Through the Woods

by Cassandra Johnson

  “Not really.” She replied after a few seconds of thought, tucking the cover sheet under the mattress.

  “Those two getting to you? You should remember that Lucas is the same little boy you used to play with, you want him to shut up just give’em a swift kick in the knee, and he’ll get the idea.”

  Elle laughed, shaking her head. “That’s not entirely the problem. Just listening to Lucas and Gaerik, it’s like listening to little boys talking about playing games of cowboys and Indians, it makes me feel sick listening to it, and I’m not saying that I know anything about fighting, but people are going to die, Molly. I’m having a real hard time getting excited about that.” Elle frown softly as she attempted to explain how she felt, she also never understood the game of cowboys and Indians. How was it that they could call themselves a forward thinking nation when they were still allowing the subliminal message to be perpetuated that because you were a different color it dictated that you’re race was somehow better than another and entitled to something.

  “I know. Lucas and Gaerik think that they know, but they really don’t. Those boys are still too much like puppies, they’ll think that they are big and bad until they’ve gone up against something a whole lot bigger than them.” Molly stepped inside the bedroom and closed the door behind her.

  “I’ve only lived through one fight. That was when Lucas took on Alpha, watching my grandson fight my husband it just about broke my heart watching Sam roll over for Lucas, but we all knew it was coming. Sam was already dying, and Lucas took it easy on him. Around these parts, no one disputed Lucas ascending to Alpha status. Physically he might be the Alpha, but mentally he’s still so young. Sam was supposed to live long enough to teach him everything he needed to know, but then cancer metastasized to his lungs, and there was nothing else that could be done.” Molly told Elle, taking a seat at the foot of the bed, quietly recounting the hardest time of her life.

  Elle never knew any of this, she’d always known that Mr. Pritchett had passed away from cancer of course, but she’d never been a part of the details as she was now. Slowly taking a seat next to Molly she looked off in the same direction as if she looked hard enough, she could watch the scene play out the way that Molly talked about it.

  “How did you get through it?” Elle asked eventually turning her eyes on Molly for the answer.

  “Well, I knew that I still had a husband and grandchildren to care for. It wasn’t completely over, not yet. Sam passed peacefully in his sleep thankfully, but Lucas still has a lot to learn. Sam tried to impart on him that being the Alpha wasn’t all it seemed to be, it’s actually a full-time job, he figured that out the first year after Sam passed away and as much as it hurt watching him struggling to find his way, I’m very proud of the young man he’s growing into.”

  “I think the thing that frightens me the most is that I have no idea what to do here, I have no experience in this. All I did was get us here, I knew that we would be safe. Gregory coming and finding me had to be a sign of the troubles that were to come, but aside from that?” Elle shook her head. “I don’t know how to help us.”

  Molly reached out wrapping her arm around Elle and pulled her a little closer, stroking her back.

  “You’ll figure it out, darlin’, usually we never know what the right thing to do is until we have to make that choice. For now, just keeping on doing what you are doing and let the rest just happen. Fate will take care of everything else.”

  “Fate is a cruel bitch sometimes.” Elle blurted out without even thinking of the manners that her grandmother had raised her with, suddenly feeling that fear of being chastised but instead, Molly burst out laughing shaking her head.

  “Yeah, she really is.” Molly agreed before pushing herself up to her feet. “Why don’t you just get dressed and we’ll go hit the stores together? Let the men be men while the women do what we know how to do. Take care of everything while they walk around with their big talk.” That earned another honk of laughter to brighten Elle’s dark thoughts.

  “That sounds like a good idea. I need to get away from all of these men for a little while before I completely lose my mind.” Elle told Molly as she began to get dressed, wearing the same clothes as the day before. They still didn’t have much, which was to say mainly what they arrived with. They needed more underwear which Marik had neglected to buy, and she was wearing her panties inside out. Elle just wasn’t one of those women who could walk around without any panties on, feeling her ass cheeks wiggling and jiggling the whole day with every step she took? No. Not going to happen.

  Elle had forgotten entirely about her laptop which was sitting on the other side of the bed, maybe when they got back, she would just lock herself up in her bedroom and try to write everything that had happened. Perhaps if she got it all out of her head, she could think straight. Usually, that was the way it worked for her. Whenever she’d gone through tense situations in a concise amount of time, it was like her brain started to slow down under all the pressure and once she wrote it all out, it was as if she’d organized her mind and she could see through the mess once more. Grabbing the credit card off the dresser, she placed it into her pocket.

  She’d already begun to make a list of things inside of her head while she sat down on the bed, pulling her socks and shoes on. Just the fact that she had a credit card in her pocket felt wrong, it felt too much like she was going to lose it or worse, snap it in half when Elle moved, she needed a purse and a wallet. They all needed more jeans, shirts, underwear, they needed more food because somehow after breakfast and seeing the amount of food that the men could eat she knew she was going to need to restock the cabinets again in just a few days, so she might as well start now. Plus, there were some things that men just didn’t think of. And Elle needed something to take her mind back to a healthy place again. A place where life didn’t seem so dangerous.

  The only person to notice when Elle was dressed was Gallen, hearing the two women coming back down the stairs he excused himself from the kitchen and pushed his hands down into his pockets as he saw Elle and Molly stop in the living room.

  “Where are you two off to?” He asked politely.

  “We’re going to the store,” Elle replied gently as Molly headed for the door to go get the keys to her car, she’d run back by and pick her up if Elle didn’t beat her to it.

  “Again?” Gallen’s brows knitted slightly before he heard laughter coming from the kitchen and somehow, he simply understood why Elle was escaping the confines of the house. “Could you possibly pick me up a few notepads and some pens?” He asked.

  Gallen remembered what it was like when his father instituted the idea of a Council, they were dark days for them, and the idea of a war brewing didn’t interest him in the least. Gallen needed to mentally prepare himself for it as well as physically.

  “I’d be glad to.” Elle nodded softly before she reached up, hugging his shoulders, pressing a quick kiss to his cheek. “Try not to go crazy until I get back, and if you like, you’re more than welcome to zone out on my laptop if you need to.” She added before patting his arm.

  It was like she couldn’t get out of the house fast enough, it felt like Lucas was taking up the whole kitchen, his voice, his size, his stories. She tried to shake it off as she trotted down the street towards Molly’s house. Elle couldn’t be mad at him, he was there to help but did he have to delight in the idea of bloodshed so much?

  “Jesus, I need a cigarette.” She griped softly as she saw Molly pulling out of the driveway and backing all the way up to where she stood.

  Walking around the back of the car Elle hopped into the passenger seat of the old Buick and rolled the window down a few inches.

  “Mind if I get a cigarette off you, Molly? I’ll buy you and me a whole carton when we get into town.” She explained.

  “Of course, go ahead.” She held out the pack and the lighter in her fingers, there was already a Pall Mall dangling from her lips as she put the car in drive way and they shot down t
he street. Elle had forgotten how crazy Molly Pritchett drove. She’d once taken out four mailboxes in a year because of the way she drove, usually dropping something and reaching down in the floorboard to grab it while she tried to peak over the steering wheel to keep her eyes on the road. And more than a few dogs and cats had learned that when you saw her car coming down the road, you got the hell out of the way. Poor Mister Frisky had bit the dust one day in late July when Elle was thirteen years old. Molly Pritchett couldn’t leave the house without getting glares from the rest of her neighbors for some time after that, but eventually, everyone forgot about it.

  CHAPTER TWELVE

  It appeared that Gaerik had made himself a new friend. Frankly, Marik had never seen him bond with another male so quickly, but perhaps it was a good thing. Gaerik could easily become obsessed, it was just part of his personality, in the meantime that left Marik with some time where he wasn’t playing brother’s keeper. Stepping out of the kitchen he went outside, Gregory following him as they both stood on the back porch, looking out at the open land. This was something you almost never saw in New Haven; every available ounce of space was taken up by houses, buildings, parking lots and shopping centers. Inhaling he looked at the guardian for a moment, Gregory was watching the tree line that surrounded the back of Elle’s property like sentinels keeping guard over the house. It was almost part of a cul-de-sac of trees that kept the house itself protected. Marik hadn’t noticed that about any other home that was in the neighborhood. There was so much open space where you could have filled in the land between houses with at least three more, at least the way they were made where Marik was from. Typically, they were multi-family homes with multiple levels, tall and narrow. Everything here was different, and he liked that.

  From beside him Marik heard Gregory give a low rumble of sound from his throat, it wasn’t a growl, but it was a vocalization that pulled Marik from his thoughts as he noticed a small animal skirting around the edge of the trees, slowly peeking out before it dodged back into the tall grass.

  In the blink of an eye Gregory was off the porch and lopping through the grass towards it, Marik followed not knowing what they were about to find.

  Shaking in the trees was a small white dog, it was filthy and seemed to be terrified, emitting a sharp high pitch warning bark when Gregory approached, which caused the guardian to pause in his steps and cautiously look the small dog over, assessing whether it was a threat to him or not. Marik mimicked his movements, stopping and crouching down onto his hands and knees at the smaller animal’s level.

  “It’s alright…come on out.”

  Gregory took another step forward, lowering his belly down to the ground and inching closer and closer until the two animals were nose to nose. The white dog looked at them both before slowly creeping out of the tall grass, moving beneath Marik after a moment and curling up beneath his belly.

  This was something altogether different, slowly picking the animal up she wasn’t a guardian, just a lost dog but he remembered Elle telling him that dogs were always showing up at the house. Getting to his feet, he looked down at Gregory wondering if it was merely this place that pulled the animals here for shelter or if it was the guardian himself, maybe it was Elle.

  Marik wanted to know what it was, the questions pouring into his mind as he walked back up to the house carrying the dog, he was halfway there when he heard howling. Half turning, he looked back, watching, knowing what they were. Three massive wolves stepped out of the tree line, three sets of eyes staring him down. Were they what the dog was afraid of?

  As he watched them, each one carefully moving through the line of trees together Marik heard the door to the kitchen open.

  “Those are mine,” Lucas said, his voice deeper.

  “Did you tell them you were here?” Marik asked, tilting his head towards him slightly.

  “Nope. Probably sensed you were here and came to check things out. We try to keep tabs on any new wolves that come into our territories.”

  Ripping shredding noises erupted in front of them before a very naked, girl straightened up off the ground and onto her feet.

  “Bullshit I am yours Lucas Pritchett you just wait until I tell Nana! I can’t believe there are new wolves here and you didn’t tell me anything about it.”

  She was a flying fury, like a rabid Chihuahua coming at Lucas, her fists balled up as she got about three feet away and launched herself at him, pounding him about the head and shoulders. In the waylay Marik stepped out of the way, the resemblance between the two wasn’t lost, and he wasn’t even going to attempt to pry that naked girl off Lucas. Luckily Marik didn’t have to do anything. Gaerik was laughing, Gallen was staring a bit bewildered while the other two wolves, both having shifted came and grabbed the girl by the arms and pulled her back. She hadn’t hurt Lucas at all, it was the kind of tumble roll that usually happened between youngsters. Or siblings.

  “What the fuck, Shaye!” Lucas was ripping his jacket off, throwing it at one of the boys to cover his sister's naked body. “Nana knows that I am here, I’m the Alpha remember? These are friends of Elle’s, and she’s in trouble, and I didn’t tell anyone about it because I had to get the whole story before I called a meeting.”

  This wasn’t any of their business, turning to Gaerik he motioned him on to follow him back onto the house, Gallen coming as well. He knew far better than to try to intrude in on another Alpha’s pack as well as dealing with a family situation.

  “What have you got there?” Gallen tilted his head just now noticing the dog in Marik’s arms.

  “I found her just before the others showed up. I think maybe she heard them and got scared. Probably belongs to someone around here, hopefully.” He added as an afterthought.

  “Maybe Elle knows it.” Gaerik looked at the dog for a second before he turned his attention back to the kitchen window, watching.

  “Gregory noticed her first,” Marik said.

  “Could feed her. Gaerik move away from the window.” Gallen snapped at him. “That is none of your concern.” He told him before he got out a plate and filled it with what was left of breakfast and sat it down on the floor for the dog.

  Gaerik did move away from the window but mostly only because the two males were hauling the girl away, and Lucas was stepping back inside.

  “I’m sorry about that. My sister has this idea that she’s second in command and that she can do a better job of Alpha than I can. She tends to blow shit way out of proportion. I’ll call everyone up, and we’ll get a meeting together, so I can tell them all what is going on.” Lucas looked red-faced and frustrated, but his voice was calm as he looked at the three men. “I’ll call you when everything has been set up, and we can introduce you to the pack.”

  “That would be great,” Gallen spoke pressing the heels of his hands into his pockets for a moment.

  It wasn’t even noon yet and the day was working up to be a long one with what appeared to be many more to come.

  Without a jacket, Lucas didn’t waste much time leaving out the back door and making his way back to his truck parked on the street in front of his grandmother’s house. Rubbing the back of his neck slightly as he pulled a flip phone out of his pocket, hitting a number that was on speed dial.

  “Yeah, they’re here.”

  ~

  Pressing the heels of her hands on her hips her feet took a wider stance as she looked at Gaerik. “What do you mean I’m not going?” Elle demanded.

  The calling of the wolves was tonight, at least that was what Molly told her it was. Elle had every intention of being there, was she not just as much a part of this as any one of them? Of course, Elle was, if Elle weren’t they wouldn’t even be here. She’d still be in her warm, cozy little house in New Haven, none the wiser to the world around her.

  “Lucas doesn’t think it would be a good idea for you to come,” Gaerik said, his tone flat like there wasn’t any way she could talk her way into this meeting. It was wolves only.

  “Lu
cas Pritchett can kiss my sweet ass if he’d like to, but he isn’t the boss of me. He isn’t my Alpha and if I want to go, considering that this concerns me too just as much as it does you, he’s just gonna have to suck it up and put his big boy pants on because ya don’t always get what you want. I’m not idly sitting back at the ladies table while the men go off to smoke cigars and drink brandy. I know what all of this entails, Gaerik. I’m not stupid. And in case it hasn’t sunken in yet? I’m the entire reason you are even here.”

  Since Elle had gotten back from the store Gaerik had been acting strangely critical of her from the things she bought to the way she dressed, who Elle talked to while she was gone and how much money she’d spent. It was bizarre, and she wasn’t the only person picking up on that vibe either.

  “Elle’s right, son.” Gallen chimed in clipping the price tag of the new jacket Elle had found at the store for him. It might have been in the sixties, but the temperatures would drop once the sun started going down.

  “It’s not going to be safe, and she’s human,” Gaerik growled.

  “Safe? Has anything in my life been safe since you all walked into it? What bug has crawled up your ass?” Elle was firing on all cylinders, if it was a matter of safety that Gaerik was worried about, she knew Lucas, knew Molly and probably knew a lot more of the wolves that would be showing up tonight than she ever realized, but that didn’t seem like it was the problem. He was making this sound like they were going to a meeting of the He-Man Woman Haters club and she wasn’t allowed to come. Like she was just this annoying little pest who kept tagging along with them, and more than that, it was the sheer fact that Gaerik thought he had any say in what she did.

  Where this attitude came from she didn’t know, he’d been fine this morning when she left.

  “She’s safer with us than anywhere else. She is coming.” Marik said walking into the living room, adjusting the collar of his shirt as he passed into the kitchen.