I could only nod.
Emma smiled. “You’re doing great. Nowthat big booming voice in your head, that’s Kai. He can pick up on yourthoughts, emotions, and he can speak directly into your mind. You’ll get usedto it. In a moment, I want you to change into the clothes I brought you. ThenI’m going to take you out to meet everyone and we can establish your place inthe pack. The sooner we do that, the better off everyone will feel.”
“My place?” I could feel somethinginside me thrumming with excitement. My inner wolf, I recognized.
“Every pack functions smoothlybecause we all have a place in the pack. There’s no need for me to get into adominance battle with Sadie because I know she’s ninth in the pack ofdominants. I’m twenty-sixth; the last and most submissive wolf. Everyoneprotects me and that’s my place. That’s where I feel most comfortable. That’swhy Kai sent me in here, so that there was no chance that your inner wolf wouldfeel threatened.”
I nodded. Something about what shesaid felt right. I would go out there, establish my place and then talk to Kaiabout my old life. I needed to at least call my mother… and my roommate, Lexi.
“And how do I establish my place?” Istared into Emma’s green eyes.
She quickly lowered hers after a fewseconds. She swallowed hard. “A staring contest. You will start with me. If Ilower my eyes first, then you are more dominant than I am and you move to thenext person in the pack and so on and so on. You do this until you lower youreyes. Then we all know your place. No fights. Kai runs a clean pack.”
I nodded. That didn’t seem so hard.
She elbowed me. “I can already tellyou are more dominant than me. For a human female to survive thechange,you have to at least be in the middle. You might even be higher than Sadie.”She grinned like that would bring her immense joy.
I felt nauseous. “Well, you survived,so you must be pretty strong, too.” I added, trying to make her feel better.
“Oh, Aurora, I wasn’tchanged.I was born this way. Both of my parents are wolves.”
“Oh. Well, how many females do youhave in the pack that have survived thechange?” My heart raced inanticipation.
She fiddled with her hands. “Justyou.”
Emma cocked her head to the side. “Kaisays everyone is waiting, so go get dressed, okay?” She smiled sweetly.
I picked up my new clothes and wentto get dressed. It was time to do a staring contest.
When Emma led me out of the room, Irealized we were in a huge house that overlooked Mt. Hood. The ceilings werevaulted with exposed wood beams, and one of the living room’s walls wasentirely made of glass. I could see through the glass that a large gathering ofpeople stood outside. They were all lined up in a row and talking. Once I camecloser and Emma led me outside, they became silent.
‘Pack. Pack. Pack,’my inner wolf chanted.
I scanned the faces. Some smiled atme, some scowled. Then my eyes rested onHim.Kai. I quickly looked downtowards his full lips remembering Emma’s advice not to meet his eyes. He wasEast Indian, over 6 feet tall and built from rock hard muscle. He had dark,unruly hair and chestnut eyes. If I wasn’t feeling like I had been abducted byaliens and taken to a new werewolf planet, I might actually say he was hot. Hislips quirked up to a smile and I realized the other thing Emma had said. Thathe could read my emotions, my thoughts. Just kill me. His smirk disappeared andhe stepped forward placing a warm, possessive hand on my shoulder. Emma tookher place at the end of the line.
“Brothers and sisters, a new pup hasjoined our ranks!” His voice commanded attention and oozed with power. Thehairs on the back of my neck stood up. “This strong female survived a horrificaccident and thechange. I feel your anxiety about her. Is shesubmissive, should I protect her? Is she dominant, more dominant than me? Couldshe be my mate? I think it’s best to establish her place before we havecelebrations to welcome her. This will ease your minds.”
I balked inside when he saidmatebut kept my face a mask of calm. Werewolves could smell fear, right? Well, Iwouldn’t give them the satisfaction.
Kai walked me towards the end of theline to where Emma stood. She smiled.
“Emma, you have explained how thiswill go?” Kai spoke to her as if she was a cherished little sister, somethingto protect.
She nodded. “…and you can start withSammy. I already know she’s more dom than me.”
Kai let go of my shoulder and Sammystepped forward. He looked about fourteen years old and had blonde hair andbrown eyes. I stared, heart pounding, not out of fear but out of nerves. Wherewould I fall in the pack? What would it mean? If I was low, did that make meweak? If I was high, did that make me more of a monster than I already thoughtI was? After about five seconds, Sammy looked down. Sweat beaded on hisforehead and I wondered if that was from me. I went to the next person. A talland lanky man with kind eyes stepped forward. After a few seconds he, too,looked down. Sweat shown on his brow as well. I kept moving up the line. Once Igot to the middle, I could hear murmuring.
‘Silence.’ Kai commanded. It was so alien tohear someone speak in my mind.
I looked back at Kai, unsure.
“Keep going, Aurora. You’re doingexactly what Emma and I told you. Don’t worry.”
I turned to face the next person andthen the next, until I met who I assumed to be Sadie. She was ninth from thetop of the pack and had long, ink black hair and medium dark skin. She lookedNative American. Maybe mixed. She was beautiful, exotic. As we stared, I beganto feel my pulse pick up the longer we locked eyes. A bit of sweat beaded on myupper lip but Sadie looked down after about ten seconds. She was panting. Shecursed under her breath and shot me a death look. She wasn’t happy about myplace in the pack being above hers. I swallowed hard and moved on.
It began to get harder to hold theirgaze but I was able to. Three pack members from the top, whispers had started. Kaihad to quiet everyone multiple times. He kept reassuring me that I was doingfine and needed to continue. I continued on until I was standing in front of thelast man. He was tall, broad shouldered and his arms were littered with scars.What would be so bad that it would scar a werewolf? He had sandy blonde hairand ice blue eyes. He stepped forward and puffed up his chest.
“My name is Max and I have been Kai’ssecond in command for forty-six years.” His voice could cut paper. I swallowed.Forty-six years? He didn’t look a day over twenty-five, neither did Kai. Kaiput his hand on Max’s shoulder.
