Settling in

Chapter 6

As the weight of the information settles in, my dad pulls out a dagger from the desk he's sitting at and a Golden chalice cup. I’m so lost in my thoughts I don’t hear what he's saying until my mother nudges me and I say, “Sorry, what?” My father laughs and says, “Are you ready for the pack initiation?” I look at him then at the desk and say, “Oh, yeah sure.” He then says, “Ok, lets go get the others and start this pack. We will all need to swear the pack oath. Don't worry, I remember it from when I joined your mothers pack. I'll just tweak the name to the new pack name and me. What was the name you all decided on again?” We all said together, “Blood Moon Eclipse!”

After about twenty minutes we gather everyone on the front lawn of the new packhouse and one by one start the oath. My father looks at me and says, “Ashley, my daughter, Do you swear to follow me your father as Alpha, uphold and protect me and the pack, to always put the needs of the pack above all else, never treat the other pack members with anything other than respect and love, to always do what you can for the members, keep them safe to the best of your abilities and never allow your title of future alpha go to your head?”

I look at him and say, “I, Ashley Renee Smith, hereby swear my loyalty to you my Alpha, to my pack. I swear to uphold the laws and rules of the pack, to protect them to the best of my abilities and to treat every pack member with love and respect. I also swear to never let my title of future Alpha go to my head!”

After my oath my father continues with the others substituting “title of future Alpha” with their current titles and future titles, I can feel as every new member is added and the pack link is established. Now it's starting to feel like a pack again. My wolf is also very happy to have the pack link back and feels like she is right where she was always meant to be.

We all sit around the dining hall table and at first just talk about what we’re all going to do for the next two weeks. As my mother and father enter the room we all quiet down. My dad sat at the head of the table and said, “Ok, so we need to make up teams and get some stuff done. We need to go into town and get food and other supplies. The items we ordered will be here in a few days and we need to make sure we have everything accounted for and put away.” “We will need to start an inventory of everything in town and what we will need to be fixed up so pack members can start their own business.”

“Lastly we need to find a way to get more pack members. We can't go to the council if we don't have at least three hundred members.” “We will need to make sure we don't let just anyone join. We need a system in place for questioning members who wish to join.”

“All of us also need to head to the new school tomorrow and get you all registered for classes, get a list of what we need to get for the school year.” “I'll head to the local dealerships with The Luna, Ashley, Alice as well as her folks. We will buy a new car for them and Matt's parents as neither of them have one. Along with ordering some new pack cars as the school is a good thirty minute walk by foot and we don't want to risk rogue attacks while the kids are on their way to and from school.”

I interrupted my dad and said, “Dad, it might be a good idea to get a van or two, you know the ones that seats twelve people. So as we get more members, we have a way to transport those that don't have cars to the school or town for their jobs. While at the same time, as we get more members we can have someone be the driver of the vans to get us to and from school everyday.” “I want this to be a fair pack in every way possible. Nobody should be treated differently based on what they own or their status.”

My dad smiles at me and says, “Spoken like a true Alpha my dear. I think that would be a great idea. I love it!” I start to blush as he continues. “As we are all new to the area I would like us to stay in teams for now of at least three to six at all times. Let’s all go and get some lunch and we will split up into teams from there. So that leaves the rest of you all to get food and supplies and we will take care of the big stuff.”

Matt and his parents speak up and say, “We will stay here at the pack lands and make sure everything is accounted for. We will just need someone to take us to lunch, and back here after lunch as we won't have a car to get to the dinner and back.” To which Kim and her parents say, “That’s fine, we can take you there and back before we get the food shopping done for the next week of meals, please make a list so we can get things for everyone.” To which I say, “I think it would be best to just grab take out for dinner.”

My dad continues with, “Crystal and Jackie will you and your folks please take care of finding a location for our pack business? Along with getting more clothing and bedding? That way we have extra for any members that join that have little to nothing when they arrive. Here we will want to make sure they have all the essentials and are comfortable. If you don't have the room, just have them delivered to the pack. I'll give you a pack card to take care of the bill.”

The Alpha says, “Matt, I'll order a dumpster or two so we can throw away anything in the stores in the pack town that is unusable. Let us hope that there was no food left anywhere as it will most definitely be revolting and either liquid or hard as a stone by now.”

“I'll also get a third for inside of the pack house so we can order pizza for dinner tonight and have something for our trash here at the pack house. Crystal, will you and your dad Glen get us some trash cans for inside the pack house and trash bags as well and maybe your mother Samara can get some paper plates for the pizza.” “Yes Alpha!” Crystal says.

I then say, “We the girls and Matt, should cook breakfast here tomorrow morning so we can have the first official meal as the Blood Moon Eclipse pack in the packhouse!!!” To which Alice, Kim, Crystal, Jackie and Matt all look at me and groan and say, “Really Ash!!!”

My mom then says, “It's okay kids I'll come help too!” To which I tell her, “No Mom, we the future leaders need to do this ourselves!!” Mom then says, “Fine, the other moms and myself will only set the table and check in to make sure you're not setting the kitchen on fire!” Which makes the other moms laugh then say together “Yes Luna.” My mom then turns to the Alpha and other dads and say, “Make sure you're not late to breakfast…” the dads start to chuckle then she adds, “Oh, and you'll be helping the kids to clean up afterwards!” they all groan. My dad starts to protest but my mom glares at him and says, “No arguments!”

“Then while you are all cleaning up, the other moms and I will be heading to the school to register the girls and Matt in school.” My dad starts in with, “Honey, you should take one or two of the guys with you for protection.” My mom says, “Really? I have three of the top warrior trainers going with us. Do you really think we need men to protect us?”

My dad replies, “Okay fine, you're right plus I don't really want to do that extra paperwork stuff.” “Now, that we all have tasks for each of us to do. Let’s all head out for lunch at the diner and make the lists for meals this week to eat.”

As we get into the truck I say to my dad, “Don't forget to call and set up a regular delivery of food to the pack house, so we don't have to go to the store every week to buy food for everyone.” “Ok dear,” he says, “Thank you for reminding me.”