Kodi, exhausted from his daily routine, went online to check his emails. He wanted to see if his cousin, Budford, had any new news to share. He was distracted by spam mail on werewolf pups, something he usually ignored. But being tired of the same old same old, he decided to give the article a read.

The opening sentence, werewolf packs, are a lot like human families, made him laugh, so he continued reading. A female and a male werewolf meet and establish a pack.

"Establish? What an interesting word to use." Hearing his parents moving in their sleep, he lowered his voice. He didn't want to wake them from their slumber. Waking them triggered bathroom runs, retrieving water, another bathroom run, reading from the Bible, and then another bathroom run before they fell back to sleep.

Most wolves in the pack are related to each other: through blood or bite.

Werewolves, a large portion of them, grow up and live with or near their siblings, parents, and even their aunts and uncles who helped raise them. Kodi's life favored this group of wolves. He'd stayed behind on the farm to help his aging parents. He wished he had werewolf strength to make his daily routine easier. Having their power would allow him to accomplish more than he did as a human. His parents were too old to assist with the farm's responsibilities, the burden of it all: their healthcare, the farm, and selling their produce fell on his shoulders.

Sometimes, wolves leave their packs to create a new one.

"If only. I doubt if I will meet anyone if I stay on this farm much longer. I wish I could hire someone to help with even a week with my parents. Then I could get out and meet people. Live a little. Like Budford."

Other times, wolves are adopted into another pack as a part of their family,  creating a type of step-family. But their bond is thicker than blood.

Deciding to finish the article later, Kodi checked his emails. His cousin, Budford, invited him to a party in the big city. He wanted Kodi to meet his friends before they went their separate ways after graduation. Kodi, hearing many stories about their adventures, wanted to meet them. Maybe, Mr. Birch's wife could stay with his parents for a couple of days in exchange for his help for a day or two on Mr. Birch's farm. He'd call in the morning and offer the deal.

Mrs. Birch jumped at the offer, happy to have a break from their farm and the demanding outside duties. She showed up bright and early the day of the party and shooed Kodi out the door, telling him not to worry. She had everything under control.

The subway had Kodi confused and twisted. He ended up going in the wrong direction and overshooting his stop. He arrived when his cousin's party was in full swing. He was barely in the room when a stranger placed a drink in his hand.

"Drink up," the brown-haired beauty ordered, sashaying away.

Following orders, Kodi drank. How do you ignore someone with the curves she has? Marbles would have no problem rounding her edges.

Drink after drink continued to take up space in his hand. Kodi wasn't a newcomer to alcohol; because of his responsibilities, he'd never drunk more than three or four beers. Tonight, he had many first.

Woman after woman asked to dance with him, bumping and grinding against him, sometimes two at a time. He loved the attention he was receiving, and it didn't bother him that he never saw his cousin. Well, not that he could remember.

One of the women from his duo grinding machine snuggled into his neck, sending a warm sensation throughout his body. The second woman held onto him from behind, snuggling onto the other side of his neck. Kodi was lost in the pleasant feeling of being kissed and nibbled until out of the blue, one of them bit him, hard. He jerk away from them.

"Ouch!" He cried out from the pain, placing his hand over the bite area. She stood smiling at him with blood in the corner of her mouth.

"What is wrong with you?" He demanded, feeling a second bite on the other side of his neck. Stunned her turned to face his attacker. She too had blood on her lips.

"Y'all are crazy," he exclaimed, feeling his head start to swim.

The two women giggled, wiping the blood from their lips, and licking it off their fingers they turned and left him alone.

"What the heck just happened?" Kodi rubbed his sore neck.

The crowded party was filled with beautiful women. Beauty after beauty: blondes, brunettes, grey heads, redheads, and occasionally some other color of the rainbow, captured his attention. All feeling their womanhood and choosing dance partners from the few men gathered in the center of the room. He decided against letting two strange ladies, who didn't know the difference between man and a cow, ruin his night of fun.

Kodi felt honored when he chosen as a partner. Usually, he stood awkwardly on the side of the room when women were around. Not tonight, maybe it was the drinks.

"How about a dance cowboy," the petite, brown eyed, long haired beauty winked. Taking his hat she led a unsteady Kodi out onto the dance floor, performing moves he wasn't sure he could make his body do.

The last thing he was able to remember about that night was a freckled brunette and a petite redhead removing his shirt while they danced. They placed a name tag on his chest, took turns sliding their tongues down his throat before commanding him to stay in the center of the room.

Cheers filled the room as one of his fellow male comrades shouted, "Let the games begin!" Just before everything went black.

Kodi tried to open his eyes. His eyelids were too heavy to lift. Sweating he tried again to see who was in the room with him. Winning the struggle against his weighted down eyes, they popped halfway open.

"He's fine. Look his eyes are open," the curvaceous grey haired woman was saying to blurry figure  beside her.

"He is young. Be gentle with him." Kodi between the motion sickness and blurry vision swore the voice belonged to Budford.

"Come with me young pup," the woman said, taking his hand. She pulled him in one swift motion out of the recliner. Kodi laughed. He thought he was still standing.

"He doesn't usually drink this much," Budford said. "Things must be harder at home than I thought. Poor guy. After tonight things should be a litttle easier."

"Don't worry. He'll pull through it," woman comforted him with her rough gravely voice.

Thrown off balance by the sudden movement, Kodi headed face first towards the floor.

"Or maybe not," she teased. Reaching out right before he landed, she grabbed him by his waistband and lifted him over her shoulder.

"You are strong," he muttered, smelling lavender.

Budford laughed as Kodi was lead away.

"Who wears lavender? Bedford?" He asked, feeling himself being sprawled across a firm mattress.

"I do," replied the gravely voice.

"You sound pretty," Kodi babbled going in and out of consciousness.

He didn't know how long he was out, but when he awoke, he was semiconscious, he felt the bed shaking, heard someone or something howling, and saw a full moon through the bedroom window. Confused and wondering what was going on, he blacked back out again with a blurry female face watching at him.

He awoke multiple times with the same results, just different women in the room each time.

"What is going on?" Kodi croaked, in need of a gallon of water to quench his dry throat.

"Welcome to the family," the voice said, shuffling around the room, clothes rustling as they dressed. "You're in for one heck of a ride. Best of luck to you," they added, closing the door behind them.

"What family?" Kodi asked the empty room.