05 A pack

Becca

Completely exhausted, I fell asleep during the drive to Jason’s home, even with the warming morning sun burning through the window.

“Becca,” he nudges my shoulder carefully, and when my head falls to the side, he catches it with his hand. Warmth spreads as he caresses under my eye with his thumb. “Becca?” he asks again.

My eyes open slower than I’d like, and my moves are sleepy as I wake.

“Hey,” sea-blue eyes greet me, and I swear the white freckles shine like diamonds.

“Hey,” I croak and blink before I do something reckless and reach out to pull him closer.

He lays back in his chair, dropping his hand from my face, when I lift my head. I yawn, looking around, dazed. Numbness paralyzes my right arm because I kept it at the wrong angle during my nap. Willing the sleepiness away, I scrape my eyes.

I sigh nervously as I get out of the car and approach their home. It is the last house on the street, with a forest behind their backyard and crop fields on the side.

I stand next to the door as Jason takes a nervous breath, his forehead lining – guess I’m not the only one anxious here.

He unlocks the door with his keys, and before the door is fully opened, he is pulled inside by an old lady dressed in traditional native american clothes.

“Come in quickly,” she hurries us inside. “Has anyone followed you? Did you see anything suspicious?” she asks, shutting the curtains after looking outside. Her two long braids have colorful embroidery thread braided in them, 

“No,” we reply in unison.

“No one is after us, Grandma,” Jason assures her as she looks us over with worry etched on her face.

“That’s what your grandfather and father thought,” she replies, clutching her heart. “My beautiful Jason.”

“Come on, grandma, let’s make tea for our guest,” Jason cradles his grandma’s arm and walks her to the kitchen.

Not knowing what to do, I stand there silently, looking around in the living room. The tables, the couch, and the armchairs are covered with crotchet pillows and blankets. The walls are covered with old family portraits, embroidery, and tapestry that I’m sure is Jason’s grandma’s handwork. The room fills me with warmth, just like a loving home would. 

Stepping closer to the wall, a young man with Jason's eyes but slightly different facial features looks back at me, smiling widely as he holds a woman closer with one hand and cradles a baby with the other. 

“Sorry, Umm, she isn’t always like this. She has better days, but today is not one of those,” Jason starts as he arrives back. 

“Don’t apologize. She lost so much, I understand,” I reply, but he can’t meet my eyes.

He shouldn’t be embarrassed by her grandma. Right when I want to say something more, Jason’s mother arrives from the back of the house, and I instantly recognize the woman in the picture in front of me. 

“You’re back, finally. I was worried,” she starts but stops when her eyes land on me. After a moment of silence, she hurries to hug Jason and steps in front of me. “What a lovely woman you are,” she glances at Jason not so subtly. “And you’re up early.”

“Or up late,” I answer with a smile. “We haven’t slept, went on a run, instead.”

“Oh, you did?” she looks at Jason in awe. “How nice. I’m Tina,” she offers her hand, and I accept.

“I’m Becca, and I'm very, very happy to meet you,” I say honestly. Her forehead creases the same way as Jason's, and she stifles a cry before pulling me into a hug. 

“I don’t want to be rude, but can I say it is frightening and exciting at the same time to smell another werewolf?” Tina exclaims when we break apart. The end of her long, straight hair trickles my forearm as she keeps my hands in hers. 

“I agree,” I reply as we laugh together, and I see Jason shaking his head in my peripheral.

“It has been only the two of us for so long,” she looks at Jason lovingly, and he nods, smiling at his mom with the loveliest smile I have seen on his face. “Anyway,” she waves away her tears, “You should sit and talk while we prepare breakfast,”

“Oh, I’d love to help,” I reply as my stomach growls.

“We just had squirrels and bunnies,” Jason lifts a brow at me as we walk to the kitchen.

“Yeah, but we ran it off afterward.”

Tina leads the conversation with endless questions as she hurries around the kitchen to get everything set. Jason silently works around her, making coffee and toast. They look like a well-oiled machine, with Jason’s grandma in a rocking chair knitting something.  

***

“Your dad is huge compared to not being a ranked member, you know,” Jason glances at me warily as I show them pictures of my family.

“Yes, according to Mom, he grew since he became technically the Alpha of our little pack,” I reply.

“Woah, I didn’t think that was possible,” he replies.

“Yeah, it’s weird. After losing the protection of the pack he began training himself and us intensively, as it seemed more important. Still, none of my brothers are as big as Dad. They aren’t Alpha types, according to Mom. What was your dad ranked?”

“He was the Head of the tracker team,” he shakes his shoulders like that’s nothing.

I open my mouth to protest, but I can tell he knows how important job trackers have and how heightened their senses are. He just wants to disregard it for some reason.

Maybe him inheriting his father’s smelling capability let him find me. A scent can vanish pretty quickly, sometimes with just two windows being opened at the same time. Maybe I should leave actual sweaters behind because a clothing item I wore for a day will have my scent longer than a chair and table.

“Do you know what has happened to your pack land?” I ask both of them, but mostly Tina.

“What do you mean? It was burned down,” Jason replies with confusion creasing his forehead.

“I mean legally. We checked, and the government took back the territory where our pack lived. It was the Alpha’s property, but all his relatives died, and it became state property,” I reply, as they look at me perplexed.

“We’ve never checked,” Tina shakes her head finally, but Jason seems interested. He sits back with his eyes looking away, thinking.  

Their kitchen is furnished in the same style as the living room. Probably been like this for Jason’s entire life, as he mentioned that the house belongs to his grandma.

“So, Becca, Jason told me you’ve been looking for your mate. I’ve been telling him to go look for his, but he isn’t willing to go further than Austin,” she looks at her son pointedly.

“Yes, but I haven’t had much success. Jason is the first werewolf I’ve met, and I’ve been on the road for six years,” I sigh sadly, sipping from my tea. “It would be nice to have a pack again,” I tell her with a sad smile.

She pauses for a few moments, looking at me carefully. “I haven’t left Austin since my Jason died all those years ago. I assumed all packs were gone.”

I grasp her hand understandingly. “I haven’t heard from any other packs. It is just a wish,” I smile at her, but her face is focused.

“If any pack could’ve survived, it must be the Crystal Ice Pack,” Tina says with a distant expression like she is trying to remember something.

“Crystal Ice Pack?” Jason asks. “You've never mentioned it before.”

“Before the hunters came, one of our last new packmembers was from there. She joined our pack because she found her mate here,” Tina explains further. “They live up north, in Minnesota, in the Lima Mountain, completely off-grid.” Her gaze is so serious that I can’t do anything but sit, waiting for her to explain more. 

“They had their homes carved into the mountains in a huge tunnel of caves. They didn’t use electricity. The Luna was a witch, though. I think they might’ve survived this whole thing,” she says, convinced.

My mouth drops open as I beg silently that she is right about this. Questions swirl in my mind, but the most important is the one that breaks from my lips. “Do you know any way of contacting them?”

“No, she didn’t say much. Our pack sent the beta with warriors to visit them, to form an alliance and maybe a trading agreement, but they said they didn’t need anything from the modern world,” she shrugs her shoulders.

“That sounds crazy,” Jason says dumbfounded. “Living without electricity? How did they make clothes, food, anything? I love camping, but I’m not gonna lie, arriving home to a warm house with a working shower is essential,” he sits back in his chair, folding his arms, with a stern expression.

Even though I agree with all his questions, my instant reply is who cares? If that kept them alive, kept them from being detected by military drones, then all hails for them.

“They had a few tricks to hide themselves, and our Beta had to go to meet them in Kansas,”

“In Kansas? That is far from Minnesota,” I reply. The illogicality of it creases my brows.

“I know they are very secretive, and it is my understanding that you can only get there using their magic.”

“That sounds incredible,” I sit up straighter and feel Bliss pricking her ears. “Do you know the exact location in Kansas or anything else?” I ask, exited.

“No, nothing else,” she replies, adding as my posture drops. “Sorry. If I can remember anything else, I’ll let you know,” she assures me.

“Thank you. It isn’t much to start on,” I say sadly.

“I’d say it’s nothing to start on. What’s there to search for anyway? If we go looking through pack lands, old territories, we could give ourselves away for hunters who still might be looking,” Jason explains with a scowl. “Becca is the first werewolf I’ve met in my life, and we only met because she’s been actively searching for six years.”

He is not wrong, though his lack of enthusiasm saddens me. Am I the only one who actually craves to live in a pack, to be part of something? To roam the woods with other wolves and spend time freely as our authentic selves?

“I’ll ask my parents,” I say with conviction.

“Good,” Tina replies. “If any pack could survive, it's them,” she says adamantly, standing up from her chair. “You should go together to find them,” she points at Jason and me as she paces the room.

“For what?” Jason asks angrily. “I have more and more clients, and I have worked years to get where I am. I can’t abandon work. And Becca has a life, too, a career. You can’t ask us to give up our lives for a pack that might exist somewhere.”

“To find your mates,” Tina’s arms fly high on both sides as she replies adamantly, but Jason only scoffs and rolls his eyes.

“The chance of having a mate is close to zero. There might be no other werewolves, and even if there are, the chance that some of them are my mate…” he sighs heavily, “Come one. It’s impossible.”

“You don’t know what you’re missing out on,” she answers.

“And I’m fine with that,” he replies, getting up from his chair too.

From the way this conversation angers both of them, I recognize that it has been a topic they’ve been fighting over for a while.

“The mate bond is special,” Tina continues, but Jason’s shoulders drop as he holds his head.

“Yeah, I get that. But when you were young, there were plenty of werewolves around. You lived in packs. It’s different now. We don’t have the same environment.”

“Both my brothers say the same,” I add softly, not wanting to add fuel to this. “My oldest brother says he doesn’t want to have children ever because he doesn’t want to raise a werewolf in this world. It’s too risky,” I admit, knowing how it saddens my mother.

“He isn’t wrong,” Jason says, and Tina pulls in a sharp breath.

“You can’t seriously say that.”

“I do,” Jason replies with a stern expression.

“I’ve been dreaming about having a mate, living in a pack for as long as I can remember,” my lips quiver as my feelings overwhelm me. “I know going through forests and searching for old packhouses is too dangerous, so I don’t.”

“There’s really no nice way of putting it, but the things you’re longing for are not possible anymore,” Jason turns to me, and his face softens, seeing tears well up in my eyes.

“Don’t say that,” Tina argues, coming to my side to hug me as I wipe at my eyes to clear them from the tears.

He sits back down, sympathy lining his forehead. I lay my head on Tina’s shoulder as she makes soothing motions on my back.

“It isn’t impossible. But the chance of finding enough survivors to form a pack will be hard and might take long.”

“You found us. I’m sure you’ll find others too,” Jason adds with the same shrug he did when he told his father was a tracker, and I instinctively know that is to mask his real feelings. I’ve known him for less than a day, but I’m already catching on to his telltale moves.

“You’re right,” I sit back up. "We already have each other. And if you visit us, or my family comes here, the seven of us can run together,” I tell both of them with newfound happiness. “Seven wolves can be a pack, right?”

“They sure can,” Tina brushes away some hair that stuck to my teary face.

“We would love to have you at our home any time,” I tell Tina, and when I’m on leave next time, I’ll make sure to visit and try to convince my family to join me.

“Sounds like a plan,” she replies happily.  

“I think as long as we don’t have anything specific on how to find the Crystal Ice Pack, searching for them is too dangerous,” I say with finality. “I still gonna leave my scent in diners and information on how to find me for any werewolves passing by,” I smile at them.