I - HOME

I was driving home. In the distance I could see the waxing moon. I knew it will be full in five days.

I had already missed dinner when I got in the car. It was the third time this week and it had always been my favorite part of the day. We usually didn't see each other often through the day but we all gathered together in the evenings at the living room's big white table. Crystal chandelier eliminating soft chatter, clinking of knifes against the plates and warmth in the air.

It was almost a rule, not enforced in any way but still, it was a sort of an unspoken rule. We all enjoyed it thus it was never a problem. We were all one big family. Not by blood, but by choice. If it could be called choice.

Our blood bonded us in a different way. We were werewolves. We were a pack. A family.

I parked my car at the edge of the small clearing holding a 3 story stone house. Covered with wines that were using the uneven walls as steppingstones on their way up. They still hadn't reached the top of the house, nor covered all the walls completely, but some day they would. Maybe even I would see that day.

I looked around and was surrounded by the trees and spiky mountains in the distance. I took a deep breath of the fresh air and savored the moment. The scenery never failed to mesmerize me with its beauty, especially at night.

I opened the door, and the smell of grilled chicken, corn and potatoes tickled my nose and my stomach.

"I'll heat it up for you." Mia's raspy voice said from the kitchen even before I had the chance to close the door.

"Good evening to you too! " I answered taking off my shoes and putting on the fuzzy blue slippers.

"It won't be as good. But that is not my fault." She continued ignoring my greeting.

"Sorry."

We sometimes missed dining together for various reasons, but we tried not to. Especially when Mia and Aiden were cooking.

They LOVED their grill. They got a new one the same exact day our old one gave out. They practically ran to the store to pick a new one. They liked to grill everything. And when it was their turn to cook, we would get something hot and steaming right off the fire.

Mia was opening a bottle of red vine as I walked in the kitchen. I passed the wooden cabinets and the metal stove in between them. A small spice cabinet on the left was displaying a wide array of different colored spices in little glass jars and I caught a whiff of them as I walked by.

"Did I miss something?" I asked and took a seat at the small wooden table that was tucked away in a corner.

The microwave beeped and a plate of delicious food was placed in front of me. I dug right in.

"Not much." She answered and put a vine glass near me. I caught a glimpse of her black colored nails, as black as her hair.

"The trouble trio will be running laps tomorrow morning." Then she whispered "Firecrackers." and cleared her throat to begin imitating our Alphas voice "I will not mention what you did. You know it very well. But let me remind you that werewolves are not fireproof! Do you even know what to do if you catch on fire?! You get on the ground and roll around until you find me with a bucket of water." She paused for a second and I let out a laugh " Then you …

"How thoughtful of you, Mia, to share this valuable information with Melanie." Our Alpha cut her off as he walked in to the kitchen. Mia quickly nodded her head letting her curls bounce with the movement. "That was exactly what I was doing." She said with a straight face.

"Your voice sounded a little different, did you catch a cold?" He spoke as he walked over to a cabinet and took out a glass "And for the record, I do not sound like that."

"You kind of do." I said. "We didn't even get to discuss your gestures as you scold them."

"You always flaunt your hands in the air and aggressively point at people." Mia chimed in dragging a laugh out of Alexander.

"I'm just worried about them." He said tucking back the pieces of honey brown hair that had fallen in front of his eyes.

"The walls have ears, ladies. " He said and then lifted up his glass. "Good vine."

Mia did the same and they took a sip of wine simultaneously.

"Don't stay up too late. " He said walking back with the vine glass.

We chatted for a while longer and then Mia retreated to her room and I started to clean up. I placed the dishes in the washing machine. Before closing it Alexander came back.

"Melanie, is everything all right? It has been, what, the third time this week, that you missed dining with us?" He asked with concern in his voice.

"Sorry. I had to finish up a lot of work."

"That's not what I mean." He assured me. "Don't overwork yourself." He said and sent a warm brown eyed smile my way.

I nodded.

"See you tomorrow morning."

"Good night!" I said and watched him leave.

Alexander was the Alpha of the Fleur pack. The first and only pack I had ever been part of. He was more like a father than an Alpha to me, in some extent to us all. We trusted and followed him not because of the authority that the position gave, but because we believed in him. Believed that he would protect us, guide us and that he would always know what to do.

Before leaving I checked the chore planner. As expected, tomorrow will be my and Ray's turn to cook. We have dinner shifts and another household chores divided between all 22 of us.

I turned the dishwasher on and headed to the second floor. I opened the wooden door, that creaked with the motion.

Quinn was laying on her stomach with her long legs crossed in the air. Her auburn hair tickling her shoulders and her fingers drumming on the edge of the bed to a rhythm that flowed through her headphones. As I closed the door behind me she took one headphone out and lifted her brown eyes to greet me.

A laud knock sounded at the wooden door of our shared room and we both turned our heads in that direction.

"Can I come in?" Ray yelled on the other side of the door.

"We have good hearing! Stop yelling!" Quinn shouted back.

He opened the door and leaned in the doorway. He looked around our room.

The room was divided in half with an empty walkway in the middle. Both of our beds sat at the edges of the room, near the 2 big windows. In between my bed and the window was a green reading chair and a bookshelf. On the edge of Quinn's bed, proudly displayed, was an old record player that was a gift from us on her birthday.

"Running?" I asked Ray pointing at his outfit. He was wearing a form fitting black t-shirt and matching shorts.

"One day I'm going to outrun you."

"Not a chance! My moneys on you Mel!" She said and winked at me.

"Thanks." I smiled back at her.

"I'll buy the groceries if you do all the rest." He blurted out.

"At least make it sound like you will help me." I knew he would stay away from the kitchen.

"We both know it's better for us all if I don't."

"We don't need another fire in the kitchen." Quinn said stretching her arms.

"It was not that bad!" He defended himself.

"We had to replace the wall." I reminded.

"I'll never live it down, will I ?" He sighed "So, we have a deal?"

"Sure." I agreed.

"Nighty Night!" He said and left.

"Meatballs!" He yelled after a while from the stairs.

"Ok" I yelled back.

"Stop yelling!" Someone shouted from the other side of the house.

"I love meatballs!" Came from downstairs.

"Goodnight!" I yelled to everyone to end the shouting match. A lot of other good night's met mine.

I took a shower and then headed straight to bed.

"Goodnight!" I said to Quinn turning off the bed side lamp on my side of the room.

"Good night!" She answered and I closed my eyes.

"Don't stay up too late texting him."

"Who?"

"Your new boyfriend." I said and turned to the other side.

"I don't have a boyfriend!" She huffed and a pillow landed on my head.