It's For the Pack

1. Rewind

He had finally picked up her scent. He had been searching, on and off, for about a year now, and here, 500 miles from the den, in the middle of a city, he had finally caught a whiff of her.
He couldn’t help appreciating her thoroughness: when she had defected, she really had tried to hide far away. However, he had his orders, and he wasn’t about to disobey Alpha. He sighed, shaking his head. If only things had been different. She was such a pretty one, and about his age as well… But that was wishful thinking, and he had to focus on the task at paw.

He followed the trail, and found that it led him straight into a building. That was a surprise. He hadn’t expected her to go so far as to actually mix with humans. Oh well. He had trained for this. Despite looking exactly like a normal human during the day, he was still nervous about going among humans. He silently went over what he was going to say if stopped by anyone, and the persuasive speech he was planning to make to her, when he found her.

Taking a deep breath, he opened the door to the building. Inside, he found a cafe. He frowned, wondering why she had chosen this place. Perhaps for the food. Not seeing her in the room however, he went out a doorway on the other side of the room, and found himself in a hallway. He wasn’t especially worried about getting lost, but as he turned each corner, he left a mark on the wall with his claws, just in case. He suddenly found himself in a large open room. Where was she? He started to wonder if perhaps he had somehow gone the wrong way.

“Excuse me? Can I help you?”
He jumped as a girl was suddenly standing right in front of him. He took a moment to remember what he was going to say, then replied, “Yeah, I’m actually looking for a girl. She has large brown eyes, and she’s always fluttering them like this.” He blinked several times. “She also has blonde hair that she whips around all the time.” He had no idea what she was calling herself among the humans, so he hoped his description would be enough to define her.

“You mean Michelle?” the girl asked, raising her eyebrows at his performance. “The one who’s always wearing pink?”

“Yeah,” he confirmed, relieved that this girl knew who he was talking about. “Where can I-”

“Excuse me,” said the girl. “But who did you say you were?”

He was taken aback. “Um, I’m Hunter,” he answered, using the alias Alpha had given him. It was a suitable name, considering his role.

“I see… and how do you know Michelle exactly?” The girl was clearly suspicious.

“We’re partners,” he responded. “Or we used to be. Before she left.”

“Like… you were dating?” asked the girl. “You’re her boyfriend?”

“Um, sure.” Hunter had no idea what she meant, but if it got him on her good side, he wanted to agree. “I came here to find her.”

She suddenly looked much happier. “Oh, that’s great. I’m Emily, by the way.” She stuck out her right hand towards him. Hunter looked at it for a moment before remembering that this was a human greeting custom. And that he was supposed to shake it. He did so tentatively, before quickly withdrawing his hand to himself.

“Well… could you perhaps tell me where I can find… er… Michelle?”
“Oh, yes! She’ll probably be in Culture Shock. That’s the cafe right down this hall.”

Hunter frowned, as he had just been there. “I’ll take a look.”

“Thanks!” said Emily, brightly. “Thank you very much.”

“You’re welcome,” Hunter responded automatically, remembering his training. He turned around and went back the way he had come, vaguely wondering why she had felt the need to thank him. It didn’t matter though: he had finally found her- “Michelle”, as she now called herself- and he could finally finish his job.