Visions of Wolves

Answers

I woke up in the guest room. Unsure of how I got there or if last night really happened. The last 24 hours have been unreal. I should be scared, I should run from this place and yet my instincts tell me I’m safe, that I should stay, that I need to find him again. That guy from last night.

I went to check my phone but the screen had cracked during all the action yesterday and it was hard to type. I decided I would just message everyone from my computer once I got back to the hotel.

I took a cold shower, made myself some tea and as I finished cleaning up Jay knocked on my door. “Hey there, you’re looking much better this morning. How did you sleep?” He spoke as though we were life long friends. He told me that Ally and Adam were just fine and waiting for me. I thanked him for the clean clothes and place to sleep and then followed him out the house and into a small white building nearby that he said serves as the village clinic.

We walked passed the two receptionists that I recognised from last night and into a long room with eight hospital beds, four each side with rails above them for curtains. They were all empty except one where Ally sat upright in a blue hospital gown. Adam sat at the end of her bed with his back to us.

“TEAL! I’m so glad you’re alright,” Ally practically flew out of bed and over to give me a huge hug, lifting me off the floor as she did. “Loosen up a little!” I cried out jokingly. “You clearly have your strength back”. Despite the cuts and bruises on her face and arms, she seemed well. She laughed and let Adam come over and give me a hug too.

“Can’t thank you enough for your help yesterday,” he whispered in my ear as he gave me a tight squeeze.

“Hey, back in bed you,” Jay gave Ally a small nudge with his elbow and then pointed to the bed. She gave a sarcastic huff but climbed in anyway.

Jay grabbed two chairs and placed them next to Ally’s bed for him and I to sit. Adam took his spot on the edge of the bed.

Jay sat back, legs wide, slapped his hands on his thighs and gave a big, exaggerated sigh. “Alright then, what do you want to know?”

There was a long silence, everyone waiting for me to speak. I didn’t know how to phrase this, how to ask such a crazy question. “Are, umm, are you werewol…”

“Shifters, we prefer the term shifters,” Adam cut me off.

“Yeah, werewolves just sounds crazy,” Jay said teasingly. But that joke alone was enough to ease the tension in the room. We spoke for hours. They told me all about the Obsidian Pack and that this village housed over 200 families.

Shifters were born with their ability to shift and much like usual genetic traits, their fur colour was hereditary. The leader of the pack is an Alpha, it’s a position handed down to the next generation in the family unless they are challenged by another shifter and lose. But that’s rare because the Alpha bloodline is strong and usually produces a strong heir.

The Alpha then chooses a second in command, which was Jay and a third in command which was Adam. However Adam and Ally share the responsibility as heads of training and defence.

Although they don’t need to defend their territory often, they are one of the biggest packs on the continent. All those of fighting age in the village have to keep fit and those that want to can join the guards part time.

Adam and Ally had been on a small vacation when I met them at Flower Moon Hotel. They had spoken to Mabel and told her what happened, she already knew they were shifters and that I’d gone to stay with them for a little while.

Their leader, the Alpha, had come into power 2 years ago after his father became sick. His father had done a lot during his time as Alpha. He allowed humans to join the village and ensured that there were more women in positions of power which was why Ally was considered an honorary omega herself.

“Are there a lot of humans that live here?” I wondered out loud.

“Not a lot. Sometimes, well actually very rarely, a shifter will mate with a human. That used to mean that they’d have to leave the village and become rogue in order to be with them. But Alpha Thomas, our previous Alpha, believed that mating was natural and that we shouldn’t get in the way of the Moon Goddesses’s wishes. So he allowed mates to stay in the village provided they signed an NDA and allowed their mates to mark them. Some humans however, are keepers, they know our secret but help us with services in the outside world. So like, the farmers, the postmen, the service delivery…” Jay was rattling on.

“Whoa, whoa, whoa!” I rubbed my forehead with my fingers. “Back up a second. Mates? Moon goddess? Markings?”

They all laughed. “Sorry, it’s so easy to forget how foreign this is for you,” Ally looked over at me endearingly.

Ok so, we believe that the moon goddess, think of her as one of the greek gods, gifted certain humans with the ability to shift. She is the warrior goddess and shifting is a gift given to warriors to protect those around them. 

But our ability to shift comes with other heightened abilities. We’re stronger and faster than normal humans. We can see, hear and taste more than you. And in a way we love harder than you.” She reached over and stroked Adam’s face. He gave her a wink, then caught her hand and gave it a gentle kiss. Then he turned back to me.

“A mate is the same as falling in love with someone who becomes your wife or husband. However, with all our heightened senses, we can tell ‘the one’ or our  ‘soulmate’ from the minute we first meet.”

“What do you mean? How do you know?” Love at first sight always seemed so far fetched to me.

“It’s like getting butterflies, but more intense. You can’t stop thinking about them. You just want to be with them all the time, to touch them. ” Ally gave Adam a light slap on the arm when he wiggled his eyebrows at her. “Nothing makes sense, it’s like you’ve always known them.”

We carried on chatting about shifters and their lives in the village and travels to the rest of the world before Adam declared how hungry he was. While Jay made sure Ally was healing properly, Adam escorted me back to the second floor in the main house and into a lounge area that had a balcony overlooking the village. 

While I enjoyed the view he organised food with one of the housekeepers and then came to join me. Not long after that Jay and and Ally arrived. She was now dressed in jeans and a white t-shirt.

Jay was clearly hungry because when the food arrived it was a feast of sandwiches, meats, cheeses, fruit and other snacks. He had also ordered wine.

We spoke some more and I loosened up. It was so easy to talk to them, I felt right at home. But I was also eager to get back to the hotel and check on my work. As I was about to ask about what happens now that I know about them, I felt a tingle down my spine and the hairs on my neck stand up. Only one thought came to mind. He’s here.

“Wine? Starting early I see,” came that deep, masculine voice I’d heard last night.

Adam, Ally and Jay all stood up and turned to the voice.

“Sit, sit,” came the voice from behind me. They all sat while I felt the figure move to my side. I didn’t stand, I couldn’t, I could barely breathe. I turned to look up at him. Just as handsome in the light as he had been in the moon’s glow. His skin was more tanned than I remembered it was also flawless.

He held out his hand and I instinctively went to shake it. The minute we touched it felt like electricity ran from my fingers down my whole body. No, no! What a time for my blood pressure to drop. Images flooded my head again. Staring into his eyes while lying in a forest, kissing, touching…

“Hi there, we didn’t get to meet properly yesterday. My name is Alexander. I’m Alpha of the Obsidian Pack.” His voice broke me out of my trance, I pulled my hand back quickly.

“I’m Teal, uhh, I was with Adam and Ally yesterday when umm, when…” where was my mind, I could barely speak.

“It was very brave of you. To go back and help them. That doesn’t go unnoticed here. You didn’t just help my omegas, you helped save my friends. So thank you.” Alexander gently tapped me on the shoulder and then grabbed a seat next to Jay.

I turned and caught sight of Ally who gave me a curious look. I smiled and shrugged it off.

Alexander asked me about the room and if I had everything I needed. I replied shyly, thanking him for his hospitality. He then asked Ally how she was feeling and the conversation flowed from there. They chatted about the attack, their theories about the rogues and past stories of rogues they’d dealt with before.

I sat quietly and continued to nibble on the snacks at the table. Maybe if I was eating he wouldn’t ask me anything else. Whenever the others were talking though I felt him looking at me. I wanted to look right back but the sheer thought of it made me blush and my face heat up.

“It’s getting quite late,” Ally said looking out over the village.

This was my chance. “Yeah, umm, I really need to head back to the hotel, so uh. What happens now.” I looked at Jay as I spoke but I also caught the way Alexander stiffened in his seat. 

“Ok well, we just need you to sign an NDA and then we can…” Jay stopped abruptly. He turned away as though picking up something that fell but I saw what he was hiding, his eyes had turned yellow. I looked around and they’d all looked away from me. I wasn’t just uncomfortable, I was scared.

“Sorry about that, uh what was I saying? Oh, yeah. So we need you to sign an NDA but we also need to have a proper debrief about what happened yesterday. Sorry, I know you’re eager to get back but we insist you stay the night.” Jay was trying his best to sound his positive self, but the tension was already far too high. 

Something wasn’t right, they weren’t telling me something. Flashes of the attack flooded my mind. There was no point in resisting, I was at a table with wolves. 

“Ok, but then I insist I take some of this cheese back to my room,” I joked grabbing a slice of cheese off the board at the centre of the table. I don’t think I was fooling anyone with my weak attempt at changing the subject.

“We can talk tomorrow. Jay, Adam, can we meet in my office?” Alexander said rather abruptly. They all stood up, wished Ally and I a good night and headed out.

As soon as they were out of earshot I turned to glare at Ally. She sighed. “We call it linking. Basically we can chat to each other kind of telepathically. But you can tell because…” she pointed at her eyes and shrugged.

“Ok, but what was all that about? Why can’t I go?” My voice was more frantic than I intended. “Honestly Teal I don’t know. Alex just said there was more to discuss. And judging by his tone it was non-negotiable.”

We sat in silence for a while before Ally mentioned she was feeling tired and would walk me back to my room.