Chapter 2

After the initial shock wore off, Clara felt hollow. Arguing with the man did nothing and whether or not she wanted to believe it, the evidence was overwhelming. Clara Carlson wasn't human any longer.

"I'm sure you have some questions for me." The man leaned back in the chair.

"What's your name? How did you know mine?"

"James Bishop. Your ID was in your bag." He reached next to him and picked up the small knapsack Clara had been carrying, tossing it to her. "We were a little confused by the New York license, scared you might be a tourist."

"Why would that matter?"

Clara opened the bag and looked inside, not like there was anything of importance in there.

"Questions from the outside, but it seems like the moon goddess has smiled upon us. Not only are you not a tourist, but based on what you told me no family members are going to come looking for you."

This sent off an alarm. Clara looked up at him, trying her hardest to remain calm. He sensed her shift and spoke in a soft tone.

"We don't want humans aware of our existence. I already told you nobody wants to kill you."

She relaxed a little.

"How do you do that with your voice?"

"I am the Alpha, leader of the pack, your new leader," he said. "There is a hierarchy around here."

"So I have to listen to whatever you say?"

"You still have free will if that's what you're asking. But wolves automatically respect their Alpha. It's natural to follow a leader."

"Do we change into wolves on the full moon? Will silver bullets kill us?"

"Forget the movies. You can shift whenever you want to, but it is pretty difficult to not want to on a full moon. Silver bullets will kill us, but so will any normal bullet if it hits you in the right spot. We're not invincible, just stronger. You will have heightened senses that come in with time, better immune system, less aversion to cold weather, you will age slower, live longer..."

"How much longer?"

He shrugged. Clara kept her eyes locked on his and shrugged back mimicking him. He let out a laugh.

"You are strong already. Figure you have at least one hundred years, maybe two."

Clara closed her eyes and brought her hand to her forehead. She was starting to feel woozy from all this information overload.

"Breath." James stood up and walked over to her, squatting down in front of her. "You're going to have a wonderful life kid."

Clara forced herself to stand up and walked passed him, crossing her arms over her chest.

"Can I go home now? Please, this is a lot to take in."

She was met with silence. Spinning on her heels Clara faced him again. With both of them now standing she realized he wasn't as tall as she thought, maybe hitting 6'1" to her 5'5".

His dirty blond hair stuck out all over the place. She looked at her long blond tresses and saw a clump of mud and a leaf. She needed a shower.

"Please, I want to digest this."

"I am trying to think of the best way to say this...you are home."

"What?" Clara felt her nerves rise.

"You're a member of the pack, we all live here. Let me give you a tour."

He started towards her and Clara raised her arms, taking a step back.

"Live here? Where is here? Who is this pack?"

"We're in the mountains, about fifty miles outside of Laramie, no other town is closer. The pack is all wolves, we live and work together, and are for the most part self-sufficient. We are a larger pack, numbering eighty-two now that you've joined us."

"Joined you?" Clara felt herself start to shake. "Are you insane? I don't know you, and I don't know any members of your 'pack'. I didn't ask for this. Please take me home."

"I know you didn't ask for this. It was an accident, but it happened, you have to believe it's for a reason. You're part of something bigger now."

Clara started to pace back and forth. She pictured her little house with the old quilt. Remembered how excited she was about her new job. She stopped walking and turned to look at James.

"How long have I been here? What day is it?"

"Not that long, you were attacked last night. You shifted a few hours later. It was fast."

She let out the breath she didn't realize she was holding. That meant she had two days until work started. She'd be damned if she didn't get out of here by then.

"So you're holding me prisoner?"

"Don't be so dramatic. This is your new home, you have free reign around the lodge or our pack lands. I will have to arrange a guide if you want to go outside though. It seems like you have a knack for getting lost."

"Lodge?" Clara asked.

"You must be hungry," James said. "Why don't I take you to the kitchen? You can start to familiarize yourself with your new home."

James walked to the door and pulled it open, ushering Clara into the hall.

"This is your room," James continued. "All eighty-two of us live here. Think of the layout like a hotel. There are four floors. Your room is on the second floor. Then the third floor houses the more important pack members and the top floor is where I live."

The hallway was lined with doors on both sides. It did look like a hotel. They walked to the end, Clara saw most of the doors were decorated with names or pictures. When they turned the corner Clara counted the number of doors.

"The center is communal bathrooms, we share everything so don't worry about getting your own toiletries. Ones will be provided for you."

She glanced at the opening to the bathrooms. They looked surprisingly neat.

"I can tell you're counting. Don't bother. There are forty-eight rooms on this floor, currently thirty-one are occupied. Eight apartments on the third floor, all are occupied, and like I said, I have the top floor to myself."

They stopped walking and Clara saw they were at a staircase, this reminded her of a rustic log cabin dorm. That didn't seem like enough to house eighty-three people though.

"Some couples live together." James started walking down the steps.

"As I mentioned earlier, there is a hierarchy. My Beta is not here right now; he is in Laramie getting some much needed supplies. He has the biggest apartment on the third floor. Then my top soldiers and their families each get an apartment and the last two are filled with whoever has the youngest children. I try and make a way so that the families can stay altogether until their youngest turns thirteen, but as you can guess, there aren't a whole lot of kids around here. At the moment there are twelve members of our pack that fit that age group, and five more ages fourteen to eighteen. The rest are all adults. I saw from your license you're twenty-four?"

"How old are you?"

"I am sixty-seven years old."

Clara's eyes about bulged out of her head. She guessed he was about 30-35. James laughed again without turning around to look at her.

"I told you, we age differently. You will too now."

The logic and reason section of Clara's brain was going haywire. She tried to calm herself and remember the only thing she should be concerned about was finding a way to escape. He mentioned someone was in Laramie, she hoped that meant there was a car somewhere, or at least a road.

"Now here's the fun floor." James turned and grinned before opening the door at the bottom of the steps.

Clara stepped into the largest room she'd ever seen. It reminded her of a gymnasium. There was a pool in the far corner, tennis courts, basketball courts. In fact, it pretty much was a gym. There were people working out with weights and another group that looked like they were boxing each other.

"Do you want an introduction?" James asked.

Clara was quick to shake her head no.

"It can wait, I suppose." James turned around and shooed her back to the stairs. "That was the basement. Feel free to head down there whenever you like. You will have to take up training soon so you will get familiar with it."

"Training?" Clara always sucked at sports.

James stopped walking.

"All members of the pack must know how to fight. I insist on it."

"Fight?" Clara asked. "Who would we fight?"

A worried look came to James' face. He took a seat on the step and signaled for Clara to sit next to him.

"You haven't asked who bit you yet."

Clara automatically grabbed her calf, the pain felt like a distant memory now. She felt the less she knew the easier it would be to forget.

"Wolves are pack creatures. We live for the pack. Without one we will go crazy. Without one you will go crazy."

"What are you talking about?" Clara was confused.

"Sometimes a wolf will leave his pack or get kicked out or get lost. When that happens they start to go mad. Their nature tells them to find another pack. They know they can't go back to their old one so they look for a new one, but by that time they're too far gone to join. They become a threat. They see members of a pack and become enraged with jealousy lashing out and attacking. They also have no fear of death, which makes them incredibly hard to kill."

"That was what bit me?" Clara asked. "But why? I'm not a part of a pack."

"You weren't part of a pack," James corrected. "As a wolf you will never attack a human. That would draw questions and make people start looking up here, not to mention the moral consequences of murder. An outcast wolf doesn't feel that way. He saw you and thought food, easy prey."

"So he was going to eat me..." Clara shivered.

"Yes, but we knew a lone wolf was close to our lands, someone spotted him recently so we expanded our patrol. I was able to kill him before he finished you off, but we weren't able to make it before he bit you."

Clara felt a weight pressing down on her. This was not what she wanted to care about. Work, making friends, decorating her house. That was what Clara wanted to focus on.

"Now do you understand why you have to stay here?"

She looked over at James.

"I understand why I have to join, but why do I have to live here? Can't I just come up for the weekends or whatever?"

James shook his head.

"If you lived in Laramie alone you would draw these outcasts like a moth to a flame and we wouldn't be able to protect you."

Now Clara shook her head.

"That doesn't make any sense."

"You're safer here. Trust me."

"Safer? Surrounded by a bunch of strangers who are trained fighters?"

"They won't be strangers for long. You have my word; nobody here will even think of trying to harm you."

Clara still was thinking of ways to escape, but could tell this was a dead end.

"I have your word, nobody here will try and harm me?"

"I swear it."

"And if they do?"

"Then I will take you back to Laramie myself and pick you up every weekend."

"Alright..." Clara stood up again. She was getting hungry.

"To the kitchen." James started climbing, this time stopping at the first floor.

Clara thought about his recent promise to her and let out a sigh. She wasn't sure if it was from the Alpha voice he was using on her or a gut instinct, but James was right. She couldn't imagine anyone here harming her.