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

Chapter 23 A wolf's tea party

Chapter 23 a wolf's tea party

It turned out that I was closer than I had originally thought. I was not too far off front of the packhouse. It was a relief to see that as it started to come into view. The pups were all playing outside. They were in the front garden instead of the back this time and they were only accompanied by Abilene.

"Good morning." I said as we approached. It wasn't long after that I felt arms wrap around my legs. I smiled down at Melina. She was soon followed by the rest of the pups. Actually, I had a sneaking suspicion that something was planned. It was the first time that Oran and Lowell had joined in on this. I had to spread my arms out to try and catch my balance. "Oh no you guys are too strong for me!" I chuckled as I tried to stay standing.

"Get him!" Channon and Channing said and I could feel them pushing on my legs slightly. I hoped that they werent' as strong as I thought they would be, considering they had little wolves inside of them, yet I was wrong. I stumbled backwards and Ralph had to catch me.

"Alright alright. Lets not hurt the poor human." Ralph said, most of the children took their arms from around me. Melina stayed with her arms wrapped around my legs. I smiled and bent down to give her an actual hug. She still didn't let go. I took the hint and picked her up. She gave me a soft kiss on my cheek.

The other pups made grossed out faces. I stuck my tongue out childishly at them. They seemed taken back but they laughed. Abilene smiled at them and walked towards us. "So, I suppose Ralph asked you?" She didn't have to tell me the question as I nodded. The child in my arms clapped happily and gave me another hug. "She is a hugger if you hadn't guessed that already." I nodded with a chuckle.

"I don't mind at all." I shook my head. Someone came out of the house behind Abilene. I didn't recognise the person. I assumed it was Hollis. His eyes seemed to catch mine, they then looked to the child in my arms and he sprinted over to us.

"You must be Aiden!" He exclaimed happily. It was the most energy I had seen in the packhouse, except perhaps for the children. "My name is Hollis, i'm so sorry that I couldn't meet you yesterday.Patrol was rather long" He held a hand out to me which I shook,careful of Melina.

"It's lovely to meet you, yeah I'm Aiden." He shook my hand politely and eagerly. Melina stretches her arms out towards her father, who takes her into his arms. "Wow the resemblance is uncanny." It was true, you would definitely be able to pair them up once again.

"Thank you, but I'm nowhere near as adorable." He booped Melina's nose and she giggled slightly. The relationship between father and daughter was something rather adorable to watch. I could tell where Melina got her happy personality from. "Are you staying for dinner?" He asked me, being the third person to ask today.

"Yes, I heard that the little miss asked." Melina hid her face in her father's shoulder and giggled slightly. "Yeah, I think it'll be rather fun. It'd make quite a change in comparison to the past few nights...and months since I've been at university." I had caught a glimpse at the kind of food that the pack ate, they were rather home-grown and home-made. It made one massive difference to microwave meals and well rations.

"It's Beaumont' sturn to cook." Abilene smiled and it caused the children to cheer happily. It caused us all to chuckle. "He's the best cook that we have here, though we all take turns." Her eyes then moved from me to Hollis. "Except Elowen, we don't let her near anything which is likely to produce heat."

"Likely to?" I asked with a raised eyebrow. "So if there's a chance of it being flammable it's a no-no?"I chuckled at the thought. "I know people like that at university, some of us are banned from even entering the kitchen. We're not allowed to have candles or anything, yet there always seems to be a fire at least once a month." Those who were with us chuckled as well.

"Yes that's pretty much Elowen." Hollis nodded and turned towards the house, I saw a head peeking through the window which had blonde hair attached. I think it was Elowen. The shade of her hair gave it away. "No offense of course honey." Hollis said as though he was talking to someone right next to him. She made a gesture out of the window and went back inside."She's a little bit stubborn accepting the fact." I nodded. I could feel Ralph slowly pushing me towards the house so I let him pull me.

As we entered through the doors I could hear some shouting, I peaked my head into the living room to see Rhodes and Tempest in front of a board game with Moss in between hem. The game looked like it was getting rather intense. I didn't even look to see what the game was, I recognised the shouts immediately, it was Monopoly.

We went upstairs and into Ralph and Randall's room, where the younger man was laying on his bed. "Hello brother, brother's boyfriend." He smirked as he moved the book from his face. That was a rather bad decision as his face was soon met with a pillow. "Ralph! What was that for? I was clearly joking." He did fancy hand movements as he spoke.

I thought that it was funny but ym face was slightly pink. "Hello Boyfriend's brother, how are you?" I decided to play along, once again. It was rather fun to tease Ralph. He got flustered and angry but he didn't really show it much. He stuttered and looked at me with wide eyes. I shrugged, a smirk which matched Randall's appeared on my own face.

"I'm rather well thank you Aiden." He placed the book down and sat up, facing us. It was a rather small room. I had been told to stick to the right, which was Ralph's side. Wolves were rather territorial. I knew that nobody would try and hurt me. I just thought it was the polite thing to do. They made attempts to make things suit my human lifestyle, I was grateful for that.

"Oh my goodness, it's like ...I don't even know." Ralph shook his head slightly and pinched the bridge of his nose. "You two shouldn't have been itnroduced to each other." We nodded in response and looked towards each other with proud looks on our faces. That's how the rest of the afternoon went.

I learnt a lot about the two of them, yet I learnt nothing at all. I had learnt useless facts. I loved useless facts. It was how you could tell if anyone was really listening to you, if they knew your favourite colour or favourite season.

We were called down for dinner not too long after six. It was dark outside and the lighting wasn't the best in the dining room. They had lit some candles to help, if I was honest. It was amazing. The food was wonderful, Beaumont was really an amazing cook. The company was wonderful, we talked about a lot of things. We got to know each other's lifestyles and interests.

The children sat at their own little table, it was rather rustic and definitely homemade but it was incredibly adorable. I was rather willing to pay whoever made it to come and do some work in my house. I'm sure that my mother would be rather grateful for that. It was a replica of the dining room table. We all sat in mismatched chairs of all different shapes and sizes. I had the feeling that everyone had their favourite seat. I would if I lived here.

I had noticed that Lathen wasn't there, I was going to mention it but I thought better of it. He was probably busy doing important Alpha stuff.

I wish that I had asked, It would have caused me a lot less trouble when he came in. He looked like he had been dragged through a hedge backwards, his coat was sliced in several places and he had a bloody nose. He was in his human form, which was odd. Everyone stood up and got into action immediately.

"The pups have to get out of here, we're under attack."