Oliver's life turns upside down when he learns that werewolves exist and one of them is his mate, but things get dangerous when he starts to learn more about himself.
*****
"It's a gift...
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-Jaden-
Even though that weird fit of mine passed, I still couldn't get rid of my anxiousness. It didn't help that neither Arch or Tilly spoke to me during the rest of day. Driving home was especially awkward, so I was feeling kind of glad when I could see the gates to our territory looming ahead of us.
For outsiders, the gate probably seemed like an ordinary, long-forgotten iron pole blocking the way. The forest was thick here, so there was no other way to get to our lands. The road itself was just a small gravel path, just wide enough for one car. A few yards behind the gate, where the road turned left, there was our first outpost, a small house where the guards were probably making coffee right about now. If anyone got the idea to break through the gate, the guards would be there to welcome them in a not-so-friendly manner. Townsfolk thought the road led to that house, so no one was even interested to get past the gate, but the truth was something quite else.
Arch went to move the iron pole out of the way, and Tilly drove the car past him, stopping to wait while he locked the gate again. Soon after, we drove past the guardhouse, where a few familiar faces greeted us with a short wave. It took us around fifteen minutes to get to our small village deep in the forest, where no one knew our small community existed.
I did like our territory. The small houses were hidden under the old, massive spruces and pine trees, scattered here and there. They were all unique, built by hand from massive logs and connected via small pathways. In the middle of it all lay our House of Elders, the heart of our community.
I liked the fact that we were so close to nature. Not all of us had electricity, and even fewer had running water, but it didn't matter. Those who didn't have running water were welcome to use someone else's shower if they wanted. During summer it wasn't a problem, since we had a lake not even a mile away from us, but now it was covered in thick ice. We got the electricity we needed from solar panels and tiny wind turbines, so we didn't need any help from humans.
We had basically everything we needed in here. Some of us hadn't left the village in months. There were a little more than a hundred werewolves in our pack, so we weren't technically a small community, but some were living with the humans, and most of those who were still staying in our lands were either too old or too young to fight, so we were a tad bit vulnerable in case someone – the Imbecile Thorns for example – decided to attack.
Tilly stopped the car in front of my house. I wanted to say something to them, but they both were looking away from me in such an intense way that I decided to keep my mouth shut. I exited the car and closed the door behind me, and before I had even turned around completely, Tilly was already driving away.
"Thanks, guys..." I muttered, and walked to our front door through our small garden that was now covered in snow, even though we had three big spruces covering our house.
The lights were on in our home – Dad had insisted we had electricity and running water – so I assumed either one or both of my parents were home. I grimaced at the thought of having to face them right now. I just wanted to be left alone, but I knew they wanted to know about my day. They were especially keen to know if I had actually attended to all of my classes
