Lavender

Charlotte

When I woke up, Luther was tying Adam's tie. It was his best suit. Luther was dressed up too; a nice dress shirt, pretty jewelry, and dress pants. Max still held me, but was talking to the others. "When?"

Adam, slipping on some rings, responded. "They come in an hour."

"Do we have to dress up?" Max asked.

"No, but I want to impress her. She speaks her mind, and I would prefer if she said kind things," Adam replied.

Luther laughed. "Last time she said she wasn't sure if she wanted to mount me herself or mount me on her wall."

I sat up. "Who are we talking about?"

That responded in unison. "Charlotte."

"And who's she?"

Max got up and stretched. "A leader of another pack. More primal than us."

"Do you want to come meet her?" Adam asked.

"I don't know. You're making her sound scary."

Luther responded sincerely. "They would never hurt any of us. We're allies."

I nodded. After Max and I got dressed, we went downstairs to help set up the buffet. There was a lot there, but I noticed there was a lot of meat. Red meat.

Soon after we finished, the front door opened. About 30 men of all different kinds filed in, giving short head nods and small waves. After them, a tall, imposing woman walked in. She wore fur pants and a cloak, which she quickly dropped to reveal nothing underneath. Her feet were bare, calloused, and dirty. Her hair was black and braided, and her eyes were a sharp red. She wore a necklace of different animal teeth, and a belt of claws and what looked like dried tongues. The men behind her looked mostly normal, but some were without shirts, or their clothes were disheveled. She sat at the table in the center, her men behind her.

"So," she spoke, "fill me in on the last year."

No one responded. She scanned the crowd with red eyes and landed on me. "You, scrawny one, come here."

I shuffled forward and sat at the table. Adam moved to follow me, but Luther held him back. Charlotte studied me a bit, then snarled. "You have weak bonds here. You're not weak, however. There's a strength there. You are but black hot coal. I can smell it. How new are you?"

"4 months, Ma'am."

Her eyes widened. "Don't call me that!"

My eyes went to the table. "Sorry."

"Do you know who your leader is, child?"

"The witch, I think."

"Witch? A witch, you say? Of course she'd let you call her that. If my men said that, I'd gut them!"

She laughed heartily, and her men smiled. When silence fell again, she dismissed me with a flick of her hand. I quickly scurried back to the others. The witch I met my first day hobbled up and sat at the table.

"Charlotte."

"That's Mother to you, child."

What. Charlotte seemed 20, 25 at most. The witch was an old lady, like 90. That made no sense. Nonetheless, the witch brought out documents and paperwork and showed them to her "mother."

Charlotte looked displeased. "No papers. The entourage can leave. Speak to me, daughter."

The witch waved everyone off and began telling tales of how the pack has been doing. Everyone began to file out, but Charlotte barked, "Reds, Lavenders, Greys, stay."

Those called froze. The four grey men sauntered to the table, the reds bounced over, and Max nudged me back to the table. He held my hand. "You," she pointed at the Reds, "you failed. When I said red meat I meant raw. This is cooked. Go get me more."

The reds scampered off, silent for once. She pointed at me. "Now, I want that one. You are all very handsome, but he looks downright afraid of me. I want him."

Adam stepped in front of me. "We find your offer flattering, but we have to refuse."

The reds scampered back with raw steaks. Charlotte picked one up and nodded. "A shame, Link. I would have treated you nicely."

She waved us off.