And so with Dr. Green's verdict my days in the clinic were over. Not forever though, but until the baby comes and is old enough for me to start working again. I think doc Evans knew that it would be a torture for me to stay at home and do completely nothing, so he decided it was time to digitize every file the clinic had. So here we are, Wednesday noon, I'm perched in the living room's huge armchair surrounded by millions of folders, trying to sort them out alphabetically first (because that's the proper way), and then maybe in a couple of years I would be able to start typing everything up into the computer. Note the sarcasm, cause well, doc Evans is the king of disorganization. Really, I wonder how he was able to find ANYTHING in those files before, or if he even bothered to try... Well, these days are over, Emily the organizer is here to save the day!

I must admit, when he said that this work would keep me occupied, I didn't really believe him. Me being me, the well behaved good girl, I always had my affairs in a strict order. Safe to say it all changed with me being here, in Pine Hill, a town full of werewolf's, but for the sake of my mental health I was dead set on trying to bring the good old days back. Thus totally forgetting about a thing that was way more important then the bloody files I was currently buried in. A good thing is that I have my trustworthy Lena to save the day. Although I would prefer her to do it more subtly, that she did, which is slamming our front door open and startling me to almost giving birth on the spot.

"What the hell are you still doing lounging in that freaking chair?!" Her high pitched voice reached my ears through a pile of files that flew right out of my grasp and first in the air and then to the floor like the first snow. I pressed my hand to the heart trying to stop it's rapid beating.

"What the actual fu..dge?! Are you trying to kill me here?" I breathlessly exclaimed her way.

"Ah, sorry, forgot about your fragile state...." She sheepishly rubbed the back of her neck, a light blush gracing her cheeks. But the moment she realized my water didn't broke and I was pretty much ok, she went straight back to her old exhausting self.

"Anyhoo, why aren't you dressed yet?" now she had her hands on her hips and brows furrowed. Why did I have a feeling like I was in trouble?...

"And why my current attire isn't good enough?" I asked her squinting my eyes suspiciously.

"Well, it's fine if you were to be lounging here till you get old, but girl! Don't tell me you forgot about the BBQ?!"

At first I was a bit, well, in thought, but just a tiny second later it hit me. A BBQ. The very same BBQ where I was supposed to meet the pack. A pack of wolfs. A pack of wolfs where I currently resign.

"Oh shit..."

"No shit!"

"Holy shit..."

"Yeah, shit!"

"Lena! Do I have to go?!"

Well, what can I say? I was scared. Shitless. You know the feeling, when you think that if you ignore something, it could just pass without noticing you? Well, I hoped that was the case. Because I was scared. Shitless.

"Yeah, you have to go! You're the star of the evening! Diva, if I may!"

"Diva my ass. I'm basically a lamb in a pack of wolfs. A chicken in between foxes. A..."

"Enough!" Lena cut me, not allowing to finish my fine metaphors (if it was even it, let's face it, English wasn't my strongest part).

"Let's move to your closet and find you a nice outfit for today, make your hair, make up, all that girly stuff you choose to ignore! We're in it to impress! So c'mon!"

"Agh... Sure... Let me just clean up all this mess..."

"Ems, stop! Go take a shower, meanwhile I'll pack up the files and find you something marvelous to wear. Now go!"

And with that she shooed me out of the room.

Thirty minutes later I was dressed in my now favorite baggy grey maxi dress with a pug print on my now heavily protruding belly, red converse and a thick knitted cherry red cardigan in my hand for later, when it gets chilly. No bag needed, because I would always be surrounded by the people I know, so the only thing to be done was makeup and hair, which Lena made happen in record time. Mainly because I rejected most of her ideas. I'm not a makeup person, so we compromised on slight concealer under my eyes to mask the blues under my eyes, eyeliner and mascara. My hair was styled in beach waves, which also took only a couple of minutes. I was ready, the inevitable moment of departure has arrived.

* * *

Soooo, here we are. Standing in front of the pack house. Although no one is here, everyone is in the back yard, I feel as if they can smell me and they already know that an impostor is present. Maybe it is so, I have no idea how powerful these noses are, but maybe I'm just being paranoid. Anyway, my palms are sweaty, my breathing ragged, heartbeat erratic and I can't move. Lena is rolling her eyes at me and tapping her foot impatiently, but I don't give two shits. I need a moment and she can't take that away from me. Maybe she is not afraid for my faith, but I sure am. Too many uncertainties, too many questions from both sides - me because I'm still new to this world, they because they simply don't know me. And that's normal, but absolutely unnerving. For a pregnant lady going through all this is just not healthy.

"Oh, c'mon, no one is going to eat you! You are under Alpha protection, have some faith!"

Lena is becoming slightly aggravated with me, I can understand that, but I still stay rooted to my spot in front of the huge house.

"I hope you're right and everything goes well..." I say quietly and gather my whits together. I clutch her hand in a steel grip and we move in.

The house is completely empty as we walk through it and too fast for my liking we are at the back door leading to the main place of the BBQ. One deep breath later and we step outside.

The moment we are outside everything becomes quiet. I think I never gave a single thought about how many people were in the pack, so the sight in front of me makes my breath hitch. There must be at least 800 souls, and all of them were were's. And everyone was looking my way. I even noticed some of them trying to smell me, which looked weird, but I guess I just had to get used to people using their noses from now on...

A couple more painful moments later I see Nathan stepping from the heart of the crowd and walking my way.

"Emily, finally. Welcome." He greets me casually and gives me a friendly hug. I see some brows raised, but still no one ushers a word.

"Uhm, hey..." I answer awkwardly. I steal another glance to the crowd, and nothing has changed still they are watching.

"Let me introduce you to everybody. Ok?"

I see what he does there - he's giving me a warning, a minute to catch my breath and gather some courage. Well, thanks for that. My grip on Lena's hand becomes even more hard and she cringes a bit. Wow, I can harm a wolf... Hardy har... Meanwhile Nathan turns to the pack, while keeping one of his hands on my shoulder in a patronizing gesture.

"May I have your attention, please!" Not that he needs to announce that, but Nathan is being polite. "Dear friends! Let me introduce to you Emily Rose, a newest addition to our pack. You may be confused, because clearly she is no wolf, but she is family now, for Shirley's and Jonathan's wolfs recognized this young lady as their daughter, and we never say no to the family bond. For those who don't know, she has been living among us for over a month now, working side by side with doc Evans and is a talented vet. Seeing as she has been accepted by one of the Elders and our former Alpha and Luna, I can assure you, she means no harm and is just in search of a peaceful life for her and her unborn child. Let's make her feel welcome and accepted, take care of her as of our own and love her as our family."

Surprisingly I see smiles on the people's faces, and it feels as if a huge weight has been lifted off my shoulders. Nathan turns my way with a warm grin.

"Welcome to the family. Do you want to say a couple of words to everyone?"

Well now I feel red as a tomato, but I muster some bravery and lift my chin high.

"Thank you everyone for letting me be here, and, uhm, hi?..." Good job, Emily, public speech aced... But as chuckles are born from within a crowd, I think I did ace it.

Nathan just laughs and pats me on the shoulder than ventures back into the crowd, but Lena on the other hand gives me a bone crushing hug.

"I told you everything was going to be fine! Didn't I? Always listen to me!"

We stay like that for a couple of minutes, me hiding my face in her neck, her laughing at my antiques.

"Enough of that!" she exclaimed after a while. "Let's feed that baby of yours, eh?"

And with that we go off in search of food.

This is going to be an interesting evening, and, maybe, the rest of my life...