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

Chapter 12 family matters

Chapter 12 Family matters

Ralph's POV

As I left Aiden alone at his tent I hesitated. I wasn't sure if I should walk around the general perimeter of his campsite in order to make sure if he was safe or not. I would probably do it again later. I knew that it would not be the last I saw of him, it couldn't be. We were lucky that he made a lot of noise. We weren't sure who he was until he howled. I had a gut feeling that it was him, that I would see the mysterious man again. I just didn't expect it to be because we were saving him from a bear.

I guessed that my decision was made for me as I saw another set of eyes in the woods. Green eyes such as my own stared back at me and I tilted my head. I gestured for them to come closer. It was Randall. I should've known that he would stay behind for a little while. I couldn't quite tell at which point he had joined me. I could see some playfulness in his eyes and he was wagging his tail. Even in his wolf form I could tell that he was teasing me about Aiden.

"What are you doing?" I asked him, as though I expected a verbal answer. I probably would have gotten one if I decided to shift into my wolf as well but I honestly couldn't be bothered to shift right now. He tilted his head slightly before running in circles around me and looking back to the direction we came. "What about it?"

He stopped his movements and stared at me. I had spent enough time with his wolf form to know what he was talking about. It was difficult understanding wolf behaviour, even if you were a werewolf. You do what feels natural, even in the wolf form and you can't exactly tell how it looks. Unless you spend a few hours in the mirror, I'll pretend that I didn't do that a few times during the past two years.

"I don't know, what do you think?" I rolled my eyes slightly at myself after the words came out of my mouth. There would be no way of communication between us until we were able to use words instead of gestures. Randall seemed to agree with me as he started to speed up slightly. I sighed, quickening my own pace. It seemed that I would not be able to have a scenic walk today. Although, if I had to say so myself, the view which I had seen the past few hours was very wonderful.

At the pace we were going, it didn't take us long to get back to the pack house. It wasn't anything big or fancy. It didn't have to be anything grand for us. There were about fifteen people staying here, yet most of the people were part of a couple. The alpha and Beta had their own rooms, each couple got a room, the young boys all shared a room and then lucky Melina and Abilene got rooms to themselves. I shared it with my brother, it wasn't really by choice but I didn't mind too much. There were two bathrooms, a living room and a kitchen. There was a training place outside as well as some chairs and tables.

It was common to find wolves outside, training and running. We enjoyed other things, of course. It just felt natural for us to run around outside and play in nature. We also had to train in order to protect our territory from anything and everything which could be seen as a threat.

As I entered the house I was greeted by Channon and Channing. The two boys ran up to me and grinned. "So who is he?" They asked in unison. I shook my head and rolled my eyes, ruffling their hair. The two of them were a little bit of a gossip. I don't know who they got that off. Perhaps it was Abilene, she likes to gossip a little bit.

"Mind your own beeswax." I chuckled as I walked through the hallway. Randall had run off to grab some clothes in the shed. I was looking for my father, so we could discuss what I had learnt today. I stood in the middle of the hallway awkwardly. I was attempting to listen out for my father. He had a rather deep voice and I was able to recognise him very well. I was not the best at hearing in the pack but it did come in handy sometimes. "Have either of you seen my father?"

The twins looked at each other with wicked smiles on their faces. I immediately regretted asking. "Perhaps we have." They held out a hand each to me, gesturing for something to be placed in them. I shook my head and started to walk towards the living room. With a quick glance inside I could tell that Moss and Tempest were the only ones in there. I gave them a wave before attempting to get into the kitchen. "Come on Ralph." The twins once again said in unison. I wished they wouldn't do that as much. Wolf twins were rather rare, yet we were blessed with these two. I loved them, but they were rather creepy. "Just a few pounds."

I had no clue why they would want money. Their parents were the pens who bought things for them. We didn't really have much reason to have a lot of money lying around. We sold handcrafted items sometimes. Most of the time that was for things such as clothing or treats. We couldn't really make many toys in the middle of the woods, or make a lot of clothing from what we found, unless we wanted to wear leather all the time.

"I don't know why you want money but i don't have any." I told them as I started to head down the hallway with the bedrooms. It only took a glance to show that nobody was in their rooms, apart from the children's room where I could see Abilene playing with Oran. That meant that he was probably outside.

The inside of the house was rather plain, it was full of wooden furniture and painted in natural paints. We really didn't have much access to anything else. If it wasn't found in the woods, it was extremely old and cheap. A lot of furniture was broken once upon a time and mended by someone. Moss was rather good at mending furniture. When it came to mending clothes Rhodes was the one to go to.

We all had our little jobs around the place. We all had our special talents which came in useful. I wasn't so sure what mine was, I know that i'm rather good at cooking but i'm no match to Beaumont. My little brother was a rather good hunter and scavenger. Of course, Abilene was a fantastic caregiver. The others had various talents which came in useful. I had been told that it was normal to not be able to see your own talents. I sometimes felt like that was just something I was told to cheer me up.

I knew my father's routine well enough to know that he wouldn't be taking a shower or bath at the moment. He didn't usually eat at this time and today was a training day. He was easy to spot as I walked around the back of the house. The twins were still following me closely. My father stood in the middle of the field with Hollis by his side.

"Dad!" I jogged over to him. His head snapped up and he greeted me with a kind smile . His eyes were light and he brought me into a bone-crushing hug. It caught me slightly off guard. I chuckled slightly and walked back a few paces. "What's this for?" my voice was muffled into his shoulder as I breathed in the scent of wood and fire.

"You know exactly what it's for Ralph." He said calmly and sincerely. "We have been waiting for this moment for two years!" He looked like he could start jumping up and down at any moment. He kept one arm around me, still holding his friendly smile. "Now, I want you to tell me all about your soulmate."