Chapter 16 HISTORY
The pack territory is even bigger than I had imagined. What Samuel had referred to as a small housing community for the pack in the woods, is no small community at all. It is quite large; almost the size of our pack village, just slightly smaller. Samuel's pack still outnumbers them by double nonetheless.
The houses are nice. The community is a close knit neighborhood. Though the houses are on the smaller side they make up for it in beauty. Side by side, the houses are lined up next to each other, not very far apart.
Kids play outside while several adults and wolves roam the land. Most of them seem to just be keeping an eye on things. Some of the familiar faces I met last night stare back at me with smiles, all of them bowing their heads in respect. It surprises me that they are already treating me like Samuel's mate even when we have not yet made a step in the mating direction yet.
"Welcome back to the territory, Alpha," one of the men says.
"Yes, it's been too long," another person beside him who I immediately recognize says. He is one of the fighters in the pack, I remember him speaking to me last night.
"Kyle," Samuel acknowledges him formally.
I am still adjusting to the formalities in the pack and adjusting to my future mate's more reserved and business side. It seems he has many different sides to him."What's the latest news on The Grooves Pack?" he asks Kyle who is just acknowledging me.
His eyes flash back to Samuel.
"We're still working out the date of their visit. Alpha Bruce has been visiting with some of the other surrounding packs to gain more support on dealing with the rogue invasion that happened last week and has just gotten back to his territory. He thinks next week will be a good time to visit if that works for us."
"What does Dylan think?" Samuel asks.
"He agreed on Saturday," he answers him.
"Then I trust his decision. But one more attack then we'll be forced to take action ourselves with or without Groove's help."
He nods before his eyes flash to something or someone behind us. We don't have to look to see who it is. His scent hit us revealing him. It is Dylan.
"I take it Kyle has just filled you in on everything?" he asks, coming to a stop in the space between Samuel and the person of subject.
"He did," Samuel confirms. "I trust that you'll continue and see everything through."
Dylan nods then flashes a knowing smile between the two of us. "I take it you'll be back to business soon?"
I blush at the insulation.
"I plan to," he confirms with a grin all of his own.
It is clear these two are pretty close friends and they share some kind of levity between them. I have a strong suspicion that maybe they have already talked about our mating. I'm not so sure how I feel about that even if they were friends, though I guess I would also want my best friend's opinion on a decision this big as well. Too bad my best friend is in another pack and the likelihood of me seeing her again is slim. I haven't even seen her since before everything went down with Logan. I had shut her out like I had done everyone else when I was hurt. I suppose our distance is entirely my fault.
I try not to dwell too much on that fact. Maybe I'll try to call Doreen soon and explain everything if she doesn't already know. Word tends to spread like wildfire in our pack.
"Come on," Samuel says gently tugging on my hand and breaking me from my thoughts. "I'll show the rest of the land."
I blush when I realize I had spaced out for a few seconds. I hope I didn't seem rude.
He shows me many more important places on the land; one of them being the pack boarders which happen to meet the Black Forest Pack, Alpha Tom's territory. I am still trying to keep up with the different Alpha's he has mentioned so far. It is a lot to remember. I didn't have any reason to know them before but as future Luna it is my job to know who they are now.
We come to a stop at one of my favorite places by far, the lake. "Feeling overwhelmed yet?" he asks after explaining the several packs.
"Maybe a little," I reply honestly. "But this is all still so new to me. With some time I know I'll adjust and learn everything."
He offers a faint smile. "I'm glad you feel that way" he says, "I know this is a lot to take in. I'm not trying to rush you or anything even if it seems that way. I'm just trying to educate you and prepare you for your position."
I believe him.
"I know," I smile. "And I'm your sponge, absorbing it all."
He chuckles at the analogy and turns back to the sparkling water. For a moment he seems peaceful and perfectly at ease. I guess you can say it is catching because I am starting to feel the exact same way.
We are silent for a few minutes, enjoying the warmth and calm, until the clearing of his throat, breaks it.
He turns back to me. "I have a couple more places to show you and people I want you to meet and then I promise to relieve you for the day."
I nod in agreement. "Okay."
That sounds great to me. I still need to call my parents and Doreen anyway. Just like he promised, after everything is done, I am on my own. He spends the remainder of the evening locked up in his office, the one I spotted this morning, probably getting caught up in all things pack related. I take the time to go on my own tour of the house. I like to explore.
On my way to the library, I pass by a door that Samuel had yet to let me see behind and curiosity sweeps over me.
After getting over my fear of a Beauty and the Beast reenactment I decide to see for myself what is there. Samuel hasn't warned away from any areas so I assume it is fine to proceed.
When I open the door I quickly find that there is a pair of steps behind it that lead downward into a basement of some sort. I soon find myself following them until I reach the bottom. I am surprised to find an infirmary down below.
It very much resembles a local clinic in my town. The infirmary at my old pack is nowhere this large in size. This makes up for it three times. I imagine all the excess beds are for when battles occurs, to bring in all the injured wolves. They must have had much conflict in the past if they had their own hospital in the basement. What's more, it doesn't even seem like a basement. It looks exactly like a well kept hospital.
I am impressed.
"Are you lost?" A Man that I haven't even noticed in the room asks.
My head snaps in the direction of the voice when my eyes settle on an older male sitting at a desk filling out some papers. He looks to be in his mid to late forties, with light brown hair that shows some light streaks of gray in it. His eyes are warm and inviting.
"Sorry, I didn't mean to intrude. I was curious what was down here," I explain.
He grins and stands up from the desk in the corner and proceeds my way. When he reaches me, he motions to everything on the floor.
"Welcome, to the infirmary. I'm Jones, the pack doctor. Would you like for me to show you around?"
"Yes," I say.
I remember meeting him last night, but I guess he figured I wouldn't remember with all the other faces I met.
I follow beside him as he travels through the room.
"Well, as you know, this is where all healthy and injured wolves come for medical treatment. I specialize in everything from preventative medicines to healing the dying. I don't stay very busy, but when I am it's usually bad."
"Bad?" I ask.
"Yes, the last time every bed in here was full was when the late Alpha and Luna were killed. It was the bloodiest pack battle I can remember."
I swallow. So that's what happened to Samuel's parents. They were murdered.
"How many members were lost?" I ask.
"Forty-two of us, but we practically annihilated what was left of the Rendezvous Pack. Only a few of them escaped with their lives."
"What caused the fight?"
Doctor Heath seems apprehensive to answer any more questions.
"Hasn't Samuel filled you in on any of this yet?"
"No," I reply. "But we haven't had much time for talking. I only got here yesterday."
I hope that is convincing enough for him. Besides I haven't lied.
He seems to think over my words for a minute before becoming understanding. "Yes, of course." He is silent for a moment before continuing."The fight was started because the Alpha of the Rendezvous Pack, lost his mate. One of his wolves went rogue in a thirst for power and went for the kill when he was at his most vulnerable and took over the pack."
I stare at Jones in shock, absorbing everything he tells me. We have never encountered anything to this magnitude in my old pack. At most we had a couple of trespassers trying to cause trouble, but they never killed anyone, nor did anyone in our pack turn against each other.
"Grog, the rogue, killed the Alpha, then he ran the pack into the ground," he continues. "He had so many wolves scared to leave the pack that he killed anyone who tried. It wasn't until a bunch of packs banded together and took him and his pack of rogues down that they were freed. Unfortunately though, our Alpha and Luna were killed in the process. The rogues were a lot tougher than we thought and there were so many of them." Poor Samuel.
Jones stops and gives me a minute to process everything then starts back. "Grog thought that by killing the Luna and Alpha of our pack we would naturally bow down to him and accept him as our Alpha just as what he had done to the Rendezvous pack. If there had been no heir to the werewolf line then we would have had no choice just like them. Werewolf law states that whoever kills an Alpha and sole heir to the werewolf line becomes the Alpha. He didn't realize until too late that our Alpha had a son."
"Samuel," I whisper.
Jones nods. "Yes. The pack was so grief stricken that it caused us to have so many fatalities. However, even in our loss, our pack numbers still outweighed the Rendezvous pack and we were able to take them down before anymore of our pack got wiped out."
"Wow," I breath heavily. I was not expecting that. Poor Samuel. Then suddenly a question comes to mind. "You said a few of the Rendezvous pack members survived?"
He frowns at my question and looks away despairingly. "Yes, Grog and his closest rogues."
A gasp quickly escapes my lips. "What? He's still alive?"
"For now," he answers. "He has kept himself well hidden for the past couple of years, but we will find him."
"So no one has any idea on his whereabouts? No suspicion on what his plans are?"
"No, but he is most likely somewhere building up an army, planning his next attack."
Something suddenly comes to mind. The rogues; the ones Dylan, Samuel and Kyle were talking earlier, could that be Grog's guys? I shiver at that thought. I hope not.
The sound of someone's footsteps approaching us causes both of us to become silent. When the person comes into sight he smiles.
"Carla, just on time," he says taping his watch.
The girl smiles and rubs her stomach as she nears the bottom of the steps. He then frowns at her. "You're nearly at the end of your pregnancy. I really wish you would start taking the elevator now."
She gives a short laugh. "You know how I love to walk."
"Yes, but you're nearly due. If I didn't know any better I'd say you were trying to hurry the twins along," he chuckles.
Feeling like I am invading in a doctor and patient privacy I decide to take my leave. So many things are still on my mind and I have a dozen questions for Samuel, if I ever get the nerve up to ask them that is.
A few minutes later I find myself wondering back into the kitchen after realizing it is close to dinner time and I have yet to eat anything today. I guess I just forgot what with being so busy and all.
There are a few people sitting around the room, all of them giving me friendly expressions and making small talk. I truly appreciate their kindness and not making feel like an outcast.
Not feeling like cooking I grab an apple from the bowl on the counter and take a seat next to a pretty raven haired girl, who is working on something that looks like college homework while munching on a bag of chips. I remember her face from last night, but for the life of me I can't remember her name.
She smiles at me when she catches me looking at her, then I feel bad for staring.
"Hi, Grace," she says,, making me feel even worse for not remembering her name. "I'm Laura remember?" I feel relieved at the mention of her name. I nod.
"Right, of course. How are you?" I ask.
She looks down at her text book and groans. "I've been better. This psychology homework is really kicking my butt."
I laugh. "Yes, I remember it very well."
Her face lights up at my confession. "You took psychology too?"
"Yeah, last semester," I reply.
"Finally, someone understands my frustration!" She throws her hands up in the air dramatically. I laugh again.
She pops another chip into her mouth when someone else enters the kitchen and begins pulling pots and pans out of a cabinet and placing them on the stove.
"I didn't know you were on kitchen duty tonight," Laura says speaking to her older twin. The resemblance between them is uncanny. In twenty more years Laura will look just like her.
"Don't worry about me, you need to finish your homework," The woman says to Laura.
"Jeez mom, I've been at it for the past hour. I'm entitled to a break," she complains. "You treat me like I'm still a child."
So that's why they look so much alike, of course. That's her mom.
The woman then looks at me and smiles kindly. "Hi Grace, I don't know if you remember me or not, but I'm Maggie."
I think I vaguely do.
"I remember," I tell her with a smile.
"How do you like the pack so far?" she asks while dragging some ingredients from the fridge. The counter top quickly piles up in front of her with food."I love it," I say honestly. "Everyone has been so welcoming and polite."
"Have you made any friends yet?" She sounds just like an overly concerned parent questioning their child on the first day of a new school. It feels n ice to know someone cared so much about me already.
"Um, well, does Suzie count?"
She is really the only one I've spoken to more than once.
"She's a real sweetheart, isn't she?" Maggie says then adds with a laugh. "And drives her brother crazy, that one."
"She does," I agree.
Maggie, Laura and I continue to chat for a while until I feel like I am distracting them from their work and leave.
An hour later I find myself upstairs in Samuel's room while waiting fordinner to be finished. The apple I ate did very little to fill me. I actually have an appetite today and crave something more. Hopefully dinner will be less awkward than yesterday since almost everyone knows me a little better now.
I ring my mom and talk to her for a half an hour about what the pack is like and how much I like it. I tell her everything apart from the pack history I learned of today, which I don't think is my place to share. I feel a little emotional talking to her after realizing how much I miss her and my dad. She is just as saddened as I am.
After the call ends I have started to call Doreen when a very tired looking Samuel enters the room. Whatever he and Dylan spent the afternoon dealing with in the office must have taken a toll on him. He looks bushed.
He glances at me with an apologetic expression when he sees me sitting on his bed. "I'm sorry. Your room is not ready yet. I've been so preoccupied today I forgot to put someone on it.
"Um about that," I start. "I was thinking that maybe I would do it myself. I can pick out my own stuff and fix it up."
He seems surprised. "Really?"
"Really, I'm used to doing things for myself anyway."
He seems to think about for a moment and nods. "Okay, but you really don't have to go to very much trouble over it. You won't be in there for long time anyway..." He trails off.
That's right. I won't be. I'll be in here... with him...in his bed...together.
I suppress a shiver that goes down my spine at that thought. It is the good kind and that worries me. Yes, he is incredibly good looking, but I shouldn't be having thoughts like that about him- at least not this soon.
"I think I can do it," I say confidently. "Leave it to me."That seems to satisfy him and he agrees before disappearing into the bathroom for the next half hour while he showers.
I don't have much luck getting in touch will Doreen and I decide on a nap after I leave her a voicemail. What I don't expect when I wake up next is to see Samuel standing at his closet in nothing but a towel and water droplets running down his chest.
I think that he would have been dressed and ready by the time I woke up. I guess I just wasn't that fortunate. This is not good for me.
I try my best not to stare at him when he realizes that I have woken up. I don't want to be caught gawking at him. That would be all kinds of embarrassing.
He doesn't seem to be bothered by the fact that he is practically naked in front of me and I don't know why. The only thing I could come up with is that maybe he is used to being in his wolf form a lot more than I am which in turn leaves him naked when he phases back into his human form. I have yet to do that in front of anyone thankfully, but I know it can't be avoided forever.
When I am sure it is safe to get up, I look back a fully dressed Samuel. He looks hot. I can't deny that.
"Dinner is almost ready. The pack members are waiting for us downstairs," he says.
"Okay, I'll just get cleaned up and meet you down there," I say.
He looks at me expectedly. "We'll go together."
Oh right. Mates do everything together, I remember. I forget sometimes. I'm not used to that. Maybe it will become more natural to me when we're mated.
I don't argue with him because I know he is right and I leave to the bathroom to get ready.
The dinner, overall, goes well. I am starting to feel more at home here the more time I spent with his pack. Dylan and Kyle take turns poking fun at me throughout the meal. Thankfully Laura takes up for me. Dominic stays close to me but he doesn't speak. He is Samuel's third in command. He isn't nearly as laid back as the some of the other wolves in the pack. He is certainly polite, but not very sociable. He is more reserved.
When Samuel walks me to our room, after the night is over, it kind feels like a date in a weird way. Everything is calm and peaceful. We walk in a comfortable silence most of the way holding hands. I am most surprised by how empty I feel once he lets my hand go once we are inside the bedroom. I am starting to wonder if maybe there is something wrong with me.
I shouldn't be having these feelings towards someone so quickly. There has to be a logical explanation for it.
Just when I decide to ask him about it, I see that I am too late. He is already sleeping soundly in his sofa bed. He looks so innocent and cute I just don't have the heart to wake him up. I will be sure to ask him about it tomorrow.
That thought reminds me about last night as well. He never told me about his parents. I guess now there is really no use since I already know about them, but something in me wants him to tell me for himself.
I let out a yawn and bury my face into the warm covers on the bed, sleep slowly making its way to me. My mind runs over the events of today, remembering every detail about it. My mind drifts from, Samuel, to the acquaintances I have made today, and finally to the story Dr. Jones told me and how worrisome I had become about Grog, the rogue leader and if he decides on coming back. I shiver again.
By the time my thoughts start to circle back around again, I am too overcome by sleep that staying awake longer is not an option and I sink into a heavy slumber