The guest house Dining Hall fills within five minutes of announcing our arrival and I am happy the guest house has air conditioning or else the room would have become stuffy with thirty-three wolves inside. Carolyn had only gathered the Rogues the Council brought as the Willow Bark wolves already had accommodations ready and waiting for them for after their initiation which will be taking place soon and Jett will be joining the Crescent Pheonix with the Willow Bark wolves and becoming the Pack’s Theta, the Third in command who will be working under Uncle Gale and me.
I take a deep breath, trying to see if the familiar scent that has been bothering me since stepping into the guest house and smirk. It seems this wolf really is part of the group scent by the Council as their scent is stronger here. I know that they are in the room with us now but I cannot find them with so many scents from the other wolves mixing together that their scent blends in. It seems this mysterious wolf’s location is concealed, for now. If Brynlee was here, she would have pinpointed this wolf with accuracy and pointed him out to all of us within seconds. I need to focus and prove to everyone that I can handle the role as Uncle Gale’s Beta.
“Welcome, everyone.” Uncle Gale begins as soon as the wolves settle down and Carolyn has confirmed that everyone has arrived.
“You have all been here for about four days now, settling into the guest house and meeting with many of our Warriors, Hunters, and Omegas to see where you would best fit into Crescent Phoenix.” He continues, a friendly smile on his face.
“Today, we would like to discuss with you all about the upcoming initiation ceremony for the wolves that came before you, what to expect when it’s your turn as well as the plans for where you will all live once you are full members of the pack.” Uncle Gale finishes his introduction of why we are here, his eyes scanning the crowd of wolves who watch him with hope and excitement. I watch as he takes a deep breath, his eyes widening slightly in surprise before he resumes his smiling façade. Something must have caught his attention.
[Rune, is the scent you smelled earlier something spicy, like cloves and peppers?] The link between Uncle Gale and me opens and his question causes me to think for a moment. Taking a deep breath and focusing on this familiar scent, I note that I do smell spice to it, cloves like my Uncle noticed with a hint of pepperiness.
[Yes. This is the scent.] I admit, shocked to know he smells it too.
[I know this scent. I just can’t place where I smelt it before.] My Uncle admits, his voice filled with confusion and anxiety. Frowning, I scan the crowd looking for anyone familiar but everyone seems unassuming and plain. There is no way to tell just who this scent belongs to without walking around the room and sizing each and every wolf.
[I will walk around the room while you speak to these wolves. Explain to them that I am the Beta in training and just trying to size each wolf up and decide what role best suits them while I try to find the owner of this scent.] I suggest, watching my Uncle nod slightly. Through our exchange, Jett has been eyeing my Uncle and me with a look of worry. As he was not here for the last initiation ceremony, Jett is still considered a Rogue. He has yet to be able to link with us and does not know about our plan. Looking at Jett, I give him a reassuring smile before I begin walking around the Dining Hall.
“As I explain what to expect, my nephew, Rune Rider, will be walking around the room as he is training to become my Beta. I tasked him with sizing you all up so we can have a vague idea of what role you will take when joining Crescent Phoenix. Of course, your input will be considered, but this is just a preliminary list.” Gale says after I have taken a few steps to the left of the room. The Rogues watch me wearily as I breathe slowly, taking in the many scents of pine, lily, chocolate, fern, and citrus. They start to overwhelm me and I pause my steps to regain my focus before I continue walking around the room. I can tell that many of the nature-scented wolves would be great for Warrior or Hunter positions. The sweeter scents would be best for working within the Pack businesses or within the human towns.
But that is not what I am looking for.
The familiar spicy scent of this wolf has evaded me, blending in with the other scents, yet I can feel the eyes of this wolf on me from within the crowd.
“We have a group of sixteen wolves that will be initiated into the Pack in three days. These wolves came from a Pack that was destroyed by our enemy – Pine Moon.” Jett is the one to step forward and speak this time, a smile on his face.
“I am one of these wolves who will be initiated into the Pack as well although I have been considered a member of Crescent Pheonix for a while now, I just had business I had to take care of before officially joining.” He continues, Gale giving him an approving nod. All eyes turn to Jett and the feeling of being watched is gone. Taking a deep breath, I focus hard on the cloves and pepper scent, finding it easier to scent this wolf now that all the focus is off me.
“Aren’t you and Rune from Pine Moon?” A she-wolf asks, raising her hand as her voice trembles with slight fear.
“They are, Christa.” Uncle Gale answers calmly.
“But they escaped the Pack as Valor and Tanya were becoming more and more tyrannical.” He continues. The group sighs with relief, their weariness of me dissipating. The eyes watching me earlier return and this time I can pinpoint who this wolf is.
Sitting beside the auburn-haired Carolyn is a male wolf. His hair is as black as night, his eyes a dark shade of brown that they seem like melted chocolate. I send a link to my Uncle that I found the owner of this familiar scent as he continues to talk about how everyone here will witness the initiation ceremony for the Willow Bark wolves to understand what is expected when they finally join the Pack. We will be asking them if they wish to live in the dormitories either in single rooms or in pairs as many here were part of the same Pack before becoming Rogues or bonded together through their years of being Packless.
Finally, Jett stepped in stating that we would like to know their preferred rolls in the Pack so that we may pair them with a Warrior, a Hunter or an Omega to train under and learn how each roll is performed by the end of the day and to come to the Pack House to speak to either me or Brynlee within these three days before the next initiation. The wolves soon file out, Carolyn leading the black-haired wolf away as I rejoin Jett and Uncle Gale.
“You found the owner of the scent?” Jett asks before I can say anything.
“I… I did.” I answer, looking to my Uncle who raises his hands in surrender.
“I didn’t tell him. Jett figured it out.” He says quickly, making me laugh.
“I wasn’t saying you told him. I was going to ask if you know him.” I laugh out, shaking my head at my Uncle.
“Oh…well, no. I have no idea who he is but I swear I have seen him before.” Uncle Gale answers, crossing his raised arms over his chest as he looks out the window behind me. I then begin to describe the wolf to Jett, watching his eyes light up as he turns to where Carolyn and this man sat during the meeting.
“If I am not mistaken, that was Carolyn’s friend Devlyn.” Jett answers with a frown.
“He seems harmless but I do agree that there is something wrong about this situation.” He adds, turning to look at Gale.
“Think we can gather a few of our spies to watch him?” Jett asks with a look of worry.
“Spies?” I blurt out in shock.
“We have spies?” Gale and Jett look at one another before sighing. It seems this is something I was not supposed to know.
“Brynlee and Asteria came up with the idea of training a select few wolves who can blend in with a crowd the way this Devlyn can blend in. We can’t tell you who they are but know that we never had any tailing you.” Gale explains, giving me a sad but reassuring smile.
“As much as Brynlee hated you, she wouldn’t agree with us to spy on you.” He adds. For a moment I feel hurt that my Aunt and Uncle would even think about placing spies on me to watch my every move. Then I feel a sense of happiness to know that Brynlee never thought to do that. That she never agreed to it. But there is still one thing on my mind.
“How do you know about them?” I ask Jett, getting a sheepish smile from him as he scratched the back of his neck.
“I helped Asteria and Gale train them while you went off to save Brynlee.” He admits, making me scoff. Of course Jett would know how to train spies. He kept his niece and the remainder of his birth Pack hidden for years.
“Well, Let's put a few on Devlyn and see what he does. Something tells me our peaceful life is about to change with him around.” I concur, putting the topic of hidden spies being trained in Crescent Phoenix. One day I will learn more about the trained spies in this Pack when Brynlee, my Aunt, and my Uncle agree it is time to tell me more, so I see no reason to worry about them now.
We conclude that there is nothing more we can do until Devlyn makes his move and decide to continue working the day away and continuing my training as my Uncle’s Beta. After waving to the wolves lingering inside the guest house, we leave and make our way towards the direction where the greenhouses and fields are. With each step we took, I could feel Devlyn’s gaze watching us from the guest house. I turned back once to see if I could spot him hidden behind a window but this wolf seemed too good at concealing himself. The unease inside me grows and I decide that once I am down my training for the day, I will talk to Brynlee about my concern and make sure that she knows not to be alone with Devlyn.