My mate and my gift

Here I was, standing on the pathway leading to the Night pack. The pathway was paving stones, creating a zigzag pattern. There were a lot of tire tracks and I could see little dents here and there left by parked cars. I noticed that every house had a car parked in a carport or garage. My pack – the Luna pack – didn’t have a lot of cars, as we rarely left the village. The Luna pack was positioned further into the woods than the Night pack, and our responsibility was more to keep the forest safe than keep an eye on the humans. A wide river divided the forest in thee, and each part had a pack that overlooked and protected their part of the woods. A long time ago, an agreement had been made between the three packs; that each pack would have a certain responsibility. The Night pack would make sure the humans never wandered too far into the woods and discovered our secret. The Luna pack kept track of and controlled the wildlife of the forest, as our territory had the biggest lake that was also used as a watering hole. The Shadow pack kept to themselves, but it was my understanding that their purpose was to make sure other packs didn’t try to invade our forest, like what had happened in the past. But now, the alpha of the Luna pack and the alpha of the Night pack had found each other about a month ago and their pairing would take place the next full moon. What felt like millions of meetings had taken place to figure out what would happen to the two packs and now a merging had finally begun. When two wolves are fated to be together they find each other, they mate and they are paired for life. The pairing happens when the bond between the two wolves becomes official and they move into their own home. I had no particular attachments to my own pack village and had decided I might try and help make the merge a little easier. It could also present a new start for me. It had been decided that half of my pack would leave our village and switch with members of the Night pack, that would go and live in my village. Volunteers had been greatly appreciated, so, here I was, carrying everything I owned with me in my duffle bag, as I began my journey to a, hopefully, brighter future. I closed my eyes for a moment and imagined what it would be like. Both packs had the same setup when it came to housing; mated wolves lived in their own houses and if a wolf was not mated by the time, they turned 18, they were offered to live in the mansion with the other unmated wolves. I was one of those wolves. This setup had been made so the mated wolves could enjoy privacy and raise their pups, and the older wolves would be free of the ruckus a pack of young wolves could make. It also increased the odds of wolves finding their mate. I tightened my grip on my duffle bag and started making my way to the mansion with the rest of the young wolves, looking left and right as we walked, taking in every new sight and scent. The pathway was curved, and the mansion wasn’t even visible yet. This village already seemed bigger than my old. We’d been walking for more than 30 minutes when the mansion came into view. It was a massive building, easily 5 stories tall. The bricks and windows were all different colors, shapes, and sizes, showing many different techniques of building, meaning it was very old and had been expanded many times. It was actually quite charming. When we reached the mansion, we formed a line to the front doors. I didn’t mind the extra time it would take to get inside, as it would give me more time to take in the outside of the mansion now that I was seeing it up close. An amazing smell hit my nose. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath, holding it for a moment. I had never experienced anything like it before. It was like coffee and caramel mixed with the comforting smell of rain falling in the forest. It was a strange and yet intriguing smell, but I couldn’t seem to locate the source of it. I heard someone laughing to my right and I opened my eyes to look. A short distance away three girls were sitting on a bench, being entertained by a guy who had his back turned to me. I smiled and rolled my eyes. I guess show-offs are inescapable. I was still looking at the four of them, when suddenly the guy froze. He whirled around and he looked at the line of people making our way into the mansion. His eyes met mine and I quickly looked away. I kept staring straight in front of me until I got inside. A guy was sitting behind a small desk, handing an envelope to a girl standing on the other side of the desk. I looked around, trying to take in every detail as if I would never see it again. The new scents filled my nose all at once. I shook my head and crinkled my nose in an attempt to make it less overwhelming, even though I knew it would do no good. Glancing around, I could tell by the way the other wolves around me were doing the same thing, I wasn’t alone; even the Night pack was reacting strongly to the many new scents invading their territory. When it was my turn to get an envelope, the guy asked my name. “Mira” I answered, and he rummaged through a stack of envelopes until he found one with my name. He handed it to me and looked at a piece of paper in front of him. “Here is your room key” he said, handing me a key and then pointed to a square on the paper “Room 10A. Up these stairs, second floor to the right” He gestured to the staircase next to him. I took the envelope and the key, and made my way up the stairs. I noticed little pieces of paper taped to the doors I passed. Numbers were scribbled on them. 3A, 3B, 3C and so on. Once I reached 10A, I pushed the key in the lock and let myself into my new home. Inside was a bed, a desk with a lamp, a chair, and a build-in closet. There was another door in the corner of the room. I opened it and discovered that this room had its own bathroom. Upon closer inspection, I noticed there was no shower or bathtub. I sat down on my bed and opened the envelope. It was a welcome package, containing papers explaining the routines of the mansion, maps of the mansion and the village, directions to the showers and many other things. I laid down on my back, staring up at the ceiling. At least this was not so much different than my old home. I opened my bag and started unpacking; 5 sets of clothes, some underwear, my laptop, and headset. Only a few minutes later the clothes were in the closet and I was sitting with my laptop in my lab, headphones on, composing music in a program I’d developed. I was so focused on my work that I almost didn’t hear someone knocking on the door. I looked up from my screen staring at the door. Who could possibly want to talk to me? I’d been here for, well, 10 hours, but I had not talked to anyone since I came. I figured that whoever it was would leave if I didn’t answer. They didn’t. The knocks got louder and louder the more I ignored them. Finally, I got up and opened the door. A guy was standing outside, dressed in blue jeans and a blue blazer, smiling at me. “Are you deaf or something?” he said playfully. He glanced down at the headset around my neck. “Or maybe just listening to music on high volume?” he said with a wink. “Uh... Yeah” I answered sheepishly, not wanting to tell him I’d tried to ignore him. “The banquet has started. I’ve been sent to get you” he said cheerfully. “The… what?” I said confused. “Didn’t you read the papers you were given earlier?” He asked. I did. “or did you just forget that a banquet is being held at the Event hall, to celebrate the merging?” I hadn’t. “I’m not dressed for a party” I said, which loosely translated to ‘I don’t want to go’. He gave me a once-over and laughed. “I can see that. You have 5 minutes to get ready” he said ‘Or what?!’ I was about to say, but decided against it, as I did not want to make myself unpopular with the new alpha pair. “Fine” I whispered instead, closing the door. I went over to the bed, closed the lid on my laptop, and placed both the laptop and headset under my bed. I went to the bathroom and looked in the mirror. I knew the other 5 sets of clothes were pretty much identical to the one I was wearing right now. I splashed some water in my face and braced myself to walk back out wearing the same clothes. A knock on the door let me know my 5 minutes were up. I took a deep breath and went out to follow the guy to the Event hall. He made a face to keep himself from laughing. On our way to the Event hall, the guy – Colin I had been informed was his name – explained that the Event hall was used for things like celebrations, announcements, and other gatherings where the whole pack had to attend. It was also used by the Council and for other important meetings. It was located right across the pathway from the mansion. Once we got inside the Event hall even more new scents hit my nose and I had to stop for a moment to adjust. I noticed almost everyone was looking at us, many people making faces or whispered comments to their neighbor, undoubtedly about my choice of outfit for such an occasion. That amazing bittersweet smell from earlier reached me, and I forgot all about the people looking at me. “Anyone else missing?” Colin called out, snapping my attention back to the room. “Not anymore” the Night pack alpha answered and gave me a stern look. I gulped and looked down. “Your seat is over there” Colin told me and pointed in the direction of an empty seat. The tables formed a giant hollow square with wolves sitting on both sides of the tables. There was a small gap at one corner to grant people entrance to the inner part of the square. I walked to the empty seat, and sure enough; there on the plate was a little piece of paper with my name scribbled on it in a beautiful handwriting. I sat down and looked down at my lap, my mouth watering from the sweet caramel scent. Someone clapped their hands together to get everyone’s attention. “Greetings everyone” the male alpha began his speech “As many of hopefully know, I am Adal, the alpha of the former Night pack.“ He continued his speech, but I was no longer listening. The amazing smell was getting stronger and my mind was starting to blur. ‘Maybe it’s just because I skipped lunch’ I told myself, but I knew I didn’t believe that one bit. I looked around. A few seats to my right was the guy from outside earlier, sitting next to one of the girls from the bench. She was leaning against him, whispering something in his ear. He was looking down while listening to her. For some reason, I couldn’t stop looking at them.  I did not like the smug smile that was beginning to form on his face. He had dark, almost black hair, broad shoulders and from what I could see, a straight nose, leading down to a pair of thin lips. His arms were massive. I tried to remember what he had looked like outside when he had turned around, but I had looked away too quickly. I was snapped back to the present when his eyes looked up and straight into mine. Once again, I immediately looked away. I focused on the empty plate in front of me. Damn! Damn! Damn! This was the second time he’d caught me staring at him. In ONE day! I scolded myself while feeling a slight burn in my cheeks. When the wolves around me passed food along, I wasted no time filling my plate with whatever I was given. I probably couldn’t eat it all, but I did what I could to distract myself from looking back to my right.