Tucking Brynlee into bed, I linger momentarily to watch my Mate sleep. Dark circles have formed under her eyes these last few days with the battle approaching quickly. I knew she was stressed out from her duties to Crescent Phoenix as well as thinking about how we would protect our little pup. I had caught her many times in the middle of the night sitting in the living room with a mug of tea in hand watching the flames in the fire dance in the fireplace. She told me she was thinking about Emory and any other pups we might have. How she worried about what to do if any one of them had powers passed down from me.
I would sit with her curled in my lap for hours, talking about the safety measures we could put in place if anyone showed even the slightest hint of powers. That if my own visions lead to us discovering our pup being able to see visions or some other ability before they show, we can prepare for that day and help guide our pup through it. In the end, Brynlee would fall asleep in my arms and I would carry her to bed so that she could get some proper sleep like I did now.
Placing a soft kiss on her forehead, I make my way out of the bedroom and towards the kitchen. Brynlee will want tea when she wakes up so I make sure to fill the tea kettle before leaving the cottage. Deciding to leave the truck here for Brynlee since she is restricted to how many times she can shift until the first trimester of her pregnancy ends, I shimmy off my clothes and toss them into a tote bag before shifting into my black wolf.
Shaking out my fur and stretching my legs, I take a deep breath to scent out any one lurker nearby. Our pack knows not to disturb Brynlee when she is home unless it is urgent since we started planning our attack so I am relatively surprised when I catch Jennifer’s scent nearby.
Picking up the tote bag by the handles in my mouth, I trot towards the direction of Jennifer’s scent and burst through the tree line into a field of wildflowers. There, Jennifer stands in the middle, her eyes watching four pups run around picking the wildflowers and squealing with delight. I guess I missed their scent due to the flowers masking them.
“Beta Rune.” Jennifer calls out, smiling and waving at me. I nod, letting her know I heard her before trotting through the flowers that seem to hide even my large frame from view. Reaching Jennifer’s side, I place my tote bag down and sit back on my haunches, my eyes watching the pups who wave at me before disappearing into the tall flowers.
“What brings you out here?” Jennifer asks, crossing her arms as a gust of wind blows by, her smile still on full display.
[I was dropping Brynlee off at the cottage. She is taking a day off to rest.] I answer, watching a flicker of understanding cross my Packmate’s face.
“Good. She works so hard for the Pack. Hell, I never even knew how hard she worked until I took over training the pups with Jett. To think she came up with everything on her own amazes me.” Jennifer muses, making me smile with pride.
[Brynlee puts her all into everything.] I agree, catching the look of approval thrown my way.
“She changed you for the better.” Jennifer says after a pause of silence passes between us.
“When I was an Omega in Pine Moon, I was terrified of you because of how much you resembled Valor in both mannerisms and looks.” She continues, her eyes hardening. Guilt creeps into me at how I acted after my mother’s death. I took a lot of my anger and frustration out on the Omegas thinking they were nothing but lowly wolves beneath us.
Brynlee, as usual, took me to the training ring there and happily knocked some sense into me. She was thirteen at the time while I had just turned sixteen. I was newly shifted and even then that no-nonsense she-wolf I am deeply in love with could kick my ass into next week. After losing to her, I kept my distance from the Omegas and used the ass-whooping lesson Brynlee gave me to fight my emotions in the training ring with her father – Knox Eclipse – being the one to help me through it.
[She’s been changing me since we were pups. I just never realized how good Brynlee was for me until after I rejected her.] I admit, watching as a little girl who looks exactly like Jennifer runs up to her and hands her a flower crown. Jennifer smiles, bending down to allow the little girl to place it on her head and I watch on with amusement. One day this will be Emory and Brynlee running around the flowers and making flower crowns.
“I made you one too, Beta Rune.” A small voice calls out. I turn my head to see a little boy holding out a flower crown to me. His eyes hold a slight bit of fear to them and I suppress the sigh building in my throat. I slowly shimmy my front paws forward, making sure not to scare the boy further, until I am laying on the ground. Placing my head on my paws, I wag my tail and watch as the little boy steps closer until he is right beside me. He tentatively places the flower crown onto my head, his face lighting up in a smile as I slowly sit up so as not to disturb it.
[Can you tell him I like it?] I ask Jennifer, watching a smile light up her face once again. She does just that and the little boy unexpectedly hugs me before he and the girl I assume to be Jennifer’s daughter run off to continue collecting more flowers.
“That crown suits you.” She states, her voice clear and friendly. Had this been a year ago, I would have thought Jennifer was mocking me. But now I know she genuinely means her words. I thank her, telling Jennifer to be safe out here before picking up my tote bag and trotting towards the direction of the Pack House. I can feel her gaze follow me until I disappear through the trees.
The trot to the Pack House is uneventful while passing by the Warriors on patrol. Some comment about my flower crown to which I proudly state through a link that a pup gave to me, my tail wagging happily as I pass them. They get a chuckle out of it but many are happy to know that I am a down to earth person.
My Aunt must have heard through the Pack Link that I have a flower crown on my head because she meets me by the steps, cell phone in hand and quickly snaps a picture.
“You look quite dapper.” She muses; eyes full of laughter.
[Thanks. Think you can take it off for me so I can shift?] I reply back, stepping closer to my Aunt and allowing her to remove my flower crown. I shake my fur out, happy to know I brought my little gift to the Pack House safely when howls ring through the air. With eyes widening, I open up the link to all the Warriors and demand to know what is happening.
[Some wolves snuck into the borders, sir. They are heading towards the Pack House.] Ricky calls back through the link. Aunt Asteria must have heard it too as she carefully hands my flower crown to an Omega, telling her to take it to my office with my tote bag full of clothes. After the Omega had made it safely inside, she shifted into her own black wolf and the two of us followed the sounds of howls.
Unease begins to fill me as the direction we are headed in is the same direction mine and Brynlee’s home is. The same direction where I left Jennifer and the pups. The south border.
[Jennifer!] I call through the link, hoping to reach her.
[Busy protecting pups.] Is her short reply. I sigh with relief at knowing she is safe and look at my Aunt. With a silent agreement, we push ourselves to our limits, racing over fallen trees and tall bushes. I pass by the cottage, happy to see that nothing had been disturbed, and I pray to the Goddess that Brynlee is safe, still sleeping soundly in our bed, while I head towards the flower field where I first found Jennifer and the pups.
The sounds of fighting have grown louder and as Aunt Asteria and I burst through the tree line, I catch sight of just how strong Crescent Phoenix truly is. Surrounding the five pups is a circle of Warriors both in human and wolf form. Jennifer is leading their protection, her auburn wolf taking out an enemy that got too close to the scared pups and tearing their throat out. She notices me watching, and I give her a quick nod before joining in the fight.
[Try to keep one alive. We need to know who these wolves are.] My Aunt orders through the Pack link, a chorus of ‘Yes Alpha’ sounding in response. Taking a deep breath, I scent out ten wolves not of Crescent Phoenix or Shadow Rose. These are our enemies and I waste no time in tracking them down one by one, ripping out the throats of those who turn to fight me while
More wolves join the fray herding the attacking wolves. Confused, I follow suit, spying Caspian on top of a boulder. In his hand is a strange-looking gun and it isn’t until he shoots it at an enemy that this gun is a dart gun. The dart lodges itself into the enemy wolf and within seconds the wolf has fallen onto the ground, his body shifting from wolf to human. Skidding to a stop, I look at Caspian with shock before letting out a victorious howl.
With Caspian and his gun in hand, the fight ends just as quickly as it started as my Pack and I continue herding the remaining wolves into Caspian’s line of firing. Out of the ten wolves that I scented, three were captured alive by me, Caspian, and three other Warriors using Caspian’s dart gun. The aftermath revealed that a total of twenty wolves had crossed our borders though, and two had managed to escape. The rest had been killed before my Aunt could send out her order to keep one alive.
“Take these wolves to the Dungeons and the other to the morgue. I want to know who sent them and what their aim was.” My Aunt, now shifted and wearing a baggy shirt, orders. Everyone is busy cleaning up the mess of blood, fur, and bodies, some are off to the side receiving medical treatment as a few of the intruders had wolfsbane on their claws.
Off to the side, I find Jennifer still in wolf form. She is carefully circling the pups, her eyes watching them as she whines reassuringly. They smell strongly of fear and my heart breaks to know that these pups who can be no older than nine years old had to go through such a scary event.
[Are their parents on their way?] I ask her, Jenny stopping her circling to look at me.
[They are. Two of these pups' parents were actually part of the circle protecting them.] She admits, nodding to a pair of Warriors that stand to the side, arms crossed as they scan the now trampled field of flowers.
[Who would do such a horrible thing? Attacking helpless pups in broad daylight?] She asks, letting out an annoyed sigh. I know it is just a question, not one that needs an answer, but I find myself sighing and moving to nudge her reassuringly with my snout, opening a private mind link between the two of us.
[Valor is behind this. He is after my family’s life.] I answer in a private link. I know I can trust Jennifer, have watched her interact with Brynlee since joining Crescent Phoenix, so I explain to her what Valor is planning and that Brynlee and I plan to take back Pine Moon from him. Jennifer is silent, her eyes watching me with a mixture of fear and hesitation before she turns to look at the pups.
[I know you two will succeed.] She finally says her trust in me radiates through the mind link. Taken aback by her blind trust, I just nod my head and thank her before making my rounds to check up on everyone. Valor had crossed a line today sending wolves for a pre-emptive strike. Part of me knows he is testing the waters, testing Crescent Phoenix's strength. But to go after pups is just diabolical even for him.
[We need to have an emergency war meeting.] I finally link my Aunt, reaching her side after checking on all the wolves who helped with taking out our intruders.
[I know. It seems like our attack will have to move up another few days.] She agrees, her eyes staring into my own..