21 The pack

"To meet our pack."

I gawked at him after his suggestion. I was in no way ready to meet them.

"Can't we do that some time later?" I fidgeted at the edge of my sleeves, "I am not ready yet."

"I can't spend any more time hiding your presence," he lifted my chin slowly to look at him, "I don't want my people to hurt you oblivious to who you are again. They need to know."

I grimaced at the memories of being hurt by his people twice. But then again, I did get into trouble a few times after I stayed here. It's like I have befriended the trouble itself. We are inseparable. Taking my silence as agreement, he stroked my hair, which he had just worked on one last time before leaving my room.

"Give me ten minutes and we are good to go," he said as he proceeded to go to the other side of the room.

I sighed in defeat, knowing that there was no way out of this meeting. I don't know how I will feel about meeting a bunch of people who are far superior to me in every aspect, or should I say, supernatural creatures. What will they think of me when they come to know that I am a human? I don't think they would want a human as their Alpha's mate.

I was still taking the time to let the news of being a werewolf's mate sink into my mind. It's not like Luke urged me to do something regarding this, but it felt weird that I all of a sudden got a whole mate in my hollow life. It's odd to know that there's actually someone who genuinely likes me when I don't even like myself that much.

I glanced at the clock, which showed that it had been ten minutes since Luke had left the room. I quickly scanned over my appearance, making sure that I looked well enough to present myself in front of... well, Luke's people.

I walked to the entrance of my room and turned the knob. The door swung open, showing Luke, who had his knuckles up in the air, ready to knock on the door. He smiled at my presence and held out his hand for me to grasp, "Ready?"

I swallowed the lump in my throat as nervousness started to build its way up inside me and nodded my head down. His welcoming hand took mine in as we strode down the hall.

"Where are we going?"

"The training ground," he said. "They are training diligently these days." He came up with small conversations to help relieve my tension, "Come to think of it, it has been a few days since we last trained your little muscles," he gave me a boyish grin. "Up for another workout?"

"Only if you go easy on me," I shrugged my shoulders, remembering how he swept me off the ground with ease last time.

"Sure," he replied as he let out a hearty laugh.

We turned around the corner and soon arrived at our destination. Now I know for sure that I had been staying in a werewolf's den looking at the group of werewolves in front of me. Many different kinds of werewolves roamed around the field, from smaller ones to bigger ones. It was my first time meeting this many werewolves at once.

It kind of terrified me, knowing that I was now surrounded by werewolves. The fearsome feeling I felt when I was attacked by werewolves crept throughout my body when my eyes took in what was in front of me.

"It's okay," said Luke as he gave my hand a reassuring squeeze, "They won't hurt you."

We walked to the middle of the field, successfully attracting their attention in the process. All of them stopped what they were doing and focused on both of us—well, mostly me. The way they tilted their heads from side to side, and how their ears perked up as they looked at me showed their curiosity.

"I have an announcement to make," Luke announced to the pack.

The group of wolves in front of us glued their eyes to both of us as Luke spoke. "We have finally found our Luna," he placed both of his hands on my shoulders and pushed me forward gently, "Everyone, meet Violet Quinn."

Right after Luke finished his sentence, a stream of howls were heard. Surprised at their sudden howling, I glanced up at Luke nervously. Soon after, my dilated eyes were returned with a warm smile from Luke.

"They are happy to meet you," he explained. "Wolves howl to communicate with others, and in this case, they are showing their affection for you."

I swallowed the fluid in the back of my throat as I looked back at the wolves. To my surprise, all of them were staring at me while wagging their tails. Some were also jumping up and down. Are they not disgusted with me?

I thought they would be angry and grossed out about having a human as their Alpha's mate, let alone a weak human like me. Why are they welcoming me so happily?

"Oh thank the Moon Goddess, we finally found you," a woman with short ginger hair strode closer to me while grinning side to side. "I hope you can help us tone down our Alpha's grumpiness," she said while sending a look to Luke.

"My name is Lisa," she held out her hand, "I'm Andrew's mate."

Right. I was living in a house full of werewolves. It's not a surprise that Andrew is also a werewolf. Or maybe everyone I have met in this house is actually a werewolf in disguise. I accepted her hand and shook it with mine, "I'm Violet."

Right after our hands made contact, my hand was pulled towards her and soon our bodies collided with each other. "Thank you for finally appearing in our pack. We have been waiting for you for so long," Lisa said as she tightened her hug on me.

I didn't know how to react to her unexpected hug and stayed still like a stone without saying anything. She hugged me for a few moments before Luke tore us both away. "You are suffocating her," he said to Lisa.

"You are just jealous because I'm hugging her," she mocked Luke and shifted her attention back to me, "Sorry for the hug. I'm just happy to meet you—we all are."

I smiled wryly at her, "Why are you happy to meet me?"

"Of course I am. Our pack is not complete without a Luna," she said. "Are you not happy to meet us?" Her mouth turned downwards a little as she asked.

"N-no! It's not like that at all!" I raised my hand towards her and shook it hastily.

She raised her eyebrows and gave me a quizzed look, "Then?"

"I just think that... you wouldn't want a human as your Luna," I fidgeted my fingers and eyed her nervously.

"Are you seriously thinking that we will hate you for being human?" She first stared at me before laughing loudly at my words, "What do you think about this, Alpha?"

Luke, who was beside me, cupped both of my cheeks, "Human or not, it doesn't matter to us, Violet. What matters is that you are our Luna, and it will never change," he gave me a quick peck on my forehead, "Stop thinking such useless thoughts in that pretty little head of yours, okay?"

"Are you really our Alpha?" Lisa had her mouth open as she looked at us in disbelief, "You know it doesn't hurt to try to talk that way to the rest of us too."

"Why would I do that? You guys are not my mate," Luke replied, still with his eyes on me. He smiled a little before releasing his hold on me, then glanced at the crowd of wolves in front of us. "To commemorate this wonderful day, I will let you guys train with me, one on one." Hearing this, the wolves paced around happily and howled. It seems that it was rare for them to train with their Alpha. "Who will go first?" asked Luke as he rolled up his sleeves.

A grey wolf stepped out of the crowd with his fur, which was starting to crawl into his skin as his four-legged body turned into the body of a human. I caught a little glimpse of his bare skin before a hand covered my sight.

"Who told you to shift here?!" A flabbergasted Luke yelled as he quickly turned my body around in another direction, "You are hurting her innocent eyes."

Was he naked just now? I managed to see his built torso before my eyes were hidden by Luke's palm.

"Why am I hurting her eyes?" The man laughed, "I mean, look at this—"

"Clothes," Luke cut him off before receiving a yes from the man. After confirming the man was clothed, Luke finally dropped his hand from my eyes. He ruffled my hair before leaving me to train with the man.

"Nice to see him being so flustered," Lisa chuckled beside me, "He was always so composed. There was a time when I wanted to punch his poker face," she said as she curled up her fist. "Still do, actually."

"Where's Andrew?" I smiled as I questioned her. I knew that he was supposed to be here as he was in charge of training the people, but I haven't seen him around.

"You see over there..." she pointed to a blonde wolf who was sleeping under a tree comfortably, "That's him, still as lazy as ever. I really need to give him a beating sometime," she sighed.

"Anyway, how did you meet Luke?" Her hazel eyes glimmered with curiosity as she asked.

"Um," I shifted beside her awkwardly, "We met when I was running away from my dad's guards."

"Guards?"

I nodded, "My dad had a lot of enemies. That's why he hired some guards all over the house."

"And why are they chasing you?" Her brows furrowed closer.

"I ran away from the house."

"Oh," her head moved up and down slowly as she took in the information. I was thankful that she didn't ask any further questions about it.

"I am glad that you are here now," she smiled at me, "We should be friends!"

I stared at her, dumbfounded by her suggestion. No one has ever asked me to be their friend before. The kids around my house know that I was tortured by my dad, so they have always tried their best to avoid me. Well... it's not like I could step outside the house, so it doesn't really matter anyway. I knew that I was bound to live alone after my dad started to become abusive. I had no one to trust, no one to protect me.

"Friends?" I repeated her words, not believing what I had just heard.

"Yes, friends!" She nodded her head gleefully, "Why?"

"No, it's just... I've never had any friends before."

"Then I'll be your first friend," she smiled. "Will you let me have the honor of becoming the first friend of our mighty pack's Luna?" She asked jokingly.

I couldn't believe there was a day when I would have a friend. I've never imagined having a friend to play around with, or to talk about my troubles with. But there really is such a day, and I will soon have my very first friend. I realized things really have changed a lot since I came here. It made me think that the world could once again be nice and hopeful. It's been a long time since I last looked forward to what's coming in the future.

I nodded my head and smiled at her. She returned my smile with another smile, and a hug. "You can talk to me whenever you need me. I'll always be there for you," she said, before laughing. "That, if I was still alive when you decided to call me."

"Thank you for becoming my friend," I laughed softly. "No one has ever asked me to be their friend before."

"They must be a bunch of idiots," she remarked as we parted from each other. "You know what? We should have a welcoming party for you."

"You don't need to—" I refused, but was cut off by her excited chatter.

"Let's have a feast!"