"Now this is your room. Remember, this house used to be a duplex, so there are two master bedrooms and we had turned this into an office but Charles doesn't really work much. We hope it will be big enough for you. And, since we're on opposite ends of the house, there is plenty of privacy." My grandma was nervous rambling again, but I'm starting to find her speech comforting. It shows how honest and loving she is. I wasn't used to so much emotion in everyday speech but... I really am starting to like it. She pushed two large cherry oak doors open to reveal a massive bedroom. All of the furniture and the floor was Cherry Wood as well. The king sized bed stood upon a raised dais in the middle of the wall opposite us. A large desk with a roller chair and a TV stood to my left, and to my right a door that led to my own bathroom. As amazing as all those things were, what truly had my attention was the double glass doors at the other end of the room. 

I turned and looked at my grandmother, "Gonga... is that... a balcony?" I asked aghast. My grandma nodded with a huge grin on her face. I turned back to the doors. I quickly crossed the room and ran up the two small steps that led to the glass doors. My grandmother followed close behind me. I gently grabbed the silver handles and opened the doors to reveal the most beautiful view I've ever seen. The balcony was at least twelve feet wide, twenty feet long. The railing was silver but it had small creeper vines wound on the bars. From the edge, I could see mile after mile of rolling green hills. Tall Everest trees made the view look like a green sea and the sun was already on its way down for the evening behind the 'ocean'. I could look straight down and see the well maintained grass of our backyard. Less than a mile to our left was another house, although mansion would be a better choice of words. It was huge and styled with Victorian architecture.

"Gonga, whose house is that?" I turned back to her.

"Oh, that's the pack house. Where the Alpha, Beta, and most of the young, unmated wolves live. You can live there too, if you would like, especially if... you don't like your room?" She ended her statement with a question and I couldn't help but stare at her with a slack jawed smile.

"I love this room! Don't be silly! Thank you so much for this" and for the first time in a while I hugged my grandmother. She rubbed my back and then pulled away.

"Alright sweetie, you need to freshen up, do whatever you would like. The clothes you have on are perfectly fine. But we need to go talk to the Beta. He needs to meet you, it won't be anything complicated, just to placate his wolf about having someone unknown on the land. We'll need to go to the pack house in twenty minutes. We ummm....we bought some clothes that we thought you might like and put them in your bathroom, so you have options other than what you brought." I hadn't brought a lot of clothes with me, so that was actually very nice to hear. "If you don't like them, we can get others " she said with a warm smile.

"No, I am sure they'll be perfect. Thank you" I said with a smile. She nodded and started to go out the door, but stopped and said, "We'll miss her too darling, but Loraine would have wanted us to heal and move on" and then went out the door closing it behind her. I thought about what she had said. That is what my mom would have wanted, and I guess I would have to try to work on it.

I made my way into the bathroom and almost fall backwards from shock. The room was massive! An enormous walk in closet was to my right, filled with shelves, racks, and drawers. This was a girls dream closet, and although I wasn't too much of a girly girl I found myself getting very giddy at the idea of such a ridiculous closet. There was a large tub right next to a tall shower just beyond the entrance of the closet door. Opposite that sat a toilet and next to the toilet was a typical sink and mirror combination with ample counter space.

"This is insane" I whispered. I went into my closet and picked out a pair of black shorts and a long, white sleeveless top with black lace on the front. A pair of black sandals were on the shoes rack, so I snatched those up as well. I got dressed then went to look at myself in the mirror. I had always looked a lot like my father, just much lighter because my mother was white. My usually caramel colored skin was actually a little pasty and unhealthy looking, probably from the stress and loss of my mom. My long wavy hair was lifeless and dull and I had lost some weight. I had always been built like my father too. Long, muscular legs, size twelve waist, and broader shoulders. My father always told me I was built for basketball, being six foot tall. I was just built wider than most girls and I had always felt awkward around guys because of it. My eyes were the only thing that didn't look unhealthy and lifeless. Albeit a little eerie. With these colors on, my eyes were fairly dark so they almost looked the same color. I liked my eyes but I found that it made some people uncomfortable. With a sigh, I ran my hands through my hair and walked out of my closet. I grabbed my cell phone, which was pretty much useless because the only person I ever texted or called was my mother, and went out my door.

You had to walk down a hallway, down stairs, and through the formal dining room to get to the side of the house where the kitchen and living room as well as my grandparents room were. My grandparents sat in the massive kitchen at the bar, waiting for me.

"You ready?" My grandfather asked me.

"Yes, sir" I answered. My grandfather stood and grabbed my grandmothers coat, handing it to her as she in turn handed me a long, loose fitting black cardigan. I had never been bothered by the cold as my ability to control fire kept my body warm, but I took it anyway.

"We used to not need coats, remember Charles? Life is tough when you're old" she said with a smile. When my grandmother smiled, she reminded me of my mother. It is strange though, because my mother was such a perfect combination of my grandparents that she never looked like either one distinctively.

"I could stand the cold if I wanted" my grandfather muttered gruffly, trying to maintain some of his wolf pride. My grandmother just chuckled. We headed out into the refreshingly cool air and made our way to the car.






Thanks for sticking with me! Picture to the right is Terri!