The Teacher's Mate

Part 21

Audrey woke up just before the sun and made herself some coffee. She had brought a small bottle of honey from home and after putting a jenerous dollop in her cup she walked out onto the small balcony. She wasn't a morning person naturally but if she was awake she may as well enjoy it. Color was starting to paint the sky, the deep, vivid colors that come out right before the sun shows its face. She breathed in the chilly air, letting it circulate through her system and thoroughly wake her. Even though she was only in a pair of sleep shorts and a t-shirt, the cold didn't bother her. It had snowed again sometime the night before and she could see what looked like thousands of wolf tracks.

As the cold finally began to seep in her and she was mentally preparing herself to go back inside and start her day, she heard it. The Alpha was howling. It was a joyful howl, one filled with the happiness and feelings of freedom and pride that can only come while leading the pack on a run. It filled her stomach with dread. More wolf voices joined in and the air rang with the yips and howls of the pack as the sun finally made its appearance on the horizon and they came bursting out of the trees to race each other to the house. A few of the younger wolves dove into the snow, rolling in it and coming back up in human form only to start running again. The nudity didn't seem to bother anyone. Audrey felt uneasy at the sight. This was exactly what separated her from the pack. Suppressed memories of being taunted when she was very little threatened to overwhelm her but she shoved them away. Now was not then.

Suddenly Audrey noticed something strange. A human figure came running out of the woods in the middle of the pack. Her long silver hair streamed behind her as her feet flew across the snow. The Alpha, now that the pack had been led home, turned and ran towards her, his huge wolf circling her playfully. He would dart in and lick the woman and she would laugh as he jumped out of the way of her relatiating hand. It was Luna Evelyn! Audrey couldn't believe her eyes. A human? Going on a pack run? How did she keep up? Even if she was half wolf wouldn't she slow the pack down?

A handful of human figures came bounding out into the snow like children. There were three women and two men, running to go play with their mates.

Alpha Richard suddenly shifted to his human form and scooped Luna Evelyn off her feet while she squealed with delight and began making his way into the pack house. The rest of the pack began to slowly follow suite after the pair. They must be going to get breakfast, Audrey thought as she finished her coffee and went inside to get ready for the day.

James was still fast asleep and Audrey decided to leave him that way. He needed his sleep, he'd been working on a secret project for Alpha Richard that he hadn't discussed with her yet. It was strange he hadn't told her what it was or asked for her help.

She grabbed her black long-sleeved t-shirt and a pair of jeans and went to change in the bathroom. She had braided her hair for bed the night before while it was still damp from her shower and let the long strands free now. Braiding while it was still a little damp helped tame the frizz and made it much more manageable. She strapped on her belt and made sure her knife was secured in it. It felt good to wear it. The knife was a fixed blade her father made for her, with a four inch blade. It gave her a sense of security. She couldn't technically wear it to school but she did have a tiny folding knife that she was careful to never let any of the teachers see. She always felt naked without a weapon on her person. She didn't have the strength to go against a full wolf one on one and so she made sure to have something to help her even the playing field a little bit in case it was needed.

As she walked into the kitchen she was greeted by the sight of a very naked Alpha Richard tickling Luna Evelyn. She was laughing so hard it was a wonder she could breathe. The Alpha wasn't the only nude figure present.

"Let- go of- me- you big- oaf!" Luna Evelyn gasped out between bouts of laughter.

Richard laughed but quite tickling his mate and planted a loud obnoxious kiss on her cheek. Luna Evelyn swatted him in the arm, "Now go put some clothes on and take these hooligans with you," she demanded gesturing to the other shifted wolves.

"Yes dear," Alpha Richard said, this time giving his mate a tender kiss on the forehead before yelling out, "You heard the lady! Everyone go put some clothes on so we can pretend to be civilized!" Laughter greeted the Alpha's words but everyone went tromping up to their rooms with huge smiles on their faces.

Audrey just stood there, not really knowing what to do while everyone filtered out. Luna Evelyn took her jacket off and hung it on a peg in the wall. "Well, that takes care of them for a bit. I swear if I didn't remind them to wear clothes none of them would. Now, Audrey, would you like to help me make breakfast?"

Audrey grabbed a small section of hair and gave it a slight pull. "I can't really cook....."

The Luna just shrugged. "I promise with this lot as tired as they all are, it doesn't have to be the best thing they've ever tasted, it just needs to be edible." She chuckled. "Why, I'm pretty sure Richard is hungry enough to eat tree bark right now."

"If you say so." Audrey replied.

"Oh I know so. Most of them partied all night and where they look alert, they are all exhausted. All except for the ones who got selected for guard duty and patrol work." Luna Evelyn led the way into a huge kitchen. "Most will just want bready grab-and-go type stuff so if you want to go grab a bag of bagels and some cream cheese that would be nice." She gestured to the even larger walk-in pantry and industrial fridges. "I'm going to get a batch of cinnamon rolls going and if you'll be so kind as to get the coffee started? Everything you'll need for the coffee is under the counter. Yes, I think that'll be a good start."

A good start!? That was a lot of food! Audrey pulled out what was probably the biggest bag of bagels she had ever seen and grabbed a box individual serving size cream cheese packets from one of the fridges. Meanwhile the Luna turned on the oven and then started pulling out baking sheet after baking sheet of unbaked cinnamon rolls. "Um, where do you want these?" Audrey asked timidly.

"There's a serving tray right by the door dear, just lay them out on that and put the box of cream cheese beside it on the counter out there." She gestured to the dining area attached to the kitchen.

Audrey walked into the dining room. It had the biggest table she had ever seen in her life. It was wooden and stained a warm honey color and there was every type of chair imaginable clogging up every available inch of table space. A matching wooden countertop was attached to the wall around the right side of the room and Audrey deposited her contribution at the edge of the counter closest the door. If this was grab-and-go food it stood to reason that closest to the door was best.

"That's an impressive table," Audrey said coming back into the kitchen.

Luna Evelyn looked up and smiled, "Isn't it? Jason, Jessica's mate, is a carpenter. We definitely have benefitted from having him here. And they are expected a baby soon."

"They're expecting a baby?" Audrey asked confused. Wasn't a baby wolf a pup?

"Oh yes, soon we won't be the only halfbloods here." The older woman sounded excited about the prospectof mixed blood. Audrey frowned as she began cracking the eggs, nothing she remembered from her old pack was positive. She hoped this child didn't go through what she did. In fact, she would make sure it didn't.

Audrey was silent while she helped Luna Evelyn prepare breakfast for the pack. She had never seen so much food in her life and would have been extremely overwhelmed her if the Luna hadn't been giving her instructions. As it was, Evelyn seemed to be happy as could be. She hummed as she cooked and seemed to be on the edge of dancing with every move she made. It made Audrey think of Missy. She wondered how she would handle having to cook for this many people. She would probably love it as much as Evelyn seemed to.

Sooner than she would have thought possible breakfast was done and wolves and the few humans that made up the pack started coming in for food. It started as a trickle and turned into a flood of people coming in and out. A few pack members came to help the Luna and relieve Audrey of duty. She had just filled her plate with eggs, toast, and a cinnamon roll and was headed to the coffee station for her second cup of the day when his scent wafted to her.

Drake crept in rubbing his eyes and yawning. He. Was. Shirtless. Audrey had seen way more naked bodies than she had ever desired to that morning but none of that had truly affected her, they were wolves, what did you expect? But this was different. She needed to remember how to breathe before she embarrassed herself further by passing out on the floor.