Masked SheWolf (MSW book 1)

Chapter 2 - Logan

JUNE 2022 UPDATE: Go read "Lucy", a spinoff of the Masked SheWolf trilogy, now updating on Wattpad, and its "Behind the Scenes" companion book that includes character profiles and a complete recap of the trilogy, as told by the characters in interview format.

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It's the strangest feeling, to go somewhere unfamiliar, and yet still get a sense that you're coming home. Then again, everything that matters happened here; this is where my parents met, where I was born, where I spent the first year of my life before they uprooted us all. Every significant moment of my existence started in this place that I've only heard stories about.

Already, my throat is clogging up with the memories my parents must have had. I can see them with my mind's eye taking a stroll around the park when they were my age, about to start a family. I can picture my dad pushing a toddler version of me on the swing as I laugh my heart out, and my mom sitting by the benches, watching us with a warm smile.

Their presence is everywhere, and the nostalgia that comes with it hits me harder the closer we get to the house. The loss is still very fresh, and no matter where I go, it still stings.

"Whoa," Reena whispers when the compound comes into view.

I'm pretty amazed myself. It's much bigger than our place in Maine, with more than enough personal space for all of us, and for the others coming in tomorrow, too. The most impressive thing about it, though, is the fifty years of history behind it, which shows in every brick of the wall surrounding it all.

Inside, the grass surrounding the gravel road is overgrown and vibrant green. Malcolm, our keeper, has apparently been taking good care of it in our absence. Identical two-story houses are spread around, about a dozen or so. There's also the training center, the hospital, the school, and right behind the pack house, the playground for the younger members.

In the center of the compound is where the main pack house is built, the biggest building in the compound. I park right out in its driveway and get my suitcase shared with Reena out. I carry it effortlessly up the wide stone steps that lead to the entrance and drop it by the door so that I can get my keys out. Once in, I cough for a moment; dust has been settling for almost twenty years, and while Malcolm is responsible of maintaining the public spots in the compound as well as manning the gate, he's not allowed in any of the houses.

Every piece of furniture is covered with sheets; in the living room, kitchen, dining room, game room, all nine bedrooms plus the three guest rooms. The building is four stories high with a basement and an attic; it has to be to contain this many rooms that would house the alpha and beta's families. The pack house is by far the largest building, which is where I will be living from now on.

"Welcome to our new home," I say with little enthusiasm.

Reena detects my tone of voice, but she doesn't comment on it, knowing that the eight werewolves following behind us would hear her no matter how low she whispers. She knows she has to wait till we're alone to talk. It's only when we get inside to our soundproofed room that she finally says what's on her mind.

"You know we really didn't have to come here," she tells me for the second time.

"He left me this task for a reason, Ree," I remind her. "I need to find out what it means."

"I understand that," she assures me. "I just meant that you could have made a weekend project out of it or something. Or maybe sent out Cade to do it."

"I have to do this myself," I insist. "Besides, I didn't force anyone to come with me; the pack agreed. They're strongest when they're with their alpha. Everybody has ties here, anyway, so we're not starting completely anew."