The next few weeks passed as some of the happiest I've ever had in my life. Unlike my previous wolf pack who stuck together for survival and because nature told us to, the werewolf pack members all had a deep connection to each other. The human word for it is family, one enormous family.
Three days after starting my trial membership with the pack, Alpha Leyton came and informed me that I would be attending training with the rest of the pack three times a week and I would be part of the border patrol 6 days a week. I was more than happy with this arrangement as I got to earn my keep.
Grace then decided that on one of the days that we didn't have pack training that she was going to give me private lessons to help me catch up with the rest of the pack.
Even though I only took part in the wolf part of the training and otherwise ran to increase my stamina, I was improving my ability to fight quite quickly. As well as my ability to keep up with the others on border patrols.
"Has it really only been three weeks?" Thomas said to me as he passed where I was sparing with another wolf.
Thomas currently held the title of highest ranked pack warrior, junior division, and had for quite a while. He trains a lot out of pack training hours and it's rumored that he's going to earn the Gamma or Delta rank in the pack on skill alone.
"I know, it seems like I've been here forever." I reply to Thomas through pants after my spar with the grey she wolf.
Thomas is a man of few words but I found that I'd grown quite close to him through training and patrols. He was honorable and extremely loyal to his pack and its members. He was definitely someone you could trust with your life if needed.
He chuckled before giving pointers on the spar I just had. "Be lighter on your feet Eva. Remember to use your claws for balance and power instead of your weight on your paws. This was you can react to a change of direction or battle conditions a lot faster."
"Yes Sensei." I replied before I laughed and Thomas looked annoyed. I'm not sure where I picked the word up but I've since learned that it means teacher in a language called Japanese. I've called Thomas Sensei in training ever since. I think he's finally resigned to the title as it's spread to the other werewolf's who have started addressing Thomas as Sensei as well.
We were saved from a grumpy Thomas as a werewolf with short dirty blond hair headed towards the group that Thomas was training. This werewolf was named Daniel and he also happened to be Thomas's best friend.
"Hey Thomas." Daniel called from where he was still approaching us 100 feet or so away. "The Alpha wants to see us both regarding the strange scents found on the Eastern border of the territory."
I'd actually been the one to first identify the wolf scents that were running through the no man's land between our pack and it's neighboring pack 100 kilometers or so away a couple of days ago on patrol. I only noticed the faint scents that appeared to be masked because I was familiar with a wolf pack, the werewolves smelled different and therefore I missed it.
Thomas and Daniel had been tasked by the Alpha with investigating it further and determining if the wolves moving through no man's land were a threat to the pack. All I'd been told so far is that there appears to be a lot of them, not a simple rogue or two.
"OK, training dismissed." Thomas told us as he turned to head to the pack house with his friend.
Not for the first time, I wondered who the boys were mated to. They both had marks on their necks but I'd never seen either of them with what would appear to be their mates. Normally I could tell mated pairs pretty easily but both the guys partners were still a mystery.
I headed back to the pack house before everyone else as I had no need for a shower and to get my stuff. I'd just swim in the river later to wash myself.
I got to the wolf door and readied myself before entering the pack house. The moment I entered I found my prey and started quietly stalking towards it.
Saffron was reading a book to a group of pups that were about 5-7 years old. The pups all saw me coming and had to suppress giggles as I got closer and closer to my prey.
I successfully got close enough to Saffron that I could touch her without her noticing that I was there. Derrick had spotted me from where he was talking with the current Beta of the pack. A she wolf named Rebecca. Derrick had to desperately hold in his laugh as he saw the situation. He knew what was coming.
In one swift motion I suddenly licked Saffron from the middle of her shoulder blades all the way up to her hair line with my very wet wolf tongue.
Saffron screamed and dropped the book she was reading while all of the pups laughed like crazy and Derrick had to sit down because he was laughing so hard.
Saffron turned around to see my wolfy grin before picking up the book she was reading and hit me with it on the shoulder. "That's disgusting Eva." She shot at me with a filthy look.
"Disgusting, but hilarious." I agreed as we saw Derrick clutch his side as he cramped from laughing too hard.
"I hate you." Saffron muttered before demanding that someone get her something to clean her back with.
"No you don't, you love me." I playfully countered the annoyed girl.
"Only sometimes." She admitted with a sigh, the anger fading as the pups finally calmed down.
"But please don't do that again Eva." Saffron begged of me.
"Consider it training my dear Saffron. You have to be aware of your surrounds or you'll end up slobbery." I was laughing as I said that and Saffron ended up throwing the book she was reading at me. I dodged it of course which just annoyed her further.
I turned around to walk away when Saffron jumped me from behind and fell to her back, pulling me on top of her but with my legs in the air so I had no grip. She had secured one of her arms under my front legs to hold me in place.
"Payback's a bitch." Saffron informed me with an evil grin on her face.
Saffron then started to use her free hand to rub really hard in the same spot so it became uncomfortable and ticklish. She always knew to move to a different spot on my belly before it became painful though. She called it giving me a 'nuggy'.
I was a little ticklish so it wasn't long before I gave in. "I yield." I said through all of my laughter. "You win this time."
"Damn right I do." Saffron said through a victorious grin. "And don't you forget it Missy."
We were both still laughing as we helped each other up. Most of the pack members didn't even look at us. We played like this so often that people had gotten used to it. Except for Derrick, he still loved watching the creative ways we both invented to get the upper hand on each other.
Saffron went to pick up the book that had landed a few feet away before straightening her clothes out, I just shook my fur out which was much faster.
"Seriously though, Derrick and I are going to the tree house after lunch to meet up with our human friend from school and you're coming with us." Saffron informed me, not that I mind. "Just remember to tell Grace where you're going so she doesn't flip out like last time."
I thought back to the indecent a week and a half ago where I'd agreed to do another round of border patrol to cover one of my pack members that needed to go in for his pups parent teacher interviews. By the time I'd gotten back I'd found Grace in a frenzy because she'd convinced herself that I'd been kidnapped.
Normally I'd feel honored that my pack members were looking out for me, but a werewolf princess in a frenzy because of a panic is a very scary thing. Three rooms on the fourth floor are still in ruins because of that incident.
"I'll go tell her now." I quickly agreed with Saffron.
It was a little strange how protective Grace was of me but Saffron and I had discussed it at length and decided that it was because of what happened with Kaitlyn when I first arrived. Grace seemed to think I was her responsibility, then I was attacked by a pack member no less. I'd heard that Grace had a very scary talk with Kaitlyn after that and now when I saw Kaitlyn she even refused to even look at me.
I called and entered the elevator, it's been a week since Grace has taught me how to work the elevator and it sure beats running up and down 12 flights of stairs. I press the button for the 12th floor with my paw as the door closes and the elevator rises smoothly.
I entered the room I was sharing with Grace to find her sitting on the bed with her laptop on her lap and her feet buried in the blankets where I normally sleep.
Grace had said that she'd get me my own wolf bed for the first few days I was in this room but she never did and quickly gave up even mentioning it. I think it has something to do with how Grace likes to stick her feet under my fur when she's sleeping and use me as a never ending hot water bottle, not that I mind at all.
"Hey Grace." I greeted her as she jumped a little, obviously so absorbed in what she was doing that she hadn't heard me come in.
"Welcome back Eva, how was training?" She asked as I launched into what I had learnt and achieved today at training.
"I do have a question for you though." I said to Grace as I thought about training. "Both Derrick and Daniel have been marked by their mates but I've never seen them. Why is that?"
Grace laughed, it wasn't a laugh from the belly like Saffron and Derrick did. Her laugh was more musical and sweet. "That's because they're mated to each other Eva." Grace informed me.
"So I was wrong and one of them is female?" I asked Grace, feeling a little disappointed in myself. I was sure I'd gotten better at telling the human genders apart.
"No you're correct." Grace said. "They're both male and mated together. You see unlike wolves who mate to create pups and raise them, a werewolf is paired with a mate who is best for them and will love them unconditionally. It's not uncommon in werewolf packs for two males or two females to be mated together."
"My own mate is female as well" Grace admitted to me.
"Really?" I was surprised, but not as much as I would have been three weeks ago. I'd come to accept that things worked differently in a werewolf pack. "So if you wanted pups how would that work?"
"There are a few of options if Detsy and I wanted pups. We could either adopt, use a process called IVF or use the new procedure called FFD that would allow both of us to be the genetic mothers. So a male and a female mated pair is no longer needed to conceive pups." Grace told me.
"Werewolves are amazing." I commented after that speech. "Does Detsy make you happy even though you're both female?"
"She makes me the happiest woman in the whole world." Grace said with a dreamy smile as she started to hug her pillow.
"Then I'm happy for you two." I told her. "Oh before I forget, Saffron and Derrick are going to the tree house on the northern side of the territory after lunch and want me to come with them if that's alright with you."
"Of course it is Eva. But thank you for telling me so I don't freak out like last time." Grace said.
"You're most welcome." I said with a wolf smile plastered on my face. "I'm going to head down for lunch so I'll see you tonight then."
"See you tonight Eva." Grace replied. "As always just be careful."
"I will." I promised as I opened the door and called the elevator so I could have lunch.
...
"This is it." Derrick said as we arrived at a building that was built into the middle part of a clump of strong trees.
Saffron was panting behind us from the walk. Being human had it's disadvantages when it came to being able to walk or run long distances, unfortunately for Saffron who was travelling with a werewolf and an actual wolf.
"Beverly." Saffron called out looking for her friend from school.
"Up here." Came the reply in a feminine voice as a mop of long blond hair framing beautiful green eyes appeared in the doorway of the tree house.
I was looking at the planks of wood that had been set into the side of the tree as steps, wondering how I was going to get up there when Derrick spoke to me. "Is it ok if I carry you up there?"
"Um, sure." I replied a touch hesitantly. I'd never been carried by a human before and it seemed like it was going to be uncomfortable.
Sure enough I was right as Derrick picked me up and put me over his shoulder so he could climb. However I was grateful that he didn't waste time and was in the tree house and putting me back down in seconds. Saffron followed a few moments later.
I took a quick look around the tree house which looked similar to a bedroom in the pack house, minus the bed. There were a couple of comfy looking couches and bean bags as well as a section of soft carpet so you could lay out a sleeping bag if you wanted to stay over night.
The tree house even had the glowing patches on the roof that I'd come to know as lights. Derrick had explained before we got here that the ones in the tree house were what he called 'solar powered' and therefore ran on a battery that was charged by the sun. Personally I think someone made a deal with a mythical magic fairy for all this light instead.
In the middle of one of the couches was Beverly. Saffron took one look at her before running over to her and diving into a large hug from the blond girl. I felt a twinge of jealousy because that's what Saffron normally does to me when she sees me.
A second later Derrick gave Beverly an equally massive hug as greeting, although quite as enthusiastic as his mate.
"It's good to see you again Bev." Saffron said to her friend as she got comfortable on Derricks lap who had sat down on the couch.
"You saw me yesterday at school Saf. Remember we have school on Fridays?" Beverly joked back. "So is this the famous Eva?" Beverly asked as she looked at me.
"It sure is." Saffron replied happily. "Eva here may be a wolf instead of a werewolf but she is one of my best friends just like you. I think the two of your will really get along."
"It's a pleasure to meet you." I said to Beverly who appeared to be just as hyperactive as Saffron.
Although Beverly appeared to miss the greeting altogether as addressed me. "Well I'm Beverly but you can call me Bev. I was just wondering if I could pat you? You have the most amazing fur, I've never seen a silver wolf before."
"Of course you can." I replied to Bev. "Just be gentle."
Beverly looked at me for about another five seconds before turning back to Saffron and Derrick. "Didn't you say she can speak?"
Saffron looked really confused at the question Beverly asked. "She can and she just said you could pat her as long as you're gentle. Can't you understand her?"
"Sorry but to me it just appears that she's trying to look into my soul." Beverly admitted. "Not that I mind but no, I can't understand her."
"It looks like dad was right." Derrick interrupted the two women. "It appears you have to be park of the pack to understand the language of the wolves unfortunately."
"Then why can I understand Beverly perfectly fine." I though to myself.