Chapter 23: Meeting the Herd

When Zeus stopped in front of me with his hand extended, I broke from my thoughts. I stared at his palm, facing upward, waiting for me to take it.

 "Unity," he said, answering an unspoken question. "It's important to the herd and me." 

 

"Right," I answered dumbly. 

I placed my hand in his large one, the heat enveloping it. While he seemed comfortable holding on to me, I was stiff. This thing between us was something new. He gave it a light squeeze and smiled teasingly.

"Loosen up. We both have to get used to this eventually."

 Though it was mostly forced, I smiled back and tried to take his advice. I loosened up. I heave a sigh and let my shoulders fall to relax. I was never a fan of the crowd, even though I used to work in a diner. But he is right, and the restaurant and pack are different. I know I can do this.

I gripped his hand a little tighter and nodded to him. 

"Okay, I'm ready."

 

Zeus seemed satisfied and pulled me beside him, away from the garage. The large house came back into view, and I stiffened again. Anyone would feel nervous meeting another herd for the first time, especially if they would soon call their own.

 "It's alright. Trust me," Zeus said.

 I forced myself to relax again. He was  right. This was his herd and not a pack, he knows them better than me. 

A few of the members standing outside when we arrived were still there, and only it seemed now they had a few more people joining them. They all stared for a moment before dropping their heads in the presence of their Alpha.

 "Alpha," Zeus’ herd members spoke as he walked past them. They all seemed so formal than my old pack. 

"Hello," a few greeted me kindly. 

 I returned the greeting to most of them before Zeus opened the door and pulled me inside the house. 

The first room we entered was a foyer with stairs leading up to another floor. And, to the right, was an arched doorway that led to a living room. It was crowded with people. It almost looked like a house party, except it was missing the beer and the music. If there were many people in this room, I could only imagine how many the other rooms held.

 

No one had noticed that we had entered the room yet. 

"How many people are in your herd exactly?" I asked in amazement.

 

"Three hundred at fifty, still not counting the babies that will be born next month," he said. "And that would be three hundred sixteen," he added, and it seemed to roll the number off his tongue. 

My eyes widened in surprise.

"That's almost double what my previous pack was."

"We are the biggest pack in the country. The last time I checked, we used to rank two."

I huffed out a breath of air in disbelief. And this is the pack I'm supposed to help Zeus Run? Running this big herd is a huge job! A herd, it means we’re not dealing with just a dragon, a herd means every shifters like were-leopards and many more.

 "I'm gonna need you to trust me again," he smiled.

 I think he liked seeing me panic more than he let on. The amusement on his face was very blatantly obvious. Once he turned from me, his expression turned more business-like. He cleared his throat rather loudly to gain everyone's attention. I was unprepared to meet the wondering eyes of the pack members who 

stared back at me.

"Alpha," someone said, causing them to bow in respect. When they raised their heads again, every single eye was on me. I could feel the sweating forming between my and Zeus’ hands from my nervousness.

He shot me a 'remember what I told you' look, but that seemed hard to do now.

"As you all know, I have been away for a while. I'm sure Ace has filled everyone in on the reason why."

Just then, two people emerged from a connecting room. Suddenly the woman beside the man named Ace smiled at me. She looked like Emerald, probably similar in appearance. 

 

The woman smiled again at me apologetically as if she had read my expression when I saw her. I unintentionally gripped Zeus's hand as my wolf stirred and her rage. 

 "Relax, Nov. She's not Emerald. She is Amethyst, my third in command. She is Isabelle's sister from another mother. She’s a mixed breed between a wolf and a cheetah," Zeus told me. 

 

"Welcome home, Miss. I apologize on behalf of my sister," Amerhyst said, bowing at me.

 

My wolf and I didn't like anyone apologizing on behalf of Emerald. We demand Emerald apologize. The pain of what she did to me freshened. A growl erupted from my throat, and my wolf was about to crawl out, but I met Zeus's chest. 

"You have to relax, Nov. She's not her, and please calm down," he whispered as my breathing started to speed up. And I unintentionally push Zeus away from me.

My body started to shake and was about to shift when Amethyst bent her knees and bare her neck on me.

 

 "She's not her! Stop!" I scream at my wolf, who looks at me before turning her back and returning to her void place. 

 I was back to normal and calmed down. Amethyst knew what to do. I thank her for that. She knew that showing your neck was a sign of submission, and my wolf acknowledged it. 

 

"I'm sorry," I asked her apology, ashamed of what my wolf did. I get it. She has a hatred for Isabelle for stealing our mate.

"I understand, Miss," she said, smiling. 

I smiled back and looked at Zeus. 

 

"I'm sorry," I apologized to him.

He nodded and patted my head. He probably understood why my wolf reacted like that. He then looked at Amethyst and probably talked via mind link because I saw her walking away.

 "Ace.," Zehs acknowledged.

 He looked between Zeus and me quickly and smiled at him in a way that conveyed some inside joke between them. 

 

“November," he said, bowing. I bowed back in return.

 

"I won't explain everything to you again unnecessarily, but what you have is true," he continued, then squeezed my hand and looked at me. "This is November. She will be my mate and wife by the month."

"Huh? That soon?"