Chapter 5

Well needless to say that Faolan had blown his cover. Lucky for him Alpha Bob was laid back. Promised to keep it all hush hush until the gathering but he did insists on Faolan and Theo joining his pack for dinner Sunday night. Apparently it was pack tradition. Faolan couldn't say no and so found himself in the Dark Woods pack house surrounded by various members.

Overall the pack was well run. Each member seemed well taken care of and the pack worked as a unit. Faolan was grateful to have the opportunity to get to know them better.

"Alpha?" Alpha Bob approached Faolan and Theo with his family in tow. Faolan plastered on his least intimidating smile to greet them. "Alpha please let me introduce my family to you. This is my wife Helena." Helena smiled as she shook Faolan's and Theo's hand. She had gray shoulder length hair and a few wrinkles but she was still the example of grace. Alpha Bob then turned to the younger woman on his other side.  "And this is our daughter Candace." Faolan recognized the young woman as the same one from the Tavern who was camped out with all her books.

"Thank you for your hospitality. I hope we aren't putting you out too much." It's not like the old Alpha had much of a choice when it came to hosting Faolan but that doesn't mean Faolan has to be a dick about it.

"Not at all," the Alpha assured. "It is an honor to have you here." At that moment his daughter Candace let out a squeel. Her father silenced her with a look until she remembered herself.

"Oh sorry.." the girl apologized. She was young. Couldn't have been out of high school yet. "Um.. dad can I go." She tilted her head to a spot behind Faolan and waited for her father's response. Alpha Bob rolled his eyes before nodding to his daughter. The girl instantly brightened with a smile. "Thank you! Um.." she turned to Faolan. "It was nice to meet you." She gave her father's arm a squeeze before running off after whatever she saw.

Curious Faolan followed her silently as Alpha Bob continued with pleasantries. He was about to turn back to him when a head of reddish brown hair caught his eyes. Faolan held his breath to get a better look. It couldn't be her could it?

Standing at the entrance of the pack house was Margret. The tavern manager from the night they arrived. She looked just a stunning. Instead of her denim manager uniform she wore a a simple blue hoodie with her jeans. Her hair was down today. It framed her face and brought out her pale peach skin tone. She was stunning in her simplicity. In her hand she held a cake box.

Faolan watched as Candace walked up to Margret and grabbed her into a hug. So the Alpha daughter knew her huh? Faolan could use this to his advantage.

Theo hit Faolan's arm to get his attention. Alpha Bob had asked him a question and Faolan was too distracted to notice. Caught off guard Faolan struggled to recover.

"I'm sorry what was that?" Theo looked at his friend annoyed. Alpha Bob looked at him confused while his wife looked at him with knowing smile.

"Is there anything in particular you were interested in seeing?"  Alpha Bob continued to stare at him questioningly.

"I don't know much of the area. If you have any suggestions I would appreciate it." Alpha Bob started to name a few places and Faolan tried to appear interested with some head nodding but he kept trying to sneak a glance at the woman behind him. After a few moments Alpha Bob's wife touched the Alpha's arm to stop him.

"Dear," She cooed sweetly. "Let's not overwhelm him too much I'm sure he will see everything there is to see over the next few weeks." She then turned to Faolan smiling." Would you like to meet some of the other members?" This was his chance to ask about Margret.

"Actually I was wondering... That woman with your daughter. I didn't get a chance to meet her at the tavern. Is she a part of your pack?" Alpha Bob glanced towards Margret and Candace and recognition dawned on his face.

"Oh that's Margret. She manages the tavern. Not part of the pack strictly but close enough." Helen interrupted to add a thought.

"Candace and her are very close. Margret is like an older sister to Candace."

"My daughter had a moment a few years ago where she ran from the pack..." Faolan could tell this was a sore spot for the Alpha. "Margret found her. She kept our Candace out of trouble and brought her back safely. I don't know what Margret did or what she said to Candace but I got a whole new happier kid when she returned." Faolan was confused.

"If she is so close why not let her join the pack? It seems she has earned her place well enough." The old Alpha smiled showing wrinkles on he face and he watched the pair of women talking.

"Oh I offered her a place. She wouldn't accept. Candace mentioned she had a bad experience with her last pack and is hesitant to join another. I'm hoping she will eventually change her mind. She has the potential to be a strong pack member. In the mean time, best I can do is name her friend of the pack and let her work near pack lands. Doesn't seem enough with everything she's done." The group stood for a minute in silence as they stared at the mysterious woman and her friend laughing together.

....

Maggie was nervous. She had been to the pack house before but she still got the willies every time she went on pack land. Usually Candace just met her at the tavern, but every once in a while Candace would bother her enough to where she would just give in and meet her for some pack dinner or holiday event.

Maggie took deep breaths as she pulled her ford escort up to the pack house parking area. In her passenger seat sat a cake box with a lavender lemon pound cake. She knew she was invited here but it was hard to kill the person who brought dessert right? With one final look in her rearview mirror Maggie grabbed the cake and climbed out of her car.

She made sure to wear a hoodie and jeans with her hair kept down. She had drank her tea that morning and had another cup right before she left for good measure. She was warned not to drink it too much but thought it was worth the risk of extra side effects to have the extra assurance. Between the tea and clothing choices no one should be able to smell her.

She walked up the steps and entered the pack house. When she looked at her surrounding she could still see various pack member turn to look at her. She had been around the Dark Woods pack for two year but they were still curious to look at the lone rogue.

Maggie was a little hesitant to mingle. Especially since the more she looked at the various pack members the more she realized she was under dressed. Although this wasn't a formal occasion, she saw many of the woman in nice dresses and the men all wore collared or button down shirts. In comparison to her simple jeans and hoodie, it made her feel out of place.

It only took a few moments before she heard a squeal and was grabbed from the side. Thank goodness she had a good hold on her cake or she would have dropped it.

"I'm so happy you are here," Candace squeaked with delight. "I know the pack house isn't your thing but I had to see you one more time before the gathering next weekend. Especially after I had to cut my visit earlier this week short."

Maggie smiled at the young woman. Candace always made her feel welcome and accepted. Something she had been missing for many years. Even with Candace being 8 years her junior she still considered her the closest friend she ever had.

"Candace!" she said to her in hushed tones. "You didn't tell me I needed to dress up." Candace laughed at her friend

"You didn't." It was easy for Candace to say in her knee length plum dress.

"Everyone is wearing dresses and I'm in my weekend clothes."

"You're fine. Everyone is just showing off for the Alpha that's in town early." Maggie froze. She was generally fine with Candace's dad but she has a strict no alpha policy. This was a deal breaker.

"Candace if I knew you had guests I wouldn't have..." Candace did give her a chance to back out. She looped her arm around Maggie's to prevent her escape and walked towards to food table.

"Don't you even think about it. If you are going to abandon me during the gathering you can at least chill with me tonight. I'll make you a deal. You leave you lavender cake on the table for everyone to enjoy. I'll make my excuses to dad and grab some sodas and we can sneak out the back to chill. What do you say?" Candace gave that hopeful look that she knew Maggie could never turn down. If they were in the back she could see her friend without the added pressures of extra eyes watching her.

Maggie smiled and nodded. Candace gave a signature squeal and ran to tell her father where the pair would be. Maggie in the mean time walked purposefully to the food table to add her cake to the spread.

It had seemed Candace was right in saying that everyone had gone all out for the visiting Alpha. She had never seen so many varieties of desserts before. Most of the time dessert consisted of a pan of brownies and some ice cream to top it. Looking at the table you would have thought a five start pastry chef was in residence. Is that a croquembouche?

Maggie made a spot for her cake after shuffling some pastries and some sort of fancy pudding. Her dessert was simple but she knew it was a favorite. She always came home with an empty pan afterwards.

Once she sat her dessert out, she turned to chase after Candace and ran into a sturdy brick wall. Two enormous hands reached out to steady her as she bounced off  the obstacle in her way.

"Woah there. Sorry about that." A mellow low voice spoke to her. Maggie looked up at the tall statue in front of her and met a familiar pair of deep blue eyes. The Alpha from the tavern stared down at her with a smile. "You ok? Didn't think I bumped ya that hard."