Like Clay, Ashley moved through school quickly and finished college in her teens. By the time she turned 23, she was in her fourth year of veterinary school.

She went to college at Syracuse, which displeased Clay because he wanted her to apply to his school to keep her close. He was just being a controlling older brother because the schools weren't that far apart, neither were they far from Stonehaven. They came to a compromise that every weekend and break, she would return home. To soothe their anxieties, she promised to always wear perfume to mask her scent while remaining vigilant of the Mutts. Every evening, she would call or send a text to Jeremy before going to sleep to tell him that she was alright.

When she graduated college at 19, they all had a huge celebration with everyone in the pack coming home for her graduation party.

Elena had just come to Stonehaven so it was a welcoming party for her as well. But it wasn't long before she left. Although Ashley couldn't understand Elena's mindset, she let her go. Elena had only been a wolf for a few years since she was bitten by Clay. She had a normal life before, devoid of the extreme violence that Ashley was used to. Her normal was different from Elena's and Elena wanted to return to human normalcy.

Ashley thought of herself as more wolf than human, but she still enjoyed her human life, outside of Stonehaven during her college years. Working at the veterinary clinic and making new friends at school were new experiences that she enjoyed. She preferred to be alone most of the time, but her roommate and new friends helped her out of her shell. They brought her to parties and other events around the school. She didn't really enjoy loud parties but it was still nice interacting with new people.

Her priorities were always schoolwork. Ashley studied non-stop as she entered her fourth year of Vet School. Once her studies were finished, she could get a license. Not long after the start of her penultimate semester, a call came.

In the middle of class, her phone buzzed with a text from Jeremy that read, "Call home." Immediately, Ashley collected her belongings and left the hall silently. She rushed back to her apartment and came face to face with her roommate in the kitchen.

"Aren't you supposed to be in class?"

"Yeah. I'm cutting," Ashley replied.

Her roommate, Shannon, laughed as she raised an eyebrow. "You?" Ashley never cut class. She would rather be doing school work than anything else so it always took an effort to get her out when she had school work. But Jeremy was more important than school. "Cool. So what do you want to do for your birthday this weekend?"

Ashley stuffed her clothes and laptop into a small carry-on. She didn't need that many clothes since she had more than enough clothes back at Stonehaven. "Sorry, family emergency." She left the room without looking at her as she ordered an Uber for over a hundred dollars to take her home. She finally took a breath as she waited for the Uber to arrive.

Jeremy or anyone in the Pack never called her during classes. They had her schedule and knew to call early in the morning, during lunch, or late after class. Since he reached out in the middle of class, she knew there was an emergency and she needed to return home. As she waited for the car, she called Jeremy. "Hey, what's going on?"

"There's a mutt here. He killed a girl on our doorstep. I need you here."

The Uber pulled up. "I'm already on my way. Is Clay coming too?" She got into the car, nodding to the driver as she lowered her voice to continue her conversation.

"I'm calling everyone," Jeremy said.

"Everyone?" Ashley asked. She knew there was at least one person who wanted to be away from the pack more than anyone else. She never answered their calls or texts. Would she answer the summons? "What about Elena?"

"She'll come." Jeremy sounded sure.

"Alright, I'll see you in two hours." As she hung up the phone, a part of her wished that Elena would not come. Other than that, she was looking forward to seeing everyone again. She went home on the weekends but most of the Pack couldn't. Pete was always on tour, traveling with his band while Logan had his practice in Toronto. Nick was who knows where doing God knows what while Antonio was in Italy. She tried to talk to them as often as she could through calls and texts, but she missed them dearly. It's a shame that there had to be an existential threat to bring them all together.

After an hour and a half on the road, they came up to the gates of Stonehaven, where she had the driver drop her off. She walked the rest of the way to the house, where Clay was standing at the door waiting for her. She smiled as she ran up to him the rest of the way jumping gleefully into his arms. He grunted as he lifted her off the floor. "Ooh, I've missed you."

"I missed you, too." They hadn't seen each other since the start of her semester. Although she tried to be home every weekend, it was more difficult with the workload in her second year. Stonehaven offered too many distractions that she would not be able to get her work done.

Clay took her bag, still carrying her into the manor. "Is anyone else here?" she asked.

"Just Jeremy; he's downstairs" Clay put her down in the foyer. "I'll take your bag to your room."

"Thanks." She inhaled deeply as she looked around the house, taking in the familiar sights and sounds. She turned the corner, the damp scent of the earthen basement walls wafted into her nostrils along with Jeremy's scent. She smiled as she walked down the stairs. "Hi, daddy," she said when she saw him.

Jeremy smiled, bringing her close to him in a warm hug. Ashley closed her eyes as she wrapped her arms around his back. Jeremy kissed the side of her temple before letting her go. "Welcome home."

They remained silent in each other's presence for a long while before Clay came down the steps. With the three of them now present, Ashley asked, "Who else is coming?"

"Antonio and Nick are already on their way. They'll be here tonight. I got a reply from Logan and Pete." Ashley took note that he specifically failed to mention Elena. Her eyes flew to Clay, who had his usual brooding face on whenever he thought about her.

Ashley chose to change the subject. "What about the Mutt?"

Jeremy placed a light palm on her shoulders and said, "We'll talk later when everyone's here. Why don't you go upstairs and take a shower to get rid of the scent of that horrible perfume? It's making my nose itch."

Ashley shrugged. "Okay. When I'm done I'll start with dinner." She cheerfully hopped back to the first floor and the second floor to her bedroom. As she opened the door, a small bell attached to the door jingled. She removed her shoes straight away upon entering the room, letting her feet sink into the white and gray shag rug. The moment she flipped the switch, warm lighting filled the room, enhancing all the accented colors in her darkroom. The walls of her bedroom were black, giving a closed and cozy feeling with the warm lighting from the orange lamps and chandeliers. Her bed was gray with wool and knitted blankets and her curtains were pink.

Taking her dress off, she threw it on the bed before walking straight into the bathroom, which was just as she left it. She filled the tub with water before throwing in a bath bomb before she removed her panties and slipped into the warm bath. Ashley exhaled deeply as she sunk into the tub, dipping her head below the water before coming back up. She passed her hand through her long black hair, lying back in the tub as she closed her eyes. After a few minutes of soaking, she scrubbed her body down with unscented body wash.

Finishing her bath, she threw on a dress that draped over her body like an oversized sweater and some fluffy slippers. Even after becoming an adult, Ashley still preferred wearing dresses and loose clothing that did not stick too close to her skin. They were easy to remove and just more comfortable.

After dinner, Ashley and Jeremy were looking over the records in the basement. Ever since she was a child, she liked reading the records stored in the basement. In a way, it was like a legend which she was living. But at the same time, she was disappointed that there was nothing related to her in the history of her kind. As Ashley looked at the records, a thought came to mind. Perhaps she and Elena were not the only female werewolves in existence or in history. Since female wolves were so rare, the pack could have been unaware of their existence in the past. Since men in the past were so self-centered and closed-minded, they probably thought that since they had never seen a female wolf, they simply didn't exist. But Ashley didn't believe that. It was just a strong feeling in her gut telling her there must have been another before her.

Her ears caught the sound of the front door opening and the voices of Nick and Antonio talking to Clay. She smiled and stood up, waiting eagerly as Antonio opened the door. "Antonio, I missed you," she said to him in Italian as she hugged him.

Antonio lifted her in a bear hug. "I've missed you too," he replied in Italian. "Your Italian has improved."

"Well, I had a great tutor," she replied in English. She let go of Antonio to greet Nick. He smiled when she placed a soft kiss on his cheek. "Hello, Nicky," she said with a flirtatious smile. Their relationship had been like that since she turned 18. Although they never said anything more, Ashley admired how open Nick was with his sexuality.

Nick returned her kiss as he greeted, "Hello, Ashley."

She could sense the eyes on her so she moved aside as Jeremy hugged Antonio and Nick.

"So, what do you know?" Antonio asked, getting straight to the point.

She leaned against the wall as everyone turned to Jeremy. "It looked like a wolf kill, and the coroner will determine that soon enough, but I could smell it was not merely a wolf."

"We haven't had any problems with Mutts in our territory for years," said Antonio.

"Who's top of the shit list?" said Nick.

"You see, that's the thing. I've never smelt him before; I have no idea who he is."

"Some random Mutt comes and kills in our territory. Why?"

Ashley could hear Clay grinding his teeth. Had it been completely up to him, he'd be out hunting the Mutt by now, but Jeremy had a tight hold on his leash. "Isn't it obvious?" Ashley replied. "They're challenging us."

"The most important thing is the kill itself," said Jeremy. "Whoever this is, they broke a cardinal rule by killing a human for sport. They have to pay for that."

"So, what's the plan?"

"I've called everyone home. We'll deal with this as a pack."

There was a long silence in the room as everyone was thinking about the same person. "All of us?" asked Antonio.

"Everyone comes home," said Jeremy. "Peter, Logan…"

"Elena?" asked Nick.

"Yes, Elena," replied Jeremy.

"It's been years since she left," said Antonio. "She hasn't shown any signs of coming back."

"Pete and Logan will talk to her."

"And if she doesn't come?" said Clay, his voice deeper than usual.

"She's our best tracker and she knows it. She'll come." Jeremy moved past Clay, placing a hand on his chest as he repeated, "She'll come." Jeremy was the only one of them who was certain that Elena would return while the rest remained skeptical. Ashley glanced at Clay, grasping his large hand to comfort him. She was also missing Elena. Over the short time Elena was with them, she had become a big sister to her. But, then she left and they hadn't spoken in so long. At the same time, she didn't want Elena to come, because she knew she would just leave again, hurting Clay all over again. Ashley didn't want to see Clay hurt anymore.