Chapter 1
“That will be all today class.” I spoke in Finnish, our native tongue, as I released my students for the day. I looked up at the clock as they filed through the door. I needed to set up our lessons for tomorrow before I headed out toward home. I grabbed my notebook and headed down the hall to the copy room. Hopefully this would not take too long.
“Oh, hello, Kaarina.” Rebekka, another teacher said as she came into the room. She had a stack of her own papers piled in her hands.
“Hello, Rebekka. How are you today?”
“I’m good. Ready to go home before the storm hits.”
“Yes, I agree. I heard it will be a bad one.”
Rebekka nodded as I picked my own pile of papers up for the copy machine. “Goodbye.”
“Bye.” She said as I walked out of the room.
Rebekka was a kind enough woman, but she was always in everyone else’s business. Something I avoided at all costs. She could not find out about me or my pack.
See, I am a werewolf, and I belong to the Talvi Kuu pack. We are not like the werewolves in movies that turn into some hideous creature. We are beautiful shifters that transform into wolves. Complete wolves. My wolf is dirty blonde with stunning gold eyes.
It is against our laws for humans to find out about us, so I have to be vigilant at hiding our secret when I work at the local human school. Many of our pups go here too. The pack would like our pups to stay on pack grounds, but we do not have enough people to support the pack and a whole school system ensuring that our pups get the education they need.
Many of us work in town. We travel back and forth each day to our jobs and school. We give a portion of our income that we bring in to our pack. It is a communal mindset as the money goes to supporting the pack as a whole.
Anyone who works on pack grounds such as our warriors who protect us and the cooks who work in the main kitchen at the pack house earn an income, but we are all taken care of. We are all given homes to live in once we find our mates. Before we find them, we either live with our parents, like I do, or we can live in our communal residence buildings. They are small apartment complexes.
Besides our income that we put towards the pack funds, Alpha Jouni and the pack itself have interests in other ventures. These include mineral rights to different properties across Finland as well as some investments in peat. The revenue brought in by these endeavors are the main income of our pack.
When I returned to my classroom, I set the papers down on my desk and began to sort through them. Once I was satisfied that I was fully prepared for tomorrow’s lessons, I grabbed my coat and bag and headed out to my car. A few of the younger pups would catch a ride with myself or other pack members to and from school. It was a forty minute drive. A bit too far for them to walk.
I saw a few pups playing on the school playground as I walked around the building. I hollered out to them if they were wanting a ride. They all jumped down and ran my direction. The pack had purchased several vans for us to commute back and forth. Not many of us owned our own cars as there was no need for them between the vehicles provided by the pack and, of course, our wolves. We did not leave our lands for much besides the few things we needed in town and for work.
After being sure that all of the pups in the back were buckled in, we headed north back to our home. The kids in the back filled my ears of their tales and adventures from their day. I even got to hear the complaints about one of the pup’s teachers. I knew a lot about the other teachers and how they acted in their classrooms thanks to these pups. It helped me decide who to avoid myself.
I pulled into a gravel lot just as we approached our pack village. It is where we kept all of the communal vehicles. Our village was a circular layout, surrounding the pack house. We had a few small shops that provided most of the essentials and a few basic groceries for us to buy. They were mixed in with the variety of small modern houses spaced around.
There were three larger buildings outside of the pack house. The warrior’s barracks were on both the north and south sides of the village. All of the unmated warriors lived there and the buildings had attached training facilities. The residence building was on the east side of the village.
In the center of everythingwas the pack house. It was a large two story modern building that resembled a mansion. The whole front wall was a seamless window that flooded the spaces inside with natural lighting. The exterior was natural wood planks with a black shingled roof.
The inside maintained the same modern style. The floors were all polished natural wood matching the planked walls that accented the stark white filling the rest of the spaces. The furniture was a simplistic modern style utilizing the same natural wood. It was a great space to hang out in and where you would find most pack members in their free time.
I walked up the road that we had driven in on. It is the only road throughout our whole territory and it leads straight to the pack house. I cut off of the pathway after I passed a few houses. The main color palette of the architecture throughout was white, black and natural wood.
My family’s home used natural wood for the exterior. It had two structures connected with a glass walkway creating a “u” shape. In the center of the u was a stone patio where we had a table and chairs. The main living space including the kitchen, dining, and living room was in the smaller building and the three bedrooms were in the larger one.
“Hello,” I shouted as I walked in the door.
“Hi! I’m in the dining room.” I heard my mom call back.
I walked around the stone wall that separated the entry from the rest of the space to find my mom folding laundry on the dining room table. We would make the occasional meal at home when we wanted to spend some time with just us or if we were too tired to head up to the pack house, but most of the time, the dining room was utilized for other uses.
I sat down next to my mom at the table and grabbed a shirt to help her fold.
“How was your day?” She asked.
“Oh, good. Just another day.” I said with a sigh.
“Perhaps it is time for us to plan a trip to some of the other packs around.” I looked over at her as she continued, “Kaarina you are turning 26 in a few weeks and you still have not found your mate. I think we need to approach this more aggressively.”
“Mom, no. I will not be paraded though the packs looking for a mate. That is only what desperate she-wolves do.”
“I think we are approaching the desperate phase.” I stopped and stared at her angrily.
“I wish that you would respect my decision to wait for the Moon Goddess to bring him to me.” I huffed at her. “If it is too much of a burden for me to be at home anymore, I can move into the residence building.”
“That is not what I am saying, Kaarina. I am your mother and I worry about you.” She reached over and touched the back of my hand.
I stopped folding and looked over at her. She had a sad look in her eyes. I understood what she meant. Most wolves found their mates around 18. I have been waiting for the last eight years for my mate to show himself. I had gone to a few gatherings where other packs would be present in hopes that he would be there, but nothing ever came of it. Eventually, I gave up. Not able to stand the heartache I felt at my missing soulmate.
