5. Getting To Know You

‘Getting to know someone else involves curiosity about where they have come from, who they are.’ -Penelope Lively

Killian 

   I woke up early the next day and dressed quickly, pulling on my pants, shirt and boots before securing my sword to my waist. I walked through the packhouse in search of breakfast to start my day. 

   I lived on the third floor of the large brick building that made up our packhouse while Reginald and my Gamma, Wren, lived on the second floor. The first floor held a few rooms but mostly consisted of a large dining hall, kitchen and offices. It was the center of our pack village.  

   The rest of the pack members lived in their own houses throughout the Nightshade village. We had forges that made most of our weapons, bakeries that provided bread for the pack members, workshops that made wooden weapons and furniture, smithies that made things to help us with agriculture and building, masons that built all our brick buildings and, lastly, were our military buildings that housed our single soldiers. There were gardens that produced our food, along with a large barnyard where the rest of our food came from. We were fortunate. 

   This morning, walking the halls of the packhouse down to the dining hall, my boots sounded heavier than usual. I took my usual seat at a table and was soon served a breakfast plate full of eggs, bacon and brown bread. I happily dug in and enjoyed my warm meal. As I ate, Reginald came up with Wren right behind him. They both joined me and were served breakfast. 

   "What are your plans for the day?" Wren asked me. 

   "I have to go back to the Timber Coven to secure our alliance and I'm going to spend time with my mate," I answered. 

   "From what Reginald was telling me, I can't wait to meet her. She sounds like a badass." 

   I laughed and said, "I do believe she is." 

   "What would you like for us to do while you are gone?" Reginald asked. 

   "I would like for you two to handle your normal duties. I will update things when I get back." 

   "Got it," he said before taking a bite of his bacon. 

   "Do we need to be alert for anything today?" Wren asked. 

   "Not that I can think of," I told her while shaking my head. 

   She nodded and went about eating her food. While we ate, I thought about how the three of us grew up together. We were always close. Our parents had a hard time separating us when we were young kids. Personally, I always thought that Reginald and Wren would end up as mates, but when they turned eighteen, there was no bond. I found it odd. 

   Once I was done eating, I said bye and headed out the door of the packhouse. I walked through the cobblestone streets and out the gates of Nightshade village. I headed straight for the woods and started walking fast towards the Timber Covens fortress. It took me an hour to arrive at their front gates. 

   “Name and business,” the guard said as he looked at me. 

   “Alpha Killian of the Nightshade Pack. I’m here to speak with High Priestess Amarantha.”

   He nodded his head and opened the gate. I walked into the fortress to find it busy again this morning. Another guard was there to escort me to Amarantha’s office. This place was huge so I was happy to have someone show me around.  

   After walking through several halls and climbing two flights of steps, we arrived at her office. The guard stepped up to the office door and knocked. 

   I heard Amarantha from the other side call out, “come in.” 

   The guard nodded to me and turned to leave as I opened the door and went inside. I smiled at Amarantha as she stood up upon seeing me. I closed the door and crossed the room towards her. I held my hand out to her and we shook. 

   “Welcome back, Alpha Killian,” she said.  

   “Thank you, High Priestess Amarantha.” 

   We both sat down and started the conversation about an alliance. We worked out a deal that their witches would help put a barrier up around the pack and we would help defend and patrol their area in return. She drew up a document for the both of us to sign while I sat and watched her. 

   “When do you want me to have warriors start patrolling?” I asked. 

   “As soon as we put the barrier up. If, for any reason, the barrier goes down, contact me immediately.”

   “Of course,” I told her with a curt nod.  

   We both signed the document and I was given a copy of it. When everything was done, I took my copy, rolled it up and stood up from my seat. 

   “Where might I find Ember this morning?” I asked. 

   “No telling with her really. I can send her a message to come meet you here at my office.” 

   “That would be appreciated.” 

   I watched as she wrote a note and then it disappeared into thin air as she chanted ‘mitte’.

   Magic was amazing and I loved the world we lived in. I just hope to the Goddess above that it didn’t end because of Soren’s war. How devastating would it be to fight for something just to watch all of it die?

   I didn’t have to wait long and there was a knock on Amarantha’s office door. 

   “Come in,” she called out. 

   The door opened and Ember stepped inside with a smile on her face and her cat at her side. I took in a deep breath of her burnt peach orchard smell and smiled brightly at seeing her again.  

   “Good morning,” I told her. 

   “Good morning,” she said in reply.  

   “I’m finished here if you would like to go for a walk,” I offered.  

   “Yeah,” she said, motioning out the office door with her head. 

   I followed her out of the office, but before I shut the door, I turned and looked at Amarantha.

   “Thank you,” I told her.  

   “You’re welcome,” she told me with a soft smile.  

   I shut the door and followed Ember through the fortress and outside to the courtyard. She slowed to a stop in the sunlight and turned to look at me. Her cat was at her feet rubbing on both of her legs. He was actually kind of cute for a cat. 

   “Would you like to sit here in the courtyard or walk in the woods while we talk?” Ember asked me. 

   “Let's go for a stroll in the woods.”

   I heard her cat meow up at her and she looked down at him, then said, “I guess I can carry you.”

   I laughed at their interaction and watched as she picked him up and carried him over her shoulder like a baby. I followed her out of the fortress gates and into the woods close by. I walked beside her and found it easy to match her pace. I really took in her clothing today. She seemed to always wear black dresses. I wonder if she just liked the color. 

   “How are you this morning?” I started the conversation off. 

   “I’m good. How are you?” 

   “Fantastic. It’s been a really good morning.” 

   “That’s great.” 

   “I know that this is a way to get to know one another, so where would you like to start?” I asked. 

   “How old are you?” she asked. 

   “I’m twenty-one. How old are you?” 

   “Twenty.” 

   “Are your parents still alive?” I asked her. 

   “No,” she said with a shake of her head. 

   “I’m sorry.” 

   “It’s ok. My father was a wolf like you. He was killed in battle when I was young and my mother was killed in battle a few years ago.”

   “You’re the half-breed that Amarantha was talking about yesterday in our meeting,” I stated.  

   “What did she say?”  

   “That you were strong,” I told her. 

   She nodded her head and asked, “do you have any concerns about me being a half-breed?” 

   “Not at all. Should I?” 

   “No,” she told me. 

   I could hear her cat starting to purr loudly in her arms as we walked through the trees. I knew that it was a way of comforting someone, so I wondered if the topic was somehow hurting her. She could hide it well if it was bugging her. 

   “Are your parents still around?” Ember asked. 

   “No,” I told her while shaking my head. 

   “The war?”

   “Yes and no. My father was killed in battle when I was fifteen and my mother died a year later of wolf fever,” I explained.  

   “I’m so sorry,” she said empathetically.  

   “It’s alright.” 

   We walked a little further in silence before I asked, “Do you have any siblings?” 

   “No. I was the only one. How about you?” 

   “I had a sister that was a year younger than me. She found her mate during a battle and he killed her. I killed him after that,” I rumbled while remembering the horrible incident. 

   “I’m sorry.” 

   I nodded. Losing my parents was hard, but losing my little sister like that hurt more than words could describe. The only reason I knew he was her mate is because she told me over a mind-link and said she was going to try and get him to our side of the battle. I tried to tell her no but she wanted her mate. All wolves did. I knew what that pull was like now. If Ember were one of the Realm Assassins, I would be dead or one of the mystics now, because there's no way I could have even thought of fighting her. 

   “How will your pack react to me?” she asked.  

   “I’m not sure but if they have a problem with me accepting our bond and having you as our Luna, then they can leave the pack,” I told her.  

   She stopped walking and I stopped with her. I turned to face her to see what she was thinking.

   “You would choose me over your pack members?” 

   “Yes,” I told her honestly. 

   “That’s what my father did to. My grandfather didn’t want my father to take my mother as his mate, so he disowned my father and stripped him of being the next Alpha.”

   “Your father was an Alpha?” I asked in astonishment. 

   She nodded her head while pressing her lips together. 

   “Do you know what pack he was from?” I asked. 

   “Scarlet Moon.”

   Holly Goddess above. She was the heir to Scarlet Moon. They were known for their battle integrity and their ability to fight like no other pack in our world. 

   “Alpha Talon is your grandfather?” I asked in shock. 

   “I guess. My father never talked about him much,” she said with a shrug. 

   “So your dad was Rook?”

   “Yes.” 

   “Wow!” I said, still astonished.  

   “Is that a big deal?” she asked.

   She clearly didn’t understand anything about wolf packs, our politics or really anything. Poor thing was about to be dropped into it as she became Luna of our pack though. 

   “In the werewolf world, it is. Talon said that Rook died before he could become Alpha.”

   “What a nice lie to save his own ass,” she said, and I could tell it made her mad. 

   I nodded in agreement with her. If the other packs knew about this there would be hell to pay. I wonder what the other Alphas would push Talon to do. He had no heir now to take over the pack. By rights, they should fall under Ember’s rule. 

   We started walking again in comfortable silence as I processed everything.  

   “I want to let you know that I have a replacement for my position here at the coven. I will be ready to leave with you soon. I just want to make sure they are ready before I leave,” she told me. 

   “That’s understandable. Can I come see you each day until you are ready?” 

   “Yes,” she tells me with a smile. 

   “Perfect.” 

   I looked up at where we were and noticed that we were back in the woods at the front gates. The trees made almost a perfect circle around the coven fortress and I had just walked them with her. 

   “Well, I guess this is where I leave you today,” I told her. 

   She smiled and nodded her head at me before saying, “I’ll meet you here tomorrow.” 

   “When?” 

   “Early morning.” 

   I nodded in agreement before leaning in and leaving a kiss on her cheek on the side that she wasn’t holding her cat. Her skin was soft and so much warmer than any other being I had ever come into contact with. 

   I pulled back and saw the huge smile on her face. She wasn’t very shy at all. I wonder what life with her was about to be like.