Adi

Connie ~ Lucas!!!! You're going to have to do better than that!

Lucas ~ Welcome to the jungle, we've got fun and games, we've got everything...

Connie ~ Stop singing!!! We can't hear ourselves think, anything but singing, please.

We enter the dining room. Anton is sitting at the head of the long hardwood table, he stands and gestures for all of us to sit, "Please, take a seat, lunch will be served shortly." He gives a warm smile and acknowledges each of us, as we pull out our seats and take our places at the table.Extra chairs have been removed, so that there are only enough chairs at the long table for our small group, and one more for Anton.

Lucas ~ He so obviously wants to shag Connie.

Connie ~ How can you tell that when we just sat down?

Lucas ~ Guys can pick these things about other guys. Besides, you weren't meant to hear that.

"So, Lucas, you are almost 18 years old and only just received your blood ceremony?" Anton asks Lucas.

"Ahh, yes, ahh, last night, Connie did it for me, it was, uumm, very generous of her, I know it's not ideal for them, with their pack rules and all," Lucas says.

"Yes, I was wondering about that also. How does that work with the notorious man-hating Valley pack?" he inquires.

Lucas ~ I don't think they hate me; I hope not, I really like them.

Connie ~ We absolutely don't hate you, Lucas, you are a lovely person.

"As I explained earlier, The Valley of the Goddess has many well~respected male pack members. We are far from hating men. On the contrary, our little adventure started out as a mission for me to find my mate, before our Alphette tasked us with other duties, in addition to our original endeavour," Connie says, with a smile.

Servers came with plates of different meats, small pastries, and sides of beans and different types of fried mushrooms. They placed it all in the middle of the table and put plates in front of us, so we could serve ourselves.

Lucas ~ Get fucked, they are food servers, look at the muscles on those guys.

Connie ~ Werewolves are more muscular than humans, Lucas.

Lucas ~ What about the calluses on their hands, you don't get that from carrying plates around?

Adi ~ I think Lucas is right, these are warriors, not servers.

Oli ~ Well spotted Lucas.

Lucas ~ Werewolf blokes are hot, that explains why I was always the best-looking guy in school.

Connie ~ Really?

Lucas ~ That was just..not meant for you. - keep it in the back mind, back mind, back mind...

"So, will Lucas be travelling back with you, to join the Valley of the Goddess pack?" Anton asks with some hint of sarcasm in his voice.

"The Valley doesn't generally accept pledges from adult males, so if he does not find a fitting home before we return, his acceptance will be determined by his character and valour," Oli continues with half lies. The Valley never accepts adult men as new pack members, it has never been done in the history of the territory.

"Well, we have positions here for any werewolf willing to be useful. Assuming your strength is merely delayed due to your unfortunate circumstances, and not missed altogether," Anton directs his attention to Lucas again.

Lucas ~ That's insulting. I want to punch him in the face.

Adi ~ That wouldn't end well for you, Lucas.

Lucas ~ It was just a thought that no one was meant to hear. I am not stupid.

Adi ~ Good to know.

"Well, Lucas?" Anton is looking at Lucas curiously.

"I, aah, sorry. There is a lot for me to take in at the moment." Lucas clears his throat "6 foot 2 at the age of 17, is pretty big in the human world, so I can't say I have had any complaints previously. Thank you for your offer, but I want to see that Amelia makes it to the Valley safely, before I leave her," Lucas says with amazing confidence and certainty. Showing us that he cares deeply for Amelia.

"I see," Anton says, staring intensely at Lucas for a moment before he drops his gaze and starts serving himself some food, a signal that we can start serving our food as well. He uses serving tongs to pick up a deep fried ball that is covered in golden breadcrumbs. I recommend the Scotch Eggs," he says, holding up one of the golden balls. ''They are traditional. A hard boiled egg, covered in sausage meat, rolled in breadcrumbs, then deep fried. It's always a favourite." He puts the scotch egg on his plate and reaches for the mushrooms.

Lucas ~ He's going to kill me.

Adi ~ There is a chance he might try.

Connie ~ I think he seems reasonable, Lucas. Don't worry too much just yet, I am getting a good vibe from him, and he has a comforting aura.

Lucas ~ It's obvious that Connie wants to shag...

Connie ~ Stop!

Adi ~ You are very intuitive Lucas, I am rather enjoying your inner monologue.

Oli ~ Lucas is probably right about Connie, but Anton does seem reasonable and his aura is a lot more inviting than his mother's. Showing some interest in his pack will help to build good rapport with him, Lucas, then maybe you will leave here with us, in one piece.

Lucas fiddles with his cutlery for a moment, his thoughts sound completely unfiltered and are a mumble of swear words and random ideas about what questions to ask.

Lucas ~ Fuck it, army, wariors, shit, crazy ass mother, claw marks, future alfa, get fucked, ghaelach Ian, fuck this. What the fuck am I meant to ask a fucken werewolf? Can I ask him about the flag on the wall?"

Connie ~ Oh, yes, ask about the sigil, I want to know about that too. It's called a sigil.

Lucas clears his throat, looking quite nervous for a moment, before he sits up straight and looks at Anton, gaining the room's attention "May I ask about the sigil on the wall, Anton?" He says, gesturing towards the wall behind Anton. "What language is that?"

Anton smiles and shuffles in his seat momentarily before he answers "The Golden moon pack was rooted in Scotland. Those words are in Scottish Gaelic, they mean 'full moon'. The original sigil was just a moon with words at the bottom. But the story is that there were once two great packs, fighting over the name Golden Moon. After generations of war over this name, one pack had a son and one had a daughter, and they turned out to be mates. So the packs joined together, and that solved that problem. But during the Luna ceremony, the two Alphas, who were still governing their kids, had an argument over what the pack sigil should be. So the night ended in a big drunken brawl and everybody left. In the morning, everyone saw that one of the pack's sigils had been slashed. They all agreed that it was a good reminder of their origins, that if we keep fighting amongst ourselves we won't have anything nice, just like this torn up sigil." Just as Anton finished his story, the doors burst open and Alpha Blair stomped into the room.

"Which is the reason why we don't fight amongst ourselves. We save that for those bastards trying to break through our borders!" She announced as she flooded the room with her ominous presence.

Connie, Oli and I stood and bowed our heads. Lucas and Amelia caught on quickly and followed our lead. We sat down again. It is etiquette to show acknowledgement of an alpha entering the room, by bowing your head slightly, then you can resume your previous activity. In a more formal situation, like the one we are in, it is customary to make it a bit more obvious by standing first. Of course, Alpha Blair is used to people standing and nodding to her, so she doesn't seem to even notice.

"I have other things to do today, so listen up," she started, in the same abrupt tone as earlier, "These pricks don't give a shit about any of us, they want to see us all wiped out. We catch them sneaking around our territory looking for ways to exploit us, so they can take us out. The next pack they will find is your precious Valley. If you don't help us to stomp them out now, they will only get stronger. We need to take them out where they stand, on their own territory."

"You want the Valley Of The Goddess to help you attack another pack on their own lands?" Oli asked.

"It's the only way to get rid of these mongrels, they are conspiring to build an army and wipe us all out," Alfa Blair rebutted.

"May I ask which pack you wish us to invade?" Oli asked.

"I am not stupid. I am not giving all my cards away to strangers. So what?... you can run off and warn them? For all I know you are some of their spies, here to get information out of me, look for our weaknesses. Which you will not find." She declares with suspicious stares at each of us.