The Transfer

A soft wind blew through the trees, sending leaves dancing from the breeze. Dappled sunlight shone through the tree tops, giving a little light to the otherwise dark undergrowth. I smelt him before I saw him.

The Alpha.

He smelt strong, his blood hummed and burned with such strength that it had me feeling a little nervous. Would this Alpha be kind? Was he going to like me and the rest of my group?

He wandered through the trees, his eyes looking here and there as he stepped carefully, making sure he didn't disturb anything around him. He looked peaceful, almost too peaceful. It put my beast on edge.

We hated meeting new people. It was always nerve-wracking for us. We thought too much, we got overwhelmed and we always panicked whenever we had to speak.

"This guy doesn't look half bad. I think I could take him," Tyler whispered from next to me. I turned my head to him, cocking an eyebrow. Tyler winked playfully and made me roll my eyes.

"You're not an Alpha, Tyler. I don't think you'd get very far," I told him with a cheeky smirk. I heard chuckles from behind me and smiled even more as Tyler's cheeks flushed crimson red.

He was a cocky male. But he was a good wolf. He trained hard back home and when he heard about this supposed transfer program, he shot his hand up, volunteering to be one of the few to come to the Takiani pack.

"Hi there, new comers. Welcome to Takiani," the Alpha wolf that was in the trees just moments ago said. He greeted us with a warm and welcoming smile, gesturing for us to follow him. I held my breath as I stepped over the border and into the pack.

I felt myself lose all ties that I had with people back home. I felt their voices slip out my mind and away into nothing. I felt nothing the further I walked into this new pack.

I was nervous, I'll admit that. Being sent out my pack to another was incredibly difficult to comprehend. I remembered the few sleepless nights that I had days prior to this moment. I remembered how scared I felt and how angry I was that my father was sending me away for practically no reason.

Well, it wasn't for no reason. But a reason that could have been dealt with in a matter of moments.

"I'm Henry... Henry Benson. I'm sure you all already knew that, though," Henry introduced himself. I nodded slowly, despite the fact that I truly didn't know his name before he told me.

My father hadn't given me much information. He told me I was being transferred to Takiani. He said it was to try to help me learn to socialise with other wolves. But I knew why he sent me away.

It was the incident that made him do it.

"So, since you're only supposed to be here for a month, you mightn't be too involved in most of our pack business. You'll train, do whatever you please and at the end of the time period, if those of you really want, you'll be allowed to transition into the pack, permanently," Henry explained to us. I shot Tyler a look, and found that he was already giving me the same one.

Would people in this group really think about transitioning into a new pack? With different people and a new Alpha? That sounded insane.

The only pack I had ever known was Terialta. I never thought that I'd be sent away from my home. I had never even imagined leaving. It was home, a safe place.

Of course, until the incident.

"Now, of course there will be a few others who will be curious about who you are. But just remain calm. No one here will lay harm to you... unless you give them a good reason to," Henry chuckled deeply, a few other small laughs followed. I wasn't laughing.

It wasn't funny. I feared what other wolves would think of me. Would they hate me? Would they like me? Who would be my friend?

"Will we be staying in cabins or in the pack house, Alpha?" One wolf questioned. He addressed Henry respectfully and it made my blood hum. I didn't like it. I wasn't used to having to do this with other Alphas.

Hell, I was the daughter of the Alpha of Terialta. People were respectful to me.

"We had to split most of you up. Some will be in cabins, sharing with other mentor wolves, and some will be in the pack house. Thankfully, there aren't a lot of you," Henry replied as we walked.

He lead us through the forest. Henry walked easily, following an invisible trail which seemed to enable him to walk without having to jump over bushes and other plants. Whereas, most people from our group had struggled to walk in a straight line without running into some sort of plant.

The closer we got to the pack, the more I could smell. I could smell the other wolves, some strong and others lesser. I could smell food, I could smell wood being burnt and even the strawberry shampoo someone was using in the shower.

My nose was overwhelmed. So many scents were hitting my nose all at once that it made me a little lightheaded. Henry seemed to notice my discomfort and he turned to look at me.

He gave me a look that somehow told me not to be worried. It calmed me, but only a little. My beast was on edge. We wanted to run and explore every inch of this new pack, and we wanted to meet everyone and make new friends.

But we also wanted to stand their with our tail between our legs.

We reached a clearing in the trees and shrub and I gaped in awe. Takiani was beautiful.

Most of the land was flat, covered in soft soil and healthy green grass. There were patches of flowers that surrounded the area, but nothing that interfered with the main part of the pack.

I focused on the hills and the cliffs that were covered numerous well-built cabins. They were huge, much larger than the ones that were back home. They stood tall on the cliffs and I felt bad for whoever had to climb the cliffs to get to the top.

Poor suckers.

Henry lead us out into the middle of the pack where we met with a group of officials. He introduced us to the Master of Arms, a tall and muscular man named Alfie. He shook my hand with a hint of fascination in his eyes. His grip was strong and I matched his strength with my own. I think I surprised him.

Henry then introduced us to Cameron, the main doctor of the pack. She was a tall, blonde female. She was littered in scars but she wore them with pride and her beast swirled when we shook hands.

Next, Henry introduced us to his son. His name was Anthony, and I didn't like him. He was cocky, too cocky. He was an attractive male, but he lowered in cuteness when he took my hand and kissed my knuckles.

I pulled my hand away and showed him my teeth, the sharp fangs that made him cower back. He snuck glances at my bare neck whilst Henry spoke.

I knew I would be stared at when I found out I was coming here. An unmated Alpha female wasn't common, and everyone wanted their teeth on a neck nowadays. My neck was still bare and I hated the way I was being looked at.

"Miss Grey, come with me. It's time for you to meet your roommate," Henry said, snapping me out my thoughts. I turned to him, adjusting my satchel.

I followed Henry to a smaller looking cabin towards the back of the pack. It wasn't secluded and shut off from the others, but it wasn't as open. Although, the cabin looked like it was in much better condition compared to the other ones.

Henry knocked in the door, waited a moment and then pushed the door open. He stepped inside and I followed after him. Henry shut the door behind me and then lead me to the kitchen, which smelt delicious.

"Henry, so good to see you," a voice greeted. When I looked up, a pair of dark brown eyes met mine. A man stood in the kitchen, wearing an apron with a print of a man with a stunningly good six pack on the front. I chuckled a little at it.

It was funny.

I took a sniff at the air around me. I realised that this man wasn't a werewolf. He was a vampire. Most werewolf packs have at least one vampire in the pack, an agreement created by the vampires and werewolves to keep piece between the two species.

"This is Alison Grey. She's Blake Grey's daughter," Henry introduced us. The man dropped his knife on the chopping board and he walked towards me with a grin.

He pulled me into a tight hug. He held onto me like a leech and I — for some reason — liked it. He was warm, welcoming. His hug comforted me, and I felt like I could tell him anything. When the man pulled away, I smiled at him and he returned the gesture.

"I'm Ezra Charles. It's such a pleasure to finally meet you," Ezra greeted me. I nodded and smiled at him some more as Henry cleared his throat to gain our attention.

"I'll leave you two here to settle in and get to know each other. Alison, I will be here to collect you for your start in the morning. Dress in something appropriate for running, because you'll be doing a lot of it," Henry told me. I smiled and nodded at him respectfully.

The Alpha nodded his goodbye to Ezra and I before slipping out the front door and disappearing. I felt his humming blood fade as he got further and further away.

"I'm making a roast. It's the best thing you'll ever put in your mouth, I promise," Ezra suddenly said. He grabbed my arm and pulled me across the room and pushed me down into a chair at the dining table.

Ezra quickly started to put down dishes of food, which made my mouth water and my belly rumble. My beast licked her lips hungrily as we eyed the roast beef that was set down in front of us.

We couldn't wait to eat.

We had ran a long way that day. It was nonstop, except for one stop where one wolf begged for a moment to take a drink from the steam we ran along. It took not even five minutes before we were off again.

"Princess, what do you like to drink? You're of age, yes?" Ezra called to me. I swivelled around in my seat to face him. He was standing by the refrigerator, tapping his finger against his chin quizzically.

The first thing I thought about was the nickname. Princess? Why princess? The next thing that crosses my mind was how thirsty I was. I really needed a drink.

"You have beer?" I asked him. His features lit up like a damn Christmas tree and he reached into the refrigerator and grabbed two beers for the both of us.

Ezra walked over to the table and sat back down. He sipped on his beer as he pushed mine towards me. I nodded at him and took it, sipping from it slowly.

"I'm twenty-four, by the way," I informed him, thinking he might have liked to know. He nodded at me, seeming amused and intrigued.

"Three hundred and twelve," Ezra nodded his head at me with a cheeky grin that made me gasp. Ezra was obviously a vampire, and vampires are immortal, but I had never met one that old before. The oldest I had met before him was only one hundred and sixty four years old.

"Eat up, princess. You need to fuel up for the big day tomorrow," Ezra told me, motioning towards all the food. I nodded at him and reached forwards. I began to scoop piles of food onto my plate, stacking up massively, which made Ezra laugh.

I started eating and then looked at Ezra who was slowly eating his food. He looked up from his plate and at me, catching me looking.

"Why 'princess'?" I asked him curiously. Ezra smiled and shrugged at me. He shoved a roasted potato into his mouth and chewed.

"Because you look like a princess, and your wolf radiates 'important'. Princesses are important," Ezra explained, and I couldn't help but smile at him. Right from the beginning, I knew I was going to like him.

After dinner, Ezra showed me around the cabin. It was nothing fancy, it was quite dull, actually. There was a living room with two couches and a television. There were two bedrooms, each quite boring and bland. But I didn't expect the bedrooms to be fancy. I figured I wouldn't be spending a lot of time in my bedroom.

Although, the bathroom must've been one of the biggest rooms in the house. There was a large two person sink, and a massive mirror that stretched out. There was an average white toilet, a large shower and even a deep bathtub. The floors were gleaming white tiles and the walls were all creamy.

It was obviously the most important room in the house and I loved it.

I took a hot shower, standing under the water, letting the water wash away all the sweat and dirt on my body. I washed my hair with the new rose scented shampoo that Ezra had in there and then I jumped out the shower and walked down the hallway and into my room.

As I thought about it, I realised that Ezra did in fact have a mark on his neck. He had a mate. That must be who the rose scented shampoo belonged to. Where was she?

My room wasn't small, but it wasn't big either. There was a window across from the door that was locked. The key sat on the window sill. There was a single sized bed pushed into the corner of the room, made neatly with purple bed covers. There was a tall chest of drawers in which Ezra had said all my clothes would be in.

I hadn't brought any clothes with me from Terialta. I wasn't told to. But I was assured that there would be a lot of clothes here for me to change into.

I slipped on a pair of sweatpants and a loose fitting shirt. I walked over to my new bed slowly and collapsed onto it. I didn't mean to fall asleep, but as soon as my head hit the pillow, I was out like a light.