Lance I smile as Lakota walks into the living room of our small Pack-house; I get up to introduce her to our guests, and I see them looking confused when I call her Alpha. "The Council didn't mention that our Pack has a female Alpha?" I hear Keir ask, and I see all of them thinking about his question. "Sorry, Alpha Lakota. We didn't mean any disrespect, but I can't remember if they mentioned it or not," one of the Lycans says with her eyes to the floor. "That is fine, I am not offended by it. First rule for each of you to learn and understand: I want you to look at me when you talk to me. I might be the Alpha, but without Pack-members that title means shit," she says, making the female giggle. The male is a different story as he looks at her dumbfounded. "I know that most high-ranking Wolves and Lycans like to act as if they are so much better than the rest of their Pack, but I am not one of them, and neither is my leadership," she says. She sits down in the chair I just got out of and asks them to tell her their story. None of them is upset about the fact they have to explain everything again, and the look in her eyes tells me that Lotus could rip a few Wolves and Lycans to pieces, not that our new arrivals notice. I didn't tell them much about our territory as we waited for Lakota to show up, just a basic rundown of how things work around here, and none of them had asked many questions. Lakota is the one that always informs our new arrivals about the rules and our hidden territory; we all felt it was her responsibility as our Alpha. "Before we continue with this conversation, I need to know if both of you are sure you want to join Crystal Blood Pack," she states, and both Lycans confirm that they want to join our Pack. She initiates them into the Pack before she will tell them everything they need to know. She goes over the Pack-rules with them, and both lift an eyebrow when she mentions the rule on rejection. "We found the Pack-rules of the Pack that once lived here, and they made it a rule to reject your Mate if he or she wasn't a Wolf," she answers as she looks from the male to the female. I tell them I never understood the rule either, but a look in Lakota's eyes tells me that she found the reason, and I know she will inform us once she is ready. "If you want to meet your family, I won't allow it to take place on Pack grounds; you can meet them at the diner where Lance and my Father picked you up.Not every member of our Pack wants to see their family again, and I will honor those wishes, but those that do want to see a certain family member are allowed to meet them at the diner. However, before you are allowed to leave Pack grounds, you will need to learn a code to alert others to danger," she says. "In our hidden territory we have many Pack-members that want to stay out of sight, and for their protection I will give you an Alpha order to never reveal the location of our hidden territory," she states, and both Lycans tell her that they are willing to accept her Alpha order, just to make sure the location stays hidden. "Taing don Bhan-dia," I mumble, and two heads snap in my direction. I tell them I said thank the Goddess in a language long forgotten. "You will be taught the Scots Gaelic language by Mylana. It is a language that was once spoken in Europe, but vanished completely after the war against the Humans," I explain. We had to ask the Council if they had any recordings of it in their Archives, because we were only able to find a few recordings in our online search, and the recordings we found were mainly songs. Luckily we received a lot of recordings from the Council, and Josy was able to make a playlist that lasts hours and hours with different songs in the Scots Gaelic language.She plays it in the diner and motel twenty-four seven; it is nice to listen to during a meal, and it makes it easier to speak the language without anyone from the outside realizing it. All you have to do is tell them that you mispronounced something, and it works because I have tested it over the years. Lakota sometimes uses it if she feels like annoying her Father, but he loves it when she calls him Athair. Keir only understands the most used phrases, but most of us can speak the language almost as fluidly as English, and the Pups in our Pack sometimes speak it just to annoy him. I usually translate it for him through the mind-link to keep him from getting embarrassed. "Alfa, is iad sin na buill ùra againn?" Lynn asks as she walks into the room, and I hear Keir groan as he stares at her. Through the mind-link I give him the translation before Lakota answers her. "Yes, Lynn. These Lycans are our new Pack-members. Can you show them to their rooms in the Pack-house?" Lynn tells them to follow her, and they look surprised when Lynn walks to the front door, but she quickly tells them she will take them to our hidden territory. Lakota walks towards her office, and I follow her without asking questions; she obviously has something to say.Quinn, Cian, Darrius, and Matt are already waiting for us, and I know she has something important to tell us. We all wait patiently as she is staring out of the window; her nervousness isn't sitting well with Bolt, and I have to put up a block to keep him from wrapping her in our arms. It is getting harder to ignore how she makes us feel, but we also know she is not our second chance Mate. "I finally read Jake's journals, and I found the reason for a few of Hidden Mountain Pack's rules. When they wrote down any shifter that wasn't a Wolf should be rejected, they meant more than just a Lycan," she says, and she sees the confused looks on our faces as she turns towards us. "Jake was a Mountain Lion," she says, and my jaw drops to the floor. "His family has lived in these mountains for a long time, and some of them were mated to members of Hidden Mountain Pack. I want everyone to read those journals, and I want to ask Mylana to read them first. I want her to teach our Pups about the fact that there are other shifters around, that their Alpha had been mated to a Mountain Lion, and that she would have loved him the same if he had been a Wolf or Lycan," she says, and I know she would have never rejected him for being something other than a Wolf or a Lycan."Lakota, I don't understand why they would reject a gift from the Goddess," Matt mumbles, and I think none of us will understand that. "Neither do I, Matt. Who are we to doubt the Goddess? When she paired me with Jake, she did it for a reason. I just wonder how many other types of shifters there are," Lakota replies. Cian mumbles something about never being told there were other shifters. "Because they thought they were a myth, just like Humans always thought we were a myth. I hope to meet a Mountain Lion one day; I would like to know what Jake looked like after he shifted," Lakota states as she stares out of the window. "Maybe there are even other feline shifters around," Quinn says as she is looking at Cian. We soon discuss every feline species we can think of, and Darrius asks if there might be Bear shifters. "Damn, can you imagine what that would look like?" Matt asks, and I try to picture what a bear shifter would look like, probably bulky and broad like Werewolves and Lycans. We all know that Werewolves and Lycans are larger than normal wolves, and we assume that that will apply for other shifters as well, but none of us would be able to tell the difference as we never saw a normal feline or bear before. I hope we will be able to meet other shifters and to show them that they are more than welcome in our Pack.As the others leave Lakota's office, Mylana walks in, and I ask Lakota if she wants me to leave. "No, Lance. I would appreciate it if you could stay," she answers as she gestures to Mylana to sit down, and I sit back down on the couch where I sat before. Lakota tells Mylana about reading the journals Jake left behind; she tells Mylana to use them to teach our Pups about him and his family. "Alpha, what is it you want them to know about Jake and his family?" She asks, and she slaps her hand over her mouth when Lakota tells her that Jake was a Mountain Lion. "I always thought that Grandpa was trying to pull my leg. He told me that he had met a feline shifter as a young Wolf, a Mountain Lion according to him, and I never really believed him," she explains, and I ask her to tell us the story about her Grandfather, which she does with a smile on her face. Once she is done, we have found out that a feline shifter is also larger than a normal feline, and now I really want to meet a feline shifter. I can't wait to clear the rest of the territory, because that will mean time to go through the Archive of Hidden Mountain Pack.