New Cultures and Expectations

                It took a good fifteen minutes of further driving down a winding tree lined road to come out into a large meadow-like area with a huge building predominantly placed towards the back of the open space.  There were a couple of other smaller buildings which looked like one a possible garage that must have been able to handle at least twenty or more vehicles. There were other people going about their business and even a few wolves lounging on a grassy area in the sun. It was so relaxed and normal Aricka was stunned. Werewolves were real… sitting there out in the open.

                “Mom you okay? Mom? We’re home. We’re safe.” As the car came to a stop near the largest building Evan removed his seat belt and climbed over to his mother and hugged her. “Uncle Greg will make sure we will be happy here. You can take a nap and know I’m safe too.”

                Aricka chuckles at his simple statement and smiles at the top of Evan’s head before kissing it. “Alright I admit it I was wrong about your werewolves. But I’m still not sure we are safe yet.”

                “Mom they are my people and they really are yours too.  I think you just need to realize this is where you are supposed to be with me and Uncle Greg.”

Gregory opens Evan’s door and looks in with a raised eyebrow. “Time to face the pack pup. Hilda will show you where you will sleep and you can unpack. Then she will introduce you to the other pack pups once they are out of class.” As Evan gets out of the SUV with help from Gregory, Aricka notices an older woman with curly shoulder length hair directing a couple of men to take the bags from the back of the SUV.

Smiling she comes over and gives Jeff and Gregory a hug. “I’m glad it went well. Do you need anything?” As she does this Aricka opens her own door and steps out, then walks around the vehicle. “I’m Hilda Bandor. You must be Mom. I’m sorry the boys here were in such a hurry to find you that they neglected to tell me your name or your son’s.” Her smile widens in true happiness when she finally looks at Aricka. 

It wasn’t often that Aricka got impressions of people right out of the gate, but Hilda gave off the impression of warm biscuits and butter milk. “Aricka and Evan Daniels.”

“Well that was a long drive lets get you settled and then you can relax.” Hilda holds out her hand to gently direct them into; what Aricka could only assume was the much spoken of pack house.

“Hilda if you could make sure the blue bag ends up in my rooms and the others get to the pups. We could use lunch, but we need to have a talk so if you could please bring lunch to the study, we would appreciate it.”

“Of course, Alpha right away.” She stepped back respectfully and led Evan in while Gregory stepped forwards and put a hand gently on her back. It was a little unnerving to Aricka.  Looking around again she quickly realized many had stopped going about doing their business and were now intently watching. A few even whispered among themselves.

The entrance was spacious and warm but she didn’t get to see much more before Gregory directed her towards a door at the far end. “In here.” He closes the door and Aricka was sure she heard the lock being engaged as well.  Clearly this wasn’t going to be a conversation she was going to enjoy.  He walks over to one of the three desks in the room and quickly flips through a stack of papers. “Now that you are safe and we have time I think we should clear the air between us. This situation is completely unique and unless I get the correct information from you now. I will have to lock you up and throw away the key.”

“What? What did I do? I left all of you alone. I didn’t make myself or my son a responsibility and dead weight on your family, pack whatever.” She stopped just before she sat on a leather sofa, turning around to shoot a dagger filled glare at him.

“That’s another issue all together. Now the first questions I have for you go a long this vein.  Did you kill my brother?”

In absolute silent she stares at him, her mouth agape, “I had just married him. No, I didn’t kill him. That day I was meeting him for lunch to tell him we were going to have Evan. Why would I kill the man I cared for deeply and the father of my child? That’s insane! And what prevents me from turning the question right around on you?”

“I didn’t know where he was at the time. Or I may have been forced to. But that is moot now as he’s dead.” Gregory’s predatory gaze was securely trained on Aireka’s every move.

“The shop I was working at was downsizing and Richard didn’t seem to care that I had lost my job because of it. So, I was stuck at home surfing for a job even though Richard told me I didn’t need to work. I was bored though. But I was getting morning sickness so I took a test.  We’d only made love once before our wedding day without a condom and I guess that’s all it took because I had to hope and pray it wasn’t too soon for him that we were starting a family.” Sighing sadly, she slid down onto the sofa.

“He’d just sat down at the table when some men entered the restaurant. They just have followed him in. But he quickly stands up and excuses himself, he headed to the back of the restaurant. I thought he was going to the men’s room. The men followed him into the back of the restaurant.  That was the last time I saw him alive.  He just never came back and I got no answer from his phone.  I even had an employee check the men’s room in case he suddenly needed medical attention but he wasn’t in there. I was so confused and scared.  I called 911 and explained I was scared for my husband’s safety.  They didn’t take me seriously. The police didn’t want to deal with it until someone reported where is body was dumped. Then they came gunning for me but with my morning sickness being so bad they soon realized I wasn’t able to have attacked him. They went through my finances too but they didn’t find enough money anywhere that I could have used to hire someone either. In the same vein, it’s why I lost the condo and was forced to move.  I’d been able to get a job here in Toronto and had to move quickly for it but that job fell through when the company went bankrupt.”

“You spoke to the police?”

“Yes, I stayed in Victoria for two months before moving. Why?”

“Because the police informed us that they didn’t know your name or if you really existed. You are on their list of people to question as Jane Doe. This is not adding up.  We found no papers filed by either Richard or the Minister. So technically you were not married at all.”

“I know if I wanted his death certificate or get them to release his body to me. I had to show our wedding certificate or at least the application for one. But I couldn’t find it either.  So, you see between the baby, grief, and the freezing of all my funds I was stuck until the police forensic accountant unblocked what little money I had personally saved. I was practically useless emotionally. I couldn’t function and in shock at how all my life was either a lie or hidden from me.  I couldn’t tell the police anything about Richard’s business dealings because he kept them from me and me from all his business contacts. I didn’t know what else to do. The police couldn’t tell me if I was going to be come a target or not. So, when I could leave, I got out of there and moved here to avoid becoming a possible target.”

“Well you were so forthcoming there you answered the next three questions I had for you.  I sense no lies in your words or actions so on to the next.  Why did you keep my nephew from his family?”

“Easy I didn’t know if you had had Richard killed or not.  As it stood Evan was safe because only a few of the police knew I was pregnant and I asked them to keep that quiet in hopes that would lessen my chances of becoming a target or Evan becoming a target later on. We had food on the table and a roof over our heads so I didn’t see the pressing need to force a burden on you. I sure as hell didn’t want you to see me grief stricken because I was convinced you would sue me for custody of Evan.” Aricka was getting lost in her feelings about the past that she didn’t even notice she was rambling and repeating herself.”

“Enough you are going to pull yourself together and tell me one more thing.  Did Richard ever tell you he was a wolf shifter?”

“Oh no he did not.  That’s a whole different form of betrayal by him. He either didn’t trust me or just didn’t care for him like I did for him.”

Gregory growls deep in his throat, “Enough I don’t want to hear about your feelings and intimate details.” Turning his back to her he stands by a window and looks out.  Running his hand through his hair before taking his jacket off and tossing it on a desk chair. With a heavy sigh, “You’ve already said he hadn’t bitten you so if there was any form of mating bond starting it would have broken and left you even more fragile emotionally.  That makes this easier too explain to you.”

He moves toward a chair close to Aricka and sits on the edge of the seat. “Richard first tried to take my pack from me by formal challenging me and failed.  Now I find out he tried to take my mate from me too by forsaking his own before he finds her and taking mine. You are supposed to be mine and he’s turned our future chances into something perverse.”

“I know what a mate is to werewolves so I’ll believe it’s the same for real wolf shifters.  So, what you could smell something special about me or some such thing.”

“Yes, you smell like Mexican chocolate to me. Sweet and spicy.” Thinking about her scent and having to be in an enclosed care with her for hours had been torture for Gregory.  It was painful concentrating on driving and what little conversation was going on in the car.  He was biting at the bit to touch her. “I am a wolf shifter and you are my mate.  But I am not an animal.  We don’t know each other and we treat courtship like a dance as shifter.  I fully expect this to be difficult but I am willing to court you for a short time so that we can begin a relationship with trust involved.  I understand that you are now lost in a different world and will have to get a crash course in how to maneuver through it. You will also have to learn about your position’s responsibilities.  I will not force you into mating with me.  I never believed in doing that but eventually you will willingly become my mate. It’s just one of those weird mystical sure things that exists in the world.”

“Soul mates is that what you are talking about.”

“That and more.  We don’t talk about mating because we grow up seeing mates and the disasters that come from non-mated pairs paring off with each other. But that doesn’t count for us.”

“I don’t know.  I’ve not dated since I started dating Richard.  I’m used to being alone.  I don’t know if I want to be a part of a … pair.”