Warren was calm now, or at least that is how Tinker perceived things when he was fully human. It meant that he didn’t feel threatened, of that she was sure. When they arrived at the camp, the man that Warren called Poppa led them to a large house centered in the middle of smaller dens.  They entered by a small side door that opened into what was the front of a large mass of humans. Tinker shrank close to Warren but took cautious steps inside. The door shut behind them.<br/><br/>Tinker sniffed the air and there it was again, the combined smells of human and wolf, even though all there were humans dressed in various hunting garb. Warren took a seat in one of the metal folding chairs that lined the front wall and Tinker sat next to him. She was bombarded by the clamoring of pack speak,<br/><br/>“Warren’s come back.”<br/>“About time. I always did like him.”<br/>“Too much for your own good.”<br/>“He just causes trouble. All the women want him but Poppa won’t let him have one as a mate.”<br/>“Warren is a good wolf for a shifter who is a cat.”<br/>“Shut up, Earl. You’re drunk.”<br/><br/>Poppa pounded his open hand on a wooden table and said in human speak,<br/><br/>“Warren has come back for a while. I’m going to speak and I don’t have to tell any of you twice to shut up that pack speak in a meeting.”<br/>He glared over the group, as if daring anyone to challenge him. Tinker noticed how his actions mirrored those of her father’s when he was leading a hunt. He waited, searching the crowd for dissenters.<br/><br/>“Warren has brought a young shifter with him. Marlene, she has some special needs that you will be able to address. You are to stay with her until further notice.”<br/><br/>Tinker searched the crowd for Marlene. Judging from the nodding of the head, the young woman with long red hair must be Poppa’s daughter who could help with her shifting. Tinker was relieved that she seemed to be nice, like Warren.<br/><br/>“As long as Warren and Tinker are with us, they are both to be treated like family. Am I clear? Seems our scouts were less that cordial earlier. That will not happen again on Canis land, am I understood?” His voice seemed to snap and all heads nodded. Tinker noticed the man and woman in the back corner in the shadows stirring restlessly.<br/><br/>“That is all the news for the day. You,young ones, be sure to meet Warren, he is family to me, make him welcome. Same goes for any new members to the pack. Hospitality rules our lands and that is why we live in peace. Strength and hospitality!” he said like some pack motto and the group echoed him. It reminded Tinker of a pack howling in answer to the Alpha<br/><br/>The meeting broke up and Marlene came to Warren and Tinker’s side. In pack speak, she said to Tinker,<br/><br/>“You and Warren can stay at my house. I have an extra room you guys can share. The moon will be full tomorrow night and that will be the best time for you to do your first full shift. The moon’s gravitational pull helps pull the shift along. Once you master it, and that will probably be within the first three or four days while the moon remains full, you will be able to shift back and forth like the rest of us.  I will also figure out what size of human clothes you wear when you shift. At first, calling your clothes, the way that the “Old timers” do.” Marlene winked at Warren,” well, that takes time.  So I will show you how to take care of that when you have time before shifting back to wolf.” The woman drifted away, as if she expected Warren to know where she lived.<br/><br/>Tinker swung her gaze up to Warren<br/><br/>“Do you know where her den is? Do you know her?” she asked, staring at all the people. A few came up and spoke to her in pack speak, but their tone was welcoming and friendly. Tinker answered back politely, but with reserve. Her head was filled with questions she wanted to ask Warren and she found it difficult to maintain her composure in front of so many humans. But she thought wryly, no one was trying to kill her.