"Does it really disappear?" Lillian asked Robert, her eyes disbelieving saucers. She indicated the lake with a sweep of her hand. Robert called it the Lost Lake. "All of this? It disappears?!"

Robert laughed, standing up from where he'd been crouching near a plant. A straw hat shadowed his smile. She herself was wearing one, the sun too hot to work under for hours on end.

"It does." He dusted his gloved hands unnecessarily since his shirt bore the imprint of his work on the soil. "And before you ask if it has something to do with magic, no, it doesn't. The reason is entirely natural."

"How?" She stood to her full height, her clothes as dirty as Robert's. She loved it. Loved bearing the earth's mark.

"It just drains through a giant hole when summer comes." Robert shrugged. "Nothing magical about it. Nature."

Lillian shifted her gaze again to the glittering water. It seemed impossible for all that mass to simply disappear. Lillian couldn't wait to witness such wonder.

"So we're left with an empty meadow. It fills again once the ice melts, and the cycle continues." Robert looked at his watch. "Shouldn't you be with Anna?"

Lillian gasped. "Oh my God, I completely forgot!"

She scrambled to finish the task on her hands, but Robert waved her off and took over with an amused grin.

Her black sweater and jeans still smudged with dirt, she only had time to wash her hands, forearms and face before she hurried to the school. She spotted Elijah and Ezra with the other pups and one of the warriors.

Besides their shifting lessons, the pups five years and under usually had sessions with pack members of different ranks everyday. Eva had told her it was to make sure the pups understood the importance of every task, the weight of every rank.

So the pups shadowed adult wolves, from warriors to cooks, in their everyday morning lessons.

Lillian waved at members she'd become accustomed to seeing over the past week. There were still some unfriendly people, but over all, most of the wary faces had come to accept her presence in the pack with increasing hospitality.

Her days in the pack settled into a comfortable routine.

After breakfast, she dropped off her kids to their lessons and headed to the garden, where Robert would usually be working already. An hour before noon were her lessons with Anna. The teacher's warm heart and vast knowledge made her one of Lillian's favorite people in the pack.

After parting ways with Anna, Lillian took the pups for lunch then went back to the garden. Sometimes the twins tagged along with her, other times they played with other pups. The three of them spent their evenings together, and they dropped asleep as soon as their shower was done.

It was a simple but fulfilling existence. Lillian loved it, and loved that her boys and their wolves found their freedom to just... be.

Now, Lillian waved at Ezra when he caught her eye and jogged to the classroom.

"I thought you weren't coming," Anna said, wiping off the blackboard. She dusted her hand and sat down. Lillian fell on her chair, panting.

Anna grinned. "Your running sessions aren't paying off, I see."

"Oh, shut up." Lillian replied through her huffing and puffing, her lips twitching up at the other woman's teasing remark.

Anna was aware of Lillian's little escapades. Since she couldn't train with the wolves- yet- Lillian's first step was to wake up her muscles and develop some stamina through running. Everyday at dawn, Anna would come over for an early breakfast, and she'd watch over the boys while Anna went on a long run through the woods.

Anna had offered her babysitting services when Lillian told her about her intentions. Anna's mate, Johnson, was a warrior. He always woke up before dawn for patrol duty, so Anna had no issue keeping an eye on the sleeping twins while Lillian was off running.

"How is Johnson?" Lillian asked. While she still hadn't met Anna's mate, Lillian already felt like she knew the man. Anna spoke of him any chance she got.

"He's being a male." Anna rolled her eyes, though her face betrayed her love for her mate. "I swear he thinks I'm made of delicate porcelain. I can't wait to have the baby."

At Anna's exasperated expression, Lillian laughed. Male wolves, she'd learned from the teacher, were protective of their mates. And when said mate is pregnant... Well, it just gets worse.

"You adore him." Lillian said. "Admit it."

"Of course I do. I wouldn't be here otherwise."

"How did you two meet?" Crossing her forearms on the desk, Lillian leaned towards Anna in curiosity. "You were in Germany and he was here, right?"

"Yep. Sometimes packs organize joined training sessions. Noah sent a half dozen of his warriors to another pack in Germany. Our coven was working with that pack for a few months and I was the liaison."

"So he just saw you and ...?"

"No, it's more complicated. Actually," Anna straightened in her seat, suddenly eager. "I think you should know this. It's called the mating game."

"The mating game?" An odd name.

"Yep. It's how werewolves choose their mates. Well, the process is vaguely similar for most immortals. But we'll focus on wolves. There are three main stages." Anna held out three fingers. "Watching, meeting and courting. Usually, with werewolves, it's the wolf side that decides on a mate."

"So the human side should just roll with it?" Lillian asked in disbelief.

"It's more complicated than that. Anyway, at first, the wolf chooses, and then the wolf and the man watch. That's the watching stage. The male watch their chosen from afar, note everything about her and who she is on the surface."

"That's like... stalking." Lillian wrinkled her nose.

Anna laughed until tears leaked out of her eyes.

"I guess it does sound like that, huh." Anna wiped her eyes. "But usually the female takes notice near the end of that period. When the man likes what he learned about the female, he moves forward to the next stage. The meeting."

"That still sounds like stalking to me," Lillian murmured. "And if the male doesn't like what he learns?"

"Then the wolf and the man both abandon the matter." Anna shrugged. Lillian nodded for her to go on. "The meeting stage is when the male approaches the female in a friendly manner, gets to know her up close, what she likes, what she hates, how she lives... both parties learn everything about each other before the relationship moves to the next stage."

"The courting stage," Lillian said. "Wait, what if the woman doesn't like the male?"

"She makes it clear and the male will back off. Although, I have to say, wolf males are very stubborn. Especially dominant ones.

"So the courting stage is the final step of the mating game. Though courting for wolves is different from the way humans do things. But the essence is the same. It's basically about wooing the other person and showing them you're the right partner. After the mating is complete, it is for life."

"How do you know the mating is complete-Oh!" Lillian understood when Anna wiggled her brow in a suggestive manner.

"Yep, when wolves choose their mates, physical intimacy is the last step. That's how the female knows if the male is serious about her. Waiting for sex is very straining for wolves since since their appetites are... strong."

Lillian felt her cheeks burn, and threw a pen to Anna's head when the woman winked with a cheeky grin.

"What?" the teacher said, "I'm just saying, I'm a very satisfied woman."

"Ooookay. TMI woman!" Lillian groaned, covering her burning face. Peeking through her fingers. "So if I understand this correctly, the human side can choose not to pursue the female if he doesn't like her at any point."

"Yes, though it usually happens in the watching stage. Couples who move to the meeting stage almost always end up mating."

"It all sounds... very one sided. It's like everything depends on the male."

"It is what it is," Anna said. "But, not every single mating follows the process strictly. Although these are the general rules."

"So that's how it happened, huh. You and Johnson"

"That's how it happened. It lasted a couple of months, I think. Then I had to come to his pack for the integration ceremony. By the way, when is the integration ceremony for your pups being held?"

"I asked Eva a few days ago, she said a week from now," Lillian replied, remembering her conversation with the doctor. "Noah said the ceremony is an exchange of blood?"

"Yes. Blood is a very powerful element in our world, it's our life energy and our magic. And packs are one of the strongest magic based structures in the world."

"So why don't I have to do it? Exchange blood, that is."

"Because you're human. Human blood, in general, doesn't react to magic." Anna paused for a long minute, vertical lines between her brows. "I have to be honest, though, I'm not sure that applies to you... I mean, you did carry not only one, but two wolf pups in your womb for nine months, which should have been impossible."

Anna's words echoed in Lillian's head when she went to sleep that night. Impossible, what Lillian had done. Human and immortal pairings shouldn't give birth to immortals.

Impossible... until Lillian. Maybe she had a genetic disorder, Lillian thought. But when she had brought the idea up to Anna. The teacher had smiled and shook her head.

"It's not just genetics, though they are the scientific explanation humans like so much," Anna had replied. "Magic plays a huge role in conceiving and growing an immortal fetus inside the womb. You shouldn't have been able to carry beings that feed on magic as much as they feed on nutrients."

"So... it means I have some magic in me?"

"Most humans have traces of magic in them. It's useless since the magic is basically dormant, and in such very small quantities that it doesn't even make a difference.

"To my senses, you feel just like an average human. Nothing special, magic wise," Anna shook her head. "The twins are a miracle really. There's no other way to explain their existence."

Worry gnawed at Lillian's guts. If her babies were perceived that way by immortals, that could be a problem. Noah's earlier warning rang in her head. She hoped the twins would get to lead normal, peaceful lives, away from any unwanted attention.

*** *** ***

Lillian's day began at the break of dawn. As usual, she left Anna snuggled on her couch with a book and a mug of hot tea, the twins snoring softly in their room.

Her breath fogging in the crisp air, she jogged along the familiar trail she'd learned by heart over the past week. The woods were quiet, but before she left the pack village she met the occasional wolf strolling or coming back home from a night patrol.

She slowly increased her pace from a jog to a brisk run. Only minutes into her run and her body heated, the cold of dawn no longer seeping through her sweats.

The first day, she couldn't even complete a fifteen minute run without a stitch in her side and her lungs on fire.

Now, she could complete a thirty minute run. She was proud of herself, even when she ended up panting heap at the end of it.

Today, she finished just as the shadows of the night retreated to the bluish gray of the half-light. She walked to the edge of the lake, her hand on her aching side and breathing so heavy the wolves in the pack village across the lake must hear it. The water was still and colorless, a mirror of the mountain and the trees.

A branch snapped behind her. Lillian whirled around, wide eyes scanning through the thick woods.

Through the darkness still reigning under the canopy of trees, a pair of bright amber orbs stared at her. Hairs stood on her arms, her brain screaming at her to run in primitive warning. But if it was one thing she learned from the twins, it was that wolves loved the chase.

So she stood absolutely still. Time moved agonizingly slow. She held the wolf's gaze, no part of him was visible other than the blaze of his eyes.

Then the wolf moved forward. Step by deliberately slow step, he left the shroud of shadows for the first light of dawn. A magnificent black wolf, fur shining obsidian over bulging, sinewy muscles. A creature with so much contained power, its echo pressed against Lillian's skin.

Even without the three lines on the right side of his face, Lillian would have recognized him. A powerful being that stood atop a pack of beasts. The feral side of the alpha.

"Shit." The word escaped Lillian's lips without her consent. Her eyes bulged out at the sheer strength and magnitude of the wolf before her. He was enormous.

His movements were graceful, and his breath fogged in the cool air. Closer he came, closer, until he stood nose to nose with her. Lillian almost landed on her behind. The wolf was an inch or two taller than her, and definitely wider. Wolf seemed like such a puny term for the creature.

He was no doubt heavier than the man. How could one turn into the other? Mass conservation law didn't apply to shapeshifters, apparently. Magic didn't care about science.

Lillian was awestruck. Maybe she should've been afraid of the wolf, but now that she knew it was the alpha, her taut muscles relaxed a fraction. His rough beauty took her breath away. Elegant. Proud. Fascinating. Beautiful.

The wolf pressed his cold nose to the curve of her neck, sniffing. Lillian squeaked.

He was sniffing her!

"What are you doing?" She took a step back and covered her neck with a hand. "Your nose is cold."

The wolf cocked his head, then took a step closer and tried putting his nose back in her neck. Acting on instinct, she took the wolf's massive head in her hands. He froze, his eyes rounded in such a human expression that it made her smile.

"Bad wolf!" she said, reigning in her smile. "I told you your nose is freezing. Stop that."

The wolf blinked, then pulled his lips back in a snarl. Lillian narrowed her eyes at him. She wasn't about to be pushed around by the wolf, she'd clearly had this conversation with the man before.

"Don't growl at me," she said, and because she couldn't help herself any longer, she ran her fingers through the black shiny fur. It was as smooth as she'd expected.

"It's so soft," she whispered, continuing to run her fingers through the fur of his neck, a smile breaking free when she remembered the very first time she'd touched the twin's fur.

It had been after she got home from work in a hurry following Lydia's hysteric phone call. She had stood frozen in the doorway of their bedroom for two minutes with Lydia before she walked in.

Lydia had witnessed the twins shift, so Lillian was sure the pups on the ground were her two-year-old babies. Lillian sank to her knees, her mind blank. Then the twins made a cute little noise at the back of their throats and padded to her, pressing against her hands in an invitation to pet them. In that single moment, she had been broken and then made whole all over again.

Now, the alpha before her closed his eyes. When she paused her strokes he pushed against her hands until she resumed. He sat on his haunches as she scratched behind his ears, and gave a deep sigh. Then he surprised her even more by putting his head on her shoulder.

Startling a laugh out of her, she caressed his fur in long strokes. "Cuddly, aren't we?"

His growl was half-hearted.

Lillian didn't know how long they stayed that way, leaning against one another. He was so warm, all soft fur and hard muscles against her body. Her chest was light, her heart at peace. Safe. She realized. She felt so absolutely safe.

When the sun broke free, she patted his head.

"I have to go now. The twins are probably awake."

The wolf raised his head, blinking his eyes open. He yawned, revealing razor sharp teeth and strong jaws, shook his head as if to wake himself up... and licked her cheek.

Lillian squeaked again. "Hey!"

But the wolf was already trotting away, his tail wagging obnoxiously.

"Bad wolf!" she called after him. "I won't pet you again!"

Ugh. That was the best she could come up with? The wolf looked over his shoulder, and she could've sworn he snorted before he ran deeper into the trees. Lillian's mouth hung open.

"Stupid wolf." She wiped her wet cheek using her top, then jogged back to her awaiting pups.

*** *** ***

"You're late," Sean said from his spot behind his mate. "Where'd you go?"

"Around," Noah replied, sitting across from Eva. He had to go over some papers with her. That was why they were in her office at the infirmary. "What have you got?"

Eva, sitting behind the desk, narrowed her eyes, then shook her head as if to clear her thoughts. "I want you to okay this," she pushed a list toward him. Sean leaned with his hands braced on the desk on either side of Eva, and buried his nose in her hair.

The list was of medical supplies needed in the infirmary, along with an addition of a few basic human drugs for Lillian.

"Same source?" Noah asked even as he signed his name at the foot of the page.

"Yes," Eva replied. "She just relocated to a new city, so she'll last there for a while."

The medical supplies were bought through a practicing doctor in a human town. A witch practicing doctor. She had been fascinated by human medicine while young, and so she studied it, had her degree and practiced in human hospitals or set up her own private clinics.

Of course, the humans didn't know about her true identity. Though most immortals preferred living in their own community, there were a few who liked mingling with humans; living among them and working with them- incognito.

However, they had to relocate frequently due to their age if they didn't want to be known as immortal.

That was why the witch doctor had to move and change identity. It also helped to keep her purchases of medical supplies under the radar. If anyone really looked into her, they'd find out she bought much more supplies than a single doctor would need.

Most packs had their own private source of such supplies. Of course, they could order their own from human-owned companies directly. But Noah didn't trust humans not to mess around with the items if they knew they were for wolves.

"The meeting is in an hour," Sean said.

Noah raised an eyebrow. "What meeting?"

"To discuss the new pups' integration to the pack," he replied. "Jake, their teachers and other wolves from different ranks will be there to give their input about the new members."

Noah nodded, carefully observing his brother. Over the past week, his reaction to Lillian's presence had mollified. Noah knew it was mostly thanks to Eva. The pack doctor took a liking to the human female and spent a considerable amount of time with her.

Lillian would soon have the rest of the pack eating out of her hand.

Wolves were protective of their young, and Lillian, while an adult, had an innocent heart that awakened strong protective instincts even in the most submissive of wolves.

Noah had granted his wolf his wish, thinking that sooner or later the wolf and the man would both realize she wasn't for them. But after a week of watching, the wolf's decision was only getting more resolute. And much to his reluctance, the man, too, was starting to get interested in her.

Her disarming charms and effortless manners made more than one wolf warm up to her, even those who had been against her presence in the pack.

Her heart shone through her eyes in the way she played with the packs' pups before she went to work in the afternoons, in the way she handled the earth and its vegetation with passion and care, in the way she sneaked herself into Robert's heart, a shy reclusive wolf who, until now, had preferred spending time by himself. The wolf now spent more time with Lillian, playing with the twins, joking around with them. Lillian had simply breezed through his walls in one week.

And then she had to go and play with Noah's wolf. Noah had been on his usual early morning run when he caught her scent in the wind. Fire and spring. He knew she went on a run every morning before dawn. He'd caught her scent more than once over the past week, but only today did his curiosity win and he went after her.

She had been standing by the lake, a delicate build, soft and feminine and small. Then she turned around and looked at him. It was a blow to the gut, that gaze of hers, lit from within in the early light.

Not even a hint of fear in her familiar scent. And as soon as he showed himself, she'd known him.

Like Noah, his wolf was used to walking alone. Though wolves were playful by nature, his own beast always leashed that side of him because of the responsibilities he held and the decisions he'd made at a very young age. He had never had the chance to be petted, to play around like his brethren.

Then came this female who shook him to his core and made him slip the leash, whose touch felt right, familiar yet new, and who brought to life the deeply-buried cheer of a somber alpha.

*** *** ***

An hour later, Noah was in the meeting room in the pack house. Standing at the head of the rectangular table, he listened to his pack members.

"The twins are already part of the pack," Liv, one of the teachers responsible for the shifting lessons, said. "They get along very well with the other pups. And they're very bright."

"Yeah, and I've seen them during a shifting lesson," Jake said, rubbing his clean-shaved jaw. "I don't think I've ever seen a pup their age shift that smoothly. It's... interesting."

"It's not the pups we really have a problem with," Sean said. "The human is the odd addition, not the twins."

Eva pursed her lips at her mate's remark, but Anna spoke, "I personally have no problem with her. Notwithstanding the fact she's human, I think she'd fit right in. She's also extremely smart, I think we could make use of her in other areas other than gardening."

"She's a fast learner, she'll probably be able to care for the field all on her own just after a week of learning," Robert said, not meeting Noah's gaze. "But I agree with Anna, she can do much more than help around the field."

He shifted in his seat, discomforted to be the center of attention. "She has an affinity for languages, I don't know if that could help in some position..."

"Which languages?" Sean asked, he was the official liaison with outside packs, including international ones.

It was Anna who answered, "she speaks French, German, and Spanish. I verified her German, and she's pretty decent."

Noah ignored the spark of pride that ignited in his chest.

"You think you can use that?" he asked Sean, leaning his hands on the table. His brother could see past his hate of humans to utilize an asset in the good of the pack. He contemplated Noah's question seriously.

"I think so," he finally nodded. "I'll have to speak with her, though."

"Very well," Noah said. "If no one else has anything to add, the integration ceremony for the pups will take place in a week."

Everyone voiced their agreement and then left the room. Except for Eva. She turned, fixing Noah with her keen gaze. She was quiet for too long, and he let her be. He figured she'd speak sooner or later. That was what he liked about Eva, she always thought her words through.

"You're in the mating game, aren't you?"

--- ---- ---

Hey guys! Did you like this one?

Also, the Lost Lake is a real place in Oregon, USA. The lake does actually disappear and then appear. Isn't it fascinating?! Check it out on youtube if you want.

Don't forget to vote and comment, as usual. I appreciate it.

Much love <3

M.B.