“How many this weekend?” I asked, turning from my pacing to watch him.
He didn’t look at me. In fact, he seemed to be making an effort not to look at me and had been making that effort since breakfast. My stomach wanted to do a flip, but I firmly smashed down my emotions. Emotions around werewolves gave you away. They could smell some and hear others. I needed to figure out what was going on before I reacted in anyway. He’d looked guilty at breakfast, hurried to get here, and now wouldn’t meet my eyes.
He straightened, pencil and paper in his hand. “I’m not sure,” he said still not meeting my gaze. He kept himself busy by tucking the pencil into the spiral of the notebook. “All of the Elders put a call out since it’s your last one. Ready?”
“Yep.” I fell into step behind him and asked, “So, what does that mean?”
“That there are more ears than usual,” he tossed over his shoulder as he opened the door for me, a reminder that others could hear what we said. We moved out into the hallway. A werewolf fun fact to keep in mind at all times… their excellent hearing.
Sam typically stayed very open with me, but something definitely felt different about tonight. I followed him down the hall, our footfalls echoing softly on the hardwood floor.
Despite my effort to not react in any way to the oddities I kept noticing, a tension built inside of me. Not about the Introductions. I’d grown used to those. They could throw as many unmated at me as they wanted. I knew it wouldn’t work. In the two years, not once had I felt any physical interest in any werewolf. There’d been some nice ones I’d enjoyed talking to, but nothing more. No spark that Sam insisted I’d feel. He’d stressed that whatever I felt, the male would feel infinitely stronger, a compulsion that they wouldn’t be able to deny.
No, the tension kept building as I puzzled over what Sam hid, whatever made him act so nervous and guilty at the same time.
When we didn’t turn to go to the commons, but instead down the hall I knew housed the infamous Introduction room, his odd behavior made sense. It appeared they would be going old school for my last Introduction. Sam had stressed a formal Introduction could be dangerous to me, so I could understand his nervousness and guilt. But I didn’t understand why they thought this necessary. Did they really think the results would be different?
“Sam, you should have told me first,” I scolded under my breath, trying to make it as quiet as possible. I knew others would probably hear it anyway.
He said nothing as he stopped and opened the door at the end of the hall. He motioned me inside. The windowless room with the same comfortable log cabin design as the rest of the compound, held only a few chairs set to the side for Elders to wait and observe. Having Elders in the room meant disputes were resolved quickly and without bloodshed. It also meant better protection for the female.
Near the center of the room, ten worn X’s taped to the floor formed a gentle arch. A few feet away, a solid line ran from one side of the room to the other, separating the front and back halves of the room. Each side had a door.
According to tradition, five werewolves would enter from the opposite door, which led outside, and remain in the room for five minutes. The Elders present would watch my reaction to these werewolves and their reactions to me. Five minutes gave enough time for me to introduce myself to them.
It seemed pointless to me though. Through their own admission, true mates would know within a minute of meeting each other.
All ten marks came into play during Introductions for older unmated were-females. Once Introductions started, unmated males traveled from distant states until the Elder network announced a claim.
By nature, the males competed aggressively for a mate since fewer females were available to men. Sam had told me statistically the birth rate was about three to one - male to female. Some thought it nature’s way to keep the werewolf population low. Other’s disagreed, arguing with the very persuasive logic that it didn’t make sense when human females appeared to be evolving to fill in the need.
Understanding the seriousness of this Introduction, I stood near the door I’d entered. If trouble broke out, I would step through the sturdy, thick door, lock it behind me, and run like hell. It wouldn’t slow a determined werewolf. Without an Elder standing between an oncoming werewolf and me, I wouldn’t stand a chance. Declared a safety zone, I would remain in the hall beyond to wait until the Elders calmed whatever disruption might occur.
Although the setting had changed, the rules hadn’t. They couldn’t force this on me. It was up to Nature. One more weekend to play it cool and then… done.