Beonnie

I had already packed and prepared the last things when I heard the car honk on the road outside. I was so jittery that I managed to spill the entire content of my tea cup over my new hoodie and deeply exhaled. Catastrophe was probably the wrong word, but I solved the issue by grabbing one of Hild's hoodies from the cleaning basket and putting my own in the laundry machine. We were going to a werewolf gathering after all; if my sweater smelled of a werewolf, it wouldn't be anything anyone cared about. 

I grabbed my stuff and went downstairs to pet Harry goodbye; he would be taken care of by Patty on the days when Hild would be working or at the tournament. I wanted to bring him, but it was best he stayed here for his own safety. Ironically, werewolves weren't known for being dog people.

I jumped inside the car and spent the next couple of hours squished between Toke and Gammal as Vidar was driving, and Jack took the shotgun seat. I didn't mind, though. Their presence was calm, warm, and reassuring. I was on their team now.

"So, how do you feel about the fights? Looking forward to them?" Toke raised an eyebrow at me and Gammal smiled.

"Looking forward is not exactly how I would describe it," I muttered and sighed. 

"It will be great fun, B, you'll see," Gammal nudged me in the side, his wrinkled face telling stories about battles won long before I was born. 

"It doesn't have to be fun, just not.. painful," I said and tried to put on a brave face. 

Arriving at the Gathering did nothing to calm my nerves. The official opening day was not until tomorrow, but as the fights started already then, the warriors from most of the lower Packs arrived today. I was thus met with the sight of men ranging from enormous to gigantic. And against them, I would be standing in my leather bathing suit, trying to whisk them off. Wonderful.

At the entrance, every warrior got a bracelet, a leather-bound tube containing a mix of wolfsbane and liquid silver. This prevented warriors from shifting during a fight, as the tube would break with the growing limbs, making the silver spill, stopping the eventual shift from happening, or at least slowing it down. Not to mention how extremely painful it would be when the silver/wolfsbane mix touched your skin.

It was a short walk from the parking lot to the area for the Gathering. The lake and a stretch of beach were to the right, and beyond that, the arena towered. A long makeshift street was constructed from the left side of the arena and up to the forest, at an almost perpendicular angle toward the beach. Closest to the beach a large training ground was set.

Halfway along the street, there was a large circular area, hosting the main hall and a beer garden of sorts, and I stood there gawking at it all. 

"Come on, B, we are to the left up this street," Gammal placed his hand on my back and guided me toward the areas that were reserved for the different packs. "We are the lowest pack for now, and thus will have to quarter the furthest away from everything."

I glanced over at the towering arena and the pack areas on that side of the circle, closest to the arena. 

"So that is where the Prospect pack is?" Hild would probably be very happy to note that we would be far away from anything funny. Not to mention the Prospect pack. 

"Yes, as well as Dark Mountain Pack, Silver Moon, and number four Green something, I need my glasses," Gammal continued, reading from a paper found in the folder Hild had handed out to everyone. 

I glanced over at the Prospect pack area. It was grander than the other ones, and their main hall was as big as the one in the circle. They could of course stay in their own homes, but it was considered polite for them to also "camp" as the other packs did. 

We started to walk in the other direction, up towards our small, fenced home for the next couple of weeks. We had a small training area closest to the entrance and the street and small, half-wooden half safari tents in the part of the area most immediate to the forest. One big long table in the middle of the tents and one more giant tent if the weather turned rainy. Toilets and water supply in the farthest edge of our area.

My tent was next to the bigger one and close to the forest, which I was delighted with. A fast escape in case the noise got too much. The tent was equipped with two beds, armchairs, racks for clothes, a small desk, and a small porch in front. Everything was neatly prepared as I arrived. I would have my own tent, apart from those nights that Hild eventually would spend here, whereas the guys had to share.

I withdrew the curtains so that the side with the porch was open and started to get in order. It took about two seconds after I was finished before Vile showed up on my porch.

"Wanna go explore?"

I nodded eagerly.

"Can we go check if Trevor is here too?"

I laughed.

"Seriously. What has it been like 15 hours since we met him? But.. he completes us."

Vile grinned.

"I can't be seen walking around with a girl all the time. People will think I'm a softie."

About halfway there, I discovered that I had forgotten my phone, and since Hild was adamant about two things; I should never walk alone and always have my phone, I turned back to fetch it while Vile went and looked for Trevor at the Silver Moon Pack's great area.

I was just on my way back again when someone grabbed me from behind and pulled me into the Prospect Pack area.

"Who are you?!," someone rasped in my ear.

I almost peed in my pants. My pulse skyrocketed, and I could forget about the cloaking. Adrenaline pumped through my veins, and white flashes started to dance in front of my eyes.

Then he, it was a he, let go, and I slowly turned around.

Ben

So far, so good. The area had started to fill up with warriors and some families and werewolves in general, mainly from the lower packs, but since a Gathering was a rare thing, it seemed like everyone was eager to have some fun, and there were a lot of people here already. I saw that the Silver Moon pack had arrived and was starting to get settled in, and soon enough, I expected the Dark Mountain Pack to come too. They, together with the Greenwood Pack would be our closest neighbors.

I put on a baseball cap to do what I hoped would be an incognito tour of the area before all the official greetings and meetings would start. I knew I wouldn't be able to walk far without being talked to or attended to, but right now, before everyone knew who I was, I had a sliver of a chance to walk around unnoticed.

It worked pretty ok, I could see that some recognized me but also what I was trying to do, so everyone would only nod and submit and not try to approach me. The main hall looked good, and the beer garden was already attending to some guests, even if it was only noon. I went to check on the lower-ranked packs' area, and everyone seemed busy moving in, meeting friends, unpacking, and in general getting settled.

I was just about to turn into the marketplace when I got a whiff of an unfamiliar scent. Most scents were, of course, unfamiliar here, but they were of the typical werewolf type. This was a faint scent of cardamom, spices, and fresh summer rain all mixed into one.. lovely scent.

I turned around, scanning the area for a possible source but couldn't immediately identify it. I found the general direction and started to walk that way. Suddenly it seemed that the place was jampacked with people that I kept bumping into in my haste to find whoever it was. As I reached the Circle and the beer garden, I located the scent of a blonde woman with a grey hoodie slung over her shoulders, and when she reached the Prospect area, I caught up with her.

I was now almost in a state of panic. All bets were off, and all I wanted was to know what this person had done to get that scent on her. It wasn't her scent; it was a secondary scent on her clothes. The realization almost panicked me, and I grabbed, probably a little too hard and completely out of character for me actually, the blonde woman and half dragged her into our area.

Realizing my grave overstep, I immediately let her go, but my suspicions about this being the wrong woman were confirmed as I smelled her natural scent, mixed with adrenaline. She slowly turned around, clearly annoyed. Blue eyes flashed at me, and she answered my question with an unexpected:

"I don't need to tell you that," she put her hands on her hips to emphasize her words.

To say I was surprised was an understatement, but as I checked the emblem on her T-shirt and read "Ironwood Pack" I immediately understood who she was. I started to laugh.

"No, you actually don't," I held out my hand. "You are B."

She hesitated, clearly undecided if she was going to keep being angry or not. Then she took my hand and shook it.

"Who are you then?" the tone had a wariness and an edge which reminded me both of her uncle, most of all of her aunt whom I had spoken to only a few times but who had that same edge in it.

"I am.."

I wished that I, for one second, could be someone that she was allowed to be angry at. After all, I had almost dragged her there. It was also refreshing with genuine reactions from other werewolves than Zac. But I couldn't, could I? I took the middle road.

"..Ben Connors."

Her eyes widened in surprise, terror, and then immediately she looked down.

"Please don't. For once, it would be nice to be just Ben Connors and nothing else," I gestured towards a table nearby. "Would you join me for a second?"

She nodded slowly, and I noticed that her scent disappeared. Odd. The scent on her sweater still lingered and, faint as it was, was still mind-swirling.

We sat down. She gazed at me warily, waiting for me to start.

I had never needed to apologize, but now that she was here in front of me, I felt I could offer her an explanation.

"Alpha Neron Johnson is not known to handle his rogue intruders with care. Our hunt was partly to find you before his tracker did, but unfortunately, there was no way for Zac or Tristan to communicate this to you. The only thing to do was to find you first or keep their tracker close. I am.. a monster in many ways, but not like that."

She nodded slowly and seemed to relax for the first time in a long while. Then she looked at me, hesitating before she spoke.

"The fights - are they really uhm bad?"

I gauged her, trying to figure out what she was made of and what I could say that would help her. She looked down at the table, fidgeting with her hands.

"I just don't know if I will be brave enough tomorrow. I don't want to let my pack down, but I am only.. me, you know? I am not strong like them, like you."

I wanted to take her hand to comfort her, but I didn't know her all that well, so I sufficed with pointing at her.

"I have heard rumors about you kicking three grown men's asses at one point."

She smiled shyly. I continued.

"And as you know, being brave is not about doing dangerous things; it's about doing something even if you are afraid to do it. And from what I have heard, slapping werewolves around is not something you are afraid of either."

Her face turned red. I chuckled.

"Just think of Henry Johnson when you are in there."

Now she laughed.

"And you know, most warriors will go for brute strength in there, you can probably avoid most of the punches if you are only fast enough. Here let me show you," I got up and ushered her up, then I got into a fighting position and explained a few tips and tricks I had learned over the years.

She dodged a few punches and nodded gratefully after a few minutes of practice.

"Thank you."

"You're welcome. I'll be rooting for you tomorrow," I sat down again.

She gave me a faint smile and a nod before she turned around and left. I followed her figure as she left and was about to get up and continue my tour of the area when I noticed that she had left the hoodie behind. For a millisecond I contemplated calling out for her again, but then I didn't. I grabbed the hoodie like the invaluable item it was and went back into our main Hall, into my room, and put it next to my bed.