Not Alone Anymore

Chapter Three

Chapter Three

He was making his rounds around his pack when he smelled a faintly familiar smell that sometimes appeared around his pack, but was never a cause for worry.

Collin was the pack leader of the Denali pack, and was incredibly anal about how to run it. It took up every moment of his waking life- and some of his sleeping life as well- but as he walked around his pack and heard the laughter and screeches of unconcerned children, the clinking of glasses from the parents who sat on their porches, he knew that every bit of work he did was worth it. This is what he fought for that day.

Even if it caused his own people to be terrified of him.

But back to that smell. What was that?

He walked by a considerably loud cabin full of voices and utensils on plates. The candles casted a warm glow onto the evening outside of the windows, and made him slightly envious when he thought of his own empty office.

The smell was coming from in that cabin. There was nothing wrong with the smell, especially since he had smelled it round here before. It wasn't one of his own members of the pack, though. It wasn't even a werewolf such as himself. It was human.

Collin had nothing against the human race, he just didn't understand why one would be here. To his own knowledge there were no humans that lived in the area. That was why his pack was able to live so freely. The human in this cabin could cause his pack quite some trouble.

As he turned to go back to his office and think about this, the door to that very cabin swung open and someone ran out, right past him, going in the same direction he was headed. The smell that wafted by him as they ran past alerted him that it was in fact the very human he had just smelled.

He picked up his pace and trailed the human- who was a girl of around 20-25 years old- around his own pack grounds. They passed cabin after cabin, field after clearing, to where his own office was. It seemed as if this human was trouble.

She sat down outside of his door without so much as knocking to see if anyone was there. Collin waited behind a small patch of trees to see what she would do, but after five minutes of her sitting there and looking around, he decided to confront her.

He came out from behind the cluster of trees as though he was on his way there as well, and made his eyes widen as he approached her, acting as if he hadn't seen her until just now.

He inclined his head as he came closer. "Hello, can I help you with anything?" He asked with patience.

The girl looked over at him with a smile. She had dirty blonde hair and a face bright red from the cold, but he could tell she was normally a tan caucasian. Her teeth were white as well, and while straight, he could tell from the slight twist of her left canine that she had never had braces.

She inclined her head as well, though didn't stop her smile. "Yes you could, sir. Why don't you tell me why you've been following me and watching me from behind those trees?" She asked as if she didn't care about the answer.

Collin froze. He thought a human wouldn't have noticed him from where he was, and he certainly wasn't expecting her to say that.

She waved a hand at him, "Oh, calm down. I know I'm a human and you aren't, no reason to feel threatened. I'm just here to give the beta the mail. He was supposed to meet with me at 7:00. It's now 7:05." She tilted her head at him. "Do you know where he is?"

Collin stood there, not quite knowing what to say. Rarely did people talk to him, and never did people smile at him. He prided himself on his diplomatic mind and his quick thinking, but not much was coming to mind right now. He got confused as her smile grew.

"Do you know where the alpha is? The letter I have for this pack is pretty important. I don't know if I feel good about leaving it with his dumb beta. He's always late to our meetings."

His second in command was always late? He would have to talk to Riley about that first thing tomorrow.

Collin finally got a grip. Pack business was his forte. He straightened his spine and won back his normal demeanor. "I'm the alpha, actually. I apologize for my second in command's tardiness. I put him in charge of communications a little while back, but I guess he really isn't ready for this kind of work yet."

The girl's eyes opened wide to reveal grey-blue irises full of surprise.

"You're the alpha?" She questioned without the same laughter in her voice from before. He was slightly disappointed. It was nice having someone smile at him.

He inclined his head again. "Yes, that would be me. My name is Collin Blockerth. And your name?"

She hopped up from her seat next to his small, wooden office, and stuck out her free hand. "Sir, my name is Mabel Rander. I am the North American Pack Correspondence Delegate," she said with a serious face. She shook his hand with a death grip, and gave a small smirk. "But to you I am just your mail lady. I have a really important letter for you from the Nahanni pack," she went on, thankfully smiling again. He let go of her handshake and put his hands in his pockets so that he didn't fidget.

Mabel pocketed the letter for the time being. She nodded back to his office, "Do you mind if I talk to you a bit about this letter? I have a message of my own I would like to give you, but I don't think doing this out in the public is the best idea."

He nodded to her and made his way to open the door, but from behind him he heard her mutter, "I mean, you never know who's watching from behind some trees."