Questions
831 Words
Mary
Ms. Black gave me a week to decide if I wanted to take the job at the packhouse.
I panicked about working there. What normal human wouldn't?
They were all stronger than me and most of them didn't like humans. At least the ones I'd met so far.
What would happen to me if they tried to get rid of me? There was no Ms. Black there, to protect me. Would the Alpha really keep me safe?
On the other hand, what was my alternative? No one in the city I lived in would hire me, and my savings weren't so big that I'd get far with them without finding another job soon.
The pay at the pack house was very generous. If I worked there for a year I could save enough to travel to the other side of the world.
Before I could make a decision, I needed to talk to Ms. Black. So I went to see her in her office.
"Come in." she replied after I knocked.
I stepped into the office and, at her signal, sat down on the wooden chair across from her desk.
"Have you made up your mind yet?" Ms. Black asked me straight out, her dark brown eyes fixed on me.
"No, not yet. I still have some questions, if that's all right." I avoided looking Ms. Black straight in the eye, as she couldn't stand it. As she explained to us, it was a werewolf thing and, to them, it was considered disrespectful.
"Of course. I figured you'd want to know more about the pack," she said with a slight smile on her lips.
"How safe is it for me to work there at the pack house?" I blurted out my question. There was no point beating around the bush. Ms. Black looked at me in astonishment.
"What do you mean by that?"
"Well. I'm human and therefore, at the bottom of the hierarchy. How safe is it for me there? What if I upset someone? What safeguard is there for me?"
"Ahh, I see. Well, you may be human, but there are strict rules in the pack, just like here. As an employee or possession of the Alpha and Luna, you will be untouchable. No one will hurt you and if you follow what I've taught you, I don't see any problems. Besides, the wolves of the pack are not as uncivilized as you might imagine."
"So I'm considered an employee?"
"Yes."
"But most of them don't like humans?"
"What's your point?"
"Won't there be any problems with a human preparing the meals and living in their packhouse? The pack's center of life?"
"You will belong to the Alpha and Luna, as long as you work there. As such, no one will have a problem with you. Nor is it the case that people in the pack are generally hated. There are some humans in the pack, mates or even employees. The hatred you experienced here in the home doesn't exist in the pack, at least not to that extent."
It almost sounded like an apology from Ms. Black for what had happened to me on her watch.
"Good, then you can tell them I'm accepting the position."
A small smile appeared on her lips and her eyes glazed over.
"You'll be picked up in a week. On Sunday at 11 am, get everything ready and pack your things. Your replacement will start next Saturday, so you can still hand everything over."
"How did you do that?"
"It's called mind-link, you'll see it a lot when you live at the packhouse. It's our way of communicating."
"Can all wolves do that?"
"Yes, and so can a wolf's mate, but it's limited to a pack. Only wolves in the same pack can communicate with each other."
"Do you still have family in the pack?" the question burst out of me before I could stop it. Startled, I slapped my hands over my mouth.
"Excuse me, Ms. Black," I had already felt her wrath and didn't want to repeat the experience. To my surprise, Ms. Black only sighed heavily instead of punishing me.
"No, I have no family in the pack. My family, my mate and children, were killed when there was a rouge attack. That was 28 years ago, and I've been running this orphanage ever since."
28 years? How was it possible that Ms. Black, who didn't look a day over 45, had lost her children at the age of 18?
"Appearances are often deceiving, Mary," she said calmly.
After Ms. Black's revelation, I left the office and started planning everything for my upcoming move.
My thoughts were still circling around her last sentence to me all week. What appearance did she mean? Could it be that she was much older than she looked like? But how?
I would soon be working and living surrounded by werewolves. If I wasn't already insecure about it, I definitely would be now.
- Writer
