Pushing the door closed, I reached around to the bed of the truck and grabbed my canvas bag looking around at the other vehicles. “There a pack meeting tonight?” I asked Sam.
I couldn’t remember ever seeing so many cars before. Oddly, for the number parked in the yard, the compound was quiet. Usually before a meeting, groups of people stood outside, talking, renewing acquaintances. Though quiet outside, thin glowing lines of light escaped from behind thick curtains in many of the windows on the main house. Definitely, a full house tonight. But why stay inside?
Sam just grunted in response to my question, shouldering his own bag and headed toward the main building.
I studied Sam’s back. He certainly seemed rushed. He’d even sped this trip, getting us here in just over seven hours. We’d only stopped once for a five minute, gas-up, eat, and pee break. I hadn’t questioned why, but it was unusual.
The whole trip he’d stayed unusually quiet, pensive. I didn’t mind the quiet, but he generally updated me on current pack activity during the drive to the compound. Bored, I’d alternated between listening to my mp3 player and watching the passing country in silence.
I turned a slow circle, taking everything in, breathing deeply, and started to focus. In two years, my sight had expanded so I could see much further in the vast darkness of my mind. It didn’t exhaust me as quickly as it used to. Some sparks came in strong, glowing brightly like a newly replaced light bulb. Others were weak, more like a lightning bug’s glow. I didn’t know why, it just was.
I closed my eyes and continued to turn a slow circle, breathing in and out in a deep steady rhythm. At the compound, focusing was harder. The lights of the werewolves tended to flash in and out of focus regardless of how bright or dim I perceived them. I attributed it to their amazing speed, thinking I only watched them move. Since I hadn’t yet shared this ability with Sam, I couldn’t confirm my suspicion.
In the darkness behind my closed eyes, I saw the usual flashes of light, but the flashes jumped around in a pattern that made me dizzy. I could see flashes in the compound and many in the wooded area surrounding the compound and beyond.
I stopped turning before I made myself lightheaded. When I opened my eyes, facing the wood to the right of the compound just inside the gate, I felt watched. Not moving, I listened. Nothing but silence and my own breathing. Shrugging, I turned away from the trees to walk toward the main building. If a werewolf lingered out here with me, they would show themselves, or not, depending on their nature and if I’d already been introduced to them.
Several men I’d never met exited through the main entrance as I stepped up onto the porch. Two gave me kind but dispassionate, perhaps even indifferent, nods of greeting. Mated. The other two watched me alertly and nodded politely. Unmated. I nodded a greeting in return and walked past them, safe with the mated males nearby. Pack law; protect unmated females from unmated males. Another pack law; don’t place yourself in a situation where you’ll be alone with an unmated male or it could be seen as acceptance of his suit.
Stepping inside, I noticed more men further down the long hall that branched from the main entry headed my way. Kicking off my shoes, I nodded and I walked past them. Again, a mated male amidst the unmated.
With a tingle of apprehension, I hurried toward the apartment assigned to us. The same one we’d first stayed in, but with big improvements. The sparsely furnished studio apartment with tiny bedroom now had a mini kitchen, which included a sink, dishes and mini fridge. It still lacked appliances for cooking since we all took meals with the rest of the pack in the commons, which had the communal kitchen. The kitchenettes in the apartments were there just for private convenience.
Sam had already thrown his bag on the foldout couch in the living room when I walked through the apartment door. I walked past him tossing my bag on my own bed thinking of the changes I’d seen in this small area since my first visit. Under the sofa, a plush rug protected the refinished hardwood floors. Pictures decorated the walls and various knickknacks adorned the room, just a few of Charlene’s efforts to make it homier for those staying here. Sam and I had priority on this apartment, but I knew visiting mated werewolves used it when we weren’t scheduled to.
Back in the living room, I watched Sam for a few moments trying to puzzle out his mood. The last few informal Introductions had been less than typical with an unusually high number of unmated males coming to the compound from greater distances. I figured this one would be no different. Maybe he worried about the number attending.
“So, when do we get started?” I paced around the room enjoying standing after the long drive.
“Soon as you’re ready I guess.” Sam stood over his bag riffling in the bottom, looking for something.