How I met my Mate - being a Human

Meeting the Luna

Mary

"Are you finished already?" Irma asked me in surprise when I was back in the kitchen 15 minutes later.

"Yes, I don't have much to pack away. And I thought you might be glad of my help."

"Yes, that's right, of course I am." She rubbed her belly.

Irma then explained each appliance to me and showed me where to find what. I carefully took notes and hoped I could memorize everything. The menus were discussed with the Alpha or Luna on Saturday and the weekly shopping was done on Monday. I could do this myself or order it, so everything would be bought by a packmember.

Finally, she showed me the garden with all the herbs and planted vegetables. The gardening and planting was done by a gardener and we could simply cut off the quantities we needed for cooking.

At 4 p.m., my head was spinning and we sat down to have a coffee.

"How did you get this job Mary?"

"You mean because I'm not a werewolf?"

Irma just nodded and took a sip from her cup. I held my cup tightly with both hands before answering.

"I grew up in Ms. Black's orphanage. There was no more room for me there, so Ms. Black nominated me for the position here."

"What was it like for you growing up like that?"

"A bit strange, I grew up 'normal' until I was 13, then I found out about the werewolves." I made goose bumps in the air at the word normal. "I was the only human in the orphanage aside from a older boy. I was the outsider there, but also at school. The children there were afraid of us orphans. They said we were different and that we were haunted. Somehow they were right, most of them really were different, just not me. But I also had great moments - it wasn't all bad." I tried to let my unshakeable optimism shine through. Why was it so important to me that Irma liked me? It doesn't really make sense and yet it was very important to me.

"That sounds terrible! There are also some wolves in the pack who have something against humans and think they are better. But fortunately only a few. We're a very modern pack, you'll like it here."

"That would be nice."

"Mary why don't you ever look me in the eye?"

Huh?

"Ms. Black told us it's considered disrespectful."

"Yes, maybe with senior members of the pack, but not with me. You can look me in the eye. With humans, it's considered disrespectful if you don't look each other in the eye, isn't it?"

"Yes, that's right." I looked her in the eye and saw that Irma was smiling at me.

We talked some more about Irma's childhood, which was so different from mine. We soon set to work preparing dinner.

Suddenly the door opened and a slim blonde came running towards me, beaming.

"Hello, so you're Mary."

"Yes, that's right. I'm Mary, the new cook." I said, completely flabbergasted, because I was being hugged enthusiastically again. What was going on here? All my life I had learned how dangerous and evil werewolves were when you were human. And now I was being hugged by one for the second time today. At least I assumed she was a werewolf. Like Irma, she looked stunning, was tall and almost crushed me.

When I gasped slightly, she released the hug, she pulled back a little but still held me by the shoulders to look at me.

"I'm Luna Annabelle, but everyone calls me Annie. So Luna Annie." She said, laughing slightly.

That was the Luna of the pack, my direct superior. Respect was very important with wolves, Mrs. Black had always told us that. Irma had just explained to me that it was okay to look at her, but not at the higher-ranking wolves. Luna was the highest-ranking werewolf, except for the Alpha, and my direct superior. If you could call it that. According to Ms. Black, she owned me. At least for the next year and she was now standing right in front of me. I lowered my gaze immediately and tried to look as respectful as possible.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Luna Annie."

"Huh. No need for the formalities, Mary. You can look at me. Our pack isn't quite so old-fashioned."

Confused, I looked first at Irma, who was doubled over with laughter.

"You said I'm not allowed to look at senior or high-ranking members of the pack."

"Yes," Irma gasped with laughter. "But Luna Annie may be the Luna, but she doesn't like these formalities at all, and neither does our Alpha Marc or Beta Josh."

"How should I know that?" I asked desperately, throwing my arms over my head and turning away.

I heard Luna Annie join in Irma's laughter and turned to look at the two women. The corners of my mouth twitched as if of their own accord.

Despite her laughter, Luna Annie was looking at me intently. I was immediately serious again. Had she taken offense at my little outburst?

I took a closer look at Luna. She was tall, a little taller than me. She was slim and looked very athletic. Her face was heart-shaped and framed by dark blonde hair. Her eyes were gray and stood out from her face. There were little freckles around her nose. It was as if she studied me the same way I studied her. Somehow, it felt as if we already knew each other. Which couldn't be. I'd never met her before. When the two of them had calmed down, Irma looked back and forth between us. Luna Annie and I had the same eyes, mine were gray too. However, I had light brown hair that looked slightly coppery in the sun.

"I'm so sorry we laughed at you like that." Luna Annie was the first to break the short silence. "I'll help you to know the most important rules of the Pack if you like. There are plenty Books about it in the Library. As you may have noticed, we're not as formal and old-fashioned as Savina."

"Sorry Luna if I'm staring at you both like that. I both look a lot like you." Irma said.

"You're right Irma, I noticed it too." said Luna Annie really pensive.