The Human In The Wolf Pack
Chapter 24

“These are the other members of the first five,” Tristan claimed, his blue eyes shifting from me, to the other four people who he had called outside to meet me.

“I am Eliza,” A woman stepped forward with dark, tanned skin. Her black hair fell in dreads against her face, down to her h**s. She looked to be in her mid twenties, and I couldn’t help but admire the way she moved, almost as if she was dancing as she bowed her head. When my eyes met hers, I saw the rich, gold hues of her irises. She was exotically beautiful.

“I can command serpents,”she continued, and I watched fascinated as a large python uncoiled from around her waist, and slithered up to rest on her shoulders. The snake blinked its slitted eyes at me as it’s tongue flitted briefly to taste the air.

“I am Ariel,” A different voice sounded, drawing my attention to the woman beside her, which was her polar opposite. She looked to be the closest to my age. Her hair was a shade of white so bright, it was nearly blinding in the sun.It danced on the breeze, constantly, even when I myself couldn’t feel any wind. She wore a breezy, light blue dress that complimented her pale,milky skin and clear, crystal blue eyes.

“I can control the element, wind,” Ariel explained, and as if to reiterate, the breeze brushed by our group, stirring our hair and clothes.

“You can call me Drax. My gift isn’t nearly as flashy, but I can hear everything that happens in this world,” A man smiled. He had dirty blond hair and hazel eyes. He had a cute appearance and appeared to be no older than sixteen. He seemed friendly and carefree as he reached to shake my hand. I smiled back at him, as he reminded me of a younger Ripley.

“My name is Adele. I can create portals,” Said the last figure. She was a petite girl with short, strawberry blond hair and bright green eyes. A dusting of freckles covered her face as she looked up at me, shyly. She fiddled with her hands in front of herself as she looked toward Tristan, a bit nervous.

“She made the door we took to get here, and she helps me track down new Gifted all over the world,” Tristan explained, smiling softly at the young girl, close to thirteen.

The girl blushed, her skin turning a bright scarlet at his praising tone.

“It’s nice to meet you all, I’m Vera,” I smiled at the four, then hesitated. How could I explain my own Gifts?

“She is the Queen we have all been waiting for,” Tristan continued for me.

Immediately, the four bowed their heads deeply, surprising me.

“I apologize for my rude greeting, My Lady,” Eliza said, her tone full of remorse.

“No, please. I have much to learn from all of you, so you don’t need to treat me so reverently,” I said, feeling uncomfortable with how formal their attitudes turned.

“You were a Queen we waited a long time for. When we received our Gifts, the Goddess told us about the Queen who would lead us. You are a very important existence to all of us, Vera,” Tristan excused, not at all bothered by his companions reactions.

“Geez, Tristan, why didn’t you tell us earlier? I acted like a total air head in front of our leader!” Dax whined, looking up at the blond man with an accusatory glare.

Tristan simply laughed, and Dax’s expression turned sulking. I could tell the five of them cared about each other greatly, and all I could hope for was to become a person that could fulfill their expectations.

“Well, it was a stressful mission, so let’s have a meal while we get to know each other,” Tristan said, leading the group of us back towards the mansion.

I followed obediently, taking in my surroundings silently. As we entered into the foyer, I saw a few people moving about. They greeted the five around me as they went about their day. It was a huge house, bigger than any I had ever seen before, including the pack house in The Lightened Horizon’s pack. It was also pretty grand. Everything appeared to be modern, and grandiose. It was beautiful, but not exactly to my taste. Still, I couldn’t help but admire every nook and cranny as I followed the five to the dinning hall.

“This place is massive,” I commented, amazed.

“Well, we aren’t exactly sure how many Gifted will emerge, though we knew it would be a large number. Better to have too much, then not enough,” Dax answered, his expression thoughtful.

“At the moment, there are one hundred and nineteen Gifted, between the ages of twelve and twenty eight. All of them have emerged in the last year, and we expect it will be almost two more years until the battle begins,” Ariel informed me softly.

I swallowed, that was indeed an impressive number for just a year. If it continued at this rate, there would be close to four hundred Gifted, but for what? Why exactly were they appearing now?We entered the dining hall, which was currently empty. A buffet style of food was lined up, sitting on a metal table, in trays to keep everything warm. I could tell it had already been picked through.

“These are the leftovers from lunch, but I promise everything is still fresh. You’re welcome to anything you want,” Tristan told me, handing me a plate.

My mouth watered at the aspect of food. These last twenty four hours had been so hectic, I hadn’t had time to eat a bite. We all filled our plates, and sat at one of the long tables, Tristan on my left, Eliza to my right, Ariel beside her and Dax and Adele across from us. They bantered lightly at first as I ate, and once I had filled my stomach enough I tuned into the conversation.

“It took longer than expected for you to return this time, Tristan. What happened?” Adele’s soft voice question, as she took a sip from her lemonade.

“Well, I scouted the area as I always did, but I underestimated the situation,” Tristan sighed, peaking over at me.

“Why don’t you tell us your story? Or as much of it as you’re comfortable with? Why was a human living in a pack of werewolves?” Tristan asked, his eyes inquisitive.

I almost choked on the bite of my turkey sandwich at the forwardness of his question as four more pairs of eyes locked on me, intrigued. The question seemed intrusive, but for some reason I trusted the people at this table, even liked them without having known them for very long at all. They all just seemed very earnest, and kind. I had never had a long conversation with another human being before, and there was this sense of family that came quite naturally with them. So, I decided to tell them.

“I was found lost in the woods when I was three, by a few warrior werewolves. They took me back to their Alpha and Luna, and they adopted me. I was raised in their pack, until a few days before my eighteenth birthday, when Rider and I found out we were mates. He’s the Alpha of the pack Tristan found me in,” I told them.

“You were raised by werewolves? I heard they were a very exclusive species,” Dax said, his eyes wide with surprise.

“You are right, most of my parent’s pack didn’t want me there, but my adopted family was very kind to me. They never treated me like anything but their daughter,” I admitted, a bit awkward.

I was never treated kindly by the majority of The Lightened Horizon pack, afterall, werewolves didn’t trust humans. They preferred to be around their own kind. Rider’s pack was the outlier in the equation, and I can’t help but wonder if his mother faced any hardships when she first entered that pack. I turned to see Tristan eyeing me closely, and for a moment, I was worried I had shown a pitiful expression.

“A human and a werewolf mated, though? Isn’t that extremely rare?” Ariel asked, her head c*****g to the side adorably with curiosity. Her hair followed the movement, still dancing slightly as it was constantly caught in a breeze, even indoors.

“Yeah, I think so. The only other human and werewolf pair I had heard about was Rider’s mom and dad.”

“Your mate must be pretty open minded,” Eliza commented, taking a bite from a vivaciously red apple.

“Well, not at first…” I mused, thinking back to the rough start to our mate bond.

Tristan stayed silently, observing the conversation as we all spoke. The day seemed to pass quickly. I was given a short tour of the house, and shown my room. Since I couldn’t bring my bag of things with me, they gave me everything I would need. For the first time in my life, I was able to speak and hang out with other humans, and it was nice. As the sun sank, the five of them left my spacious room, saying they’d give me sometime to adjust. Tristan told me to come down for dinner if I was hungry, and as soon as the door closed behind them, I collapsed against my bed, exhausted.