From scratch ✔️

7. Animal Planet

An hour later we were all back at the B&B. Lena was wearing some scrubs, that were stored at the clinic, and we were all sitting at the kitchen table drinking tea. That is, off course, the most normal thing you do after finding out that werewolf's exist and you are the only human in the entire town. I let out a loud and deep breath, then turn to Lena.

"Ok, I get the part that werewolf's exist. As crazy as it sounds to me, I kinda believe you...", I say rubbing my temples. "But explain to me one thing, please. I literally operated on you a  couple of hours ago, you shouldn't be walking, standing, laughing and all. How are you ok?!", with every word that flies out of my mouth, my voice becomes more shaky and my eyes widen. 

Lena throws me a wicked side glance and continues sipping her tea. It's Jonathan that speaks up, his hand squeezes my shoulder reassuringly. 

"You see, kiddo, since we are like supernatural creatures, we have different abilities, like fast healing. You were too consumed with the stitching and cutting to notice, that the moment we took that stick out of Lena, she already began healing. But if you didn't do what you did with all the patching up, she would heal slower and could even die of blood loss." His voice was soft, he was trying to keep me calm, and don't get me wrong, I'm eternally grateful for this, because my sanity was under a big question mark. The next one to speak was Shirley.

"You know, dear, since you already know about the whole wolf thing, you can ask questions to understand everything better. Do you want to ask anything?", she was gently stroking my knee while she spoke. It was a pleasant feeling, but at the same time this attention made me feel slightly uncomfortable, as if they thought, that I would set my head on fire and start running around the kitchen screaming bloody murder. I took another deep breath and tried to pull my brains together. 

"Ok...", I said far from being sure of what to ask. I took another minute to think about what to ask, but I had so many uncertainties, that I didn't know where to start. And having three werewolf's burning holes in you doesn't really help. "Ugh!" I exclaimed exhausted and put my head in my hands. "I feel stupid, I don't know what to ask...", I mumbled, still hiding my face in my hands. 

"Maybe we should just start talking, and if you have questions, you can interrupt and ask, does this work for you, kiddo?", asked Jonathan. 

"I guess...", I said slowly raising my eyes to him. 

"Ok, here goes nothing...", he sighed and began spilling all the beans. 

During the next two hours or so they were telling me everything, and I mean - EVERYTHING. I found out that werewolf's, just like ordinary wolf's live in packs, they have Alphas, Betas, Gammas, Lunas, mates, everything as in the movies. The name of this pack was The Ember pack. I found out, that Jonathan used to be the Alpha and Shirley the Luna, but they retired and now Jonathan is one of the elders, that are basically like the mediators, that help to resolve different situations, where Alpha is uncertain or anything. Shirley on the other side dedicated her free time to kids - she runs the day care. Now their oldest son, Nathan, is the Alpha, his mate is the Luna. Lena is one of the warriors and she is also their niece, that's why they are so close. I also found out about rogues, which were the reason Lena got hurt in the first place. As they told me, rogues were wolfs that didn't belong to any pack due to different reasons, they can be good or bad, some even crazy. This time a couple of the crazy rogues have wondered into the pack territory and Lena with her partner Max had to fight them off. Max was another warrior. 

The thing about the town that I found out was pretty interesting. Apparently Pine Hills was not on the map and it was a wonder how I ended up here. We figured that I must have taken a wrong turn somewhere along the way, that's why everyone was so surprised, that I showed up. If I were a wolf, I would have to go to an Alpha to ask for permission to stay, but since I am human and everyone could smell it, no one said a word, hoping I would soon leave. The moment Doc Evans gave me the job, he called Jonathan and Jonathan than talked to his son and warned about my staying. Eventually I would have to meet the Alpha, since now I am informed about the existence of werewolf's and get acquainted with the pack, it would be safer for me and made everyone get used to my presence. We decided to meet the Alpha soon. 

"Oh, and also you'll meet all of our sons!", Shirley clapped her hands excitedly. "Our second son, Nick, is away until November, he's doing some training course with a pack in Canada, when he comes back, hi's going to become a Gamma, who is the head warrior!", she was beaming with pride and looked absolutely adorable, so I gave her a wide smile. 

"This is awesome, Shirley!", I congratulated her. 

"Thank you dear!", she then continued telling me about her other kids. The three other sons are away for college, but will be back soon, since the summer brake is very close now. The third son is going to become a lawyer and will graduate next year already, he will be helping the "mayor" with the communications with the outside world. The fourth and the fifth sons are twins and are studying engineering, but they are only through with the first year, so there's still a long way until graduation. 

All in all the talk went ok, I think. My mind was burning from the amount of the information I received, but I was pretty excited. A bit worried, because apparently they were all strong and healthy and I was a weak human and a bit disabled, so I could become the black sheep, but Jonathan reassured me, that it was totally fine and I would not complicate their life's in any way. 

One more hour later I started feeling the weight of the day catching up on me and couldn't hold back a huge yawn, which made all the others laugh out loud. I was red as a tomato, but smiling non the less, they have become my family after all, so no need to be embarrassed. I would have to get used to Lena though, but she gave off a good vibe, so it wouldn't take long, I thought. 

"Oh, dear, you mus be exhausted! And it's not good for the baby! Let's get you to bed!", Shirley cooed and helped me up from my chair. As soon as I stood up, I realized how tired my injured leg was - the muscles were stiff, and the scar was throbbing, sending waves of pain. My face shriveled and I tried to hold the whimper inside, but it slipped through my clenched teeth. I swayed a little and grabbed the cane firmly and took a deep breath. 

"Shit, sorry", I hissed out, feeling uncomfortable, when Shirley and Jonathan both hopped on their feet and held me steady under my elbows. 

"Don't worry, sweetheart, let's just get you to bed.", Jonathan said sadly and picked be up, one hand under my knees, another on my back. Shirley grabbed my cane and followed Jonathan, as he carried me to my room. He then gently lowered me on my bed, said "Good night!" and left.

"Let me help you get undressed", said Shirley, and I was too tired to argue, when she first took off my shoes and then started pulling off my pants. Her eyes stopped on the huge and disgusting scar on my  thigh and I saw the look of shock on her face.

"I know, it's disgusting...", I said, lowering my eyes to the ground. 

"You poor child...", she said and stroke my hair in a motherly way. "Will you tell me what happened?", she sat next to me on the bed and took my hand in her. 

"Maybe someday, not now, ok?", I replied, and the look on my face said it all. She clearly got the idea, that I didn't want to relive the events that lead to me receiving this eternal source of pain.

"Ok, honey, whenever you want to.", she stroke my hair again. "Your muscles look really tense, let me massage them, and you just sleep, ok?", she said quietly. I was already falling asleep, so I just nodded, and closed my eyes. She started massaging my thigh gently, not touching the scar, and I felt my leg relax. It wasn't even a minute later, that darkness consumed me.