Hideout

T W E N T Y T H R E E

How dare I make you wait this long. Sorry! (TW: death) 

C H A P T E R 

T W E N T Y    T H R E E 

A D E L A I D E 

The rest of the week moved on like normal and soon, the pack dinner was starting. Which meant it was time for me to get to know the pack and members of the pack could get to know me.

I imagined the dinner being in a large dining hall, but instead Leo decided that it would be more enjoyable if it was a massive barbecue, plus the weather was going to be incredible. So he had everyone that knew how to grill bring theirs to the backyard and serve up an array of incredible grilled foods, like hamburgers, hot dogs, steaks, chicken breasts and wings, and even some fish.

As one could imagine, the whole area was smelling incredible by the time I emerged from the house with Leo. I squeezed his hand tightly as nerves ate at my stomach, a lump forming in my throat.

"Alright, gorgeous," he murmured to me. "I know you're going to hate this, but we need to split up. So people will feel comfortable enough to approach. Sometimes my presence scares them."

I gripped him even tighter. "What? What if someone is mean to me? I can't handle that on my own."

"You won't have to. I have a couple of my men and women that will be keeping a close eye on you. They will be lurking around to make sure that if anyone dares to disrespect you, they are taken care of. But if you get upset, come find me."

Leo peeled my fingers from his arm, cupping my face gently before kissing me on the corner of my mouth. "You'll be fine. You're a smart, kind, wonderful girl. Go have fun."

I sighed sadly, nodding slowly. "Okay. But don't go too far."

"I won't."

- - - -

The first few minutes were quite uneventful. I shook hands with close to ten people and hugged a few women, just doing basic introductions before someone else would pull me away. So far, everyone was polite and it didn't seem forced. LIke they were making themselves be nice to me.

"You are so beautiful," one elderly woman gushed to me, straight up grabbing my face and pinching my cheeks.

I giggled. "Thank you," I responded.

"Don't you let that man forget how lucky he is to have you, you understand?" she told me. "And that goes with everyone else in this pack. No matter what anyone says, we need you."

I grinned at her, almost feeling myself get emotional. "Thank you, ma'am. That means so much to me."

"You remind me of my daughter, you know. She was born without a wolf and did what you did - left the pack. She lives in Los Angeles and is an incredible graphic designer. But she never visits anymore. Too painful, the girl tells me," the sweet woman said.

My heart went out for her. Of course I felt great empathy for this situation. How could I not? "Did the pack mistreat her?" I asked softly. "Don't hold any details back."

"Some of the kiddos were a bit nasty, but no. The torment came from within herself. So to best survive, she had to move on. And I don't blame her for that."