Mated

Word Count: 26k

Welcome to Mayfair, population 355. Where the weather is always fairly nice and the people are friendly. Oh and most of the town is made up a werewolves. That's right, Mayfair is what is known as a pack town. While primarily the residents are werewolves, there are a few humans sprinkled into the mix. Pack towns were becoming gradually more popular across North America although the concept dated back to the late 1800's in Europe when entire villages would be nothing but werewolves masquerading as humans.

Nowadays werewolves are common place and though there are still people who absolutely detest them, it's become normal to pass a werewolf on the street everyday. Not that you could really tell the difference between most werewolves and humans. Most often the differences were subtle and overlooked by a person who did not live among them day to day.

Growing up in Mayfair was a little different then growing up in any regular town. Of course you had school, sports, movie nights and everything else kids did throughout their youth. But there were a few things about your childhood that you didn't know didn't happen to other kids in other towns.

For example, in your school, which was the main high school for four area pack towns, you never had school on the day of the full moon. Students thirteen years and older were allowed to have three days off of school each month without repercussions, female students were allowed up to seven days off. You attended two different health classes in middle school and your first year of high school. Despite the fact you were a human, and you did not need those seven days a month for your developing werewolf body, you got them. It was only fair that all students were treated equally.

Most of your friends were werewolves and through them and your health classes, since you had to attend the werewolf and basic human growth classes, you learned that as you got older your female friends would go into heat. They would fall seemingly ill and be kept home for several days, thus the seven days allowed by the school board.

Unfortunately for you, most of your friends would hit their heats at the same time and you would be left all alone at school for several days. But it became normal, living it day in and day out. You never thought anything different of your werewolf friends and human friends. Nothing bothered you about them.

Fast forward and it's your twentieth birthday and you receive a small brown envelope in the mail. At first you thought it was a birthday card from someone out of town, but it smelled heavily of spices and woodsmoke. You open it, curious as to who the sender was since there was not a return address written on the front of the envelope. You pull out the off white paper inside and begin reading;

Your presence has been requested by the village elder, Myra. Upon receiving this letter please report to the elders home on the Oak Grove estate.

Your heart sinks. A summons to the elder's home was no joke. Though you were a human and not bound by the werewolf laws, she was a well respected woman that helped build the town and it would be rude and cause trouble not to answer her summons.

It's after six when you decide to go and meet with Myra. You didn't tell anyone about the letter, in fear that your mother would think something was terribly wrong. Your friends wouldn't be any help because they would probably just panic on your behalf. You pull your jacket close against you as you walk up the long leaf covered walkway to the old wooden house tucked behind the large mansion nestled in the middle Oak Grove estate, the home of the town's alpha and his family. It's mid October and the air was crisp, cool enough to warrant a light jacket, but your shaking didn't have much to do with the weather.

As you approach you see someone leaning against the railing of the wooden deck in front of the house. It's Shawn, the alpha's only son, and Myra's great grandson. Shawn is pretty hard to miss, what with how he towered over everyone and everything. He was one of those werewolves that you could tell what he was just by being around him. His energy felt different, his eyes were too golden brown to be human but that was because he wasn't, he was an alpha. There weren't too many of those in your town. Maybe a handful, two of them being Shawn and his father, Manny.