that transition.
Halfway through the movie and she found herself falling in love with Robert Pattinson – the sparkly vampire that her teenage-self had been utterly and completely in love with – all over again.
It was only when the movie ended and Anastasia was unable to fight off the exhaustion that Raphael and Justas had offered to drive her home. Before they left, she made sure to wave at everybody and personally greet the Beta couple. While she wasn’t completely sure of how werewolf customs worked, but she was aware that a Beta was very high-ranking in the pack and she wished for them to like her, especially since she had many plans to visit the baby once it was born; and if one of the most powerful people in the pack disliked her for some reason, that would be very difficult to do.
“Are you sure you don’t want to stay the night?” Raphael pouted as he sent her his best puppy dog eyes, trying to convince her.
“Positive.” She chimed quietly, a sleepy smile on her face. “I’ve got a pint of chocolate chip ice cream waiting for me.”
The trio chuckled as they headed out of the pack house and began making their way up the stairs.
She had absolutely no way of explaining it but the closer she got to the car and further away from the pack house, if even by just a few metres, Anastasia found herself not wanting to leave. She couldn’t quite explain it, but she felt the need to stick around. Putting it down to the werewolf cub she was carrying, she shook her head to rid her mind of the thought and pushed herself to continue forward.
There was a limit to everything and she didn’t want the pack wolves – or even worse, the Alpha or Beta – to feel like she was overstaying her welcome and taking advantage of their hospitality. Just because she was doing this favour for her friends and carrying their pup didn’t mean that it earned her an automatic in into the pack house.
“Ana? Is everything okay? Is it the baby?” Raphael asked with worry as he jogged down the steps and rushed to her side, pressing a hand to her back to support her, almost as if he feared that she was about to collapse any moment. “Tell me what hurts.”
She laughed softly and waved her hand in the air, hoping to dismiss the two pairs of worried eyes that were now trained on her, watching her every move in caution.
“There’s nothing to worry about, don’t worry.” She tried to assure them. “I’m just tired.”
“Are you sure?” Justas asked with his lips pulled down at the corners, holding open the car door for her as Raphael helped her into the passenger seat even though she was perfectly capable of doing so herself.
“Yes.” Anastasia glanced between them both with a large smile on her face, not wanting to worry them over something so trivial and out of their control.
Plus, she had absolutely no idea why she was feeling this way.
“Are you sure you don’t want to stay the night?” Raphael asked, a hopeful glimmer in his eyes as he slid into the middle of the backseat and braced his hands on the back of the two seats in front of him, leaning forward just as Justas claimed his spot in the driver’s seat.
Anastasia smiled back at her best friend and nodded her head, reaching out to give his hand a gentle, reassuring squeeze.
“I’ll feel more comfortable in my own bed.”
“We understand.” Justas spared her a nod as he started up the car and put the gear down into drive before beginning to pull out of the parking spot. “But the offer still stands so don’t be afraid to ask if you ever do want to stay here. I’m sure the Alpha won’t mind.”
Anastasia couldn’t help but frown at that, despite Justas’ kind words.
She couldn’t quite explain it, but whenever she heard of the Alpha, a shiver ran down her spine, almost as if igniting her body at the very mention of him. It was a silly and unexplainable reaction to have, especially over a man she had only heard of before and never physically seen with her own two eyes but once again, she put it down to the pup that she was carrying. Almost as if the wolf already recognised his Alpha from within the womb.
She didn’t quite understand a lot of things about werewolves, probably because she was only a quarter were and had never experienced such things, but she knew all the pack wolves looked up to the Alpha wolf as he was their leader. Perhaps that was why she felt strange whenever he was mentioned.
Either way, she didn’t have anything to worry about as a busy wolf like him would take no interest in a mere human like her.
Her incoherent thoughts came to a standstill as a deep howl sounded in the darkness of the night, causing the ground beneath the four wheels of the car to tremble and shake, forcing Justas to gently brake to avoid losing control of the vehicle.
It was only when the fearful sound was followed by a deafening silence that Anastasia dared to speak.
“What was that?” She perked up in her seat and glanced out of the windows, not really sure what she was looking for.
Her eyes grew wide as she stared into the forest where the sound has come from, but she saw nothing out of the ordinary.
During all the times that she had visited the pack house in the last couple of months, not once had Anastasia seen a wolf shift. Something told her that was down to Justas and Raphael not wanting to overwhelm her but on pack lands and a pack house full of werewolves, she was a little disappointed she hadn’t managed to see any action yet.
“That was the Alpha.”
“The Alpha?” She couldn’t help but question, unable to tear her eyes away from the tall trees and the darkness which it concealed even though Justas had begun driving again.
“Yes. He’s probably just letting out some steam before heading to bed. He’s been very busy lately.” Raphael explained nonchalantly from the backseat, neither of the wolves in the vehicle all that bothered about what they had just witnessed, almost as if it was a normal occurrence. And for them, it probably was.
She merely hummed in response and continued looking out the window, not really sure what she was looking for or why the need to return grew stronger in size and force the further the car pulled away from the pack house.
It was an unexplainable feeling, one which didn’t make any sense and one which she had never felt before. Yet for some strange reason, not once did it scare her.
In fact, it had the complete opposite effect.