Eleonora stood in front of an old wooden mansion, it was three stories high with a nice and cozy exterior. People didn't lie when they said the Alpha of the Crescent Moon Pack liked it traditional and old school. On her way to the pack house Eleonora couldn't see a single modern house or any other modern buildings. After four hours of a boring car drive, she doubted she had any net in this land but to her surprise it was better than expected. She sighed in relieve knowing she could work even from here.
"You're Eleonora, right?" A blond woman around her age stepped out of the front door. Eleonora thought it was about time, she had been waiting for half an hour for someone to call the Alpha.
She had to meet him personally before going to the other members of her pack. She had already seen a few of them when she passed the training grounds with a Crescent Moon Pack member, who had led her to the pack house.
"Just call me Leo." She smiled back at the woman. Hoping she could finally see the Alpha and settle down in a room.
"Alpha Dane was in a meeting, sorry for the long wait."
"It's fine. I understand." She didn't and she wasn't fine. Even if the Alpha was busy, he could have been so nice to offer her to come inside. She had stood out in the cold for what seemed like hours.
"My name is Rosa. Nice to meet you, Leo." Rosa held out her hand to greet Eleonora. She took it and they walked inside.
Eleonora carried her small suitcase and backpack. Rose had offered her to take the big and small suitcases, but she refused to let anyone touch her precious tech stuff. But she was surprised to see that Rose was stronger than her small frame gave away. She didn't have any trouble carrying the large and heavy suitcase that was reaching over her waist. Eleonora would love to have a little spar with her to see what she was capable of.
They stumbled along a long hallway with many doors, some were opened, and Eleonora could see a variety of different bedrooms. Some were occupied and she was greeted by a few people, others ignored her completely. But she didn't mind that. She welcomed it more than some chattery people who wouldn't leave her alone.
Eleonora could see why the Crescent Moon had their reputation of being unfriendly to strangers and outsiders. She found it rather charming, the people just didn't bother with her and that was good, this way she would have more privacy on her hand while she stayed here.
"You can put your stuff here. This will be your room for your stay." Rose walked into a small but cozy looking room. It was on the end of the hallway and had a queen-sized bed, a large dresser, a mirror, a tv and a small desk inside. "Through that door is your own bathroom." Rose pointed to the direction of another door. Eleonora had assumed it was a walk-in closet, but she was happier to have her own bathroom.
"Thank you. Are my pack members also occupying rooms on this floor, or on the floor above?"
"Oh no, you're the only one with a room in the pack house. The Alpha ordered it."
Eleonora was surprised at that but didn't let it show on her face. "I appreciate the thought, but I would rather stay with my pack members. I believe you understand." Eleonora put her backpack back on hoping to get another room.
"Sorry, that's not my decision." Rose said, her voice getting smaller, she looked troubled.
Eleonora sighed. "Fine. Let's meet your Alpha first." She decided to discuss the matter personally with the Alpha.
After a few turns and walking up to the second floor Rose led Eleonora to a large wooden door. "I'll leave now. Just knock and he'll know it's you."
Eleonora nodded and saw as Rose hurried away. She couldn't judge her; she was jumpy in one moment and smiling in the other. But one thing was sure, Alpha Dane seemed to have a rather strong-willed side, not meaning that was good. Seeing the house and the members who she had met and seen, the Alpha seemed to have everything under his control.
She knocked three times and a hoarse voice told her to come in. She opened the door and was faced with the strong smell of cigars. She knew the smell good because the old men in her pack liked to smoke them too.
Eleonora stepped in and walked up to the desk. The Alpha didn't say anything, so she continued with the formal greeting. "I, Eleonora Denver, daughter of Alpha Miles, greet you, Alpha Dane, Alpha of the Crescent Moon Pack." She bowed lightly waiting until she was told to stop.
She could hear the Alpha puffing on his cigar a few times before he stood up. "It's nice to meet you, Eleonora. You can raise your head." She did as she was told and saw the face of the Alpha for the first time.
He had short grey hair and a grey beard, he was wearing a dark blue suit and rested the cigar in his hand. Unexpectedly he looked friendlier than she had expected, he wore a light smile on his lips as he looked at her. Every now and then his green eyes wandered between her and something on his desk, but Eleonora stood on the wrong side and couldn't see what it was. It seemed to be more important than their conversation as he seemed to drive off at times.
As they finished their greetings and Alpha Dane had told her about the schedule, Eleonora attempted to ask about the room change.
"Sir, I would like to change my room if that is possible. I heard no other of my pack members is staying here and I would like to join them."
He looked at Eleonora then onto his table and back to her again. He cleared his throat before speaking. "Sadly, that is not possible. All the other rooms in the house that your pack members house are staying in is occupied at the moment."
"That's no problem. I'll just share a room with one of the she-wolves, I don't mind that."
"You can't!" He said loud and quick. It seemed to be unintentional since he cleared his throat again and straightened his back. "I mean, your father told me to take good care of you. Because of the recent events you were involved in he asked me to have a protective eye on you."
Eleonora knew the Alpha was lying, but for some reason she didn't want to go against him anymore. He didn't seem to have any bad intention, he seemed to be rather worried.
"I guess I'll just sleep here." She stated.
The Alpha looked at her again, relief filled his eyes. "Of course. You are free to do what you want after all."
"Then I will excuse myself to meet my pack members now." She bowed slightly as she gave her farewells and left, not waiting for an answer.
She closed the door behind her and let out a deep sigh. A few hard weeks were coming, she thought. She hadn't expected the Alpha to be like this.
She shrugged the thought off and trailed down the hallway trying to pick up a scent that she knew. It was a little harder to pinpoint the different scents since she had taken a pill that Dione had given her. The blockers, as she called them herself, really worked to her surprise. Down on the first floor she caught the scent of an all too familiar person, she pushed the front door open and was greeted with a big hug. Her head laid on a muscular chest that was exposed and to her dismay smelled of sweat as well.
"Goddess Dex, take a shower will you!" She pushed the strong warrior away from her and looked up at him.
Dexter was a good friend of hers and a strong fighter in her pack. He had short blond hair, it always reminded her of the men in the military. He had a crocked nose, that had been broken too many times and didn't heal right at some point. A long scar parted his left eyebrow and went down to his left cheek, His eye on that side had a white color the other was blue. He was blind on the white eye since he was shot with a silver bullet. His eye had healed but the optic nerve in his left eye was permanently damaged.
If people didn't know Dexter, he could be quite intimidating and scary. He himself loved that, he always scared the kids in the packs, and they loved to play with him too.
"Sorry, I just came from training." He laughed sheepishly rubbing the back of his head. No matter his big posture and insane muscles, Eleonora liked to think of him like a little brother, his personality matched that quite good. She ignored the fact that he was six years older than her.
"How is everyone doing?" She asked, walking down the stairs with Dexter.
"Good, I guess. We haven't done much yet. The first day we just settled down in a separate house and yesterday we were introduced to most of the people around here. I tell you they are some strange folks. They barely interact with us unless it is part of their job."
"Have you met their Alpha? He's just like that." Eleonora added laughing. "These people could use something to raise their spirits."
"They could use some of Lora's drinks to loosen up a bit. Man, I would love to see that." Both laughed. "Anyway, where is your stuff? I thought I could help you settled into your room. Our house might be a bit packed with more than twenty people but it's a cozy little place. You could share a room with Sammy or Donna. Maybe even Rachel but she's not in the best mood now."
"What happened with Rachel?"
"Long story short, she challenged an omega wolf during training thinking she had the upper hand, but she lost badly."
"They have omegas here?" Eleonora asked shocked. Omegas were the lowest pack members who didn't really have a good job in the pack. Her father despised that, so their pack didn't have any omegas.
"I guess. I only know of that one fighter though." He said laid back.
Eleonora sighed. "Well, I know Rachel's personality too good. I guess it served her right to be proven wrong. But it's still strange that an omega can win over a good fighter like her." Omegas were usually weak and had jobs like caretakers or cooks or other little jobs in a pack.
"You would change your mind if you saw him. He's strong. Rachel should have known that he was out of her class even if his rank in his pack is bad." They stopped in front of a large two-story building. "This is our place while we stay here. So, have you made up your mind where to sleep?"
"Sorry to disappoint but I have a room in the pack house." Eleonora said defeated and Dexter furrowed his eyebrows. "Don't even ask, Alpha Dane insisted on it, saying dad wanted me safe."
"Where else would you be safer but with your pack members." Dexter said in disbelief. "Let's go get your stuff, who cares what that old Alpha Dane says."
Dexter started to walk but Eleonora was able to stop him, grabbing him by his arm. "Leave it be." She said in a bored voice. "I'll just sleep in the packhouse but practically life here with you guys. This way I can get to know more about the Alpha and his pack."
He sighed. "Fine, you're the boss. Well, the boss' daughter." He laughed.
Eleonora joined Dexter again and they walked over to the training grounds. She saw a few familiar faces from her pack and greeted everyone.
"Did you bring your chip?" Dexter asked, pointing at his own.
She took hers out of her pocket and showed it. "You mean this?" Dexter nodded. "What is this for anyway?" Eleonora asked confused.
"Your locker." He pointed in the direction of a long hallway. "Everyone has one and we got a few sets of training clothes, gloves and other training materials. It also works as key to enter the training hall."
"Wow." Eleonora was surprised. "I didn't think they would use stuff like this here. I'm almost impressed."
"Your locker should be at the back. I'll go back to training, see you inside." He pointed at the locker area, turned around and left.
Eleonora was left alone in the hallway. She looked down at her chip to read the number again, '256', she followed the hallway to the back and looked for her looker number. The wall of lockers considered of two rows, one low and one high. It reminded her of the lockers they had in high school. She found her locker in the lower row and had to crouch down to reach it. She opened it with her chip and looked inside.
The locker was divided into three parts. On the highest she found two pairs of black fingerless gloves, boxing gloves and some protective gear for her face. In the middle were two pairs of black leggings and a grey training jacket. On the bottom she found a small first aid kit and a book. She took the book in her hand and saw that the book was a guide on how to use training gear or training machines. She laughed at the book, finding it ridiculous that they had something like this.
Taking another look at the stuff she didn't think she would need anything but the gloves. The clothes would be good as a pair of spare clothes, but she had her own clothes to wear, that she felt more comfortable with.
She decided to take her sweater off, leaving her in her black pants and a white top. That would have to be enough for her first training. It would be a change to train in normal clothes but it was a good training since a real fight doesn't happen when you expect it and you definitely don't have the change to change into comfortable clothes. She pushed her sweater into the locker and closed it again.
With that she made her way to the training hall that Dexter had shown her.