Crimson Moon
Chapter 3

All eyes were on us as we walked into the gigantic room. People began whispering to one another at the table at which they were sitting. I looked at Tiberius who gave me a nod of encouragement and began to walk towards a seat. He pointed toward one on the right side of a lady with a crown on top of her head. Tiberius on the other hand went to sit on the opposite side of the table from me giving me a small smile. There were approximately eleven of us in total sitting at the table. Others were there as well, but it looked as if they were serving us, not joining us. There was a man directly on Tiberius’s right side. This man was huge just like Tiberius. He had the same features making me wonder if they were related. He had the same black hair and golden eye color.

“So, this must be the famous Calla,” his deep voice broke out.

“Yes sir, well sort of,” I said, “I’m not in the slightest bit famous, but thanks for the gesture.”

For this comment, he gave a small laugh. “You are whether you know it or not,” he said giving me a wink. Suddenly he sat straight up, causing me to jump, and said “Oh, how rude of me I forgot to introduce us. I am Devlon Crimson, and this is my wife, Amelia. We are the King and Queen of the werewolves in America.”

The Queen’s voice was delicate and motherly as she spoke. “Good evening Calla, you look quite beautiful tonight.”

“Thank you, your majesty. You look exquisite as well, I could never compare to the way you look.” I responded honored that she would say something so kind.

“Nonsense, she said. “Everyone is beautiful in their own way.”

Before I could respond, the King said “You have already met our son, Tiberius, our prince. At this moment my mouth fell open and I was left in complete shock. There were Kings and Queens of werewolves? Tiberius was a prince? I looked at him in complete amazement. He just looked at me, cocked his head sideways, and said absolutely nothing. Reading his face, it felt like he didn’t even want to be who he was. He didn’t even want to be a prince. I gave him a puzzling look and he just shrugged his shoulders.

“These are the members of the Royal Guard,” Devlon said. “You’ve already met them once before.”

“I have?” I asked wondering what he was talking about.

“Aww come on don’t you remember me?” A red-headed boy broke out. I gave him a puzzling look trying to figure where in the world I would have seen him.

“I’m sorry, am I supposed to?” I questioned confused.

“Don’t you remember yelling at me for being too noisy talking behind your back?”

Ohh, I came to the realization that these guys were members of Tiberius’s pack.

“Oh, yea, I remember you now. Sorry about that, I really did think that you were talking behind my back.” I said giving him a sincere apology. “Oh, and I’m also sorry for almost attacking you guys.”

“Eh, no biggy,” Reed said. “What’s done is done am I right? I don’t keep any hard feelings.”

I looked at the others in apology as well. They all forgave me super-fast, it was kind of weird.

Tiberius’s voice erupted from the silence. “I will introduce you to everyone individually later, ok Calla?”

“Sounds good to me,” I responded.

Right after Tiberius said this, the waiters brought us some wine to sip. I just looked at it and looked at everyone else. I wasn’t twenty-one, I wasn’t allowed to drink alcohol. The others saw the expression on my face and laughed.

“I see you still follow human laws, Calla,” Tiberius said.

The King laughed as well and asked “would you prefer something else to drink?”

Not wanting to look different from the rest of them, I responded “No thank you, sir, this will be good. I appreciate your kindness.” I then began to drink as he bowed his head accepting my gratitude.

“So Calla?” Said the King breaking the dead silence that was in the air.

“Yes, your majesty?” I said in response.

“How much do you know about our world? The werewolf world?”

“Honestly, close to nothing just what I have been told by Adolph.”

“Hmm, and what has that evil scoundrel told you?” He said in disgust, hatred dripping from his mouth. Obviously, he despised Adolph by his tone.

“Hmm, where do I start? Well, I guess the first thing he told me is that females are pretty much terrible creatures. The reason you don’t see many around is that we are ashamed to have them.” I said.

This caused everyone’s eyes to go wide. Reed even choked on his wine a little bit causing another werewolf from their pack to pound his back.

“Umm, Calla? You never really believed that did you?” Tiberius questioned. I gave him a puzzled look.

“That’s the truth isn’t it?” I asked completely baffled by the expression everyone was giving me.

“Tell me, Calla, did he ever hurt you?” Tiberius prompted. I looked him straight in the eye still confused by everything that was going on.

“He verbally abused me yes, he threatened me, but he’s never truly attacked me other than pushing me around. I thought I deserved it being female and all.” I said.

What seemed like fury burned into Tiberius’s eyes. I looked around the table and the other males had the same expression. The Queen’s eyes held sadness and sincerity. Why was everyone acting like this? Didn’t I deserve it? I turned my head locking gazes with Tiberius. I never thought he was capable of such strong anger. Since I’ve seen him, he’s always had a kind gaze to him. Even during the attack, he was calm and patient the way a true leader should be. The King’s voice broke the awkward silence that filled the air.

“Everything you have heard about females is a lie, Calla. You must understand this. There are not so few of you guys because we are ashamed, but because you are rare. You see, getting the genes to become a werewolf is recessive. In order for a female to get it, she must receive it on both x chromosomes, while for a male they only need it on one. For this reason, females are sacred to us. They are treated like royalty and any offense to a female is highly punishable. They are even rarer to belong to a pack because it is in our nature to try to protect them. We try to keep them as safe as we can. What Adolph did to you was wrong and for this, I apologize.”

The King bowed his head to me in sympathy. Anger fueled me from the inside out. How could Adolph lie to me like this? Forget Adolph, how could Rafiq lie to me like this. I trusted him. I told him everything. How stupid could I have been? My eyes began to glimmer so I closed my eyes before anyone could notice that I was losing hold of myself. I let my breath out slowly, trying to calm myself. In a few minutes, I gathered myself together. Everyone remained quiet apparently aware that I was trying to get ahold of myself.

I broke the silence that was embedded in the room, driving me crazy.

“Tiberius?” I asked him.

“Yes, Calla?” He asked me.

“Are you going to tell me about that whole white thing yet?”

To this, he laughed aloud as well as his pack members.

Reed said “Dude, you still haven’t told her yet. You just left her with a big cliffhanger like that? Not cool.”

“See someone gets it! Thank you, Reed!” I exclaimed.

Tiberius rolled his eyes and said, “What do you know about coat colors?”

“Huh? There is an importance with coat colors?” I asked. “I thought they were just random like you were born like that. Such as with your hair color in your human form.”

Tiberius shook his head.

“You really don’t know anything about werewolves do you?” I began to get upset only to realize he was joking with me. “Here, we will start easy. What do you know about Adolph’s and my fur?”

“Well yours is completely black and he is mainly black,” I responded.

“Yes, but do you know why? Think of ranking.”

“Hmm, you are both Alpha’s,” I said.

“Bingo,” He responded. “Ok now for second ranking. What do you know about Reed’s and Rafiq’s fur?”

“They are both a reddish color,” I responded.

“Correct, so second means red.”

All this time I never knew Rafiq was second in command. I trusted him, but all he probably did was tell Adolph everything I told him. This struck pain in my heart. I felt alone and betrayed, but I kept going on not letting the others see my weak side.

“Ok, now everyone else in the pack has what color of fur?”

“Umm, grey,” I responded. “But they all have different variations of black amongst them.”

“Very smart Calla.” Tiberius smiled at me.

“But what does this all have to do with white?” I prompted forward.

“Patience dear Calla, we are getting there,” Tiberius answered.

“Hmm fine, what does the black within the grey mean then?” I asked him.

“The more black you contain in your coat the higher the rank. The lowest rank has the whitest fur possible.” Tiberius said.

“Ahh so white means lowest, but then why did you say it meant alpha.”

“Oh Calla, ever so persistent on the answer. That has to do with males, but did I ever say what the female coat colors meant.”

“Colors mean different status among males and females?” I asked him confused.

“The color of the alpha among males and females are opposite. No female is of low rank, no matter the color she is treated above all. To be a true alpha female though, she must possess an extremely rare coat quality. One that I have first encountered for the first time ever in my entire life today. The coat color of white. So yes Calla, that makes you a true alpha. Congratulations. You have officially been promoted off your omega ranking.” Tiberius said smiling at me.

My head was spinning, the room seemed to spin around me. Could all of this really be true? Could I really be an alpha? There was no way, not me. I’m way too tiny to play this huge role. Look at Tiberius, he contains all muscle and he’s huge. I on the other hand am completely opposite. Not that I’m fat, but I don’t contain anywhere near the muscle mass he has. I did the only thing I could think to do, which was laugh.

“Thank you Tiberius for that, but we both know I could never be an alpha.”

He just looked at me in all seriousness. I looked around the table and everyone held the same facial expression. They were all serious, I could tell.

“Honestly?” I asked them.

The King was the one to speak. “I know it’s a lot to take in Calla, if you have any more questions just ask. We will all be here for you.” He gave me a small smile in sympathy.

“Thank you, sir, it means a lot,” I told him truthfully.

Suddenly, the King pushed his chair back and stood up. A joyful smile stretching across his face. He had a few wrinkles showing off his age and all the stress that he has gone through in life. A scar etched the right side of his face. Curiosity seeped through me wondering just how he managed to get that. My guess it was probably from being a werewolf. It can be quite dangerous for your health.

“Now who’s ready for the feast!?” The King exclaimed.

Everyone cheered and jumped up from their seats. Tiberius walked over to me and grabbed my hand walking me to the door.

“Where are we going?” I asked him wondering what was going on.

“What did you think the feast was?” He questioned me.

“Honestly, I have no idea,” I answered.

“Whenever there is a full moon we celebrate. This involves a feast. It’s basically a hunt that every werewolf in the castle performs. It can get pretty crowded really fast.”

“Do I have to partake in this?” I asked him nervously. “I’ve never run with you guys before, I don’t know how I will do. I’m still new at this whole thing.” I said honestly.

“Calla, don’t worry. You will do great, I know you will. Just stick to the back of the pack if you need to. They will watch out for you, we are all family here.”

“Won’t it be just your group that will be there?” I asked him.

“No, my pack is just a small portion of us whose duty it is to guard the Royals. The strongest of the strong are only omitted into our group.”

“If that was true, then how do I belong?” I questioned him.

“You are stronger than you think Calla, everyone but you knows what you’re capable of.” And with that, he took me outside, showing me just how many werewolves were here.

Dozens of werewolves were outside the castle, next to the gate. There had to be at least fifty of them. Ages varying from mine all the way up to about sixty.

“How are we all supposed to run together? Won’t we just bump into each other?” I asked him.

“At the start, it is very crowded, yes, but then we usually disperse. We save the easy prey for the older, less agile group. The stronger ones go for the harder targets. Don’t worry if you got to stay with the elders they will understand. Everyone is accepting here Calla, you don’t have to stress about it trust me."

“Where will you be?” I asked him already knowing the answer. “I’ll be at the front," and with that, he gave me a wink and ran to his own pack.

Before I knew it everyone began taking off their clothes right in front of each other. I still couldn’t believe how everyone was so comfortable with doing this. My cheeks began to burn and I could only imagine how much of a deep red they were. I searched for the nearest tree and went behind it. There was no way I was just going to strip in front of everyone, nor did I want to see everyone getting undressed. Especially the elders, no offense but I don’t really want to be scarred for life. I started to get undressed and let my wolf seep through. Before I knew it, I was on all four paws trotting back to the group of people who were already in their wolf forms.

The majority of all the wolves were grey, which made sense since what Tiberius told me about wolf coat colors. There were a few alphas and second in commands in the group. The entire pack must have different groups amongst themselves.

The Kings' voice broke out silencing all the chatter that was taking place. “Let the feast begin!” He yelled.

Before I knew it, everyone started running out of the fence and into the densely forested woods. The strongest in the front of the pack, the weakest in the back. Not wanting to get into anyone’s way, I took my place beside the elders not knowing what to do.

Excitement rose inside my wolf. She wanted to run faster, to feel the breeze ruffle her coat. Everyone was brushing beside one another as the strongest ran faster separating themselves from the group. I soon realized that maybe staying with the elders wasn’t such a good idea. They were fragile the years of being a wolf obviously caught up with them. It seemed as though some of them probably suffered from arthritis the way their joints moved. For this, I felt bad for them.

One elder looked at me and said with a kind gesture, “Go, Calla, go run with the strong. I know you can do it.” And with this comment, I took off running to my full potential.

There were so many wolves it was hard to recognize any of them. All I knew was that I didn’t see Tiberius anywhere around me. I ran faster my legs pumping as they thrusted forward. I soon began to pass wolves everywhere making it to the front of the group. It was then that I saw Tiberius and his pack. All in the front running together in unison. Tiberius was in the front with the others following close behind him. I ran to catch up to them, and soon made my way to run next to Tiberius. He turned his head toward me as he spoke to me in my head.

“Well hello Calla, I knew you’d make your way up here sooner or later.”

“Did you now,” I responded to him.

“Of course, I told you you’re stronger than you think.” He then began to run faster challenging just how fast I really could go.

I quickly sped up so I could catch up to him. I still had some ability to run faster so I did, passing Tiberius. Challenging him, as he did to me. He too sped up catching up to me. The surprise was spread out across his face. He wasn’t expecting me to be able to run this fast. Being small does have its perks. I may not have all muscle, but I am nimble and my best ability is to be able to run. Just as I was about to push myself to go faster another voice broke out in my head. It was from Reed.

“Could you two replace another time to challenge each other? You are killing us back here. Unless you two want to do everything yourself, I recommend slowing down.”

I heard the others in the group murmur in agreement.

We looked back and sure enough, the others were struggling to catch up. We both laughed and slowed down allowing them to gain on us.

“I’m sorry guys,” I said. “I didn’t realize we were going too fast.”

“Uh-huh sure,” said one of the grey wolves who I don’t know the name of. “We all know you were just trying to out show Tiberius.”

“Hey, he challenged me first,” I said winning laughter from within the group.

Soon enough we all slowed down smelling the air for signs of prey. We were deep in the forest. All the other wolves were out of sight, somewhere behind us. The scent of elk filled the brisk night air. I was a little anxious and nervous. I have never attempted any prey so large before. Usually, my pack sticks to deer, not elk. Quickly glancing at Tiberius, he noticed my panicked expression on my face.

“You will do just fine Calla, trust me,” and this I did.

I can’t explain it but the more I’m around Tiberius, the more I can trust him. Maybe it’s because we belong in the same pack? Maybe it was because he was my alpha and had the ability to calm me? I don’t know.

Tiberius slowly crept forward careful not to make any noise. His slow movements deliberately silent as he smelled the air for prey. He flicked his tail toward the group signaling for us to stay there as he moved forward. Not a sound was made from anywhere, even our breathing was silent. It was then that we spotted it, the huge elk. It was grazing by itself next to a large tree. Tiberius waved us forward as we all slowly descended upon it. Tiberius rushed forth with all of his might and made the first move onto the elk. He bit his large teeth down on the elk towards its neck as it began to thrash around throwing Tiberius off of him. We all began to run forward and help Tiberius with the onslaught.

Commands entered my head as Tiberius took his alpha role in directing us what to do. I remained silent through this process listening for anything that he had to say.

“Reed jump on his back while Liam you attack at the neck! Calla help me with the stomach and be careful not to get stepped on.”

I followed his lead and did what he said. Attacking a big animal like this is a risk for all of our health. One wrong move could make one of us severely injured. Reed was then thrown from the elk.

“Reed are you ok!” We all broke out in unison

“Fine,” he quickly responded.

“Reed rest for a minute, Calla go see if he’s ok I can see you’re worried by the look on your face. Darius take Reed’s place, Caleb take Calla’s.” Tiberius called out instructing everyone on what to do. “Jeremiah, Dante, Eli, you guys attack from the hind, careful for the legs.”

I ran over to Reed to make sure he was ok.

“I’m fine, just let me back in!” he called out to me trying to get past me.

“Reed wait, you’re bleeding.”

He had an open wood on his side where he must have hit a rock. “This?” He asked, “it’s nothing,” he said once more trying to push forward. I pushed him back away, he stumbled, catching his footing but wincing.

“Yeah, it doesn’t look like nothing. Here let me help you.”

I then began to lick the blood away and check for any more signs of injury.

“Really Calla? You don’t have to clean me, I’m not a baby.”

“I know, but please let me just help.” I stopped licking him and looked up at him.

He read my expression and said, “Very well.”

I finished licking him, cleaning the blood away. I realized that everything else was ok.

“Are you sure you can go back out there?” I asked him a little skeptic of whether or not he was fine.

“Yes.” He told me giving me all his honesty looking me directly in the eyes.

“Promise if it gets worse you will stop?” I asked him.

“Yes, mother.” He told me as he gave me a little smirk.

“Ok, you can go.”

Reed and I both ran back to the fight. Reed jumped on the back alongside Darius as I ran toward the neck. I jumped with all my might, my legs using up all of their force and power. My strong jaws gripped the esophagus dragging the elk down. Tiberius called out to me “Calla, bite the neck again.” That was all the prompting I needed. With one swift motion, I clenched the esophagus in my strong jaws and the elk went still. The heartbeat of the fantastic creature slowed, his eyes glazing over giving off the appearance of death.

The first thing I did was run back to Reed making sure he was ok.

“Calla, I’m fine,” Reed said in protest as I approached him.

“Honestly you don’t have to worry about me so much. Pretty soon I’m going to start thinking you like me in a not friends type of way.”

He said flashing a smile and I flicked my tail at him.

“Not that that would be bad, I personally would enjoy it. I mean you really are beautiful. That coat of yours just shimmers in the moonlight and your human self isn’t too bad either. I’d tap that.” Reed said sending me a smile and a wink. “

We ain’t that close yet.” I said shaking my head at him and walking away.

I walked over to Tiberius who said. “Well Calla, are you going to eat? We aren’t gonna wait for you forever.”

After he said this, I noticed that they were all just sitting there with their tails wrapped around their front feet. I gave him a questioning look.

“Don’t you guys eat first? Adolph has always told me that I have to wait until last to feed.”

Tiberius shook his head at this looking towards the ground in sadness. “Please do me a favor Calla and forget everything that man has told you. Please stay away from him, he doesn’t deserve you.”

The others murmured in agreement.

“Don’t worry, I have no intention of being around him anymore.”

“Good,” Tiberius responded. “Now since you are the female you are supposed to eat first, not last. Do you wish to feed?” He asked me.

“Do I have to go first, can’t we all just eat together?” I asked uncomfortable with the idea of eating first.

“Are you sure?” Tiberius asked looking me straight in the eyes. I simply just nodded and he knew I was completely sure with myself.

“Alright then, everyone dig in and let’s feed.”

Once I finished eating I began to clean off the bloodstain the elk left behind on my fur.

“Dude,” I said to Tiberius while I was licking my coat. “You’re so lucky you have black fur, do you realize how easily red shows on white and how hard it is to get rid of?” I asked him.

He laughed at what I said shaking his head. “Yeah that would be a nuisance, I admit.” “But hey I think everyone here would agree that white really is the most beautiful color.” He said flashing me a smile. I looked around as everyone shook their head in agreement.

“Eh, I don’t really agree with that, but thank you, guys. I admire your coat color, Tiberius. No offense to everyone else, but I’ve always been drawn to the black color. It reminds me of the night. Plus, do you realize how stealthy you can be in the dark with that color? If I didn’t have wolf eyes I doubt I would even be able to see you right now.” I said giving Tiberius my true opinions on coat color.

After I finished cleaning myself and everyone was done eating, we began to walk back to the castle. I walked next to Reed wanting to support his weight just in case he couldn’t bear it himself after the injury he took earlier. I was worried about him, the wound wasn’t fatal but it did look painful. Our coats brushing side by side as we trekked through the thick brush. For some odd reason, I was actually ok with that. Usually, I hated anyone touching me, but these guys didn’t bother me at all.

“Hey, could I ask you a question?” I asked Reed who I was on my right side.

“Sure babe, what’s up?” He said giving me an adorable childish grin.

I smiled back at him and continued with what I was going to say. “How come Adolph has white in his fur, but Tiberius is full black? Does white in the black mean anything?” I asked him.

Tiberius turned his head to me hearing what I asked. “You know Calla, you could have just asked me.” He said confused as to why I would ask Reed.

“All I do is ask you questions,” I said.

“I wanted to ask someone else something instead,” I said to him. “Now don’t mind us and no eavesdropping,” I instructed him.

“Yes madam,” he said laughing.

Reed smiled at the conversation between Tiberius and me.

“You know man, maybe she loves me. I mean I think we would make a perfect couple don’t you think Calla? I could protect you forever,” he said bashing his eyelashes at me.

“Well thank you, Reed. Maybe we should take it a little bit slower between us though. At this rate, we will be married by next week.” I said jokingly with him. The other werewolves laughed as well as we continued on our way.

“But in all seriousness, there is a reason why their coats are different,” Reed said to me.

“When a wolf has white in it, it means that they are only a partial alpha. They aren’t completely a true alpha. There is a history between us and Adolph that I don’t know if I should tell you yet, so I won’t. Please don’t hate me for it, but it’s too deep for you to know now. I will tell you this, Adolph has always wanted as much power as he can possibly have. He’s driven by power, he feeds from it. With the white in his fur, it shows that he doesn’t completely have what it takes to be an alpha.” Reed look toward Tiberius and said, “Tiberius on the other hand is one of the most powerful werewolves ever known. That is why he is completely black. It shows everyone that he has amazing abilities and power, making him fit to be our alpha.”

By the look on Reed’s face, I could tell that he had total trust and respect for Tiberius. It looked like he looked up to him and honored him. He possessed the loyalty that a pack member should have. The loyalty that if something were to happen, you knew that they would always have your back no matter what.

I bowed my head in response to Reed and said “thank you.”

“Anytime Calla,” he said nodding his head at me as we all pursued the castle.

Finally, we arrived at the Crimson’s home. It appeared as though most, if not everyone, was back in the yard. Many of them back in their human form mingling with one another.

“You guys can go change back if you wish,” Tiberius said as he made his way back to where he left his clothes.

I made my way back to where my clothes stash was. There were others around it, so I decided to carry them in my mouth and make my way back inside the castle to the room I was originally at. Forgetting how big the place really was, I really hoped I made the right turns. I really wasn’t in the mood to become lost. I found the correct door and gave out a sigh of relief. Ever so careful as to not scratch the door I gently pushed my paw against it to make noise, hoping Cassie could hear me. Well as long as she was still in there, in which case I was really hoping she was.

I heard a noise from inside and Cassie’s voice broke out in a confusing state, “what could that be.”

She then came to the door opening it. Her eyes looked straightforward, not seeing anything. I made a small noise so she would look down.

“Oh, Calla! I’m so sorry I didn’t see you there. Come in!”

I then went into the room and headed straight to the bathroom. Nudging the door shut with my head I then transformed back into my human self and changed into my clothing.

Making my way out of the bathroom and into the bedroom, I rejoined Cassie. “If you don’t mind me asking,” Said Cassie, “why did you transform back in here? Why not out there like the rest of them do.” She pointed her head in the direction of the outside.

“I’m not a big fan of public transformation,” I told her with all honesty.

“Ahh, I get it, it's ok.” She responded to me in a gentle tone. “I was just curious.”

“No worries,” I told her, “did you go out to the feast tonight?” I asked her.

She gave out a small laugh to me and said “no dear Calla, I’m not a werewolf. I thought for sure you would know that. Can’t you smell only human on me?” She questioned me no judgment evident on her fragile face. My cheeks flushed red in embarrassment, some alpha I was. I wasn’t even smart enough to even smell Cassie before accusing her of being a werewolf. In my offense though, I never expected a human to be here. Adolph has always told me that it was against the law to tell humans the truth about us. I would have to talk to Tiberius about that later and get the true answer from him on whether it was frowned upon or not.

“I’m sorry Cassie, I should have known,” I said tilting my head towards the ground ashamed.

“Oh, don’t worry Calla, you did absolutely nothing wrong!” She exclaimed waving her hand in a friendly gesture shooing off my apology. “Anyway, you better get back out there before they start to wonder where you are. Not that I don’t love your company, but you mustn’t keep them waiting. You are quite famous this evening,” she smiled as she started pushing me out the door.

As soon as I exited the main doors into the night, someone said “Ahh there you are Calla, I’ve been looking for you.” I turned my head in the direction of the voice trying to figure out who said my name. It was then that I realized it was the King.

“Hello, your majesty. I’m sorry to have kept you waiting. Is there something I can do to assist you?” I curtsied showing him my respect and gratitude.

“Oh, sweet Calla. Thank you for your respect, but I must ask something of you. Please just call me Devlon, I would prefer to get to know you on a personal level. No your majesty’s required.

“As you wish Devlon,” I smiled at him bowing my head.

“Thank you for coming with us tonight,” he said to me. “It was a blast and I heard such good news about you and Tiberius’s pack, taking down an elk like that! What a blast!” he exclaimed, “You guys really are a powerful bunch, especially you Calla.” He smiled at me.

“Thank you Devlon, but it is I who should be thanking you for letting me go tonight.”

“Anytime,” he said as he began to turn away to talk to his other guests. “And I really do mean anytime Calla, I love having you here with us.”

"Thank you Devlon,” I said as he began to make his descent, vanishing into the crowd.

Looking around the party I noticed that the majority of them had alcohol in their hands. Some were holding keystone beer while others were holding bud light. I myself was not in the mood to drink any more than the few sips of red wine I already consumed. As I searched the faces amongst the crowd, I couldn’t spot anyone who I recognized. No one from Tiberius’s pack seemed to be around. The thought occurred to me that it looked like I was going to be alone. I was not one to go around and make new friends. I hated introducing myself to people I didn’t know. I was more on the quiet and reserved side. I scouted the drink area knowing that I really did not want any alcohol. Finally, I spotted my favorite beverage. Fruit punch, yum, I thought as I poured myself a glass.

“Hey, my name is Augustus.” Someone said directly behind me, in my ear causing me to jump. The glass that I poured beginning to fall to the grass. Augustus with quick and fast refluxes gasped the cup before it could reach the ground. Amazingly, some of the contents remained. “I’m sorry about that,” he said handing me my glass back. “I didn’t mean to frighten you. I just spotted you over here and I knew I had to get my chance to talk to such a beautiful young lady.” I couldn’t help but look towards the ground as he complimented me. I have always been very uncomfortable receiving compliments from people. It makes me squirm and my face flush. Augustus was a nice-looking man. He was wearing a suit and tie, much like the others here. As to not make the same mistake I did earlier, I smelled the air confirming that he was indeed a werewolf. He had hair just long enough to have moose in it. Shaped in the appearance as what you would replace in the movie Greece. He gave up the vibe that he grew up with a lot of money from how he dressed and how he looked. According to my judgment though he looked friendly enough.

“Oh, don’t worry about it. I’m pretty clumsy, it’s not your fault. My names Calla by the way.” I said reaching my hand out for a shake.

“Oh I know,” he responded. “Your pretty famous tonight, everyone keeps mentioning you.”

“Really?” I asked astonished that everyone would possibly would know who I am. “What do they know about me?” I asked. “I haven’t really done anything, have I?”

“If you mean something bad no, they are just obsessed with the color of your coat.” He used his thumb and pointed behind him. “Would you care for a dance?” He asked me.

Behind him was a beautiful dance floor that had a huge disco ball on top illuminating the entire floor. Soft classical music was playing in the background as people happily danced together. I thought about it for a minute before deciding why not.

“Sure,” I responded.

He flashed me a smile and I returned one. Setting my punch to the side, I joined Augustus on the dance floor.

We began to waltz together to a slow song. Augustus pressing as close to me as he could. My body felt very strange like it was trying to tell me something. Almost as if it was in danger and that I should get away from this man. I decided to ignore it, I was just paranoid. I never liked dancing so I decided that that was the reason for acting this way. By the end of the song, my senses were tingling even more. I began to press away from Augustus thanking him for the dance. “One more song, please?” He begged batting his eyes at me. All my life I’ve had difficulty with saying no to people.

“Hmm, promise just one more?” I asked him.

“I swear just one more.” He said happily.

I felt a little better that I made him happy. I could suck it up and get through one more song.

“So how long have you known you were a wolf?” Augustus asked me starting up a conversation.

“Actually, just a few months ago. I didn’t know until my eighteenth birthday when I began to change.”

“Must have been hard not knowing beforehand.” He said to me with a look of sympathy.

“Yeah, but it’s ok. I’m a big girl, I can handle myself.”

“Of course you can,” Augustus said to me giving me a crooked smile.

After this, the song ended and I broke apart from Augustus. I went back to my punch and took a sip, not realizing Augustus followed me back. I began to feel a little dizzy, my head spinning. Before I realized it, a group of werewolves gathered around me, and then everything went dark.