This is the full chapter 19.

Chapter 19

I stood between my parents gaping in awe. There was a giant fire which was surrounded by chairs. On the right side of the fire there was a podium with a microphone on it. On the left side of the fire there was a buffet surrounded with people various ages trying to get food. They were all in a line, some of them being sent to the end, while others were being sent to the front. They must have been getting in line according to their rank in the pack.

Around us speakers surrounded the small clearing in the middle of the woods. In the distance you could spot cabins and homes spread out in the woods. Each one told a story about the family who owned it. None of them matched, but they all did their purpose and blended in with the forest if you weren’t looking with a sharp eye. It proved that there were many people in the world and we could live in different ways, but in the end we were all just people… or in our case werewolves.

“Is everybody having fun?” A voice then asked through the speakers. As a reply there was a chorus of yes’s.

“Well, then everybody get yourselves some food and we can get started with the meeting!” The voice called out and everybody started into immediate action. I just stood there and watched as everyone fought their way into the line.

“Oh, Ashley I forgot to tell you, we have to get into the line! That was an order so go find the other Canis in the line and join them. After you get your food sit with them and turn your chair towards the podium. When the end of the meetings important part is announced turn your chair back around.” My mom told me turning back around, though I could tell she was having a hard time standing in that one place and not continuing towards the buffet.

“What about you guys?” I asked her.

“We have to sit with the Wolf’en, but we’ll see you after the meeting at the car.” She told me before allowing her body to turn back around and following the others into the line. It was a very funny sight. They looked like robots as they completed the order.

I stood there chuckling when someone came up behind me and started talking. “It’s a funny sight isn’t it?” Tyler asked me having a tight grip around Megan’s shoulders.

“Yes, it is, but how are the two of you here?” I asked them.

“Oh, right, well we’re werewolves too. Actually the whole group is who we hang out with in school.” Megan answered.

“So that’s why you said you could help me and have been so nice. But how did you guys know I was a werewolf?” I replied and Megan smiled.

“We get a list every year, we can smell the difference between werewolves and humans and your homeroom makes it pretty obvious.” Tyler replied and I just nodded, looking back at the robot like werewolves.

“How come you aren’t doing the robot like everyone else?” I asked them.

“We aren’t in the line because as future Alpha Male and future Alpha Female we got the job of getting you into that line.” Tyler laughed.

“Wow, I’m that much work? I have to have two people to get me in the line?” I asked him.

“Yes, you’re that much work.” He replied.

“And you two are mates then?” I asked.

“Yes, we are.” Megan answered smiling and Tyler smiled down at her.

“Now on with that assignment! Let’s go get in the buffet line.” Tyler stated and we both nodded agreeing.

“Wait; if it’s by rank wouldn’t you have to stand in the front while I join the Canis?” I asked them.

“Nope, you’re special. In some cases I even think you could stand in front of us.” Megan smiled.

“Haha, very funny!” I replied sarcastically.

“We’re serious!” Megan shot back as we headed over to the line. Immediately everyone took a step back. I started heading towards the end of the line since Canis were ranked just before the lone wolves and omegas, but everyone just continued stepping back.

“Don’t confuse them!” Tyler scolded me as he pulled me in front of him and Megan.

“I was supposed to stand with the Canis!” I objected.

“No, you weren’t!” He argued.

“Why not?” I asked him.

“You’ll find out whenever the pack is ready to tell you, but until then just go with it.” He told me placing a plate in my hands as he pushed me forward in the line. “Now get your food so everyone else can get theirs too.”

I nodded looking up only to realize that I was the first person in the line. Panicking I grabbed various foods speeding down the buffet.

“Relax!” Megan called out after me, as Mrs. Wolfe, who had already gotten her food grabbed my hand and guided me to a seat.

“You can sit here or join the group and be allowed to sit with the Canis.” She told me as I looked around the surrounding seats. On one side the chairs were labeled Shamans and on the other they were labeled Alphas. Behind me was the podium and I was sitting directly before the fire.

 “These are the reserved seats, the best you can get!” She continued as I twisted to see what was written on my chair, but her strong hands held me there firmly. “If you join the Canis for today you will still be able to keep this rank, you will just get the opportunity on every pack meeting to choose which rank you wish to sit in. Your spot in the line won’t change though, whatever you do.”

“I’ll join the Canis! I can’t survive sitting here!” I waved my hands gesturing to the titles on the chairs.

“That’s what I thought!” Mrs. Wolfe laughed. “Follow me.”

We walked around to the other side of the fire and weaved through chairs until we came to a bunch of seats that were labeled Canis. They were placed in the middle, having the Wolf’en sitting closer to the fire then we were and the omegas and lone wolves closer to the podium. These seats also didn’t look as comfortable as the one I had sat on minutes ago, but I didn’t want to get special treatment for a reason that I didn’t even know.

“The group should be here in a few minutes.” She told me before heading back to her own comfy, big and reserved chair. It wasn’t that I minded sitting on my new chair though, I actually preferred this one.

Sitting in my chair I allowed my eyes to wander around the area. Tyler and Megan who had gotten their food now were waving at me from their seats which were next to the Betas. The Shamans were already seated and the Alphas were standing on the podium. My parents were trying to find their seats amongst the Wolf’en and the Canis were starting to reach the end of the buffet.

I couldn’t help but wonder where my brothers would rank in the pack. They were either still Canis or already apart of the Wolf’en. There were still so many questions I wanted to ask even though I knew most people didn’t enjoy them.

Glancing up I noticed the group of Canis heading over to this area. With every one of their steps I was panicking about how I would explain why I was already here. Turns out this group was a lot different from my old friends. They didn’t pry into your private life even when they would have had a reasonable reason to. Two familiar guys from the first time the group had cornered me greeted me, not bothered by the fact that I was already there. Kristina was the one who did ask, but they blew her off with a quick and obviously untrue explanation.

“Megan and Tyler didn’t take me to the front of the line when it was my first meeting, and there are other new people here too!” Kristina continued complaining.

“They probably don’t really like you then.” They told her holding back snickers.

“They do like me! They said I was one of the sweetest new Canis they’ve seen.” She objected.

“Then they were lying.” One of the guys who had brown hair and eyes that matched stated seriously. To this Kristina didn’t have an answer and stocked off finding a seat as far from us as possible, not that I really minded though. She was nice and all, but I knew that she and I wouldn’t be great friends. We were too different for that to happen.

“Thanks for saving me!” I told them turning around.

“It’s no problem, but maybe next time you should take your set in the special area Ashley. It wouldn’t cause as much attraction and you would escape the questions.” The other guy answered me. He looked exactly like the first one, which led me to believe they were twins.

“I think she gets it!” The first one snapped at his what I believed to be his brother.

 “Anyways, I’m Andrew and this is Chester. You probably already know we’re twins.” The second one continued pointing at his brother.

“You know my name.” I replied smiling.

“Yep, now turn your seat, the meetings about to start.” He said already in action.

Copying him I stood up and turned my seat so I had my back against the fire. Even sitting so far away from it I could feel its heat crawling up and warming my back, the smoke filling my nose in one of the most unpleasant smells ever. Trying to get the least amount needed from the air I took a deep breath allowing a large amount of smoke to enter my mouth and get to my lungs. As a result I started coughing so hard that it sounded like I was suffocating. 

In seconds a large hand clasped my shoulder and squeezed on it while another pounded on my back. The movements were accompanied by two people laughing so hard they were holding their sides and lots of muffled chuckles.

“Every time someone new comes to the pack meeting they do that. I don’t know how you guys come up with that idea though. You should know from common sense that it will just become worse.” Chester told me, taking deep breaths to stop laughing.

“You so know where they get the idea from. You and I both did that on our first meeting too!” Andrew scowled at his brother before turning to be and smiling in an understanding way. “You get used to the smoke and before you start jumping in your chair, you won’t get burned, it’s never happened before.”

Nodding I relaxed in my chair just as the heat started to burn my back. My natural reaction would have been to jump up, but I resisted the urge, due to Andrews warning. I was definitely saving myself from another dose of embarrassment.

“Aw, why do you always have to ruin my fun?” Chester complained.

He never did get an answer though, because up front a large black haired man cleared his throat. He looked about forty years old, though I guessed he was older. At the sound of this signal everyone’s heads shot up to the stage and I allowed mine to follow. The man was accompanied by the woman I recognized as Margaret, Tyler and Megan. Margaret looked calm and put together up there in front of the large audience, while Tyler and Megan’s uncomfort was obvious with just one glance.

“Welcome to our newest annual pack meeting. I hope everyone is enjoying today’s dishes. We must thank the humans for those.” The man on the podium said and the crowd laughed at his joke about humans, the race I had thought I was just a few weeks ago.

“Anyways let’s get to the point of our meeting today. We are here to tell you that after a few events that we have been waiting for eagerly, Megan and Tyler are finally able to take over their destined spots as Alpha and Alpha Female. They will go through a month of training and when they have completed it my mate and I will perform the ceremony, during the next pack meeting.”

“Now let’s introduce our new pack members.” Margaret said stepping forward. At the sound of this a few people grumbled about her saying pack members instead of Canis and what it could mean. “These people are Ashley Benson, Ginger Bellinger, Daxen Murdock, and Francis Alexander…”

She listed at least ten people, but I focused in one the name Daxen Murdock. It was the name Mrs. Wolfe had told me was the name of my mate. I searched the crowd with my eyes, trying to see if someone caught my eye. I was searching to see if I could catch a glimpse of my mate, who I expected to recognize from first sight, though I was wrong. Instead I saw the red head girl from Mrs. Wolfe’s office in school. I was glad to see someone who went through it all at the same time I did. I was going to have to talk to her some time soon.

When the main part of the meeting ended we turned our chairs around and watched the Shamans surround the fire. They chanted words that weren’t understandable causing shadows to form inside of the fire. The shadows swirled in circles around the fire rising up higher into the air.

Soon we saw them form into various wolf sizes and humans, indicating the beginning of the story that an unknown voice told to the pack.

“Hundreds of years ago, a race of wolves existed, who had the ability to share their thoughts with one other mammal, the first mammal they bit in their lives. At first the race didn’t know of the gift and used it on their pray, who they killed seconds after biting them. This caused their skill to stay unused throughout their lives.

Once a group of pups made a mistake though and attacked a village of humans. It became the battle between the two species that we remember as the battle of Jaws and Guns. The people the young wolves bit the earliest healed in seconds, forming paw shaped scars on their bite marks. These humans panic filled into the pups’ minds. Immediately the attack ceased from the pups side causing the humans to also come to a halt. In seconds the people with the paw marks scooped up the pups and raised them, working together and beginning the formation of our race.

From then on the young pups chose the humans they wanted to share their thoughts with and the pair trained together for wars. They fought together against evil saving our world many times but as time prevailed the connections started failing. The wolves and humans minds started getting switched and their actions were also being swapped. Because of this the humans became incapable of fighting and died. With their deaths their minds were transferred into the wolves, who now had two brains. The varying thoughts were too overwhelming for the wolves and drove them insane until they ate their partners. Since they were already bonded this tied the two mammals even closer together, by giving the wolves human bodies too, forming the species of werewolves.”

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I'm really upset about how the fire story part turned out. I will defenitely edit that a few more times before I feel satisfied with it. Also I'm working with an editor on editing the whole story and school is starting again so I will upload less often. (Not that I uploaded very often before... which I am very sorry about.)  

Please bear with me, and read the new chapters that I edited alone, earlier this summer.

Thanks!