Beth McCreedy, matriarch of the pack and aunty to blood and beyond, enfolded me in a warm hug as soon as I came inside the door to her sprawling home. The scents of pretty flowers, good cooking, and fresh herbs rose from her in a cloud. She held me now at arm’s length, looking me up and down.
“Time to get you a husband!” she said with a wild chuckle.
I rolled my eyes, but I didn’t let her see it. Beth wanted everyone paired off, nice and neat, like her and Rob.
“She’s been a grown woman for some time now, Beth,” Rob said, standing in the doorway with his arms crossed. ‘Uncle Rob’ was Beth’s husband and mate. Most men of the pack could shift into wolf form, and your position in the community was determined by the strength of your animal. Rob was high up in the pack structure, ready to step in as an alpha when the time came. “How’s that roof of yours holding up?”
“It’s fine, thanks, Rob. I think that repair you did will hold this time, until we can afford to replace it.”
He nodded stiffly. “I’ll send one of the boys around, stock up that wood pile of yours. Get you set for winter.”
He didn’t wait for a reply. His statement was made, this was gonna be the way it was, and that was that.
“C’mon, girl. Get yourself a drink,” Beth said with a chuckle at her mate’s high-handed ways.
I knew my way around, having been here many a time with Nan, though a lot less after she’d passed. Beth and Rob’s place was a lot like mine—crammed to the gills with artwork and books, toys and pieces of history. But unlike mine, right now, it was also full of kids. Sprawled over the couch or running up the halls, watching TV or playing with dolls or LEGO in clusters, their sheer number alerted me to just how big tonight was gonna be.
I felt eyes on me as soon as we walked out to the back of the house, down the back steps to the big entertainment area where the adults hung out. Firepits made from ten-gallon drums were set up everywhere to keep the clusters of people warm, a roast lamb working on a spit by the smell of it.
And the pack. The old men, the alphas, sat at the centre on chairs, some holding canes, some wearing old cowboy hats pulled down low over their eyes, but all of them regarded the proceedings. They might not have been related by blood, but this was their family, their pack, and they kept the order.
Then there were the men like Rob. Still considered young, despite being in their thirties and fourties. These were men in their prime. Scarred hard bodies spoke to the fights they’d had to keep their position. And then there were the young fellas, Jai and his crew sitting on the ground, drinking beer, talking shit, but ready to move at a moment's notice if told to.
I glanced over and away again, catching flashes of that eerie eye shine they all had in the low light. You didn’t look the pack in the eye, not if you could help it. I had a certain degree of latitude, due to Nan’s connection with them, but I knew better than to push it.
“I should have brought…” I said lamely.
“No, you shouldn’t,” Beth said, linking her arm in mine and leading me to the biggest bonfire. “Fridge and the eskies are all full as is. Just more stuff cluttering up the place. You OK?”
“Why?” I asked, shooting her a sidelong look. You couldn’t lie to pack like you could humans. The women in the family didn’t shift, but they retained some of that wolfish sensitivity to sounds and smells.
“Can feel your heart running like a rabbit’s.”
“Yeah?”
“It’ll be all right, love.”
What will be all right? What do the old men want this time? I thought, but answers came at their pace, not mine.
“Hey, Shan! Where you been?”
My head jerked up to see my friends, Jasmine and Rita, had jumped up, arms spread. The wind was knocked out of me as their arms wrapped around me. Pack girls might not shift, but they were tough and strong. Had to be, growing up here. Beth just shook her head and left me to their tender mercies. I returned the girls’ hugs, holding them hard for just a minute before the need to breathe had me pulling away.