Chapter 5
Walking in I hear Betty yelling “you better have washed off before walking in this house alpha and beta. i will not have you two track blood and dirt all over this house.” I try my best not to laugh at the look of fear that crosses both our father's faces at the threat from a small she-wolf. Betty has been running the house for a while now so in here her word is the law. Father and Mr. Jefferson took off outside fast heading to the small lake we use for washing up. H-aring her growl out again I look down at our dirty bare feet. Gulping I dash to my father's room for clean trousers and a shirt Mary did the same before we flew out the door hot on our father's trail.
Getting to the lake we wash off our feet. They got all muddy in the ring. Once our fathers were cleaned up coming out of the water we handed them the clean clothes. Making our way back to the house only stepping in the grass to keep our feet clean. The house comes into view and Betty is standing on the porch. We stand in front of her she looks us all over nods and walks back in. Shouting over her shoulder supper will be in one hour.
Father had a study room built in the house to help keep logs of what we sold to the humans and how much money we had for things we didn’t make or grow here. Sitting in the chairs father motions for me to start. “you know our friend Edith?” he nods “well it turns out her family are witches.” I start “she told us yesterday” Mary adds so they know we were not hiding anything. “why didn’t you tell someone yesterday?” Mr. Jefferson asks “well they don’t seem to be a threat Edith was happy to find a non-human she didn’t have to hide from. Also, we decided that we needed to tell the alpha and let him decide what to do so we had to wait until we had an alpha.” I tell him squaring my shoulders and looking at him in the standing by the decision we made. Father looked at me then Mary thought for a minute “I do believe you are right or we would have seen trouble by now. We will send a couple of men to check them out. Also, I am proud of you two for already showing your leadership. You looked at the situation thought it out and made a solid plan. Good job. Now please go and get Thomas and timothy.” we not and turn to walk away “make sure they don’t drag mud in this house or you're dealing with your mother,” Mr. Jefferson told Mary.
Heading out to the barn where those two usually are this time of day. “tom and Tim's father wants to see you.” I say to them as I walk in the barn. They looked at me “who?” they said I hate when they do that. “my father” I say again confused I know they heard me. “who?” they said again they sound like an owl now. Then it clicks he's no longer my father but the alpha “the alpha wants to see you two.” I tell them. Bowing their heads to me “we will head there now future alpha Jesse” I know I must be red as my cheeks feel like they are burning. “and if you drag mud in the house you'll have to deal with mot…beta female Betty” Mary says tripping over her words a little. I see them gulp yep no one messes with that woman ever she can be scary. “would you two finish feeding the horses for us please?” we nod. Tim and tom always feed the horses in the afternoon after they get back from the herd or check the fence line for the cattle. Cant sell or eat them if something kills them or they get out.
That night at supper we all were again outside at a table gathered together. Father wanted this time for us all to talk about possible changes in the pack. “okay so as you know a pack runs better if you are all close so I was hoping to get volunteers in adding to the main house or designing and building a new house that would house us all.” the three men we saw earlier stood up “alpha if I may?” one asks bowing his head. “the floor is yours, Ben.” “so, my brothers and I were talking about that earlier and we thought if we could keep the house but add on going back. What we thought is that along with the house going up at least one more floor we could also go down so as not to draw too much attention if the humans show up here.” he has a bit of nervousness in his voice. What he said makes sense to me and it also kinda went along with our pack name. I liked the idea. Looking at my father I notice his eyes look blank and I look over at Mr. Jefferson seeing him look the same. Starting to panic something is wrong when they both clear back to normal. “we agree Ben you and you bother to be in charge of this. Draw something up and then come to me with the plans.” he says they nod and sit down,
A small girl stands up “yes sweetie” “umm what do we call everyone now?” “from now on I am alpha William this is beta Michael.” he points at Mr. Jefferson. “then Jesse will be future alpha and Mary future beta female. Betty is a beta female Betty. once we have the rest of the leadership roles filled it will be the same.” he finishes she smiles at him “thank you alpha” and she sits back down. Everyone is eating for a few minutes when beta Micheal clears his throat. We all look to him “as you all know we need to start training as a pack to protect our pack. Everyone is to train men to protect and watch for us all she-wolves so they can protect themselves and the pups if someone gets by us. We have decided that every pup from 13 up will start training as well. Everyone was very happy about what the beta said. “one more thing there is a family of witches nearby.” a few gasped out panic on their faces. “we have some men looking into them. Jesse and Mary go to school with her and are friends so we believe the threat to us is low.” I can see everyone relaxing as my father tells them about Edith and her family. “speaking of school I propose all pups of school-age start attending. They can go with Jesse and Mary. The more we blend the less they will look at us.” beta female Betty said. Everyone started eating again thinking about what she had just said.
