Chapter 1
The scent was old; that was all he could tell. He didn't know where it came from, but from what he had gathered, it was another shifter; one that smelled old enough to cause some concern, so Paul decided to head back to Sam's (his alpha) house to inform him that someone had come close to their boarders. If the scent had belonged to anything other than a human, then the whole pack would have been on edge, but Paul guessed that by the age of the scent surrounding their home, this was not something that should be taken lightly.
Once the alpha's house came into view, Paul was instantly hit with the glorious aroma of home cooking and fresh baked muffins coming from the kitchen.
When he entered, Paul saw Sam's imprint, Emily, working away trying to make enough breakfast to feed himself and his very hungry pack mates. Thankfully, Emily and Sue Clearwater, the mother of some of his pack mates and a council member, were aware of their ancient secret and were willing to help feed them all, or their race would have died out a long time ago.
Looking around Paul could see Jared, Embry, and Quill roughhousing and occasionally stealing a piece of bacon or two, but no Sam or any indication as to where he went.
"Hey Em," Paul said as he came up to the kitchen counter, "Where's Sam? I need to talk to him for a sec."
She looked up in concern for a second, but shook it off. "He's out back; chopping wood. I don't know how you can stand the cold," Emily began rambling as she turned around to monitor the stove, "I mean, I know why you can handle it, but, seriously, it's the middle of November and I'm freezing!"
He laughed a little at the minute amount of jealousy behind her words as he grabbed a blueberry muffin before heading out the back door to locate his alpha.
Just like Emily said, he was chopping wood, in nothing but shorts and a t-shirt, just like they all usually wore. He cleared his throat to get the older man's attention as he chewed.
"You know, you of all people should know by now that we can sense when one of the pack is nearby." His alpha stopped with the fire wood and lightly planted his hatchet in the chopping block. "That, and you talk so loud I could have located you a mile away; supernatural hearing or not." The corner of the man's mouth tilted upward slightly, hinting at his jest towards his second-in-command.
"Ha ha," Paul laughed sarcastically, rolling his eyes as he finished off the last of his muffin. The air became serious as he began to approach the topic of why he left his shift at the boarder an hour early.
"What is it," Sam questioned as he noticed his beta's change in demeanor.
"There was something at the boarder; a bit strange." At the confusion on Sam's face, he continued. "It was a scent. It was a bit confusing to decipher, like I couldn't tell if it was more than one or not. And it was old, like hundreds, if not thousands. It felt powerful like, I was... scared of it."
"Scared?"
Paul took a moment to think about his answer before he continued. "It just felt so strong and not a warning, more like..." He struggled for the words to describe the way he felt earlier.
"...Like it was just making you aware that its owner was nearby," Sam finished for him.
Paul's eyes widened in surprise at the exact description on how he was feeling. "Yeah! Yeah, how did you know?"
Sam was now thinking like a pack leader as his brows furrowed and he crossed his arms over his chest. "It's something that nomadic alphas do in order to inform packs with a permanent residence that they're just passing through. Though, if this scent is as old as you say, they more than likely mean no harm, but I'll check it out later."
"How come you didn't mention the possibility of other shifters before? I thought it was just specific to our tribe?"
Sam smirked at him and pat him on the back. "It would be foolish to think we're the only ones of our kind. So many people have legends about wolves and 'skin-changers', they're just not described the same way that our stories are told. Now," he said as they began walking beck towards the door, "as much as I would like to continue, I am starving and breakfast is ready."
So caught up in their conversation, neither one of them heard anything coming from the kitchen, so when Sam went to go open the back door, a pile of well-muscled, young wolf shifters felt onto the back porch, obviously having overheard the conversation.
"I told them not to," they all heard Emily claim from the kitchen, "but did they listen to me? No."
An hour later saw the entire pack walking the northern boarder of their land trying to sniff out the origin of the strange scent that their beta had found earlier that morning.
"Nothin' over here," exclaimed Jarod from a group of sequoia trees.
"I can't find anything either," Embry said as he hopped up off the ground.
Quill smacked him on the back of the head. "That's because you're looking in the dirt, you idiot!"
"Yeah, well, you leave a scent when you walk around, so why wouldn't it be in the dirt."
"Because its dirt," Paul shouted from further down the boarder, "it was very faint when I picked it up, kind of like...like, I don't know, snow, or something," he shrugged when the younger members gave him questioning looks, "but when I focused on it, it just felt so old. For some reason I'm having trouble picking up on it now."
"That's because it wasn't meant for you," Sam stated from a little deeper in the forest. "It's meant to inform alphas, not to place unease amongst an entire pack."
"Then how come I could smell it?"
"You're a beta. It wouldn't be as strong for you, but you are second-in-command. Jacob, you might be able to pick up on it too. Being an alpha is in your blood."
"But I chose not to be. I gave it up," Jacob stated, a bit frustrated.
"You can't just give up your blood line, man," said Embry. Jacob walked off a little annoyed.
"Hey, guys! I think I've got something!" The pack quickly rushed over to Paul as they all began searching his immediate area. Trying to locate the direction the scent had originated from was proving to be a little more difficult than they first thought.
"It came from over there."
"No, it didn't. It obviously started right here," Embry shot back at Quill. There was a brief snap of a twig in the distance, but it was hard to listen over Quill and Embry.
"Quiet," Sam commanded and lifted a hand to signal them all to be still. A moment of silence occurred before someone new spoke from the far right.
"I only broke that branch so you would be aware of my presence. I feel it doesn't send a very good message if I sneak up on you and I only want to be friendly." All heads quickly whipped toward the direction of the new voice and found its owner in a tall woman, easily over six feet and well built, wearing torn-up jeans, a ratty flannel and t-shirt combo, and an old pair of converse. Her curly hair was platinum blonde and wild, hinting to her nomadic lifestyle. "I'm sorry to frighten you, but I was nearby and overheard you looking for my scent." At this, all members of Sam's pack began sniffing the air, trying to match Paul's description to its owner, but it wasn't quite matching up. "Your pups argue so loud I could have found them in the dark," she gently laughed.
"Hey, we're not pups," shouted Quill.
"Yeah, we're perfectly normal-aged," Embry piggy-backed.
"When you are as old as we are, everyone tends to be a pup."
"I know you said you were friendly," Sam stated hesitantly, "but forgive me if I'm a little hesitant to welcome a stranger across our boarder."
"I understand your hesitancy. I'm the beta of my pack; just wandering around. My alpha has just recently purchased a settlement in Victoria, but we had received word that a coven of cold-ones resides nearby. As you can guess, she grew a little worried."
"Yes, they call themselves vegetarians; because they don't drink human blood. They eat animals, and the only reason they're here is because of a long-standing treaty between this tribe and the leader of their coven."
"I understand. So, they aren't anything to worry about, yes?" At his nod, the newcomer continued, you know I would have crossed the border had I not smelled the repeated trail. You have no scent markers."
"Scent markers?" At Sam's ignorance, she furrowed her brows.
"Yes, its one of the first things we learn as shape-shifters. You're telling me no one has told you this?"
"We... don't exactly have anything to go off of. Whatever we do know is purely instinctual and the only reason we got that far was because of some old journals left behind by a previous alpha the tribal elders had taught us about."
The stranger thought for a moment before answering. "My pack has been around for many centuries and I'm sure that we would be more than willing to assist you in learning about your heritage."
"Wait, are we supposed to just trust that they won't ambush us the moment they step over the line," Paul asked Sam.
"If we had that intention, I would have done it already. When you are as old as I am, one learns to worry about more important things than the territory of a peaceful alpha"
Sam thought about for a moment before answering. There's a residence nearby with a dirt trail. You'll be able to smell it. That's my house. Meet there in... say, about an hour?" With a nod in confirmations, the group dispersed to go their separate ways.
Sam and his pack were lazing about his house awaiting the arrival of their new acquaintances when Leah and Seth Clearwater walked in with their mother.
"Sorry we're late," Sue apologized, "Emily said you needed more chicken," the older woman questioned as she began to help Sam's imprint in the kitchen.
"Yeah, there's some guests coming over. It'll be packed."
"Sam said they met some new shifters out by the border and they're coming over 'cause they're super old," Seth finishes just as they hear a large off-road jeep pull up to the house. Sue looked to Sam in concern as she and Emily continued to cook.
"Don't worry," Sam reassures, "They're harmless and show no hostility. They've been around for a while and are just willing to enlighten us on our nature."
"Just because we say that we're old doesn't mean that you have to announce it to everyone that you see," spoke a blonde stepping out of the passenger's seat. She walked over to shake Sam's hand as he stepped out of the house. "Hello, my name is Ragga, and this is my pack. You've already met my beta Torvi, but this is Astrid (a woman with black hair and piercing light-blue eyes), Ingrid (an older woman with platinum blonde hair), and Sif (a woman with blonde hair and brown eyes)."
The alpha presented well; dressed in jeans and a black turtle-neck sweater. She spoke fluidly with a mild accent, just like Torvi did. Sam assumed that they were Nordic; not only by the accent, but their names as well. "I appreciate what you are willing to do for us. It means a lot."
"No problem," Ragga said. The group headed inside and they all salivated at the smell of fresh chicken wings coming from the kitchen.
"That would be my imprint, Emily," the woman in question waved politely, "and Leah and Seth's mother, Sue Clearwater." When said woman turned around, Ragga knew she was in deep shit. Packs don't take too kindly to other packs imprinting on its member; especially it happens to be the mother of two of its members.