Fake Dating Alpha Hockey Captain novel Chapter 91

#Chapter 91: Learning the Ropes

I spend the next few days at the Ayzena camp watching and learning, soaking it all in. Tala is very good about ingratiating me with the knowledge of everyday life in the pack, the roles that different members take on, and what is expected of a Luna.

Each pack member has a role within the camp, similar to that in a human community. There are farmer werewolves–which is a crazy thought to me—who raise more than vegetables; in fact, other than a few staple staples, they spend most of their resources raising livestock like cattle, pigs, and chicken.

“One thing that makes us different from humans is that we need almost twice as much protein in our daily diet,” she tells me. “We don’t get all of it from meat, of course. We actually eat a lot of eggs.”

“Do you drink milk? A lot of humans do…for the protein.”

Tala laughs. “No, dear. Drinking the milk of another animal is disgusting. No offense, but we’ve never understood why humans do that. Once our young wean from our milk, it is omitted from their diet.”

As far as the absence of animals in the woods near werewolf bases, it turns out they steer clear of because werewolves are natural predators but not because woodland creatures are their prey. Werewolves don’t hunt their food.

“We haven’t hunted food since the late 1800’s” Tala explains. “They may still hunt in other communities, but not in this region. We raise all our own food, which has allowed us to remain in one spot. Similar to the benefits humans gained with the advent of agriculture.”

Alex and his mother take me around the base and point out how other things are done. There is a general store, and the couple that runs it gets their supply from the human world. This allows the pack access to things they otherwise would not have while limiting their exposure to humans, thus human exposure to them.

There is also a pack physician, Raio, who was Michael’s attendant when he was ill. Still is, I guess. The physician has a doctor’s office where patients can stay when seriously ill or injured, since there is no hospital.

Werewolves don’t go to the hospital, I’m told, because their anatomy is slightly different, and it would be discovered during medical scans. “It almost happened here,” Alex tells me, “in the past, which is another reason werewolves have chosen to limit their time in the human world.”

Raio relates one such instance to me. “I was just a boy, but I remember my mother telling me that someone in her pack was discovered–one of the youth. Like Alex, he was attending school in a nearby town and had an accident on a field trip. Even though his paperwork said to deny medical treatment, the staff rushed him to the emergency room in a panic.

The doctors ran a scan to look for a bone break and found an unexpected joint. This caused quite the stir.”

Sounds positively scandalous. “What happened?”

“The boy’s medical records conveniently disappeared, and he returned to the pack.”

“Then why do you still send children away when it’s such a risk?”

“We don’t…at least we don’t very often. In cases like Alex, it’s for his protection. Werewolves don’t have many offspring. Like humans, we tend to birth one pup at a time. An Alpha who has multiple children tends to make concessions for the younger siblings. In this case, Alex.”

I think about that for a moment. I know Alex was sent away for his own protection, although he t brother’s. I wonder why his parents weren’t just honest with him?

it is for his

I soon realize each base is essentially a small town of its own, complete with all the amenities any other small

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#Chapter 91: Learning the Rope

town would have…except or a Walmart, I guess.

It’s very unlike the way Hollywood portrays werewolves: diabolic, maniacal, hiding among the human population waiting to pounce and victimize the weak given the right circumstance. Werewolves–at least the pack werewolves I’ve met- are very civilized and more honorable than most of the humans I know.

Take Tala. She is beautiful and dignified, straightforward but sweet, delicate but strong. Like the heroines in all those period films I’ve watched with Mom—Queen Elizabeth, Anna and the King, or Sense and Sensibility–she is feminine in that she speaks softly and wears dresses, but she is also the most dominant character in the room.

I admire her and I watch her, and she encourages ft. She has explained what it means to be a Luna: “One assists in making decisions, speak words of wisdom to your Alpha, acts as a strength for the community, while also being a support.

“Of course, that’s when you have an Alpha at your side. When you do not,” she explains, “you are the head and the body. You rely heavily on those who council and support you. It is important to have that established early on.”

I know what she means by that. I already know that several of the Elders in the Council were either afraid of Ryan or intentionally supported him. I’d like to think the latter is true, but one cannot tell, and Charles does not seem to hold some of them in high regard.

And I trust Charles implicitly.

By the evening following our return, Michael is finally able to get out of the house and walk around with assistance. At first, Rita dismisses the idea of Michael showing any sign of weakness in front of the rest of the pack. But Michael argues that it’s important everyone sees he is recovering and being intentional about passing on leadership to his brother.

Everyone is alight when they see him, and I realize how much this family means to their pack. While that brings me hope for Alex’s future, it reminds me that I missed out on so much of my own family.

I would have liked to know my real mother and father–to feel their love and have received their guidance. What would my life be like right now had I been allowed to grow up with the rest of the Malkeye?

Then I realize: Alex would be my fated mate regardless, only I may not have met him yet. I mean, our packs don’t exactly mingle. We may not have met until we were older, so this may have all worked out for the best. Or maybe that’s just me trying to be optimistic.

Which is one reason I’m going to hold what I call the “Unification Council.” Our packs will be intimately intertwined once Alex and I finally take the step to unification…whether they like it or not.

What Alex mentions and I didn’t count on, is the possibility that Rita and Michael would want to get married. Alex brings this up on our afternoon walk.