Part of the Pack (Book 1 in the 'part of' series)

Chapter 10 scenic walks and deep talks

Chapter 10 scenic walks and deep talks

It had taken me a good few steps before I realized exactly what Ralph had said. "Wait, werewolves?" I asked, I felt rather stupid doing so. Obviously they were werewolves. I just saw a wolf turn into a child, i'm assuming that she could turn back into that same wolf. If he noticed my time of realization he didn't show it.

"Yes werewolves." He chuckled slightly as he stepped over a fallen tree. "My everyday life versus something that's seen as fiction, to your people." I wasn't too fond of the way that he said 'your people' it made me feel like he was distancing himself away from me, from us. "There's no hard feelings though!" He seemed to notice how his words could be taken. "I don't mind humans, None of my pack do. We just don't have a lot of experience with you."

My emotions were mixed, I didn't understand myself. I wasn't fond of when he said 'humans' and yet I wasn't fond of when he said 'you'. I didn't want to be the werewolves definition of 'human', I'm pretty sure that if I was their example of human then I would be letting my team down.

I watched my feet as I walked, I don't think I was brave enough to watch Ralph as we walked. "Well then I guess I have a lot to learn." I tried to be happy and optimistic. I wanted to learn, werewolves were very interesting. They were even more so now that I knew they actually existed. "So um...do you want me to ask questions or?" I trailed off slightly, my nerves still not calm.

"How about I tell you stuff and you can interrupt me at any time?" His voice was calm and patient, I could assume he could feel the nerves radiating off me. Either that or he noticed the fact I was shaking slightly. He was rather close to me, I could feel his warmth from where I stood about a foot away from him. We weren't far apart yet it felt like he was giving me a warm hug.

"Sounds...good." I mumbled as I focused on the ground below my feet, I didn't know what to say to him in response. I was eager and excited to hear more. Yet I wasn't so sure if I was supposed to. It felt wrong to know about this, to know about something which not a lot of humans know. From my understanding of it anyway.

"Well then, here I go." Ralph said awkwardly, it was as though he was still incredibly nervous. I didn't completely understand why . I'm just assuming it was because interaction with outsiders is new to him. "So...werewolves are people who can turn into wolves. Or wolves who can turn into people yada yada." I could feel a smile come to my lips at his somewhat silly one. "There's not a lot to say other then that. We live in the forest and we don't like to move around. We value and are rather protective of our territory-"

I found it then that I had dozens of questions swirling in my head. I had to let one out. "Am I trespassing?" I looked up at him, I wanted to make sure that I could see the truth in his eyes as he told me his verdict. I expected him to be serious and tell me exactly what i've done wrong and how I would be thrown off the land as soon as he finished telling me the history of the wolves. I didn't expect for him to burst out laughing. "What?" I asked concerned.

"You're not trespassing...we kind of let you come into our territory by invitation last time. If anyone was trespassing, it was the bear." He looked at me again, his green eyes bright, so bright they were practically glowing. "You saved more than one of our own and it was an honour to let you into our territory." He shook his head. He still had a slight look of admiration on his face. "I don't' want to think about what could've happened if you hadn't saved them."

I shook my head in denial and waved my hands around slightly. "Hey all I did was bring pups back to their ..."I trailed off, I wasn't sure if wolves were different from werewolves. I didn't know if that wolf that I saw was the pups mother. I knew that it was common for wolves to have about four to six pups, but was that the same for werewolves?

"Caretaker?" Ralph finished off my sentence for me, he seemed to walk closer to me. I don't think I minded too much, I welcomed him coming closer. Even though the thought that he had the ability to turn into a wolf scared me slightly. "Each pack usually has one caretaker who looks after the pups. We all have protective instincts and look after the pups but the caretaker takes care of their physical needs whilst they're a child."

I nodded in understanding, it was something which surprised me. Though I suppose that was because I wasn't used to the thought of anything like that. I wouldn't have considered wolves doing something like that. There are so many theories that only the female alpha could have children. "So um...woudl it be awkward to ask who the pup's parents are?"

He shook his head and raised his eyebrows in surprise. "No no not at all!" his tone showed excitement and eagerness. "Well channon and channing , you will be able to recognise them in their human forms, are the children of Tempest and Moss. Lowell and Oran are the children of Beaumont and Rhodes. Then there's Melina, she's the one who called you uncle Aiden. She's the daughter of Elowen and Hollis."

I tried my very best to remember them all, I knew that if I could put a name to a face I would be able to learn it easier. Yet I had no clue what they looked like other then Melina. I nodded along but I had a slightly weary look on my face. "Is that all the pack?" I knew that the list was rather large but I figured thatthere was more,considering the numbers I had seen.

"There's a few more." He looked like he could talk about his pack for days on end if I wanted to listen. I didn't really notice how far we had gotten into the forest but the trees were growing closer and closer together. "There's me and my brother Randall. The caretaker who you saved is called Abilene. Then there's Lathen and Eben. Lathen is the Alpha and Eben is his Beta.Eben is also my father."

I tried to soak up all the information like a sponge. For some reason I didn't want to believe that I had met Ralph's father. It was an odd sensation nd I wasn't too sure if I liked it. I took notice of how he didn't mention a female alpha or a mother. I didn't really want to bring that up anytime soon, incase it was a sensitive topic for him. "So Alpha, Beta...and so on roles still exist?"

He smiled at me slightly, each time I spoke he seemed more and more surprised with my words. "Yes they exist. Though it's different for every pack." He went on to tell me about the roles of each person within the pack. I listened intently. I wanted to know all about the wolves in the woods.