Accepted Oddities

This is my first story. Thank you so much for reading it. Please tell me if you see any errors. Thanks guys!

We thank Luna for the gifts she has bestowed upon us. I thank the Alpha Radulf for his kindness, as well as his father, and his father...

The sunlight streamed through a glass window to my left, catching the metallic glint of the alter in front of me. The beauty of the chapel was making it hard for me to concentrate on my thanks to Luna, and my knees were starting to ache from kneeling on them for so long. But it was tradition when moving pack to offer thanks to the ancestors of your current Alpha before moving to the next one, and I am a sucker for tradition.

High Luna, please guide me and allow me to help my next pack as I helped my last. Amen, and may all blessings go to the Alpha Radulf as payment for his kindness.

BEEP. BEEP. BEEP.

My prayer was marked past ten minutes by the timer I had set on my phone, telling me I was ten minutes closer to leaving my home and birthplace in the Catskills. I stood up and brushed the chapel's dust off of my hem. I was wearing the customary white leaving day dress, another tradition. When a woman leaves her pack for another she wears a white dress, much like a bride. It's an archaic ritual left over from the earliest days of civilized pack, meant to symbolize a wolf bride's purity as she goes to meet her mate. I was not a bride or even a wolf, but the pack appreciated the sentiment as they still saw me as one of their daughters.

Once the prayers were finished I made my way through the compound to the alpha's suite and knocked on the door.

"You may enter."

I opened the large door to find Alpha Radulf sitting on a couch in the center of the main room with his lead beta, Randall.

"Ah." The alpha said, looking up from his papers "Erica. You have finished your rituals?"

"Yes sir. Can we do the hand over ceremony now?"

"Very well." Alpha Radulf stood up and walked over to me. "I must confess I'm sad to see you go. Our mainframe will never be the same again." I laughed, and he cracked a grin. "You know I left complete instructions with Randall. And you can call me anytime you need help."

Randall moved to stand with us, ready to please his alpha. "Don't worry sir. I've got it covered."

"This old goat?" Alpha Radulf exclaimed. "We'll be swimming in viruses by the end of the month!"

We all cracked up as the Alpha pulled me into an uncharacteristic hug. "Erica, be safe. And call us if you need anything."

"Yeah." Randall added. "Give those Ulfric boys hell for us, will you?"

All this attention from two of my father figures made my stomach warm and my heart squeeze painfully. "Thanks guys." I murmured from underneath the Alpha's arm.

It was time to start the hand over ceremony, which would entail a simple blessing from the alpha in place of my father. He would then hand me over to a beta emissary from Alpha Adam Ulfric's pack, who would drive me to my new life in the Ulfric den. I didn't want to leave my pack, but I had no choice.

Before I was born my father stumbled upon the existence of werewolves and learned the sad but true reality of pack laws regarding outsiders. After the initial shock wore off he decided to embrace the pack rather than die. A werewolf has to be born or changed by a true mate, but my dad never found his. He spent his days in human servitude to the pack as a computer programmer, a talent he passed down to me. Being born into the pack as a human meant that I would able to leave if I chose to after a three-year period of servitude to three different packs starting at the age of twenty-five.

Alpha Radulf said the traditional words and kissed me on the forehead, meaning that my first year of service was over. Then he and Randall escorted me downstairs where my friends were waiting to say goodbye.

My best friend Lupa attacked me as soon as I walked out the front door. Lupa and I had grown up together; I didn't even want to think about leaving her.

"Erica! What am I going to do without you?" Lupa said as she wrapped me into a big hug. "You are going to start a happy life with Matt." I replied, smiling at Matt, her new mate. "And you're going to call me every night." She nodded and I hugged her tighter.

I hugged several other close friends from the pack and then I took the hand of the Ulfric beta, who introduced himself as Albert, and let him escort me into the car that would take me to my new life.

>*<

"Where are the pack grounds located?" I broke the silence after about five minutes of driving through highway.

"On Great Wass Island, off of the coast of Maine." He replied with a smile. He was tall, and blond with an easy grin. I had heard that the Ulfric pack was Germanic, but that's really all I knew about them. Due to more archaic rituals, women in the hand over ceremony rarely know where they are going until the journey starts.

"What's it like?" I asked. The more I knew, the better.

"Well," he started, pausing to think. "It's very beautiful. The island is about five miles long, and during the summer the whole pack runs every night and has bonfire parties."

It was good to hear that the pack was close. "And the alpha?" I couldn't resist asking.

"He's a good and honorable man. He has two sons, but their mother died eight years ago in childbirth." I could see his hands visibly tighten around the steering wheel.

"I'm sorry." I said, "That must have been hard." He looked at me, "It wasn't great. But we have healed and grown stronger from it."

We passed the rest of the eight-hour ride in a comfortable silence, except when he suggested I sleep through the long journey, and when he woke me up as we were crossing the bridge to the island preserve.

We drove down a long road past large pine trees going through their first autumn stages. The road continued for a while until we reached a large and impressive compound with several people waiting outside. Albert and I climbed outside the car as a warm looking woman in her mid-forties approached. She had red hair and light skin, more Germanic features to prove true my pittance of knowledge.

"Welcome Erica," she smiled and took my hand. "I am Maggie, the pack's room coordinator. I will take you to see your new room and then you can meet Alpha Ulfric." It was all a lot to take in. "Thank you." I said, after an awkward pause. "It's nice to meet you."

"Is she here?" A child's voice asked. "The new girl is here now?" "Yeah doofus," another young voice replied. "That's the car isn't it?"

Two little boys rushed to the front of the crowd and collapsed in a heap of knees and elbows, gaining worn chuckles from the adults around them. They both had brown hair and lean wolf cub bodies. In fact, these boys were almost identical except for their eyes; one had blue eyes and one had brown.

"Boys!" Maggie scolded, "don't overwhelm her! And where are your manners?" They both looked at the ground in response to the reprimand, I couldn't blame them, it seemed as if Maggie could be pretty terrifying.

"Hey." I smiled at the boys, "my name is Erica Adams. What's yours?" they both looked at Maggie. Once she nodded they stood up and came closer.

"Hi I'm Carter!" The blue-eyed boy said. His brother hit him upside the head. "That's not how you do it Car," he took my hand and kissed it. "Enchante, mademoiselle. Je'mapelle Lucas Ulfric." I curtsied, laughing inwardly at the silliness of the gesture. "Il est très agréable de vous rencontrer. Vous êtes les fils de l'alpha?"

"Oh man, she actually speaks French." Carter said. "Give up now Luke." Maggie put her hand on my arm. "Erica, we should get you to your room so you can unpack and meet Alpha Ulfric."

"Of course." I said, turning back to the boys. "Could you guys help me get to my room?" They nodded yes, and Maggie led us up the steps and through the front door of the main building. The first room in the building was very grand, with stairs on either side leading to different wings of the large house. Muted green colors on the walls accented the carved wood of the banisters and window frames, creating a rustic effect. From my vantage point I could see two stories separated by a balcony running around three sides of the room. There were multiple doors on the second story, and hallways on either side hinting at more space in the house. But on the first floor there were only three very ornate doors, one for each of the three walls I was facing. It was a very beautiful room, and I hoped that the rest of the house was as great. My old Alpha's den was decorated in blue, and although I loved the color this change was new and welcome.

Albert, the boys, and I became a sort of odd caravan trooping through the maze of the second story as Maggie guided us through, chattering all the way about the history of the den and what hall led where. From what I could gather, the second story was used mainly for unmated housing, as was the third. The fourth was devoted for family units and the fifth was offices, not very different from my old den. The first floor's fancy doors led to the Alpha's office and personal suite, dining room, and a small lunar chapel. In the basement there was a kitchen and an infirmary. Several other buildings on the compound had various uses and purposes. The Ulfric pack was gigantic, at least three times as large as my old one. I guess they need the space.

Finally we got to a door at the end of a long hallway, and Maggie said it was mine. "We'll give you some time to unpack and get comfortable." She said as Albert carried my bags into the room. "In half an hour I'll come to get you so you can meet Alpha Ulfric. Come now boys lets give her some space." They twins jumped on Albert as he was walking away. Maggie followed, clucking the whole way. I could only laugh at their antics as I walked into my new room and closed the door, looking around at the square that would house my new, alien life in service to a new pack.

My new pack.