Book 2 Chapter 55
John
I watched the sunrise with the night shift of Shadows that came with the Queen, who was now awake, watching silently. She had on just a t-shirt, jeans and at very high heels, with her hair in a braid looped around in a hoop of moon colored hair. Xavier left after she sat in the lawn chair about ten minutes ago. I think she just wanted to watch, but I would disappoint her majesty if she thought I would make any real progress. There was no way I was going to master something so fast, but right now, I was about ready to puke. I’d managed to figure out how to shift head first over the course of 10 minutes, but that wasn’t the lesson.
“Garnet, do you think his majesty is able to actually do this?” Asked one of the Shadow Warriors eating an apple.
He grunted. “John, it isn’t that hard. You’re overthinking it. Let out your claws.” I did as he told me… simple enough.
“Now which one of you did that?” He asked.
“Me.” I said confidently, but I was flicked on the forehead. He made a wrong answer buzzer sound.
“Remember, you’re the man part of this operation. When you do anything wolfish, it’s the supernatural part of you that triggers the action to shift a little or allot. You’re trying to figure out how to slow that reaction at will, so you can half shift. It’s really helpful… It’s something your brother won’t expect.”
I tried again, managing to slow down only a little before fully shifting again. I shifted back, feeling too tired to continue. “Enough pup.” Commanded the Queen, getting up. “Take a shower, and wake up Heidi for breakfast.” She said with a small smile.
“Of course, your highness.” I bowed, getting a small growl from her. “I mean grandma.”
“I relish any chance that I can have with my pups.” She said a little sadly, but I wouldn’t ask. It was still strange to guard my thoughts about it too. I knew if I did she would hear me, and it would probably bring up old scars of her pups that were no longer living. I didn’t know how many she had, but for Alpha Kaiden to be the Crown Prince, they had to all be dead.
I went inside, and Ann was already up and she’d made at least three pots of coffee. We waved each other a good morning, and I made a small cup, and sipped it while walking. She had to have gotten one of them from Garnet’s and I had no idea where the other one came from, but I was grateful. I had an off day, but I wouldn’t waste it sleeping. I still needed to do things with my mate. I’d take a nap at best. But for now, I would take a shower, then wake her up so she wouldn’t have to wait. She was hugging the pillow I usually slept on, and her little companion was in her hair.
I tiptoed past her, and got some sweatpants before going in and taking a hot quick shower. It felt good on aching joints. We weren’t meant to shift slowly once we learned how. Once it became second nature, we could shift in midair, while restrained, and even in some cases even when poisoned by silver. It was like trying to control your heartrate. But I knew it had to be possible if the Shadows did it as a secret ability… I tried shifting my arm to be more beastly before getting out. With the heat to soothe the pain it was possible, but something I don’t think I’d try unless I was going to die.
My mate was so snuggled in bed I almost felt bad for waking her up, but she would miss out on homemade food made with love. I could smell it.
“Heidi.” I chuckled, seeing her slowly open her eyes. They were silver, and she looked a little perturbed.
“Five more minutes.” Mumbled Sparkle.
“Your grandma’s making breakfast.” I grinned.
“I’m up!” She said groggily, pulling off her pajamas and sleepily ‘running’ to take a shower. I was surprised that she’d did that without being shy, but I wasn’t complaining… It was best that I waited for her outside.
Her rat stood on his little back legs at the bathroom door anyway, and I didn’t want to get bit.
Yeah right. You just want to get dirty. Snickered my wolf… who wasn’t wrong, but I ran walked now and sat at the table. It wasn’t formal. She handed everyone a plate that wanted one, and Heidi came out soon after. She wore her cloak today, and it had a claw as the clasp. She wore jeans and a blue t-shirt underneath it.
Everyone greeted her a good morning, and I was too full to want to really get up, but I had to check my pack.
“I was going to ride my broom today… but I don’t think I can.” Complained my mate, while her rat was laid on his side at the table.
“Good, because I wanted to ride with you both to StoneMoon, and give them my blessing.” She smiled sweetly.
“I thank you for that your- Grandma, it’ll bolster their spirits.” I didn’t expect her to hug me. She patted my head, and Terracotta became mush.
“It’s the least I can do after all that’s happened to them… they lost their homes, families, and worst of all… it was done by their own pack member. Right now, they’re scared and afraid… also there’s still about a thousand of them still being processed and healed from poisoning. Half of which are pups.” She mumbled. It felt weird to be around her… it felt like she really was my grandma and I’d known her my whole life, but that was partly because she was the Soul Mender. Her abilities contradicted the King’s.
“Let’s go then!” Yelled Ann, grabbing Garnet’s hand, and running off with him to I assume his car.
“Fair enough.” I smiled, seeing that Heidi and her grandmother had the same energy, even after being fed so much. She had to scoop her rat up, and put him in her pocket though.
I didn’t think it was right to have to smoosh either Heidi or the Queen in the middle of my two-seater, so I linked Warrior Commander to have someone lend me one of their cars. They came within five or so minutes with a four-door, sunset orange pickup truck. I actually really liked this one… and I hoped I could hold onto it a little longer.
“Tell Litruce I said thank you.” I told the Warrior who was nice enough to deliver it.
“Nobody uses that old thing, it’s like 20 years old.” He chuckled, and I smiled wide, because it certainly didn’t look it.
“Well then I’ll hold onto it.” I said getting all my papers putting them under the driver’s side, and he gave me a thumbs up before taking off his clothes and shifting, running I assumed to his patrol for the day.
The Queen sat in the back with Heidi, while Emerald sat in the front with me. We all figured without saying anything that the King wouldn’t be so keen on some other male being so close to his mate even though he was her protector.
There was a two-laned dirt road that actually wasn’t too bumpy that went straight into StoneMoon, and I figured that was probably the work of all the activity. Trees that needed to be fell, homes built, permits made, and inspections from licensed contractors from Lapis coming and going had smoothed it out.
“I smell Nubia pines…” Said the Queen quietly, breaking the comfortable silence. “It takes me back. They used to be everywhere before the second wave of the war.” She mumbled.
“What happened?” Asked Heidi.
“Its oil is good for cremating the dead… mortal and supernatural alike chopped down so much of it…” She looked out the window at the bluish colored pine needles. I common linked that I was here, and I got howls in response.
“Then if they’re rare…. I’ll make sure that we try and preserve as many as we can.” I told her, seeing that many of the homes were in white wrapping, while some were already finished. We agreed to have the pack wolves live in their homes first, because they would be the most susceptible to attack from rouges, which so far, there were none thankfully. I had as of yet to receive any challenges, but I think that was because no one wanted the big ass project of all this….
I pulled over in what would be the market area, as it had electricity, and some of the supplies were already being shipped here. There was a grocery store, a hardware store, and a café that was open for use. There was a painted finished road with two lanes on either side, and a sidewalk for some of it, but the rest was sectioned off with wood still drying. The Zones were built in a ring-like fashion, though it wasn’t an actual circle.
The housing district was the outer ring, along with where Warriors lived. This was in case of attack, that they could scatter and flee from the threat first. Next would be the shops then the packhouse. We were in the middle of town, because we would be the ones who stayed behind to defend. Shops often had backdoors and side allies to make it more confusing for an intruder too, a good idea implemented in newer packs to prevent Hunter attack success. There was also a safety bunker built underground for the pack wolves to run to, complete with its own separate water supply and air filtration. This too was becoming common additions to most packs.
I was lucky enough that I already had a neighbor with ungodly numbers at his side to help, but now wasn’t the time to worry of that. Now I had to be my own Alpha, as there was already a wolf waiting for me in front of the coffee shop.
The wolf who would meet us stepped in was a light cinnamon Native man in warrior’s uniform, with his hair slicked back into a white man bun. His eyes were grayish green, and he took off his construction hat, bowing. He was shorter than me and Garnet by a head, the speed demon…
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