Greykin Mountain

| 18 | The Path Ahead

          Damon then stepped back, and his betas stepped aside. "We'll be heading over the mountain soon, so take this time to familiarize yourself with who you can." Then, before Jackson could say anything in response, the Alpha morphed into his wolf form.

          Jackson stumbled back, and with Damon's ferocious roar, he was swiftly forced into his wolf form.

          "Let's go," Damon said, heading over to the pack.

          Among his nervousness, Jackson felt he might actually be excited. He wasn't an outcast anymore—a rogue. Maybe everyone would see him as such and stop side-eying him like he was dirt on a shoe. And this meant he was closer to Damon. That fact made him feel...content.

          He followed the Alpha towards his pack; those of the group who could shift on their own did so, and those that couldn't remained as their human selves. Elias and Tokala shifted, and when all the wolves started gawping at Jackson, he slowed his approach.

          But the wolves prowled towards him when Damon stopped moving. Jackson also stopped, his sights darting frantically from each nearing wolf—he wasn't sure if he should back off or say something, but when they all started sniffing him, he kept himself as still as possible and waited.

          None of them uttered a word to him, though. He frowned unsurely, glancing at the sniffing wolves. "Uh...I'm Jackson," he said.

          Some of them glanced at him, while others backed off to make room for their packmates who had been waiting.

          A quiet snarl came from Damon, which wiped the skeptical stares off most of the wolves' faces.

          "Wesley," the purple-eyed grey wolf in front of him said.

          The brown wolf beside Wesley looked Jackson up and down. "Kaniya," she said.

          He stood there, nodding and greeting every wolf when they told him their names...but he knew he wasn't going to be able to remember them all. He'd do his best, though. He recognized the council members' voices, and he knew who Damon's sons were because they were half the size of the other wolf walkers. And Kajika, the little boy who had called his hair weird the other night; he was half the size of Damon's sons—he looked like a big husky puppy, which made sense...he was a kid, after all.

          "You're still a mutt," Remus uttered as Romulus snickered at his side.

          "Boys," came Aysel's voice.

          The crowd dispersed as the Luna moved closer to her sons and shooed them off. Then, she stood in front of Jackson and glowered down at him. The look in her eyes was something hostile, and in her shadow, Jackson cowered a little, tucking his ears over his head. She didn't say anything, though. With a quiet scoff, she turned her back on him and wandered over to where Damon and their sons were sitting.

          Everyone took their final glances at him and went back to what they were doing, leaving Jackson by himself. He frowned, standing up straight. Was that it?

          "Welcome, finally," came Tokala's voice.

          Jackson turned his head and set his eyes on the orange-furred wolf.

          "Everyone'll get used to you soon enough."

          "I don't know," he mumbled, looking over at Aysel again. "I don't think Ay—uh, Alpha Aysel likes me that much."

          "She's just cautious—we all are. Alpha Damon's never invited a rogue into the pack before. The only time he's allowed outsiders in is when they've turned out to be someone's mate. I suppose you're an exception."