He smiled down at me while turning so he could nudge the door closed behind us.  The sound echoed in the surrounding silence.

I looked around for the boys, noting the sky had started to lighten.  Jim carried Aden, and Nana Wini held Liam.  Both the boys slept soundly.  The adults were already making their way toward the vague outline of a building.

“Emmitt, put me down.”  I didn’t want anyone’s first impression of me to be that of a helpless girl.

He set me on my feet.  “I was trying to let you sleep.”

“I know.  Thank you.”  I clasped his warm hand.

The rest had helped relieve some of my anger and frustration.  I felt bad about venting at him but didn’t want to say anything out in the open.  The ears here would hear far too much.

I turned to look back at the road we’d come from but saw only a rutted trail leading into more trees.  The surrounding woods reminded me of our home in Montana.  I could see why Emmitt and Jim had settled there.  It must have reminded them of this place.

Hearing a door close, I turned to see the boys gone.

“Is this where you grew up?” I asked Emmitt quietly.

“Yeah.”  He gently tugged my hand, encouraging me to start walking.

A long, two-story log cabin, winged by several outbuildings, encompassed the area we’d parked in, which was more dirt than gravel.  Constructed before the 19th century, the buildings had seen better days.  Pieces of chinking were missing here and there from between the grey, aged roughhewn logs.  Near the ground of the first story, most of the chinking was new, showing that repairs were in progress.  A few of the old, single-paned windows rattled slightly in the breeze.  I wondered how they could possibly stay warm in winter.  The outbuildings were all in equally poor repair.  Emmitt hadn’t been exaggerating about their need for money.

Despite the building’s run down appearance, the area around the buildings showed signs of upkeep.  Flowers bloomed in pots near the main door and in the window boxes under a few of the first floor windows, improving an otherwise unfriendly exterior.  Branches from surrounding trees showed signs of recent pruning, and the weeds near their bases, trimmed back.

The oversized front door was one of the few things that looked new.  I eyed the unevenly spaced deck boards that raised a step above the ground.  In a few places, the wood looked newer.  Even with the replacements, it still looked questionable.  At least, I didn’t have far to fall if one of the boards snapped under me.  I stepped up on the planks and was surprised they felt sturdy.

Emmitt reached around me to open the door.  I walked into a huge entry and paused, relieved to see the inside in much better repair.  Rugs stacked with shoes lay around the outskirts of the room while a variety of outerwear hung on the hooks screwed into the walls.  I felt like I had just walked into a huge coat closet.  Emmitt’s hand on my lower back prompted me to step further into the room.

“Nana Wini sent a call out for a pack meeting in a few hours.”

That sounded intimidating.

“Pack meeting?  Why?”

“It’s time you are introduced to the pack.  It lets everyone know you are under the protection of the Elders.”

What protection?  Their laws didn’t work.  Physically, Nana fought off two rebel werewolves, but I knew there were so many more out there.  I didn’t voice my doubts.

“What about the boys?”  I was less afraid for myself than I was for them.

“They’ve already been put to bed.”

He led me down a long hallway.

“I mean their safety.”

His expression filled with soft understanding.  “It will be discussed in the meeting as well.  We will keep them safe.”  He walked beside me in silence for a moment.

I could tell he was struggling with something.  He didn’t leave me guessing for long.

“I know you’re probably tired, but my parents would like to meet you.”  He glanced at me.  “If you’re up for it.”

My stomach did a tiny flip, and not in a good way.  The leaders of the pack and parents to the man I now dated wanted to meet me.  I’d just dozed in a truck for several hours and probably had crazy hair and looked rumpled.  Great first impression.  No, I really didn’t want to meet them, but I nodded anyway.

Emmitt’s face lit with a relieved smile.  “They’re waiting for us in the apartment we’ll be using.”

Emmitt and I followed several hallways before finally climbing a set of stairs.  He led me to a door that opened to a newly remodeled, modest apartment.

A small area in the back left corner of the main room was set aside as a kitchenette, complete with a mini fridge, coffee pot, and small breakfast bar.  There was no kitchen sink.  Getting water from the bathroom had to be more cost efficient, especially if the apartment was only used occasionally.  I could see where this kind of updating moved slowly.  It had to cost a fortune.

The rest of the room was setup as a living room, complete with occupied sofa and chairs.

Six sets of eyes turned toward us as we walked in, interrupting a quiet conversation.  I recognized Mary and Gregory, and of course Jim and Nana.

Everyone stood, and Emmitt led me toward the two I didn’t know.

“Mother, Father, this is Michelle.”

Emmitt’s father, a tall formidable man with a bulk of bulging muscles and a serious expression, stood beside Emmitt’s mother.  I’d caught how he watched her intently while she’d spoken with Mary.  The slight softening of his expression when his gaze settled on her assured me he had a soft spot.

His mother was tall and lean but not thin.  She wore her hair pulled back into a ponytail.  Dressed in worn jeans and a t-shirt that sported a rock band from the seventies, she fit into her surroundings.  She looked beautiful and much younger than in her forties.  Apparently, women aged well, here.  In fact, I hadn’t noticed any old and wrinkly werewolves.  Nana Wini’s hair might be white, and she might be old in years, but she didn’t have any other signs of aging.

“Call me Charlene,” Emmitt’s mother said.  She gave me a warm smile that reached her dark blue eyes—Emmitt’s eyes—and offered her hand.

I returned her smile and reached for her hand.  When we touched, my world tilted precariously.  I really didn’t want to faint in front of Emmitt’s parents.

The room and all the people faded from my sight.  I stood in a black void and knew something wasn’t right.  Shouldn’t I have fallen?  I reached out a hand and slowly turned in a circle.  I couldn’t see, hear, or feel anything except myself.  There was no floor beneath me. I appeared to be floating.  I looked around, feeling panicked.  Where was I?

I spotted a pinprick of brilliant, white light in the distance.  It looked like a tiny star.  Yet, even its brilliance didn’t explain how I could see myself in the inky abyss surrounding me.

As I watched, the pinprick of light began to expand.  It rapidly grew to the size of a baseball but didn’t stop there.  It bloated to the size of a volleyball within seconds.  Its radiance hurt my eyes, but I didn’t turn away.  Instead, I squinted, trying to see it clearly.

The light wasn’t growing but swiftly flying toward me—or me toward it.  I tried to move.  The result was a moment of helpless flailing since there was no floor to use to propel myself.  My heart started to race painfully in my chest.  Death couldn’t come this way.  I wanted to see my brothers.  Emmitt.

I threw my arms in front of my face and braced myself.  Light flashed brightly through my scrunched eyelids.  I cringed, waiting for the impact of whatever it was.  When nothing happened, I tentatively lifted my head and peeked through my arms.

Everything around me had changed although I still couldn’t move, suspended in nothing.  The area directly below my feet was a brightly lit white space.  Around me, millions of images overlapped each other like frozen stills on a monitor.  I wondered what waited behind them and blinked in shock when the one I’d been looking at jumped out of the way to expose another image behind it.