After dropping off Joann at work it was just a short drive over to where I had the after work BBQ with Ashley and what I now know was members of her pack just about two weeks ago. How my life has changed since then. Not even transition competed. When I first started wearing women's clothing publicly I just learned who actually cared about me and who didn't. I dressed as a nurse for halloween and the next day I bought all new clothes from A local thrift store and tossed out most of my male ones but a couple of shirts and my shoes. Is there a law that says women shoes can only go to a size eleven? Some of us do wear a size twelve.

My car didn't like me going up the hole infested dirt road to the place but it made it. Seeing the area in the daylight revealed just how big this area was. As I drove around the the barrels they had fires in and towards the trailers there was a road of sorts that continued on past them blocked by a simple gate made by a bar padlocked to a post. It wasn't much. I could go around it, but my car wouldn't. I reached for my phone

"What?"

She answered in a annoyed groggy voice like I woke her. It was almost ten.

"Ashley, it's Crystal. I need to talk to you. Are you past the gate?"

"Yeah. Wait! You're here? Tell me you're not." She no longer sounded groggy but instead worried. I didn't understand why.

"Yes I'm here. I'm in front of a gate looking for you. There's also five trailers here but-"

"Fuck! Okay, stay in the car. I'll be down in a minute. If anyone approaches you tell them I said to leave you alone."

She ended the call before I could say anything else. What was the problem? I was already here once in the middle of the night and nothing happened. What is it with them?

Dierks Bentley's What Was I Thinkin' came on the radio as I lit a cigarette and turned it up. It was always one of my favorites but now it just spoke to me. I oftentimes have found myself asking the same question recently

Right when I was just getting into it I heard a woman come out of a blue camper to my right that look to small for someone to actually live in. The skirting and the small porch said otherwise. I turned off the radio and rolled down my window halfway just as she got to the car.

"This is private property and we don't like trespassers. You had best turn this damn thing around and get your ass out of here now!"

I looked around and saw several more coming out of trailers on both sides. Suddenly I didn't think this was such a great idea. Why were they acting like this? All I was doing was sitting in my car.

"I'm a friend of Ashley. She told me to wait here for her. She should be on her way here."

It didn't come out with the confidence I wanted but it was enough to give her pause. She seemed to think it over for a moment before I heard a male's voice that sounded familiar.

"Crystal? What the hell are ya doing here?" I turned to see Kevin coming up on the passenger side. "Its fine, Kelly. You and everyone else go back inside. I'll wait here with her for Ashley."

She just frowned then headed back as I unlocked the passenger side door letting Kevin in.

"Is this how you greet all guests?" I asked him as he got in trying not to show my hesitation of him sitting in my seat. His Dickies overalls and hands were covered in grease. He must of been working on a car.

"No but... Ashley told me you were recently claimed. Is that her I'm smelling on you?"

I nodded. "Either her or my sister. What's going on between you and Jake's pack?

"We've been at war or close to it for years. Even before I came along. Recently it's gotten a lot worse. I'll let Ashley decide if she wants to tell you more. No offense."

Ashley came into view wearing black jeans and a plain grey shirt. Her hair looked just as one would expect from waking her up making me feel a little guilty but I didn't care. This whole mess started with her not filling up beforehand and making me stay later at work. Besides, she should be up anyways. She unlocked the gate and once opened motioned for me to drive through so I did.

"Just keeping the others off of her. She was grabbing a lot of attention." Kevin told her as he got out and she hopped in.

"Thanks. I want another sweep of the grounds soon. Take two others and make sure everything alright."

"On it!" Kevin answered as she shut the door.

The ride was quite between us as I drove up the narrow dirt road about a mile when it opened up at the end. A larger brick two story house sat straight ahead with two smaller houses on each side. They were certainly secluded.

Ashley directed me to the center house but I already knew it was hers as I recognized her bike parked in the driveway.

"You wanna tell me what the hell you're doing here?"

I get that she's been having problems with Jake, so have I, but that's no reason to act so cold to me. I didn't understand it but tried not to take it personally.

"Have you seen Nancy or Jake recently?"

Even before asking, I knew she wouldn't like the question. The sudden change in her and the way everyone here was acting said something was going on and my gut was sure Jake was to blame for it.

"That's a whole lot of shit you don't want to be a part of. My advice is for you to stay away from Jake and Nancy and hope whoever claimed you isn't involved with them. Things with them just went from bad to worse and I wouldn't want to see you get hurt."

She was looking out the passenger window unable to even look at me. She was refusing to go into details but I still had the Mate card I could play. In my short time around them I knew it carried a lot of weight maybe even enough to get Ashley to give me the details. It didn't take a rocket scientist to realize someone else got hurt but I didn't want to run into this without knowing everything. Jake is already on edge and I didn't want Nancy to have more to deal with because I jumped the gun and assumed the wrong thing.

"That was Nancy. She told Jake that I'm her mate and as you can probably imagine, he didn't take it very well. So please, Ashley, tell me what happened. He stole the pack from her and it's really pissing me off what he's doing with it. I may not know anything about running a pack, or even being a part of one, but I'm sure you two fighting isn't good for either of you."

She turned back facing me. Her brunette hair practically covered her eyes making it harder for me to read her. Oddly she didn't seem all that surprised like it was something she suspected all along.

"You sure? Maybe she just did it to make it harder for you and Jake to mess around."

"I'm sure. Believe me that this wasn't at all what I had planned but... there's something there that draws me to her. I've never even been attracted to women that way but ever since I met her I can't seem to stop thinking about her or wanting to help her. So tell me, what's going on?"

She let out a sigh running her hand through her hair. "She was with Jake when he confronted me yesterday about Randy. I was taken back as she usually doesn't say much but she was clearly upset about him no longer being apart of the pack. No matter what they might say I can't steal something they don't have! Jake banished him a few weeks ago. My guess is he wanted him to kiss his ass to get back in but instead he came to me. I originally told him to fuck off but he's persistent. I like that. Also having a former member might be useful if things continue to escalate between us."

I remembered the tone in Nancy's voice when she told me about how many of the members she was close with had left the pack. Maybe Randy was one of them. At least if he joined Ashley's pack he'd still be in the area.

"So you're letting him join?"

"Maybe. I may have the final say in it but it's not entirely up to me. A pack is like a close family. The other members need to accept him and that's not easy for us to do. Especially when it's someone from a rival pack, it's even harder. Don't get me started about claimed humans who's known for sleeping with the enemy. He's been hanging out with some of them and it seems to be going well so far. I'll probably hold a vote soon."

Well now I understood the warm welcome I received. Did the Council broadcast it on werewolf radio or something? That's far too human. They must of had witches cast a spell to get the word out. Still I was sure there was more to the story than she was saying.

We talked for about another thirty minutes before she got out and I headed back home. For someone who insists that she wants to resolve things peacefully, she sure wasn't giving that impression. Randy, I had no doubt that her "permission" was solely for dirt on Jake. She was doing everything she could to get some from me. Asking about his parents, if he was allies with any packs, and more. How the hell should I know? Did she miss the part I didn't even know werewolves existed a couple weeks ago? Suggesting that I ask Nancy was taking it to far. I will of course. But not for her, for me. If things did escalate I'm not sure who I would want to come out on top. I couldn't care less what happened to Jake. Hell, I'd even love to watch her chase him off or whatever they call it but the pack belongs to Nancy, and I didn't want anything bad to happen to it.

——

Linnea broke into a large smile the moment she saw me walk in. "Finally!"

She exclaimed rushing over to me. What did I do now?

"Jason told me what happened. What a bunch of assholes! I'm glad you're alright. They're damn lucky this isn't Sweden. They wouldn't of made it out of here alive."

I gave her a fake smile not sure how to respond to that. When did not wanting others to be killed become weird? They just had too much to drink was all.

I tried to move past her but she wouldn't let me. "On the bright side, you and Nancy huh? I can't tell you how happy I am for the both of you. She deserves so much better than Jake. I couldn't say anything before but now... jävla kuk! Tell me you two are going to the dark soiree! I've never been to an American one before and I need a ride."

The what? She read my confused expression "it's a party for both werewolves and vampires in a secret place. It started off as a spot for us to talk and let them know who they weren't allowed to have for food but it's also a place to show off mates and well... just show off! It's unlike anything you've ever seen! Trust me, you'll love it!"

She was practically begging me. I didn't need to be a supernatural to notice how her breath paused for my response even if it really wasn't up to me.

"You should be asking Nancy, not me." I quickly moved past her and made my way to the bar before she could stop me again.

"I was planning to over fika but you're here now. Oh! And there's no fika here. And you Americans wonder why the rest of the world think you're crazy. She's my boss!"

I had spent enough time around her to know fika was like a coffee break of sorts with a sweet. We should have them here. Who doesn't like coffee and cinnamon rolls?

"Sam Adams?"

I asked the the lone guy sitting at the bar as I grabbed his empty pitcher. I'd seen him in here a few times since I started.

"Who?" Linnea asked from behind me earning a dirty look from me. "Oh yeah"

"Uh Sure." The guy answered as if he didn't care one way or the other. He was far more interested in our conversation.

"You really should go. If I didn't need to be at work the next morning bright and early, I'd be going. She's right that they're amazing and if you're new to all this, there isn't a better way to know what you're getting into." He added as I was about to

leave.

Actually some good advice. Why can't all the customers be like him? Truth be told, I was really wanting to go. I normally hated wild parties but this promised to be totally different than the ones I jumped out my bedroom window for in high school.

"All right, I'm in. I'll see if I can get Nancy to join us."

"We're going to have so much fun!" She waved her hands in the air as she left to, what I hope, was getting back to work. "...now I've got to figure out what to wear, if anything. Oh the decisions!"

Or maybe not.

About fifteen minutes later Nancy came in from the back room wearing a black leather pencil skirt with a gold and black leopard print top. She looked great and it was a far change from what she normally wore here especially with her hair down. Even Linnea was caught off guard making me do my best growl. They both only laughed

"Nice try, Crystal but maybe next time try showing some teeth. It won't help you much but it might be enough to scare a mouse." Linnea said as she started wiping down tables

I just rolled my eyes at her. "Whatever."

"Don't you be telling her that Linnea. I'm sure it would scare even a cat... if it was one of those scaredy types." Nancy added causing them both to start laughing again.

It was going to be a long night.