The pack compound was well hidden high in the mountains, nestled in a small hidden valley and completely unknown to the human population of summer hikers or winter skiers over the years. The entire territory was guarded by high concrete and rock walls, with signs claiming Private Property, Beware of Dogs, You Will Be Eaten. It's a private joke among were-packs, but the random VERY LOST human hiker would not know the dogs were really werewolves. They had never actually had a human come close to finding the place, but with logging and human expansion, it could happen at any time. The most of the pack members rarely left their territory unless they needed supplies, in hopes to keep the centuries old secret of their existence for as long as possible. Unfortunately, this was one of those times they needed supplies.
Rhys McKade and the lowest ranking member of the pack males, William, made their way swiftly down mountain road, completely void of traffic. The old Jeep crept into town under the cover of darkness, no moon in sight.
"Will, quit fidgeting." Rhys said quietly, glancing at the younger man who was scratching at his legs.
"I'm not used to these pants." Will whined. "They itch!" He was wearing faded blue jeans, but the pack members rarely wore modern clothes, as they were much harder to come by so far away from civilization. They wore buckskin and fir if they bothered to wear clothes at all.
"Ignore it and focus. If you do something to get us caught, you won't be coming back with me to the compound." Rhys threatened. "I brought you to keep guard."
"I know. I'm sorry, Rhys." Will sighed. "I don't smell any humans anywhere."
"Me either." Rhys stifled a yawn and pulled into the small back lot of the grocery store. Breaking in was not a problem. The old man who owned the place never bothered with a security system, and simply locked the doors. Rhys learned to pick a lock by the time he was five. The store was dark, but the two men had no trouble seeing as they swiftly packed up the Jeep with as many canned goods and other supplies as they could transport. They were in and out within a half an hour, with enough supplemental food supplies to last the pack through the winter months when they could not grow their gardens or hunt as often. They would return in spring, when the snow melted enough to make the roads passable again.
Rhys knew that the supplies he brought home was worth the risks they took coming to town. Still, worry ate at his gut when he spotted one of the town cops on night shift. "Please, please don't follow us...don't look at the plates." He muttered. He drove carefully past the parked police car, and made sure to come to a complete stop at the light. When they turned the corner and sped up a little, the cop was not behind them. Being pulled over by a cop was one of the biggest dangers the pack faced when coming into civilization. Will exhaled a big sigh of relief. "That was close." He breathed.
Rhys breathed a sigh of relief only when the compound was back within sight. One of the guards, Alex, waved them through the moat like river bridge and into the compound. There was five miles of a dirt driveway lined with huge granite rocks and cedars before they reached the main compound. Each time they went out, he worried. Would they get caught? Would a rival pack attack? Would his brother Declan be able to hold the pack together if he was captured?
They lived their lives under the radar. No member of the pack had human legal papers...no birth certificate, no social security number, no drivers license, no nothing. They did not exist. They could not afford to be seen by humans any more than necessary. It was forbidden by the council in order to keep the secret of lycanthropes just a human myth, to prevent the hunts from starting again, just like the ancient times. As far as Rhys knew, no human knew werewolves REALLY existed. Rhys preferred it that way.
The compound was well hidden by trees, and if some human happened to fly overhead, it looked like nothing more than an abandoned campground. In truth there were twelve members of a were-wolf pack living there. Rhys's father, a mining engineer named Callum had built the large, multilevel log cabin to blend in with the entrance to a long ago forgotten gold mine.
The house itself was roughly T shaped if the T were sideways. The open part of the cabin was the very long dining hall/meeting area. Directly above that, on the second story is the library, computer room and the game room. On the first floor, the communal hearth fireplace connected the dining hall and the kitchen. The kitchen was built with a dome shaped roof directly flush into the rock wall, so that the cooking area was entirely enclosed in rock. The pack roamed deep into the belly of the mountain, using the ferocrete and steel reinforced mineshafts as hidden tunnels. Completely protected by steel and titanium vault doors leading out of the kitchen, deeper into the mountain, is the top of the T: several rooms used as a school room and nursery, a scientific lab, a small medical lab, a secondary kitchen and living area, private sleeping quarters and storage, and farther back into the cave system is the water system, the brewery, the hot springs, freshwater pools and a small fish hatchery pool. There were several cave rooms left empty until needed. The farthest back was the main mineshaft that still housed a fair amount of the gold that funded the entire building of the compound.
Callum McKade built his house to be a self-contained fortress, now modernized and updated with solar panels, hydropower and electricity. The compound was established by past generations of the McKade packs architects, miners, electricians, and civil and mechanical engineers, and the tradition held through Callum's son's and other members of the pack. Each person took up a trade, mostly learned through the use of the Internet and experience. The pack members never went to school, and are self-taught. They all learn quickly, as were-intelligence rivaled and occasionally passed human genius levels. They have electricity, and modern conveniences, like computer, television and phones, but do not communicate with humans, just with other groups of werewolves. Rivalry didn't happen often in the past, but has become more common in recent years, as the female were-wolf population has dwindled down to almost nothing. The local packs had begun to fight each other for the mature females, so lately phones were barely used.
"Welcome home Rhys!" Declan's deep baritone voice boomed from the front door of the house.
William was already out, and beginning to unload the Jeep. The second group had already unloaded their non food supplies: batteries, lanterns, candles, boxes of old newspapers, tools, fishing supplies, fuel, plastic sheeting, hygiene items, first aid items, blankets, clothes, shoes and various other non essentials that they liked, books, music, DVD's. William began adding to the pile. With the help of the others, they had several dozen cans of fruit, vegetables, beans, chili and soup. Sacks and of potatoes, carrots, peppers, mushrooms and onions were stacked neatly. Oatmeal, pancake mix, Ramen, flour, sugar, cornmeal, yeast, canned cream soups, canned tomatoes, peanut butter and jelly, cereal, canned and dried milk boxes were stacked neatly. Coffee, tea, cocoa, canned juices, Crisco, various pasta, rice, marinara sauce, various spices, condiments, and bricks of cheese were added to the pile. Dozens of cases of bottled water was last to come out of the Jeep. Rhys noticed someone from the second group pilfered some cake mixes and other baking supplies, probably in hopes of some freshly baked chocolate chip cookies.
The pack had several months worth of frozen meat and harvested and canned fruits and veggies stored. During the spring and summer months, the bulk of their days are spent hunting and gathering, storing food. They relaxed more in the winter months, researching their chosen professions, perfecting their various crafts, repairing tools, making clothes, playing games, reading, and generally keeping themselves from going stir crazy indoors. The summer months, they were hardly ever indoors, preferring to spend the days running in the hills and hunting.
The bulk of the pack diet consisted of meat and simple carbohydrates to keep their fat stores in the winter. They would not starve this winter, if they were careful to ration out their food. Rhys wasn't sure what they would do without the help of the store manager for the last few years. Their diet had gotten a lot better with the old man's help. His pack had dwindled in size, from nearly forty members, down to thirteen in the last five years due to starvation, the sickness and rivalry among other clans. The number would be even smaller if they continued to starve each winter like many packs did. If the council knew the McKade clan periodically went into human populated areas to steal supplies, there would be hell to pay. Rhys was willing to take the risk if it meant his family survived.
"Brother...any news from the council?" Rhys clapped his twin on the back.
"Yes" Declan said. "I don't like it any more than you will." Each Pack was represented by one of it's oldest members, and they met once a month at the new moon in a hidden location to discuss various topics related to were-wolf business...trading, mating ceremonies, birthing announcements, conflicts, scouting reports, pack merges, any human interaction reports, and lately, the virus and what to do about the near werewolf extinction.
