The Werewolves of Billings Montana

Chapter 3

"You got to be kidding me. Ian, really on my new friend," I said, shocked, and a little angry.

"I am sorry. You know our kind has no control over this kind of thing. We can not help our mates by choice as humans do. Please, you have to understand. I beg you," Ian begged.

"But still. Ava never experienced pack life or was around a pack of werewolves," I replied.

Ava gave my brother and I a confused expression. I knew I would have to explain later what was going on at that moment. This was going to be fun to explain, just like having to explain to a child where babies come in front but werewolf edition.

"What is a mate?" Ava asked.

"I will explain later," I promised.

"Okay," Ava muttered.

I turned towards my brother and said, "Thomas is going to love this. You claimed his sister has yours. What if the wind gets back to Zada? We both know how obsessed she is with you?"

"Don't you dare bring Zada into this conversation, Taylor? I made it clear to her that we were over. Please let this go," Ian begged again.

"I think it is for the best you let this go, Taylor. We don't need a reminder of what Zada did to your brother," Marcus chimed in.

"Fine. Ava, let's go. We have some major things to discuss," I said, tugging on Ava’s arm and dragging her from the office.

Once, I made sure it was clear of any presence from the office. I took Ava towards my bedroom. I gestured for her to sit down. Ava sat at my desk.

"What kind of things do we need to discuss?" Ava asked.

"Well, the fact you and my brother are mates. I need to explain what that means to you. For starters, there's a possibility that my brother’s crazy-obsessed ex-girlfriend will try to scare you away. You need to have a backbone around her. My brother doesn't know that you can't shift. This could become a problem," I explained.

"How could it become a problem?" Ava questioned.

"He would have to claim you, per se. Or I mean to bite you on the neck to signal to others that you're spoken for," I mention.

Ava gasped and sank on the bed.

"Does that mean I become a piece of property to him?" Ava asked harshly.

"In the werewolf community, it does mean that," I replied.

"Dang. You mentioned it might become a problem," Ava said, now standing facing me.

"You remember earlier today at lunch when Eli mentioned his cousin wanting to marry me," I said.

"Yes," Ava replied.

"It would mean you will never gain the title of Luna. Carson would be possible leading this pack if I agree to the arrangement," I explain.

"Understood," Ava replied, "I never knew about pack politics until meeting you. I guess I have a lot to learn."

"Yeah," I agreed.

"First, I think showing you around the compound would be the best. Also, my brother forgot to mention that you will need to do your part with chores around here, too. There will be others who are curious about you. Just ignore them," I mentioned, "Leave your duffel in my room. I can show you the guest room later."

I took Ava around the pack house first so she could get used to the layout. Next, I took the outskirts of the compound and showed her the pack boundary line with Davies Pack. There were a few curious stares from other members. I showed the school I went to before joining the human school.

"Now, I showed you around. Any questions?" I asked.

"Can you tell me about the pack dynamics so that I am aware?" Ava questioned.

"There are different classes in packs. You Alpha and Luna," I mention, "which you will get to know more about in due time."

I winked at Ava.

Ava blushed and continued, "Any others I should know?"

"You have Beta and Gamma, which are the second and third commands. In this case, Marcus and Andy are. I will get more into that later. We are just learning the basics for now. In the middle, there are just plain Delta and Omegas. The deltas help with protecting the pack. We know the Omegas help take care of the house. That should be it for now." I explained.

"Okay, I think I got the pack dynamics covered. I do have one question: What can you tell me about mates?" Ava questioned.

"Sit," I instructed.

Ava followed what I instructed.

"Mates are the other half of wolves. Our soulmates that complete us. Humans would refer to them as partners or significant other. It has become rare for us to find our special someone nowadays. Those who do cherish it and do anything to keep that person with them. In my case, I did not mean my mate. Mine will be an arranged marriage. It saddening to think about. Carson is waiting until I turn eighteen, which is not until January 12th," I explained the best could to Ava.

"Did you get to mention changing the arrangement to Ian yet?" Ava asked.

"No, now that you mention it, I will later. Your arrival changed the plans and the whole mate fiasco. But you never expect the unexpected," I pointed out.

"Am I forgiven for being mates with your brother?" Ava mentions.

"I will forgive you," I laughed.

I pulled Ava to her feet and suggested we make dinner to celebrate my brother and her. Dinner did not go as planned. The one person I hated had to show her face. Zada Oliver.

"Zada, what a surprise?" Ian said with annoyance.

"Where is the girl?" Zada questioned.

"She isn't any of business. Now, leave," Ian ordered.

Zada looked over at me with accusing eyes. She looked over at Ava. Then she lunged at Ava. Ava screamed. I pushed Ava out of the way.

"Listen to my brother. You and my brother have been over for three years. I will let you know and will talk to you. Get over it. You are never going to be Luna of this pack," I retorted.

Zada looked on with embarrassment. Andy looked at me with an awe expression on his face. Ian turned to look at Ava and helped her up. He apologized to her in hushed tones. I looked on, and Marcus caught my eye. Marcus left the room soon after. I went over to Ava to see if she was okay.

"Well, that's something," Andy said humorously.

"That was Zada Oliver. You are right she is nuts," Ava responded.

"Yeah," I agree.

"I will go deal with Zada. Can someone clean up this mess?" Ian gestured to the c*****e that was dinner.

"I will clean up," I offer.

"I will also help," Marcus said from behind Ian.

"Andy, can you show Ava the guest room?" Ian ordered.

"Sure," Andy said and gestured towards Ava to follow him.

"I will get my bag from Taylor's room first," I heard Ava telling Andy.

I immediately got to work cleaning the food from the floor and the broken glass that was everywhere. Marcus came over and cleaned up the table. I threw away all the leftovers. I only put what I salvage in the Tupperware containers. Marcus cleaned the dishes and washed them. Thankfully, dinner was not a complete disaster, just messy.

"Talk about an eventful evening," Marcus comments.

"You can say that again. Do you think Ian will banish Zada from the pack this time?" I asked, "Or actually, the fact that they are over and that Ian has moved on from her? I would personally tell her she had got to move on."

"No, he won't banish her. I think Zada will not see or acknowledge that Ian has a mate until Ava has officially been claimed. Are you starting to explain pack life to her? Marcus questioned.

"I did. I explained the pack dynamics to her and what mates were," I said to help speed up the cleaning process.

Once, everything was cleaned and put away. I went to move to my room to take a much-needed nap. I zonked out, thinking of the fact my new friend could be my sister-in-law. Another thought occurred to me: I needed to figure out how I was going to change my arranged marriage to Carson. I did not know if forcing me to marry my brother's enemy was a good idea. Throwing back the covers, I sped and walked to my brother's office. I knocked this time.

"Come in," Ian's voice replied through the door.

I stepped inside and took the armchair in front of the desk. I took a breath before replying, "I am not ready to fulfill Carson's request once I turn eighteen in January. I wanted to see if there's a way to delay until I graduate in the spring instead."

"I will have to call a meeting with him. You know persistent Carson can be. You know this tradition in our culture that the daughter of an alpha always has to be married off to another pack to help build better ties? I know the risks I am taking for this pack. Mom and Dad were aware of this when you were born. End of discussion for now," Ian angrily replied.

"You know what screw traditions of werewolf culture. I am so sick to the point of seeing female werewolves having no way of getting out of gender roles. This is the twenty-first century, for crying out," I retorted by slamming the office door.

I took off for a run to help calm down and ran towards the borderline again. I checked around to make sure I was completely alone and cried. I felt a tap on my shoulder, not realizing I had fallen asleep in the field. Startled myself awake to see Carson standing there.

"What do you want?" I asked.

"Your brother called me after you went storming off. He got worried and he told me about the situation. I will be happy to meet with you both on the force arrange marriage," Carson replied.

"Fine, tomorrow is when we settled on this matter," I offered.

"Agreed," Carson acknowledged.

Carson left after agreeing to meet. I went to bed still with the day's events on my mind. The one thing I can never get over the fact is that I will not be able to decide my future.