Shudder

20

When we exited the room I hadn't expected the wave of sounds and smells to overwhelm me so much. I winced with the pain of so much noise and covered my ears.

"Why is it so loud?" I said, glancing at Roman with a pain expression.

He looked confused for a second and then clarity washed over his face. "Oh, that.. the rooms are sound proofed because, well Lupus hear extremely well and everyone likes their privacy."

"If it's sound proof, then why could I hear you knock on the door or how did you hear Annalise tell you to come in?" I asked, hands still clamped around my ears which were ringing.

"Witch magic and a tad bit of Faery dust," he grinned as my jaw fell open. I knew Annalise had spoke of Witches and I could believe that...but Faeries? Oh god.

I jerked my jaw back into place and muttered, "Well I guess I shouldn't be so surprised, anything is possible at this point."

Roman nodded and said, "I'm sure you'll meet quite a few supernaturals at an Annual Gathering."

"Annual Gathering?" I murmured, trailing after him as he began walking towards the stairs and I began to adjust to the noise slowly. Annalise had said things about full moon celebrations, but nothing of an Annual Gathering.

"Yeah. It's a gathering that happens every year in the fall, under a full moon. It's usually hosted in a large mansion and as per usual with us Lupus we go on a run, only then it's with multiple packs whereas with just our full moon celebrations it's our pack only," Roman explained, descending the stairs as I trailed after him.

"Oh," I murmured, unsure how to respond. I could feel myself become unsure about an Annual Gathering since fall was happening right now.

"Just in case you're nervous, don't be. It's a great chance to meet other species and interact. The gathering happens at the end of this month, by then you'll have shifted and hunted with us enough to be comfortable and we'll all be there," Roman said and as we walked into the kitchen, concluded our conversation.

The noise stopped as soon as we entered the kitchen. I was sure those in the kitchen had heard what we had discussed, but for whatever reason they fell silent upon my actual arrival into the place of food.

My eyes fell to the floor and I felt stiff, unable to move at all despite how tempting the smells of all the food around me were.

"Rori?" Roman murmured and I saw his feet move to stand before me. He grabbed my chin and tilted it up to meet his vibrant blue eyes. "It's okay. They just don't know-"

Snarls interrupted what Roman was about to say and I felt my primal instincts rise up as the scent of hostile females rose into my nose. I jerked my chin out of Roman's grasp and flicked my eyes over the crowd, before settling them on three, angry females; all who bared their teeth to me. Two of those I noticed were Eva and Winter -- much to my shock.

Still the Lupus side of me was not happy with being threatened. A growl worked it's way up my throat and I felt my canines crack through my gums just as Roman slipped in front of me and let loose his own snarl at the three.

They backed off slightly, but hostile glares continued and neither Roman nor I moved until finally a deep, comanding voice washed over us all.

"That. Is. Enough!" a man snapped. He sat at the head of the table and his golden hair was touseled in an attractive way and his green eyes glowed with annoyance. He took up a ton of space with his large, muscular frame and the power that radiated from him was even more so than Annalise. This man, this Lupus, I presumed was none other than Yorik, my new leader.