Chapter 18

Mrs. Wolfe navigated through the school with ease, taking me into an area which I didn’t even know existed. We whisked past the teachers’ lounge, through the teachers cafeteria and into the meeting room, where there was an elevator on the far sides’ wall.

We skidded to a stop when we arrived in front of the elevator and Mrs. Wolfe looked around, as if checking that there were no other teachers around. When she was satisfied, instead of pressing the up arrow like she should have, she took the panel off around the button, only to reveal a keyboard. She didn’t look the least bit surprised and looked calmer than I would have expected her too. She had a look on that was the opposite of the one I had on my face.

Narrowing her eyes as she thought for a minute, she typed in a long code. I just stood there unable to get the guts to ask her what she was doing or where we were going. It was easier nervously hoping we didn’t get caught.

With a ping the elevator arrived and we stepped inside, but in this elevator there was no level one, level two or level three, which were the levels our school had. The possibilities started at four and went all the way up to ten. We stood there for a minute as Mrs. Wolfe pondered about which would be the best choice before pressing the number eight. There must have been a reason she chose this level, but I decided to let her explain if she wanted to. I was already causing her enough trouble.

“Now I need you to get out and go into the third room on the left. Please don’t go wandering around like some of your friends have decided to. I’ll be with you in a minute, I just need to check on someone first.” She told me and I quickly nodded. It wouldn’t have even occurred to me to go around and look at the other rooms before she gave me the idea. Now thoughts about looking in before I enter my room and following Mrs. Wolfe were swarming in my head.  It was one of the things that my brothers had caused to be permanently etched in my brain. Around them what we were told not to do was what we usually did.

“You aren’t like your brothers thought right?” She asked me before I got out, holding the elevator door open. In reply I just smiled an awkward smile and she nodded. “I’m guessing you are, so how about I escort you to your room so you don’t get yourself in trouble.”

“You know about their pranks?” I asked her quietly.

“There isn’t a teacher in this school who doesn’t and I have a feeling they taught you some of their tricks,” She laughed.

“They did, but why would I get myself in trouble because of that?”

“When your brothers were going through this I also had to leave them alone here. Even though they were in separate rooms they greeted me with a nice surprise when I came back.”

“They tend to do that,” I laughed, thinking about how they hadn’t pulled one prank during their visit.

“People do change you know, they outgrow childish things.”

“I know.”

“So this is it,” She said pointing at the third colorful door on the left. It had a large sign on it that read ‘conversation room 6’. “Do I need to lock you in or are we safe?”

“I think we’re safe,” I laughed and Mrs. Wolfe nodded slipping a silver key in her pocket.

“Alright, I’ll be back in a few minutes,” She told me before heading back to the elevator and typing the code in again. It was amazing looking at the large amounts of people she could help. I was glad I had talked to her, however hard it was at first.

Retreating from the door back into the depth of the room I plopped down on a small single couch that was set on the far side of the room next to a bookshelf. Mrs. Wolfe must really love to read.

The room was painted a light brown, a color close to the one she had in her office downstairs. There were couches in the room set in a half circle like you would find in a living room, with a coffee table in the middle. Besides that you could only find paintings on the wall, the bookshelf and a clock.

“You didn’t ruin anything did you?” A voice suddenly asked me and I jumped from fright. A short brown haired girl stood in front of me in a jean skirt and a very light pink tank top.

“No, I haven’t touched anything,” She was the kind of pretty girl who you just couldn’t ever predict.

 “That’s all I needed to know, I was going to keep you company, but Mrs. Wolfe is coming now so I’ll leave,” She told me with a smile.

“Wait, who are you?”

“Oh, I forgot to introduce myself. Silly me. I’m Allison, Mrs. Wolfe’s helper. I spend most of my time around here, helping the kids in need and there are tons,” She ranted as she headed for the door. “Well, I better go now, before I start blabbing secrets. See you around soon.”

As she exited the room I expected the door to slam shut, but the bang never came. Instead Mrs. Wolfe stepped into the room easing the door closed behind her.

“Alright, let’s just get to the main reason we’re here. It’s time for me to explain the rest of what we haven’t told you,” Mrs. Wolfe said as she sat down on one of the larger couches in the room.

“Already? I thought you could only do that after I reached stage three,” I told her confused.

“You reached the third stage when your friends left you earlier this morning. Oh, that reminds me, do you have a hold on your wolf now?” She answered, while studying my face.

“Yes, I’m fine now,” I told her, deciding to postpone my next question.

“That’s good. You must also be wondering why I’m going to be explaining instead of your parents,” She stated and I nodded in reply. “This is because the adult werewolf who is with you when you enter stage three has to do the explaining. This would mean that someone from the group should be doing it, but since they aren’t adults just yet, I’m going to explain everything.

“So I could have an unknown adult werewolf with me now if I was unlucky?” I asked her, hoping the answer was yes so I could rub it in my brothers’ faces if they didn’t know their final explainer.

“Yes, pretty much anyone could be here with you now.”

“And do you know who was with my brothers’ after this?”

“Yes, your mother was with John and I was with Josh. They went through this at the same time, and were both here. That was when they caused the giant mess here with their pranks.” My brothers must have pulled a really big trick on her.

“But let’s talk about what we’re here to talk about. So do you have any questions you want answered?”

“Well, there is one. How does a pack work?”

“That’s the prefect question, it’s one of the things I actually have to expain.”

“What else will you explain?”  

“I’ll explain about mates, but first let me explain what you asked.”

“Well in a pack there is an Alpha male that is the supreme leader of the pack and an Alpha female who is his mate and usually helps him rule the pack, while occasionally taking over whenever he is away. There are the Shamans who are the wisest, spiritual counselors of the pack they are usually the oldest members. There are the betas who teach the pack their special abilities. They work with the Alpha and the Shamans to make sure each wolf knows his place in the pack. These wolves have to earn their rank.” She paused to see if I was taking all of this in.

“Wolf’en are the adult warriors of the pack. They are hard workers and good fighters who are taught the packs special gifts from the forest if they prove themselves. The Wolf’en are trained to fight in group tactics. Canis are younger members of the pack, such as you. They learn the basics of the packs abilities, while improving their hunting skills. Then there are the pups who are the new born werewolves and finally there are the omegas that have the lowest ranking. It’s almost impossible for them to rise up from that ranking.”

“I’m not going to be an omega, will I?” It must be horrible to be ranked that low.

“No, of course you won’t be an omega! For now you are a Canis and could earn a higher ranking if you want. You’re parents are a part of the Wolf’en and I am a Shaman.”

“That’s a relief to hear. I think I’ll just be a Wolf’en though.”

“That’s a nice place to be in the pack.” Mrs. Wolfe agreed. “In some packs there are also the Lone Wolves, they’re the outcasts, because of some act that has dishonored them or they have abandoned the pack to search for a mate or to form their own pack.”

“I couldn’t imagine life that way.”

“I wouldn’t be able to live that way either.”

“What about mates?”

“Every wolf has a soul mate; he or she is their second half. This soul mate is called their mate for short by wolves and werewolves. Whenever you find your mate you go through a burning pull that wants to drag you towards your mate. If you’re too far from each other mentally or physically then this can be painful. For example it’s painful if you haven’t met your mate yet, but enter the physical barrier where you can feel each other.”

“That’s happened to me, except I wouldn’t let it drag me over!”

“I know, that’s why I used this case as an example. Do you know your mates name yet?”

“No.”

“I’ll tell you just to save you guys a little pain. He’s name is Daxen Murdock, but people just call him Dax.”

“How do you know that he’s my mate?”

“He’s the one who’s come to me for help because of this feeling.”

“Does he have a middle name?”

“Oh, that’s what I forgot to tell you. Werewolves don’t usually have middle names. Whenever they do it’s because the Alpha Female gave them their middle name for special reasons.”

“I have a middle name!” I gasped.

“Yes, and Rain is a beautiful middle name.”

“Thank you!”

“Alright I’ll let you rest up from your eventful day. I’ve already called your parents and talked to the attendance counselor on marking you present. You can decide if you want to go to class today or not. All I need you to do is make sure you tell your parents about today’s pack meeting, where we hope to see your whole family.” Mrs. Wolfe told me.

“What’s the code to the elevator?” I asked her my last question before she left.

“You just type in your name and then your position in the pack, so remember that you are a Canis.” She told me from the doorway.

“Thank you!” I called after her, settling into the chair for a nap.

*********

 I know I promised to write without Alphas... but I did some research and it said it was a key part of the pack so I felt obligated... Sorry!