Six hours later, it was time for Erin to pack up her stuff and go home after a busy day of work. Who would’ve thought there was much work to do in an art gallery? Farida had been such a great supervisor; patiently taking her through the gallery inventory, showing her the basics of curating remarkable pieces of art, guiding her through intricacies for displaying the right pieces on the main floor, and which spots were best for different paintings depending on their sizes and visuals. It had been such a wholesome experience for Erin that she couldn’t wait to come back to work again tomorrow.
She couldn’t help but notice that she didn’t get another glimpse of Devon after their awkward meeting in the morning. As she backed out of the parking space in front of the gallery, she thought she saw someone stepping away from a window upstairs just as she looked up. She suspected the person might be Devon and she wondered why he had acted so strangely with her earlier. She wondered if he had never participated in the Full Moon Feasts and how come she had never noticed him before. There weren’t many werewolf packs in their clan and newcomers were always introduced on their first attendance, so if indeed he had attended before, she would have seen him and recognized him when they met today. And he’d called her by a strange name too – what was it? Edwina? Or was it Edna?
Erin shook her head as if to clear away her thoughts. The more she thought about her encounter with her new boss, the more the situation confused her. For the first time in her adult life, she was looking forward to the feast tonight because she was sure that was the best place for her to get answers to this new puzzle that she has stumbled on with Devon. Later that night, barely an hour before midnight, she ran beside her parents as they made their way to the forest near the Denali mountain where they would be congregating with their fellow werewolves.
When they arrived at the rendezvous, other clan members were already present and everyone was in their werewolf form. As usual, the Chief, Gary Silver, took his spot on a raised boulder in front of the gathering to address everyone. He was a majestic silver wolf with an air of authority that is befitting of his position.
“Family, friends, welcome to this quarter’s Full Moon Feast,” said Gary proudly. “You all know how much I love these meetings because it’s our only way of keeping in touch with our werewolf ancestry over time. I am glad that centuries of living among humans have not robbed us of the memory of who we truly are.”
There were murmurs of agreement across the gathering. Erin tried not to look bored, but she feared that this intro from Gary was the beginning of a long windy speech that might not end any time soon, and that was one of the reasons why she hated coming for this feast thing.
“Being that we are very few compared to our human neighbors, it is important that we stay close and never miss an opportunity to welcome a new member into our fold. With that said, I would like to introduce to us a new member of our clan; a werewolf who has achieved notable feats in his chosen career won accolades for his admirable talent and has only recently set up a business that is already creating employment for locals. Please welcome into our midst, Devon Grey.”
Erin felt the hairs on her spine rise when she heard the name. Devon was here? How come she didn’t notice him before?
As if to answer her unspoken question, a huge grey wolf stepped out from the gathering and made his way to the front to stand beside Gary. When he turned around and faced everyone, Erin recognized him as the wolf she had seen in the giant painting at the gallery. She didn’t know whether he had spotted her in the crowd already, but the moment he turned his face to look in her direction, their eyes met and she saw the recognition registered there.
“In case you are wondering why none of you have ever seen Devon before,” Gary continued speaking. “It is because he has been quite the nomad, traveling from place to place to practice his craft, but now, he is finally ready to establish some roots and make his home amongst us. It is my pleasure to also announce that Devon has found his mate and I am hoping that he will reveal the identity of the lucky she-wolf to us tonight.”
Erin stiffened where she stood when the last part of Gary’s speech sank into her brain. Devon had told her this morning that she was his mate but she had chucked that aside as some sort of confusion on his part. Now here he was, about to announce to the entire clan that she was his mate, when she doesn’t even know him. Didn’t she have a say on who she’s supposed to spend the rest of her life with? Was she supposed to just accept this stranger as her mate with no questions asked?
“Over to you, Devon,” Gary said excitedly. “Please, go ahead and tell us who your mate is. The suspense is killing me.”
There was a smattering of laughter in the gathering because everyone could relate to Gary’s sentiment. Announcing a mate on a night like this was one of the most auspicious things to happen in the werewolf clan.
While everyone eagerly awaited Devon’s announcement, Erin found herself digging her claws into the cold earth, dreading the words that were about to come out of the grey werewolf’s muzzle. With her heart pounding furiously in her chest, she stood and watched helplessly as Devon opened his mouth to speak.
Devon could tell that Erin was very nervous about his announcement and he couldn’t blame her for feeling that way, not after how he freaked her out this morning at the gallery and even called her by a name she obviously couldn’t know was hers. In fairness to him though, he had been caught off-guard by the sight of her. He’d thought that his trip to the past had been merely a dream and not a real depiction of his previous life, but now he knew better.Resisting the urge to look at Erin, he looked straight ahead and began his speech. “Thank you for the flattering welcome, Chief,” Devon began. “And thank you to every clan member here for accepting me into your midst. At least, I hope that I’m welcome.”“Of course, you are, son,” said Dame Black, the head of the Black pack. “We are one big happy family here, and you are now one of us.”“Can we skip to the good part already?” Asked Da
Work seemed like a blur to Erin the next day because she spent the entire day looking forward to the moment when Devon would present her with the so-called dream stone with its supposed time travel powers.Any normal person would have brushed off Devon’s wild tales about a powerful stone with supernatural powers, but being the curious person that she was, Erin couldn’t resist the opportunity to explore a new adventure, even an unbelievable one. Plus, there was the issue of Devon claiming to be her mate even though he was a complete stranger and they had never met before. Was that how it’s supposed to be? Shouldn’t her mate be someone she already knew? Weren’t they supposed to automatically fall in love or something?At that last thought, Erin cringed a little. She had always found the whole falling in love thing a bit creepy because she was an independent woman, and the thought of having someone in her life whom she couldn’t live wit
“May I come in?” She asked when she reached the doorway.Devon looked up sharply as if stunned to know that there was someone else in the building with him at this time. “Oh, hi, Erin,” he said a bit absently. “Please, come in.”As she walked into the wide office, he stood up to greet her. “Good to see you again, Erin,” he said with a grin. “I completely forgot about our meeting.”“It’s not exactly a meeting,” she said self-consciously. “Just me coming to get some instructions on how to use the oh-so-powerful dream stone.”Devon chuckled and propped a hip on the edge of his desk. “I was even more skeptical about it when I first heard of it a few years ago. My cousin, Eli, had been in possession of it before then, but he’d never been curious enough to find out if the stone was what legends claimed it to be or not. I, on the other hand, decided to humor mys
Morning came faster than Erin had expected. It seemed as if she’d only closed her eyes for two seconds last night and when she opened them, it was morning. Yes, she’d had a dreamless sleep and now she was awake, feeling refreshed and ready to go to work and gloat at Devon about how she’d known all along that his stupid dream stone was nothing but an ordinary pebble that he’d probably picked up at a riverbank somewhere and transformed it into something special with his fake story about werewolf legends. What a tall glass of horseshit. And to think that she’d nearly fallen for it. Ha!With an unusual burst of energy, Erin sat up in bed and threw back the covers, but the moment her feet hit the floor, she knew something was wrong. Her energy levels immediately dropped down to zero as soon as she looked at her feet and saw them encased in a pair of primitive leather booties instead of the soft woolen socks she’d worn to bed last night. The tan
The man blinked and then his look of surprise was replaced with annoyance. “What do you mean? Is this a time to jest?”“I’m not jesting!” Erin snapped, equally annoyed. “I’m legit confused and I don’t even know where I am, or what this place is, or what the heck is going on here.”“Why do you speak so strangely?” Asked the man, mystified. “Are you unwell?”Erin let out a sigh of exasperation. For all his good looks, this man had nothing to offer in the way of intelligence. But… what if it wasn’t his fault that he didn’t understand her? What if the dream stone had truly transported her back in time and now she was in her past life just as she had thought about before she fell asleep last night? Could that explain her sudden understanding of the Athabascan language?No way! She thought, rejecting the possibility. Time travel wasn’t possible – forget
Her mother came into the room shortly after Danshak’s departure. Erin still hadn’t recovered from the shocking turn of events in the last couple of minutes since she woke up. Either someone was playing a cruel joke on her, or she was developing some sort of mental problem. Or she was truly in a different dimension, even though that was most likely impossible.“How are you, my dear child?” Her mother asked. In this era, Bernice Brown had waist-length hair, dressed in leather and fur clothing with a woolen quilt thrown around her shoulders. She even looked younger here than she did in the future, that is, if this was really the past.“Here, drink this. It will make you feel better,” she said and offered Erin a bowl of broth that didn’t smell so good.“Um, thank you, but I’m fine,” said Erin, trying not to wrinkle her nose at the unattractive smell wafting out of the bowl.Her mother smiled. “
Erin thought for a moment before speaking again. “Do I love Danshak?”“Well, from your behavior towards him since your betrothal, it does not seem as if you do. You have spoken harshly about him many times, but I believe that with time, you might grow to love him. Danshak is a good man and a strong werewolf, you are lucky to have him as your mate.”“He doesn’t seem to be fond of me either.”“I know, and that can change when both of you get to know more about one another,” said her mother, optimistically.“But if we don’t like each other, why did we agree to be mated?”“Well, that decision was not up to either of you. Your father saw an opportunity to become a member of Vak’s family and he took it. He may not be next in line to become the supreme leader after Vak is dead, but he has secured our family a spot in the ruling clan. There is no higher position for a werew
Erin thought for a moment before speaking again. “Do I love Danshak?” “Well, from your behavior towards him since your betrothal, it does not seem as if you do. You have spoken harshly about him many times, but I believe that with time, you might grow to love him. Danshak is a good man and a strong werewolf, you are lucky to have him as your mate.” “He doesn’t seem to be fond of me either.” “I know, and that can change when both of you get to know more about one another,” said her mother, optimistically. “But if we don’t like each other, why did we agree to be mated?” “Well, that decision was not up to either of you. Your father saw an opportunity to become a member of Vak’s family and he took it. He may not be next in line to become the supreme leader after Vak is dead, but he has secured our family a spot in the ruling clan. There is no higher position for a werewolf to attain than that.” This piece of information seemed even extra s