6, An introduction

Colin’s POV

“No, everyone needs to go through basic training as a way of learning to defend themselves. But it’s up to the individual if they want to train to be a warrior once that is finished,” Colin explained and got an approving nod from Sean.

“Do you handle all the trainings?” Adina asked him as he led them around the training grounds, away from the pack house.

“No, Jason handles training. He is our best fighter, besides me, of course,” Colin added with a smile.

“But I like to handle the training for the teenagers when I can. It gives me an opportunity to get to know them and see what personality they have,“ he continued and got a bright smile from Adina.

“Do you train, baby?” he asked.

“Two to three times a week or Sean would kill me,” Adina answered, and Colin liked that. His wolf was thrilled that his mate could take care of herself.

“We usually train in private at least one time per week because of Adina’s… unique fighting style,” Sean added.

“You should join us next time,” he continued.

Colin was surprised by his invitation, but quickly accepted. Adina looked happy that Sean and Colin had put their differences aside. If Adina was happy, he was happy, Colin decided. If Sean made her happy, then Colin could live with having him around. He looked to be a skilled fighter, if nothing else.

“Would you like to come down and spar with our elite warriors some time?” he asked Sean and got a sunshine smile from Adina.

“I would like that,” Sean replied, and he and Colin talked about what type of fighting style the pack used as they walked.

“This is the pack hospital,” Colin said, nodding at a small, square, building.

It was painted white and had a flat, slightly tilted roof. In front of the building there was a small parking lot. A sign on the side of the door showed a red cross with a stencilled wolf's head in white in the middle of it.

“It’s not much, but our pack doctor, Doc, and two nurses make sure we are taken care of,” Colin said. Adina looked at it curiously.

As they turned and headed down the road towards the village, they heard running and Colin tensed for a moment before catching the scent of Mateo and his mate Julia.

They both came out of the woods wearing their workout clothes. It looked like they had been out running.

“Exercising?” Colin said to his beta, that were panting.

“Yes, Julia wanted to go for a run together,” Mateo answered.

As Julia was a human, the two of them couldn’t go running in wolf shape, but Colin knew they often went running in their human form.

“Julia, you haven’t met Adina, my mate, and her bodyguard, Sean. Adina, Sean, this is Julia, Mateo’s mate,” Colin said, introducing the newcomers to the small woman standing next to his beta.

She had short, brown hair, cut in a pixie style. Her eyes were chocolate brown, and she exuded an air of fragility.

“It is an honour luna” the small woman said, bowing her head to Adina.

Colin was happy with how quickly his beta’s mate had accepted the life in the pack and had taken to their customs. Adina gave her one of her sunny smiles and greeted her. Colin had felt a small squirm from her, as Julia had called her luna. She would get used to it, he thought.

“I’m giving our newcomers a tour of the village. Do you want to join us?” Colin asked. Mateo looked at his mate.

“We would be delighted to, alpha,” Julia said with a small smile.

Colin knew he still made her nervous. But as they started walking again, everyone relaxed and soon Julia was pointing out some of her hang outs in the village to Adina.

The village was quite large and had several shops containing everything from clothes to hardware. There were restaurants, a movie theatre, a coffee shop, a library, and a pub. The main street was lined with the businesses. They were all in small, two-storey houses. On each side of the main street, the residential areas of the village stretch out.

“About one third of the pack lives in the village and the packhouse,” Colin explained.

“The rest are scattered in houses throughout the territory. There are some smaller groups of houses in other parts of the territory, but they mainly comprise of five to ten houses. Nothing like this,” Colin continued as they walked down one side of the main street.

People that they met took a respectful step back to let them pass, bowing their head at the alpha and curiously looking at the beautiful woman that he had his arm draped around.

Adina’s POV

The village was beautiful, the small houses were well maintained, as were the roads and everything else. She could see from the pack’s reaction to Colin’s presence that he was a good alpha. They showed him respect, but there was no fear in their faces. It made Adina proud of her mate.

“Over there is the school. We have everything from day-care for the pups to a local college,” Colin said and sounded proud. Adina looked over to where he pointed and saw a separate group of buildings. It almost looked like a separate village.

“You mix all the different grades in one place?” she asked.

“Yes, and no. They all are placed together, but they all have separate houses. But it helps build a pack community and gives an opportunity to teach the older kids and teenagers that they should care for even the younger and weaker members of the pack,” Colin explained and Adina nodded.

She got the concept and thought it was a good one. They had stopped at the end of the main street and stood there talking for a while. Adina saw Julia eying the coffee shop longingly, but sensed that she didn’t have the courage to break away from the group to go in.

“I really have had too little to eat today. Would it be okay if I took a trip to the coffee shop to see if they have a snack?” Adina asked.

“Of course, baby, or we could ask someone to bring you something. Do you want to stop by a restaurant?” Colin answered and looked a bit concerned.

“No, no. That’s okay. I don’t want to spoil my appetite for the dinner tonight. A small snack would do the trick. Julia, would you like to join me?” Adina said, and Julia nodded.

Together, the two women crossed the street and headed to the coffee shop, followed by Sean. Inside the shop, Adina could see that it was a bit more than just a coffee shop. It also had a juice bar, an ice-cream section and a corner full of candy.

“Okay, this is my new favourite place. Who came up with the idea to place all my favourite vices under one roof?” she said, giggling at Julia.

“I know, this is like a corner of heaven,” the shy woman replied happily.

“I always stop by here to get an orange and ginger juice after a run,” she confessed, and Adina understood the longing look she had seen.

The two women walked up to the counter and a man in his mid-thirties with strawberry blond hair, glasses and freckles smiled at them.

“Hi Julia, the usual?” he asked.

“Yes, please Andy,” Julia said.

“And your beautiful friend would like? I don’t think I have seen you here before,” he said, smiling at Adina, before his eyes shifted to something behind her.

Adina felt Sean draw nearer to her as a response to what he perceived to be unwanted male attention. Adina and he had had this conversation before, but Sean hadn’t changed.

“Oh, I’m sorry, Adina, this is Andy, the owner. Andy, this is Adina, Colin’s mate,” Julia made the introduction.

As soon as she said the words mate, the buzzing coffee shop went quiet and before Adina knew it, everyone that had been seated around the small tables stood up to face her. They all bowed at her, including Andy.

“Luna, I’m so sorry for my disrespectful manner. It’s an honour to have you here,” Andy said. Adina gave Sean an uncomfortable look, and he just shrugged slightly.

“I’m not the least offended or disrespected. On the contrary, every pack member has treated me with so much respect and made me feel welcome. Won’t you please continue with what you were doing,” Adina said towards the guests.

They sat down, but the energy of the room was the same.

“I just said to Julia that you have gathered all my favourite things in one shop.” Adina said with a smile to Andy, making a small gesture to make him stop bowing.

“Unfortunately, today I just need a small snack. But I will have to return soon for a more complete experience,” she continued. She got a smile from Andy.

“In that case, may I recommend one of our smoothies? My mate Joonas creates the recipes. They are both filling and refreshing,” he said.

“Sounds divine. I’ll have the… lemon one,” she said, smiling. “Sean?” she asked, but he shook his head. “That seems to be everything,” she said.

Andy prepared Julia’s juice and Adina’s smoothie. When Adina stepped up to the register to pay, Andy shook his head.

“No luna, I can’t take your money. Anything you want will always be on the house,” he said, raising his hands.

“But I can’t just take it,” Adina objected.

“Even if you took every single thing in my shop, the work that the alpha has done for not just me but the entire pack, more than well compensates for that,” Andy said with a determined face. Adina understood and nodded.

“Thank you,” she simply said. “I will see you soon,” she added with a smile and a glance towards the ice cream.

“Please do. Joonas would love to meet you.”

With that, Adina and Julia left the shop and headed cross the street to the two men waiting for them. When they got there Mateo caught Adina’s eyes for a second and she saw gratitude from him as he made an almost none detectible bow of his head.

She realized that Mateo had understood why she had gone into the coffee shop. She gave him a little smile and nodded before Colin draped his arm around her waist and guided her, so they started walking the same way they came.

“Satisfied?“ Colin asked Adina as she sipped on her smoothie.

“Very,” she said, smiling. “That place will corrupt me. Sean may need to increase my training to twice a day if I’m to live within walking distance of that place,” she giggled.

“Not a problem, I will happily oblige,” Sean said, and Colin chuckled.

“Everyone is very respectful and welcoming,” Adina said to Colin.

“Of course they are. You are their luna” he said, placing a kiss on top of her head. Adina felt a small pang in her heart as he said that. He fully expected her to stay, and the pack did as well. What would happen the day she left?

They arrived at the pack house just as Adina finished her smoothie. It had been delicious and had taken away her hunger.

“I think we can relax a bit and get ready for dinner,” Colin suggested and the group all felt it sounded like a good idea.