The Opal Wolf

Chapter Seven

**Selene POV**

Packing up the last of the things I needed that were absolutely essential and organizing a moving crew to transfer the rest to a storage unit, Erin and I hit the road for the thirty minute drive to his pack... well, soon to be my pack as well, I guess. As much as I don't like change, I cannot help but feel excited for this one. I have butterflies in my stomach and what it is from, I can't put my finger on. Asking Esme didn't give me any answers as she has no idea either. Just have to be patient and wait it out.

Erin spends the trip answering the millions upon millions of questions I have about being a werewolf with the patient nature of a saint, explaining to me in more detail what to expect on my first shift, how I am going to have to become more disciplined with my temper, pack hierarchy and mates. He explains to me about life growing up, why he could never have me over at his house as it was strictly against council law for a wolf to bring a human onto pack lands and how he grew up with the Alpha, Andrew Briggs and his sister Marney. The thing that absolutely floors me is the whole idea of mates to these guys. If I have it correct, mates are the other half to a wolves soul. Once they go through their first shift, they begin the search for the missing puzzle piece. Most are lucky and their mate is usually in their pack or in a neighboring pack but there are those, like Erin and his Alpha, who spend years looking and come up empty handed. My heart breaks for my best friend and I now see him in a completely new light. He was lonely yes but it wasn't because of what people had said about him. He really didn't give a sh*t what humans thought of his sexuality. It was because he has yet to find his puzzle piece and he's been fully shifted for six years.

"We're here." Erin breaks me out of my revery. I look around expecting to see a small town or city, but all I see is thick woodlands.

"What do you mean here?" I look at him incredulously. "This is just a forest."

"This is the border of our territory." He explains. "Our pack is over two thousand strong, so we needed a lot of land to keep every one. The forest ensures that no humans really come upon the pack as most are too scared to come this deep into the woods, worried about being eaten by wild animals." He grins cheekily at me.

"Oh." I murmur in understanding.

"Are you ready?" He looks at me with worry.

"Yes." We spend the next ten minutes driving down a dirt road that curves and winds down into a gully. At the base of the gully is what looks like a huge town. Schools, houses, lakes and recreational centers are all littered throughout the land and in the center is what I assume to be a huge house that is meant to be the courts. As we pull up to this house, I realize that it is actually a home. Four stories tall with gorgeous red brick, a terracotta slatted roof, huge Mediterranean arched windows, white roman pillars and a wrap around porch to die for. The house was breath taking. We get out of the car and head up to the door, random people nodding their heads in respect to Erin as they pass by.

The pack is showing respect to their Beta. Esme explains. He is second in command, only the Alpha and Luna are above him.

So if the Alpha and Luna are CEO of the pack, then that means Erin is the COO of the pack? I question.

If you look at the pack as a multibillion dollar company, then yes. She chuckles. That analogy is actually pretty on the head for most packs too. They are their own self sustaining community. The bigger the pack, the more well off they are.

Stepping in through the front door, I am blown away at what lays before me. If I thought the exterior was gorgeous, it has nothing on the interior. Two twin stair cases made of a deep stained mahogany adorned with iron hand rails meet you at the door and go up in an arch to the second level. The floors of the first floor are a deep grey slate tile and the walls have a soft beige paint on them. A wonderfully sparkling and huge chandelier hangs from the ceiling, casting a warm glow on the entry. Keeping on the first floor, there is what I can only assume is a rather large living room from line of sight to the entry, large sectionals adorning all the corners I could see from here. This place is huge!

"Welcome to the pack house, Sel." Erin chirps. "Do you understand fully now why I couldn't bring you here as a human?"

"Yes I do," I laugh. "But your excuse of your house looking like a bad party at a frat house is a bullsh*t excuse." I raise my eyebrows at him as he blushes a light shade of pink. "So, where are we meeting Andrew?"

"It is Alpha Andrew." Erin explains with a serious undertone to his voice. "I understand you are still new at all of this Selene, but if you don't call him by his respective title, he could take it as a slight and be offended. Best to weigh on the side of caution with this one, alright?"

"Oh, um alright."

"I don't mean to come across as mean." He explains softly. "But wolves take their titles in the pack very seriously, the Alpha most of all. I get away with it because I am his Beta and I have also known him my entire life. Now that we have that cleared up, he is waiting in his office for us. Shall we?"

"Lead the way, Beta." I quip at my best friend sarcastically.

Following Erin, we make our way under the stair case and to the right down a hall with all sorts of doors. He informs me that this is where all of the higher ranking wolves offices are located; from the head warrior all the way up to the Alpha. He has me peek into his quickly as his is to the right of the Alphas. It is very neat and tidy, nothing that I would have expected from my scatterbrained friend. I love Erin, he is my brother from another but I swear sometimes that if his head wasn't attached to his body, he would forget where he put it. Walking up to the door at the end of the hall, Erin gives a strong knock, waiting for permission to go in. A gruff enter sounds on the other side and as we clear the door, I am greeted with the most heavenly sight. Standing in front of me is the most delicious looking man! He is 6'4 easily, milky chocolate hair that hangs at his shoulders and a well toned and muscular body. His jaw is sharp and covered with a small beard, high cheek bones and a strong nose. When our eyes meet, I swim in the brightest hazel-gold eyes I have ever seen.

"Hello Selene." His deep voice rings with authority. "My name is Andrew Briggs. Welcome to Blue Crystal.