The Lunam Ceremony (Book One), page 10
“Hey sis,” Leah greets me, and I put thoughts of Cassie out of my head for now. “I hope you aren’t pissed at me for not telling you at Lunam, but well, you know.”
I tell her it’s ok and that I look forward to getting to know her. She seems happy to hear this. Clio and Patsy offer to help me unpack, while the guys drag Dillan off to tour the compound. One thing Lowell mentioned at dinner last night was that Dillan and I are the leaders of this pack. The older, more experienced members are only here as advisors. We are in charge. After the welcome we received and the doting that’s already begun, I am starting to feel the pressure of being a leader.
I look around and see dilapidated buildings encircling us. Lowell said the camp was rustic, this is barely inhabitable. Even our apartment in Nevada was better than this. “Where am I sleeping? Please tell me it isn’t a tent.”
The girls giggle as they lead me to my cabin, which they tell me is in the back of the campsite, the last cabin before a clearing. About one hundred yards behind the cabins sits a tall tower that overlooks the entire camp. “What’s that?”
“It’s the fort.” Leah laughs. “You know how boys are.”
I ask her if people are really up there on lookout and she says yes. “We are in the middle of nowhere. We need our own security from animals and thieves.”
I guess that makes sense. I shouldn’t look at it as being locked in the compound. The gate is actually here to protect us. I have to stop being so negative. We arrive at my cabin and the girls start to giggle.
“Welcome to your new home,” Leah announces and produces a key from her pocket.
A weathered piece of wood is nailed above the door. It says Iroquois. Clio sees me reading it and tells me all the buildings have names. “I have Mt. Diablo,” she says. “Patsy has Mt. Rainer, and Leah is in Blackfoot.” She points to the cabin we just passed. Looks like Leah and I are neighbors.
Leah opens the door and a rush of warm air smacks us in the face. “Sorry!” Leah runs to the thermostat to turn it down. “I must have left it on when I was straightening up last night.”
“By straightening up she means christening every empty cabin in the camp!” Patsy laughs and Leah pretends she is joking.
“Don’t listen to her, Kalysia. Her family are all known liars.” Leah sticks her tongue out at Patsy.
From the outside you would never guess that the cabin has been transformed into a posh bungalow. “This is amazing.” I run my hand along the plush wine-colored sofa. The art on the walls and the perfectly placed vases on the table have Adel written all over them. Leah shows me the small but completely updated kitchen, and then leads me into the bedroom. The bed sits in the center of a square room. It’s not as big as Dillan’s bed, but it will do just fine. The duvet is made of some sort of luxurious velvet, and there are about twenty pillows laid out in perfect order.
I ask Leah if all the cabins look like this. She says no, but they have been updated with basic amenities. It makes me feel a little bit better. There is just one more room, the bathroom. The last door in the hall is a large closet. “There’s just one bedroom?” I wonder aloud.
“What were you expecting?” Clio asks.
“I just thought, you know, there would be an extra room for…” I can’t even say it out loud.
“For children?” Leah guesses. I nod. “Our children will be in the nursery with the nannies.”
I guess I should be relieved that someone more qualified than me would take care of my child, but on the other hand, it’s so callous. I can’t imagine a stranger raising me better than Layla did.
“It’s the way the pack works. The children are all kept together. It’s a safety issue,” Leah explains.
I hear a knock on the back door, followed by stomping. I leave the girls fussing over the jetted bathtub to see who is making all the noise. I find Dillan and Drake on the back porch, kicking mud off their shoes. Dillan looks up with a smile. “Do you love it?”
I step into his arms and kiss him. “You know I do.” He gives me a good hard squeeze then sets me down. “I should actually call Adel and thank her.”
Dillan smiles and kisses my cheek. “She’d like that,” he says quietly.
The fridge is stocked with food and beer. I pull out a six-pack and hand them out. We settle in the living room, and realize for the first time in my life, I have a place that feels like home. I stand in the middle of the room and raise my beer. “To family,” I toast. Leah puts her hand over her heart and looks as if she may cry.
Dillan stands beside me and raises his beer. “To family,” he repeats, and everyone raises their bottles in unison.
Over the next few weeks, we fall into a comfortable routine. Dillan wakes at the crack of dawn and goes for a run. After he leaves, I get up and shower. I’m still not totally comfortable with him seeing me in my morning state. By the time he returns, sweaty and exhilarated, I am presentable. Dillan usually kicks his running shoes off and pads quietly through the cabin, hoping to find me in bed. One of these days I will oblige him, but for now, I get up to start my day.
Leaving our bed is a difficult task. We aren’t the only ones; Leah and Drake spent three days in their cabin our first week here. Dillan had to pound on their door to get Drake out. I set up a schedule for everyone to follow; this makes everyone accountable for their time, even me. Leah and Patsy are in charge of meals, Clio works in the nursery, and I keep everything in order. We have inventory to maintain, supplies that need ordering, and a large group of betas that need supervising. I know it sounds cold, but betas are a pain in the ass. They literally sit around and do nothing until given a task. But once they have something to do, they get it done. My problem is coming up with ways they can help. I didn’t believe Leah when she told me betas are like a pack of wild dogs, but she was right. When you leave them to their own vices, they will eat, drink, and fight all day long. I don’t think it has anything to do with their breeding, it’s just that nobody has ever made them accountable. They’re followers, they don’t know how to govern themselves. I totally understand, sometimes it’s easier being told what to do. Responsibility is overrated. Layla worked three jobs at times, so making sure we had things like milk and toothpaste fell to me. Learning those things early really helped me get organized. I find myself silently thanking my mother a lot lately.
Our camp is growing very popular in the pack. We have a long list of betas and low alphas that want to transfer in. The betas in our pack are not chosen at random. Monte and Lowell handpicked each one. We have males that specialize in carpentry, electrical, computers, and even some ex-soldiers, Carrick and Sid. They’re from Drake’s family, cousins I think. They stroll around in camo pants and tight army-green t-shirts. Sid is a bit of a flirt. He brings flowers to all the single females, and they follow him around like he’s Elvis. Rusty and Carrick butt heads a lot. Whether it’s about what kind of light bulbs burn longer or which truck gets better gas mileage, they will always be on opposing sides. Dillan says I shouldn’t worry; they will eventually fight it out. I don’t like the idea of anyone in camp fighting, but Dillan says it’s how the males determine their rank. Rusty shouldn’t have to rank, since he’s my brother, Monte’s son. Rusty is a great catch for someone like Cassie. He is the son of a leader, he has pure blood, and he’s a really nice guy. He’s such a workaholic that he doesn’t have time to date anyone. It’s a shame, because Rusty has a really good heart. The only time I’ve ever seen him without a smile on his face is when Carrick is around.
I leave the lodge, the large building in the center of camp, and head out to do food inventory. It’s late November, and the air has turned a bitter cold. I tighten the scarf around my neck and pull my beanie down to cover my ears. Leah said we’re getting low on milk and eggs. The food is kept in the Hopi cabin; it’s the closet cabin to the lodge where we eat. There is a large outdoor dining area, but it is way too cold to have meals outside. Some of the cabins have kitchens, but we prepare all the meals in the lodge. That was one of my rules. It didn’t think it was fair for those with kitchens to take food back to their cabins. Dillan wasn’t too thrilled when I pulled the food and beer from our refrigerator and placed it with the rest of the camp food. I let him keep a case of wine Adel had hidden in a cabinet behind a set of pots that I’ve never used. If we ever do open a bottle, we’ll share it with whomever wants a glass. That’s the way it should be. The food is for all of us, not just the council members. If we want steak, everyone gets steak. Drake and Leah had different views on the food distribution. They felt we should have first dibs. Even Dillan sided with them, although he told me later that he didn’t want to create any kind of animosity between us and them. It’s good to be on opposite sides every now and then just to show we’re fair. I never realized there was such a divide between alphas and betas. It’s strange to have my peers, and members of my pack, look at me differently. I don’t feel more powerful, but I am, and I have to know my role, my place, in order to keep the balance.
Twigs and leaves crunch under my boots as I walk to Hopi. The playground outside the lodge is empty. Some mornings the children play on the swings after breakfast, but it’s too cold now. The infirmary building doubles as the nursery. It’s decked out with cribs and playpens. There’s even a bedroom for the nannies. Most of them have children of their own, so they don’t mind sleeping close to the smelly, crying, little monsters.
I reach the cabin and pull my keys out. Locking up the food was another issue for me, but Dillan adamantly agreed with Drake and Leah on keeping the food safe. Their argument about keeping animals and small children from pillaging our food supply seemed reasonable. I still felt shitty for having to lock the others out. I suggested we leave the key accessible to the adults, but I was shot down.
“What the others need is balance; they can live without a midnight snack,” Dillan had said. I guess he was right about that, too. Other than Clio asking for extra juice boxes for the children, no one has ever bothered me for extra food.
Besides Dillan and me, the other council members have keys—Rusty, Leah, Drake, Ray, Patsy, Tripp and Clio. We had to install the same type of governing system in camp that the pack uses. Someday we might have actual power over the pack, but for now we just run our little piece of it. It feels very elitist, but we need the structure. People need to know who is in charge. Who to go to when something is wrong. Who to turn to when they need a favor. I try to keep things fair. Like food. We sign our name beside the item that has been taken and mark the quantity. This keeps us honest and accountable. We all do it, except Dillan. He never comes here. He doesn’t even have his key on him. It’s hanging on a hook in our kitchen.
Hopi is climate controlled. The pantry is set to sixty-five degrees, which felt cool when we arrived in late fall. Now it feels warm inside. I pull my beanie off and unravel my scarf. I grab the clipboard off the wall beside the walk-in fridge and see Leah’s name beside the items she took for breakfast this morning. Clio also stopped by for yogurt and granola for the kids.
We are down to fourteen dozen eggs and the milk is close to expiration. Looks like we need to make another food run. The closest grocery store is forty miles away in Folsom. The highway is a narrow two-lane road that winds around the mountains. I get car sick every time I go on a run. Since we need to go shopping, I might as well inventory the dry goods. The less time I spend on that road the better.
I’m halfway done when I hear someone pull into camp central. I look out the window and see Dillan’s truck. I didn’t even know he left the camp. He’s never left without telling me before. I hope everything is ok. I run outside to see what’s going on, leaving my jacket in Hopi. The cold air hits me like a brick wall. I stop to go back and get my coat, then I see her. She hops out of the passenger door and looks around. I forget the cold and sprint towards her.
“Cassie!”
Cassie spins around just as I crash into her. The warmth of the truck and Dillan’s scent surrounds her. It feels odd smelling Dillan on another female. Something pinches the inside of my stomach. Cassie is crushed in my embrace, unable to move or speak. I feel her arms squeeze back and hear her sniffle.
“Are you surprised?” Dillan leans on the side of the truck.
I leave Cassie and run into his arms. I kiss him hard, forgetting Cassie is there. Dillan drops Cassie’s bags on the ground, then twists his fingers in my loose hair, and pulls my hips to him. The movement makes me shiver. “Where’s your jacket?” He starts to pull his coat off, but I stop him.
“I left it in Hopi. I’m fine.” I wave him off, but my body disagrees. I shudder in the cold breeze, and Dillan wraps me in his coat.
“I’ll go get it,” Cassie offers and steps away. “Just point me in the right direction.”
Dillan’s radio hums and he fumbles in his pocket to pull out the handheld radio. Cell reception is horrible up here, so the guys use the handheld. Sid calls them walkies. “What’s up, Drake?” Dillan speaks into the walkie.
“We’ll go together,” I whisper to Cassie and step out of Dillan’s arms.
He pulls me back for a goodbye kiss then jumps back in the truck and drives slowly past camp central towards Genny. Genny is the building with all the camp controls, like power and Wi-Fi, if we can ever get it working. We’re lucky to have electricity and running water, for that I’m grateful.
I help Cassie with her bags. There are only two of them, and we head to the cabin I reserved for her. I never gave up hope that she would come. Even after Dillan told me his father was having no luck convincing Conall to let his only daughter leave his pack for ours. Cassie is the last of his bloodline. Asking him to let her leave and join another pack with no hope of producing an heir was a long shot. But I had faith and now she’s here and I couldn’t be happier.
“Mt. Shasta.” Cassie reads the name above the door while I fish for my master key.
“Yes.” I smile as the lock clicks open.
Mt. Shasta is a large open room with a small kitchen and decent-sized bathroom. It was filled with old board games and a pool table. Ray and Tripp wanted to set it up as a man cave, but I pulled rank and told them to find another cabin. Mt. Shasta is four buildings away from mine and sits on the edge of the woods, so Cassie can have some privacy. Patsy helped me clean it out, and we moved furniture from one of the empty remodeled cabins into this one.
“It’s cozy,” Cassie says as she sets her bag on the sofa.
“It converts to a bed, see.” I pull up a cushion to show her the bed underneath. “We can get you a real bed if this one isn’t comfortable. I just figured the space is small, and this way, you can fold it up in the daytime in case you have guests over.”
“Yeah, right,” Cassie says bitterly. “Like Sierras really want to socialize with me.”
Her tone surprises me. “I’m a Sierra.” It hurts me to think of us as enemies.
“The females here will see me as a threat.” She picks at a loose thread on her scarf.
I take her hand and pull her onto the couch. “Everyone here knows how important you are to me. I have your back.”
Cassie looks up and smiles. I can see there is something she wants to say, but she holds back. Then I recall our last conversation. She said she didn’t want to leave her family, and now here she is with me, because I wanted her. “Cassie, if you don’t want to be here, I will tell Dillan to take you home.” The thought of her and Dillan driving back to Shasta together causes a pain in my chest. Maybe I’ll have Rusty take her home.
“No, I agreed to come. I wanted to see you. I’m just feeling out of place and I miss my family already.” Her eyes are glossy with tears.
I pull her in for a hug. Dillan’s scent has faded, thankfully. “Don’t feel out of place, this is your home now. I will make sure everyone knows it.”
I leave Cassie to get settled in and head back to Hopi to finish the inventory and let Dillan know we need to make a food run. The sun feels warm on my face; I lift my chin and inhale. I’ll never be able to live in the desert again. I’ll miss the smell of the trees and grass too much. Suddenly, this place doesn’t feel so bad. I have Dillan and Cassie. My life is complete. Once Cassie gets enrolled in classes and maybe even meets people outside the pack, she’ll see this was the best option for her.
I finish the inventory and lock up. The children are finally outside playing; I hear their laugher and screaming before I even reach the playground. I wave at Clio. She’s sitting at the bench with one of the older kids, reading a book.
“Kalysia,” she calls to me. “Wait up.” I stop and let her fall in step with me.
“I heard about Cassie,” she says cautiously. “Are you ok?”
I laugh a little and shake my head. “Why wouldn’t I be ok? I asked her to come, she’s my friend. Actually, she’s family.” Cassie called us cousins, but I know now that is what pack members call each other whether they have actual blood ties or not.
“Look, I don’t believe in this Shasta-Sierra pack rivalry. My mother was Shasta and my father is Sierra, I feel connected to both sides. I expect all of you, especially my closest friends, to respect my wishes and accept Cassie as part of our family now.” I see Clio shrink down a bit. Her head bows and she walks half a step behind me. “Do you understand?” I stop and look down at her.
“Yes,” she says quietly. “I understand, she’s family.” Clio nods and steps back even further.
“Maybe you should get back to the kids,” I suggest and she shuffles away.
My office, if you want to call it that, is next to the lodge. It’s a small building, about ten feet by ten feet in size. It’s just one large open room with a small storage closet off to the side. Leah and I each have a desk and computers that Leah deems are useless without internet connection. I use mine to track inventory, and I started files on everyone in camp. Just to keep records of births and matches, that sort of thing. This way there is no question as to our bloodline or lineage. I also have spreadsheets for job assignments, so we know where everyone is supposed to be at all times. I keep track of all of our food runs, and soon I’ll track our beer deliveries. The first couple of weeks here, we were all just trying to find our spot. Where we would fit in. I naturally started doling out orders and everyone listened. Even Dillan. I like that Dillan is accepting me as a partner in both work and pleasure.
