by Idella Breen
“You’re getting stronger.”
Elena nodded. “I’m gonna beat up Sammy today!”
“Sammy?”
“Gwen’s friend. I think she said he was a beta. What’s a beta?”
Cait took her hand and led her towards Remus’s house. Gwen didn’t actually have her own house. Cait thought this was strange until the omega explained the situation in the Lander Clan. Apparently, as the omega, everyone in the clan worried about her. They were constantly asking if she was eating properly; was she sleeping well; did she need some extra money; and most importantly, was she taking care of herself? According to Gwen, everyone in her clan was like an overbearing mother hen, even the men. She had grown up in such a surrounding and once the clan realized she was their omega after her wolf manifested at fourteen, any chance she had at independence was smothered out.
Cait empathized with her but also understood the pack’s instincts to protect the weakest wolf. So, she wasn’t so surprised after hearing the explanation that Gwen was passed around from house to house depending on who had the room at the time. Especially, since Gwen was pretty much an orphan. Cait didn’t know all the details but she had heard the rumors that the omega was disowned by her parents due to something that happened after her wolf manifested.
She was drawn from her musing when Elena tugged on her hand. “Mom, what is a beta?”
Cait chuckled. “A beta is second in command to the alpha of a pack. Remus is the alpha of the Lander Clan and it seems that Sammy is his beta.”
“Does that mean he is stronger than Gwen?”
She nodded. “Gwen is their omega. Do you know what that means?”
Elena furrowed her brows in thought. “That she is the weakest?”
Her mother nodded. “And?”
Elena beamed. “And that we all have to protect her!”
“Good girl. That’s right.”
“Am I stronger than Gwen?”
Cait smiled softly. “Not yet, sweetheart. You’re still a baby. Once you grow up you will find your place in our clan.”
“Will I be an alpha like you?”
She shrugged. “Maybe.”
Elena frowned. “I don’t know if I want to be an alpha.”
Cait frowned and looked down at the five-year-old. “Why not?”
Elena looked up and met her mother’s confused gaze. “Alpha’s have to protect everyone. I don’t know if I would be able to do something like that. I would be scared.”
Her mother’s frown turned into a look of understanding and she stopped walking to crouch down to her daughter’s level. “Elena?”
“Yes.”
“Whether you become an alpha or an omega you will alway be my special little girl and your Mama and I will always love you no matter what. All we want is for you to be happy and healthy.”
“But what if I have to leave one day?”
“What do you mean?”
“What if I have to go somewhere that you and Mama can’t follow. What if I have to protect someone and I’m not strong enough?”
Cait tucked a strand of long dark hair behind the girl’s ear and smiled. “You will be.”
“But — ”
Cait shook her head. “Elena, you are strong. And when you’re weak and lonely, you will always find the strength to pull through, because you’re my daughter, and I won’t ever let you give up. Do you understand what I’m saying?”
Elena shook her head making Cait smile. “I’m saying, that Mama and I love you dearly, and we will never abandon you. One day, you will have someone that you want to protect and I know that you will be strong enough. I promise that you will be. So, hold your head high, and keep moving forward.”
Elena smiled and nodded. “I will Mom.”
“Good,” Cait said as she stood and resumed walking towards the house. Reaching the front door she lifted her hand to knock only for it to fly open and for Gwen to scoop up her daughter, kissing her loudly on the cheek.
“Elena! You’ve grown so big since the last time I saw you! What are your momma’s feeding you?”
She squealed and laughed when Gwen swung her around in a circle. “I was here yesterday!”
Gwen paused and met the girl’s eyes seriously. “Really?”
“Yes! Really.”
“Huh, feels like years!”
Elena laughed as she was finally set back down on her feet. Gwen pat her on the head, nudging her into the house. “Go sniff out Remus. He’s hiding again and I want to see if your nose is getting better.”
“Okay!” Elena called out before jogging into the house.
Cait laughed. “Is he really hiding?”
Gwen looked back but there was a mischievous twinkle in her eye that made Cait laugh louder. “Let’s just say that he’s used to having to run and hide from your daughter if he wants any peace and quiet. She’s getting really good at tracking people.”
“Thanks Gwen for helping me with teaching her. I don’t have much to go by when it comes to teaching a baby werewolf as most of what I know was learned through experience.”
Gwen waved it off. “Don’t sweat it. You’re family. It’s really no problem.”
“Elena, I’m in the bathroom!” a gruff voice yelled out interrupting their conversation.
“Was that Remus?” Cait asked.
“Huh, she found him faster than last time. I better go and get her before Remus blows a gasket.”
Cait chuckled. “Okay, I’ll be by to pick her up later.”
“See ya, Cait.”
She turned around and headed back to where she parked at the end of Remus’s long driveway. Honestly, she was a bit troubled by the conversation she had with Elena. Her daughter had always been very intuitive and was wise beyond her years. Some of the things the little werewolf would say gave her pause on several occasions and she would have to remind herself that she was speaking with a five-year-old and not a battle-worn soldier.
But why would Elena ask such a question? Was there something her instincts were telling her? Cait shrugged. If it came up again she would have to consult Remus and if he couldn’t help her then she would have to suck it up and visit Yu, the witch on Remus’s land. She and the witch were never on the greatest of terms and tended to avoid one another. Or, at least she avoided the woman every chance she got. Yu tended to take a sick fascination in making her uncomfortable. She was willing to put aside her aversion to the woman if it helped her daughter. If Elena was feeling anything similar to what Cait had faced when she was younger then she wanted to help her daughter in any way that she could. Cait climbed into her cherry red Mustang and turning on the engine gunned it all the way home.
* * *
“In through your nose and out through your mouth,” Gwen said softly.
Elena fidgeted in her seat on top of the cushion but did as instructed making Gwen smirk slightly. “What now, Aunty?”
“Are you focusing?”
“Yes!”
“No, you’re not. You need to focus Elena. Remember the visualization exercise we went through last time?”
“The one that made me fall asleep?”
Gwen frowned. “You fell asleep?”
Elena giggled. “Maybe.”
Gwen sighed. “Elena, you need to take these practice sessions seriously. When you’re fighting with Remus you pay attention, don’t you?”
The five-year-old nodded. “But Remus will smack me on the head if I don’t focus.”
“Should I take a page from his book?”
“What book?”
Gwen sighed. “It’s a figure of speech.”
“Oh.”
Gwen placed her hands on the girl’s shoulders and Elena immediately felt the excited energy, that had slowly been building in her chest, release slightly. Gwen frowned. “Elena?”
“Yes?”
“Have you always felt this excited?”
She nodded her head. “I always feel like running.”
“Running?”
&
nbsp; “Yeah. I just feel like I want to move, and jump and play. Sometimes it’s like I’m going to explode!”
Gwen nodded and released her hold before sitting back on her cushion. It wasn’t unusual for a young werewolf to have a lot of energy. The primal side was naturally energetic and playful like a child but the level of energy residing within Elena’s body was above normal. Gwen felt as if her own body was humming with it while she had been touching the girl. She would need to speak with Cait and Snow about this if it got any worse. For now, she needed to get the girl to focus and relax a little so she could walk her through her weekly meditations.
“Do you feel any better?”
Elena nodded. “I don’t feel like exploding anymore.”
Gwen chuckled. “That’s reassuring. Now, come on and let’s try meditating again.”
Elena groaned. “But I want to play!”
“Elena,” Gwen said sternly. “We talked about this.”
“But Aunty, this is so boring! I want to play with Remus.”
“Elena.”
The girl quieted down at the elder werewolf’s tone. “Do you know why we meditate like this?”
“So I can control my wolf better.”
“That too, but also so you don’t get overwhelmed by the wolf’s power.”
“It’s power?”
“The beast within you is powerful but young. It doesn’t respect you as an equal and unless you are able to tame it, it will try to take over. Do you know what happens if it takes over?”
The girl shook her head and Gwen nodded. “If it takes over, you might hurt someone you didn’t mean to.”
“I don’t want to hurt anyone.”
“I know, honey. So, will you meditate with me now?”
Elena nodded solemnly. Gwen sighed before reaching out and tilting the girl’s face up. “If you meditate for twenty minutes now, tomorrow when you come over I’ll take you to the park. How about that?”
An earsplitting grin replaced the frown and Elena wiggled her butt into the cushion before closing her eyes. “I’m ready, Aunty!”
Gwen laughed. “Good girl.”
Elena lasted the full twenty minutes as promised and the two of them were sitting at the bar in the kitchen eating ice cream when Sam walked in greeting them. “Finished already?”
“Yep!” Elena yelled before shoving a giant spoonful of ice cream into her mouth.
Sam smirked. “Should you be giving her ice cream before taking her home?”
Gwen shrugged while placing her bowl in the sink. Skipping slightly, as she was in an extremely good mood, she pulled out a pair of scissors from the island and moved over to the little girl. Elena had managed to get her hair covered in ice cream mostly because her bangs were too long.
“Do you mind if I trim up your bangs Elena?”
The little girl shrugged making Gwen grin. Moving to stand behind the little werewolf who was making quick work of her dessert, Gwen ran her fingers slowly through the soft tendrils of obsidian locks. “Elena, your hair is so soft!”
The girl giggled. Gwen wrapped her fingers around a section of hair and twirled it around to hold it out of the way as she separated Elena’s bangs to make them easier to trim. Just as she was about to use her scissors on a section there was a loud grunt before a solid body bumped into her.
Gwen’s hand moved forward and her hand reflexively clenched. She spun around, “What the heck! Sam! Was that you?”
The hulking man scratched the back of his head in embarrassment as he pushed one of the younger werewolves off of him. “Sorry, this guy is a troublemaker. Get off me, you klutz!”
He pushed the other werewolf, who had tried to tackle him, away and shoved him out of the kitchen. Gwen sighed and turned back to the task at hand and to check if she had hurt Elena only to stop. Terror crawled up her spine and gripped her throat when she looked at Elena’s hair, then to the floor. On the floor was a large clump of midnight tresses. Gwen gulped. “I can fix this,” she whispered.
The five-year-old paused in her eating to glance back. “Fix what?”
“Nothing! Nothing, at all!”
She frowned at Gwen before shrugging. “Okay.”
Gwen stared at the evidence that could lead to her demise for a moment before a solution presented itself. “Elena?”
“Yeah?”
“How do you feel about having short hair?”
Elena shrugged. “I don’t care. Never had it before but it might be nice.”
Gwen smirked evilly. “Let aunty help you out then.”
Chapter 3
Elena glanced up when Sam laid a heavy hand on her shoulder holding her back from view. “Sammy?”
The hulking beta smiled down at her. “Just wait here, Elena. Gwen has something she needs to tell your mothers before they see you.”
“What?”
“It’s about your hair. It might surprise your parents if we don’t prepare them.”
“Oh, okay.” Elena smiled and glanced around the corner of the hallway. She watched Aunty Gwen knock only for the front door to be thrown open.
“Gwen, where is my daughter?” Elena’s mama spoke in such soft tones that Gwen paused before giving her an explanation as a cold shiver of fear ran down her spine.
A toned arm wrapped around Snow’s waist as Cait pulled her wife into her chest and rested her chin on her shoulder. Elena met her mom’s gaze over Snow’s shoulder and the redheaded werewolf winked at her making Elena giggle softly.
“Give her a chance to explain, babe,” Cait said as she nuzzled softly into Snow’s neck.
She shuddered as Cait’s heat warmed the chill that permeated from her body and nodded. “You have five seconds before I turn you into a werewolf popsicle.”
Gwen nodded. “Elena is fine! I just wanted to explain some things so that you didn’t freak out so much.”
Elena looked back up to Sam. “Is Gwen in trouble?”
The beta was smirking at the scene unfolding in front of him and nodded. “She will be fine, but yes, she is in trouble.”
“Oh.”
He glanced down at the little girl. “Don’t worry Elena. You aren’t in trouble.”
She smiled. “Okay! Can I go see my mommies now?”
Sam looked up at that moment as Snow’s voice carried over to them. “Explain what exactly?”
Gwen sighed and turned around. “Sam, bring her over here.”
“Come on, kid. We can go over there now.” He gently grabbed the little girl’s hand, careful of his strength, and guided her down the hallway to her apartment. Elena noticed that her mama seemed to sag a little as if all the tension left her at one time. Sam smiled as she jogged pulling him along with her to quicken his pace. Her short hair bounced around her head as she jogged and she liked the light and airy feeling from short hair. Her long hair was itchy sometimes, especially when it was a hot day, and it always seemed to get in the way no matter what she did.
Elena saw Gwen shudder out of the corner of her eye and felt the temperature around them drop. Her Mama must be angry again. That must be what Sammy was talking about.
Gwen’s voice suddenly interrupted her thoughts. “It’s all Sam’s fault! I had nothing to do with any of this!”
“Hey!” the hulking man whined. “This was your idea!”
“Lies! I was against the whole thing! You won’t take me alive!”
“Gwen,” Snow’s voice was steady making the werewolf cringe.
“Yes?”
“Give me a reason why I shouldn’t retaliate?”
Cait smiled at Elena, filling the little girl with pride. Her inner wolf always seemed to crave recognition from her mom in everything. Elena didn’t quite understand why she always felt so good whenever her mom would smile at her or compliment her when she did something right. There was always just an understanding within her that she must please her mom at whatever she did. Whenever her mom would growl in approval the wolf inside of her would hum back in excitement. It was diff
erent than when she played with Sammy or Gwen. Gwen calmed her and made her feel peaceful while Sammy made her feel respectful but playful. For some reason, Remus’s presence led to her wanting to improve and impress, but her mom inspired her to do her best because she always wanted to make her proud.
Cait’s sudden burst of laughter broke the tension, warming the room slightly. “Elena! You’re adorable. Come here, sweetheart.” The redhead kneeled down and opened her arms to receive her daughter as the girl burst into giggles. Elena broke free from Sam’s gentle hold and jogged into her mom’s arms.
“What on earth happened to you, baby?” Cait asked as she lifted the girl up and rested her on her hip. Elena loosely wrapped her arms around the older werewolf’s neck and nuzzled her cheek in greeting before pulling back and grinning. “Aunty Gwen wanted to know what I would look like with short hair, but when she tried to make me look pretty, Sammy bumped into her, and she made an uh oh.”
Cait laughed and ran her fingers through her daughter’s short locks and Elena answered the affection with a quiet growl in her chest. “How does it feel?”
Elena rested her finger on her chin, in an adorable rendition of Cait, then shrugged. “I feel lighter and not as hot.”
Her mother nodded. “Is that a good thing?”
The little girl tilted her head slightly. “It’s not a bad thing.”
Cait kissed her on the cheek making her giggle. “That settles it then! Everything should be fine, Snow. It will grow back. Just try and think of this as a free haircut. Besides, Gwen did a good job styling this. I think the wild look suits our little werewolf, don’t you.”
Elena giggled when her mama leaned in and kissed her on the cheek before pulling back and lightly touching the soft midnight locks. The small action filled the little girl with satisfaction at being praised. She couldn’t keep the smile from her face. Snow turned back to Gwen. “Just be careful next time, please.”
Gwen gulped and nodded vigorously. “It will never happen again!”
“See that it doesn’t.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
Elena rested her head on her mom’s shoulder and could feel the vibrations of her voice as she spoke with Gwen. “Were you planning on staying for a little bit?”