Chapter 63 - New acquaintances

**Hopes pov**

At first no one says anything, everyone just looks at me..like I’m some strange creature that fell off the mountain. Emma clears her throat and steps forward.
“ Wellcome Hope..Like I said, my name is Emma. This is Joe. “ She moves her hand to the older man.
“ How did you do that? “ He asks, I assume he is referring to the linking.
“What did she do Joe?” A young man behind him asks
“ She..she linked me..” A frown on Joes face tells me he has a hard time believing his own words. The people behind him is starting to whisper to eachother, saying Joe must be wrong..its impossible..maybe he is having a stroke?
“No one is having a stroke. I can link all of you, I’m sorry if it hurts though”
They all grabbed their heads as my link reached them.
“ Look, I’m sorry, I won't do it again, I just wanted to prove that I can.”..I felt bad hurting them and Luna growls to me in my head.
“ I mean you no harm..I am a Luna, I come from the Great Falls pack..My story is a long and..complicated one, but if you want to, I will share it with you..” I looked at all the young people..and Joe, and I really hope they will accept my company and share their own story as well..
“ We don't have much, but you are welcome to stay and share what we have.” Joe says and step aside, clearing the way to the cave.

In the cave there is a fire burning, there are four logs around it and some of the people are taking their place on them. I walk up to the west wall and let my hand touch the surface. I close my eyes and start to walk..soon I come to the familiar corner from my dreams and I feel a lump form in my throat..I round it and open my eyes. Flowers and lit candles are covering the small indention..it looks like a altar of some kind. I feel Joe step up behind me.
“ Do you know your history girl? Our history?..This was once the home to the first born werewolf. A girl named Aayla..” I turn and look at him..Luna was clawing in my head, eager to let them know it all..and I agree, they should know who they invited in to their home.
“ Joe, you need to sit down, I need to tell you something. I need to show you..”
He looked at me a bit confused, but did as I asked and joined the others on the logs. I stepped up in front of them, kind of nervous.
“ Ok..In order for you to understand..who I am and where I come from I need to link you again. It won't be as painful the second time..I hope.” They all had a worried look on their faces, but they didn't say anything, some of them even nodded a little.
“ Ok..then, here we go..” I wipe my hands on my pants and hand over the reins to Luna. Just like she did at the unbinding, Luna sent a slideshow of memories through the link to everyone around the fire. Aayla the sick little girl, the cave, Selene, Aayla and the creation of werewolves, Ambrogio and his children of the night, Zandra and pictures of different wars in different times..she added recent memories as well. Memories of my life with Callum, the unbinding and the Luna ceremony. When she pulled back I look at all the faces, some of them have tears running down their cheeks, some are staring down to the ground, trying to understand what they just been showed. I sit down on one of the logs, waiting for them to process everything.
Joe is the first to speak.
“ Hope..Luna. Its an honor.” He bows his head and the others mirror him. After that everybody relaxed, they all tell me their names but it would take some reminders before I could learn them all. There is a lot of questions and I answer what I can.
They tell me about their lives. They had been rogues since their pack was attacked by vampires twelve years back. Joe had found the kids hiding in a barn, he was just on his way back to the packhouse to join the fight when it all blowed up. He couldn't find any survivors so he gathered all the kids and left.
“ What was the name of your pack?” I asked
“ The Sunset pack..we were once a strong pack..but internal affairs between our Alpha and Luna sent us into a downward spiral, it was a easy pick for the vampires, the fight didn't last long.” Joe seemed tormented by the memories from the past.
“ The Sunset pack..I have heard that name before..” I searched my memory, trying to find the right one, Luna was the one showing me Kevins charming face in the hospital bed.
“Oh!!! The Sunset pack! Kevin and Jesse! Or James..I know them! My face splits in a big smile.
“ James and Kevin..the Alpha couples kids?..but they were in the packhouse when it exploded” Joe frowns
“I don't know how it all went down, but they made it out alive. Kevin is living with us in Great Falls and Jesse..James..he chosed to go rogue, but he is good, I have known him for a few years actually” I start to tell them about how I met him, that I had no idea that he was a wolf, or that they even existed, I laugh at the memory thinking he was inhuman when we trained. I tell them about my first meeting with Kevin, about what he had done in the fight with the vampires and that he is stepping up in the ranks. I am so happy and I can't wait to tell them there are other survivors from their pack.
“ I wish I had known..I would have taken care of them. They were good boys, both of them. Kevin always with his bruises..The Alpha called him clumsy..but we all knew. James was always trying to protect him..he would have been a great Alpha.”
We all sit in silence for a while, just staring in to the fire. Ron, one of the young boys, sixteen maybe seventeen years old stood up and stretched.
“ I don't know about the rest of you, but I could go for a run..and perhaps a snack” he said with a mischievous smile on his face. Everybody stood up and wanted to join him, Luna got exited in my head. A run with her children, of course she wants to join.
Everybody went into their own bunks to undress and shift, so I go outside, behind the big stone again. I wait for them as they all come out. There were brown, red and yellow wolves in different shades. Their fur was quite matted but they seem to be in good condition. They all came up to carefully sniff me, their wolves very submissive.
I tilt my head back and howl, encouraging them to follow me, then I take off. I hear them answering me and soon I hear their paws drumming the ground behind me.
We run and play for what must be about two hours. Suddenly the wolf belonging to Joe stops and stands complete still with his head low, the others do the same. I try to follow their line of sight, a bit worried of what changed. I see a deer down by the river, preparing to drink. The group of wolves splits up, preparing to surround the animal, come at it from different sides. Its over very quickly. The deer didn't have time to react and they went for a clean kill, slicing its throat.

Back at the cave, everyone helped each other. The deer was skinned and cut up. Some meat was hung to dry and some was put in barrels with what I suspect is salt brine. Emma explained that the skin will be treated and sold, if it had horns they would have been sold too. They then use the money to buy what they need. I was very impressed. No one complained about their chores, on the contrary, everyone seemed to enjoy working together.
Another girl, I think her name is Susanne was bringing in different crops to the cave. She porued water in to a bowl to wash them before she cut them. There was potatoes, carrots, parsnip, onions and more. A three-legged iron stand was drawn out and placed over the fire, then a large iron pot was hung in chains. Soon the cave was filled with a wonderful fragrance.
“ Do you ever miss it?..The modern life I mean.” I asked when we were sitting around the fire, our bellies full of the best stew I’ve ever eaten.
“ Of course we do..but being a rogue is hard..being a rogue in civilization is dangerous.” Joe answered.
“ What if you didn't have to be..rogues. What if you joined a pack?”
“ I tried at the beginning, we visited a few packs, but no one wanted to receive us..I was raised with our history..your history, and I was always a believer, so I decided to take the kids and come her..were it all started. To start again, so I did. “ He gives me a genuine smile.