Chasms of Copper

Chapter 11

[Edited]

Jane

There were several good things about living in the Lake MacBride, Iowa, area. The temperature was pretty nice in the summertime. There was a good amount of vegetation---trees, flowers, grass, shrubs, and the likeness of others. The location of the small town was opportune. It wasn't a very big place, but it was located near enough to bigger places and attractions. For instance, Lake MacBride, nature preserves, malls, zoos, and landmarks. Jane and her friends had even been able to visit Mount Rushmore in the previous summer. Of course, it got freezing in the winter but at least there were snow days. Presently, in January, the snow was still on some rooftops and frost glazed over the ground. Sledding down slopes and hills was also a fun pastime. 

However, in Jane's opinion, the best part about living in the small area was the population. Because out of the population of about five-thousand people, a little more than two-thousand of them were werewolves. And of those two-thousand, at least five-hundred weren't in a pack---Rogues. That left only one-thousand-five-hundred werewolves in the entire area. And if basic math was applied, it could be calculated that only eight-hundred or so were able-bodied or between the ages of fifteen and forty-five. The point of these calculations was that with only eight-hundred wolves to consciously consider, she knew a lot of people.

All werewolves are taught to know their Alphas, Betas, and Gammas, as well as a few of the previous ones who had retired from those positions. So, it was easy for Jane to identify who Beta Chase McGinnia had brought with him to the store. Morgan had described one of the men with tan skin, spikey black hair, and gray eyes---that was obviously the Alpha. Under normal circumstances, Jane might have fangirled about her friend coming face-to-face with the Alpha Jason Landon, as he was a big deal in the area. But if Jane's theory as to why he was there was correct, then she needed to get to the bottom of the issue. Morgan had also vividly described the other man as Caucasian with gelled brown hair and deep brown eyes. She was confident that she was talking about the Gamma, Roy Talonn. 

What both excited and frightened Jane, however, was how her friend had described Gamma Talonn. Morgan had even gone so far as to rant about his 'beautiful puppy-dog eyes.' The brunette hardly ever found anyone so attractive enough to obsess over them---fictional boys excluded---so, it was surprising for her to be so head-over-heels for a random man who walked into the shop for sixty seconds. That brought Jane to the conclusion that she was his mate. And she was happy for Mo! The only problem that she had was that if Roy introduced her to the 'werewolf world', then she would constantly be with Roy, as mates often were. And that would mean that Jane wouldn't have unlimited access to her best friend, anymore. And the redhead couldn't do anything about it. But right now, that was the least of her problems. 

As was mentioned before, living in the small town had its perks. And with such a manageable werewolf population, pretty much every wolf knew or knew of each other. This was an advantage for Jane because it made her search a lot easier to narrow down, using the process of elimination.