Chapter Eleven

June

Smokey and I crested a hill maybe half a mile away, giving me my first glimpse of civilization.

I didn't know what I thought I was going to find, but this wasn't it. The village didn't look that rural at all. In fact, for a small town, the presence of several landmarks made me feel relieved. There was a water tower, and generators poked out from behind buildings. There were even solar panels tucked away on a few rooflines. A general store was one of the larger buildings around, save for a huge structure set at the end of the main path; or at least it was much bigger than anything else within eyesight. The houses themselves were mostly white, but with a few colorful ones mixed in. It was all very cozy. Relaxed. Peaceful.

At the edge of the first real street was a set of numbered wooden boxes. Smokey went up to one of them, lifted the hinged lid, and pulled out a pair of sweatpants and a shirt. Once those were on, he pulled out a pair of sandals.

"These boxes are all around the edge of the village," Smokey explained as he slipped the loafers on his feet. "Undress here, run in your fur, get dressed again for the village."

The boxes were like lockers then, only there weren't locks on them. There didn't seem to be that many people living here, so maybe theft wasn't a problem. But rather than stop our progress to ask Smokey more questions, I had to catch up as he finished putting on pants and shoes and walked off without warning. Heads popped out of windows. Folks who were outside stopped to watch as we strolled down the main street.

"Mornin', Smokey." A woman walked out of her house, wiped her hands on her apron, and said, "Who is this?"

"New bite," Smokey said simply.

The woman's face perked up as she raised her head slightly to sniff the air. "Welcome to Moonpeak! Where ya longs to?"

"Where . . . what?" I asked.

"Where are ye from?" Smokey supplied.

"The States," I said, still wrapping my head around the local phrase. "Washington state."

"We'll have a yarn later, Eva," Smokey said, steering us past her and on our way.

A cautious smile and a wave back seemed to please her. I appreciated the friendliness as we passed, and she wasn't the last one. Lots of folks said hi to us as we walked down the gravel, which started at the edge of town. I didn't see anything paved, but I guess at least gravel wouldn't turn to mud in the rain, so it was better than no street at all.

When we were more than halfway into the village, I looked at Smokey, who didn't seem to be turning off the main path anytime soon. "Smokey? Where are we headed?"

He looked back over his shoulder. "You'll need to meet the alpha first. Once you're in the Moonpeak pack, you can get settled in."

Smokey led us to the large building I had seen when we first arrived in the village. It was white with deep-blue shutters on all the windows. The door matched, and it had a gorgeous garden to the side with a big fire pit and Adirondack chairs in the middle.

"This is the pack house, Alpha Evander lives here. You won't have to come here much, but this is where Alpha's office is, on the main floor. If you have a request for anything, you'll make it here."

As Smokey and I walked up to the front door, a knot formed in my stomach. The inside was nicely decorated. Every window had deep-green curtains on it. The entry area was two stories high, and I could look up the grand wooden staircase to the second floor, which looked mostly to be bedrooms.

"This way, New Bite," Smokey said, and I followed him down a hall on the bottom floor.

It wasn't far; we passed what looked like a library and another office before coming to the end of the hallway, where a big set of double doors opened into another simple but tastefully decorated room. There was a set of leather chairs in front of a big wooden desk. A bookshelf on the far wall held a number of little ships in bottles, probably a hobby.

"You wait here," Smokey said. "Alpha will be here in a minute. I've got to make a quick report."

"Okay," I said and walked over to a window with a nice view of the village.

Smokey left the room, and I settled in to watch the village move about its business. So many people were active in this small space. Neighbors helping neighbors, people visiting each other, and others who were doing outdoor chores like chopping wood or gardening.

I turned at the sound of footsteps behind me to see a big man with a neat black beard and cleanly combed hair. He looked fresh out of the shower or something. He had sharp blue eyes and wore a polo shirt. He might have been roughly old enough to be my dad, maybe a little younger.

"June?" he asked in a pleasant voice. Friendly. He stuck out his hand for me to shake.

"Yes, that's me."

"Nice to meet you, I'm Alpha Evander. Why don't you take a seat and we can have a chat."

He sat behind the desk and gestured to the leather chairs in front of him. I thought he would be more frightening, but instead he reminded me of a professional. A businessman or something. I slid my backpack off and set it on the floor next to one of the chairs, then sat down.

"Smokey explained that you've been bitten. I'm happy to welcome you to the Moonpeak pack on a probationary period until you are able to shift. We'd be happy to have you and help you get settled into life here for a while."

"Thank you, Alpha Evander," I said.

"While in the pack there are a few rules to abide by." He smiled. "We gather every full moon to run as a community, and on the new moon we have a pack picnic. Community is important to wolves, very important. This probation is a little bit for us to get to know you and you to get to know us. If you fit in, of course, you can ask to join Moonpeak when you have your first full successful shift. Sound good?"

"Great," I said. I wasn't planning on sticking around anyway, so the no-pressure approach was welcome. It would seem Dom had gotten it wrong. Maybe I could go back to Seattle right away after all.

"Excellent." Evander smiled. "Linda can help you get settled in. She runs a small dorm house for visiting unmated females. Smokey will take you over there, and be sure to try one of her sweet rolls if she's made any, they are the best you'll find anywhere."

What the hell is an unmated female?

"I will, thank you." I stood, collecting my backpack.

"Our next picnic is in a couple of days," Evander said. "Full moon is a couple of weeks after that. I'll talk to you again before your first moon." He stood and walked me to the door of his office, where Smokey was standing outside. "Let Linda know if you need anything, all right?"

Alpha Evander handed me over to Smokey. "Take her to Linda's," he said. "I'll talk to you later about our visitors."

"You got it," Smokey said.

"Take care." Alpha Evander waved us off and closed the doors to the pack house behind us.

"He seems nice," I said. "I thought he would be scary."

"Make no mistake, New Bite." Smokey stopped. "Don't cross an alpha, they can bring a world of hell down on you, and Alpha Evander is no exception."

With that ominous bit of advice, I caught up to Smokey, who had started walking again. We turned off the main road, not that there was too much more than the main road in the first place. A two-story house with fresh yellow paint offered a warm welcome. Someone had given it pavers up to the door that were nicer on my feet than the gravel, and potted plants littered the front porch. I couldn't say all of them looked alive, but they were there nonetheless.

"Linda will take good care of you," Smokey said. "I'll leave her to it. You tell her if you have a problem, you hear?"

"Thank you, Smokey," I said.

Linda came out of the house wearing a flannel shirt and dark jeans. Her yellow hair was tied up in a bun that had probably been much neater when she first put it up this morning. She had various things on her, from flour on her sleeves to dried dirt on her knees to something that looked like powdered sugar wiped on her hip.

"Hi there!" She had a big warm smile, and the first thing she did was pull me into a surprise hug. "You must be June, I got ye a room ready. Smokey, 'ow's she cuttin'?"

"Best kind, b'y. Can I leave her with you, Linda?"

"Bye, Smokey, I got her from here," Linda said.

"Yes, b'y, Linda. Take care, New Bite," Smokey said as he walked back down the path.

With Smokey gone, Linda pushed me back at arm's length and studied me up and down. "Aren't you a cutie? You look like you could use some lunch."

"Yes, please." Her energy was infectious.

"And I bet you want a shower." She looked down at herself. "Why don't we both have one, I didn't realize how many of my chores I was still wearing. After that I'll fire up a scoff."

Following her into the house, I could see there were knickknacks everywhere. Teacups and plates hung on the wall in the big eat-in kitchen to the left of the entrance. A living room full of plush couches and wooden ducks to the right, although the central focus seemed to be a beautiful stone fireplace. A candle was burning with a spiced, earthy scent that wasn't quite to my taste but added to the cozy charm of the house. Straight in front of me was a staircase that creaked as we climbed to the second floor.

"I paint all the doors different colors so it's easy to remember where you are," Linda said. "Sometimes visitors are only here a day or two and that's not always enough time to remember your way around."

I saw what she meant; the upstairs hall seemed easy to get turned around in, but every door was a different color of glossy, bright paint.

"I hope you like green because you're about to see a lot of it," Linda said as she opened a door near the end of the row. A green plaid bedspread was laid over a double bed in the corner of the cozy room. There wasn't a closet, but there was a wooden wardrobe where I could put my stuff. A small bookshelf sat next to the bed, acting as a nightstand at the same time, with a little lamp on top. The shelf itself held a few things to occupy the time. Crossword puzzles and word search books sat on it along with an old coffee cup of pencils. There was a checkerboard and a few classic books to read if I got truly bored.

"Thank you, it's great."

Sleeping in cars and on ferries hadn't been comfortable. I also appreciated having some privacy, which I hadn't gotten on the road.

"The bathroom's the light-blue door, yeah?" Linda said, taking my backpack off my shoulders and setting it on the bed. "When you're ready to eat, come on down to the kitchen. Did you see the kitchen when we came in?"

"Yes, I did."

She smiled and reached out to lightly squeeze my shoulder. "My daughter will be home soon, too, you'll see her at lunch. I'll leave you to clean up, but I'd love to get to know you. Welcome to the village, June."

"Sounds great," I said. Linda left the room, closing the door behind her.

I hadn't been mothered so much in a five-minute span since I'd left for college, and it was a bit overwhelming, but still a comforting welcome. Picking through my backpack, I grabbed some fresh clothes and soap and things for a shower. Time to clean up and eat.

Maybe this village would be fun while I was here after all.