"Of course that was the queen, because pissing off the queen on my first day would be how my life works." Emma vented to Kate hours later, around the campfire. "That's the equivalent, right? An Alpha's wife, out here in werewolf world, that's like queen of the jungle, right?"

"I wonder when Galen will come back out here?" Kate mumbled, oblivious to Emma's rantings.

"How was I to know she was the queen? Isn't their Alpha dying from old age? Figures his wife would be some forty-year-old trophy wolf or something. Wait, do werewolves take trophy mates? Well, obviously they do. Or wolves don't age, maybe. Because she did not look old."

"She is human, you know."

"What?"

"The queen. I mean Ziva, the Alpha's mate. She's human. I heard it mentioned somewhere, after your little confrontation. I didn't know wolves did that, take humans as mates, I mean."

Emma shot Kate a look.

"What?"

"My own parents? One wolf, one human?"

"Oh right. But that is different. Can a human carry a wolf's baby? Or what did they call it? A pup? A cub? How does that even work?"

"My wolf mother carried a human's baby."

"Shit. Right. I just can't wrap my head around this stuff."

"I know. I feel like when we wake up tomorrow, this whole thing will have been a dream, and we'll be about to go shopping on my birthday, which will not be the next county over, I can tell you that much, for sure."

"That means that I really could become Galen's mate. What do you think sex with a werewolf is like?"

Emma looked at Kate. 'Are you kidding me?' was written all over her face.

"I bet it is fantastic." Kate said it dreamily, her mind obviously far away, and in a gutter.

"We are only supposed to be here for a year, remember? You can't just become mated, whatever that even means, get knocked up with his pup, and then leave."

"Why not, your mom did. What do you think Elam meant, anyway? When he said your mom was the wolf?"

That made Emma think.

"I don't know. Why do you think she left? Dad seems comfortable here, I doubt he made her chose his ways over theirs."

"Do you think pups are born in nine months, like humans? Or about nine weeks, like dogs?"

"What? I don't know. Kate, are you seriously thinking about seducing Galen?"

"I can't help it. When I watched him change from wolf into a man, I don't know, something happened. And then, when he shook my hand, there was this link. Something in me responded."

"Yeah, I bet."

Kate laughed, blushing. "Well yeah, that too. But I mean, I heard something. A voice, in my head...It said, 'Mine.'"

"You have a wolf in your lineage?" The voice was surprised. "Funny, you don't have the scent."

The girls looked up at Elam. Damn, he was quiet. They never even heard his approach.

"No, I don't think so. Why?" Kate asked.

Elam pointed to a spot between them with his chin, seeming to ask if he could sit with them.

Emma nodded, scooting over to make room on the log she was sitting on. Kate was sitting cross-legged, in the dirt, facing Emma.

Elam lowered himself to the log beside Emma, his arm brushing hers as he settled in.

The accidental touch set something off in Emma. Warmth spread from where his arm had brushed hers, and raced through her entire body. It reminded her of the very few times she'd gotten into her dad's whiskey. It had burned going down, landing in her gut with a heavy warmth that slowly, luxuriously spread out from her center, to fill her limbs with smooth, heavy, liquid warmth.

She shot a shocked look toward Elam beside her, and was surprised to find him watching her with an odd, contemplative look in his eyes. She felt a jolt of an entirely different kind of heat shoot through her as their eyes met.

A sudden, hollow ache seemed to settle between her thighs. She felt her breath catch and sudden flashes of scenes raced through her brain.

She saw herself and Elam locked in a fierce embrace. Fighting? Oh no, definitely not fighting. The vision changed, she had Elam pinned down beneath her, her own heated eyes a sudden surprise. She'd never seen passion like that before, certainly not in her own face.

The scene flashed again, quickly, like someone was flipping pages of a book in her face. Elam, pressing her against the wall of what seemed to be a cave, her legs wrapped tightly around him, her hands buried deep in his hair, her head thrown to the side in ecstasy as he nibbled at her neck.

Then she was naked, on all fours in the same cave. On furs? Elam was covering her body with his, their bodies moving together in heated passion, and Elam getting so carried away that his teeth flashed in the darkness, open wide and aiming for the tender skin between her shoulder and her ear.

What the hell was that?

The images stopped, and she found her gaze still locked on Elam. She was confused, and almost angry. But no, the anger was fading, it was an emotion from the scenes that had flashed in her brain, not from real life right now. Why had she been angry? Wait, maybe angry wasn't the right word. More like, engulfed in animal need. She'd wanted, no needed, to fill herself up with Elam's cock. To be full, she had to be full to make the need go away...it was blind, thoughtless, animal longing she had felt, not anger.

Was that what sex was like? She was still a virgin, but she couldn't imagine ever feeling quite as driven as what she had felt in those flashes.

She'd made out with boyfriends before, they tried to push past her no, but she had always felt in control. Nothing in any of her make-out sessions had ever come close to fueling her in the ways she had just seen. Boys were just things to pass the time with, none of them had ever made her feel anything close to what she had just imagined.

Wow, she wondered where her imagination had come up with that. Wait, Elam was still looking at her funny.

Had she made a sound during her odd daydream? He was looking at her like...

Had he seen it, too?

No, surely not. Surely he wasn't able to see what she had just seen, feel the things she had just felt.

His eyes were heated as he stared at her, the flames from the bon fire flashing in their depths. He seemed far away, but then his focus sharpened and Emma could hear Kate trying to get their attention.

Emma pulled her gaze from Elam, and concentrated on what Kate was saying.

"You asked if I had wolf in my lineage. Why?"

Elam seemed to shake off whatever had overtaken him and cleared his throat before saying, "You said you felt a connection. Heard the word 'mine' when you touched my brother. That usually only happens with wolves. To operate as a pack, to hunt and run and live together, wolves have a soul connection to other wolves. It's stronger in one's own pack, as familiarity and commitment to the others strengthens that bond. It is strongest in mated pairs, the ability to communicate in feelings and in pictures and in words only heard inside your head. It is a wolf thing."

"But there is no wolf in my family. My parents are missionaries, my dad is a pastor, the family line is known for generations. No mention of any wolves."

"It could well be from hundreds of years ago. Someone, somewhere in your line has wolf blood. It is uncommon, but not unheard of. We were more plentiful a long time ago. It isn't as common as having Indian blood in these parts, but it is in you somewhere. I don't smell the wolf in you, though, so it must be very dilute. You may be the reason Galen has not chosen a mate then. We've been expecting him to, but his wolf has not yet claimed one. I assume now that it was because you hadn't shown up yet."

"How come he isn't out here with everyone?" Kate asked, with a new determination in her eyes.

"I saw him out here a while ago, but then Ziva cornered him."

"What is her problem with me? I didn't even know who she was. And what is her issue with my dad?" Emma asked Elam.

"She was here when your mother left. Not everyone is happy you are here. There is some bad blood because she left the pack."

"Why did she leave? Is that never done?"

"She was an exception."

"Because my dad was human?"

"I doubt it. No one knows why she left. Some will never forgive. They think more black and white- your mother left, therefore you should not be welcomed. Others would be quicker to forgive, if anyone knew why. What happened to make her leave? Why abandon us without even an explanation?"

"And you?"

"I'm of the 'the more the merrier' mindset. Our numbers, although seemingly large when we are all together, like tonight, are dwindling. Anyone with wolf blood should be allowed here if they fit in well with our pack and want to be here."

"So, your mother is not of the forgive and forget bunch?"

"I call her my mother, and I think of her that way, but they are not my blood. My parents were killed when I was just a new pup, and Thomas and Ziva raised me as theirs. Thomas found me wandering alone, in the woods. Thomas was happier about taking me in than Ziva. Thomas's wolf told him it was to be this way. Ziva is human, and is quite comfortable in the role of Alpha's mate, and all that comes with that position in the pack. I don't think she appreciated the competition of having a second male cub around her Galen. Thomas always treated me as his own. Ziva, not so much."

"What did you mean when you said mom was the wolf?"

"She was our Alpha."

"I assumed only males could be Alphas." Emma kept on, trying to understand.

"Female Alphas are a bit more rare, but definitely not unheard of. Every pack has its own rules, kind of like your countries. In our pack, the Alpha position is usually passed through the blood-line. All of the Alpha's cubs are trained for the position. Some show stronger tendencies as they grow up, the next Alpha can usually be foretold just by paying attention as the pups grow.

But, it isn't automatically the first-born, or even the first-born male. So, we hold a challenge. All of the Alpha's pups compete. Usually how it is foretold plays out. But not always. Like in your mother's case. Her father was Alpha. She took part in the challenge, although it was assumed that her brother would win. But Reine won."

"My mother was not only a wolf, but she was the Alpha? Was she not supposed to mate with my dad? Because he is human? Wait, he is human, right? So many surprises today."

"Your dad is definitely human. There may be some far off, dilute wolf blood, like Kate's, since he fits in with us so well, but he is human. He can not shift. And an Alpha can take whomever they want as a mate, human or not. The wolf's blood decides this, it recognizes their other half."

"So why would mom, who basically held the title of queen of the jungle, just up and leave?"

"No one knows. Your father may know, but if so, he has never shared."

"I don't know. That was the one thing she kept from me, always. I thought I had time, to learn why, but she died so young." Henry said.

"Dad, I didn't notice you were here."

"You were involved in learning about your mother. That is exactly what I'd hoped. It will make your stay here easier if you have a purpose. I want you to know her. Of her, I mean. And I hope it changes you some, knocks you off of this bored, troublemaking path you have started down. This is an honorable pack, Emma. Maybe this missing half of you will aim the wandering half down the correct path. A father can hope, anyway."

Emma just nodded, her mind full of new revelations.

"Come girls, I'll show you to your cabin. I'll be gone before you wake, but you will be well taken care of here. I may be back on occasion, to visit and to check in. Or not. I may give you this year without my presence at all, we shall see. But I will be back just under a year from today, on your birthday, to get you both. The pack can contact me, if needed."

The girls excused themselves from Elam with a smile, and followed Henry to the small guest cabin they were to share for the next year.

The cabin was well stocked for visitors, the shared kitchen and living room in the middle of the small cabin, with a bedroom and a bathroom on each side, one for each of them.

Henry showed the girls how to light the kerosene lanterns, told them of the fire danger, if they were misused, and showed them how to use the piped-in water in the sinks, showers and toilets, then hugged them, said goodbye, and left them for his own room in a different cabin.

The girls, tired from their hike and all of the overwhelming new information, each picked a bedroom and retired to it, promising to talk about all of this tomorrow.