Chapter 7:
Elaine's eyes fluttered open and she recognized the room she was in before. Sitting up slowly, she sighed as her muscles protested. She swung her legs off the bed and slowly made her way into the bathroom. The bright lights of the bathroom momentarily blinded her and when her eyes adjusted. After taking care of her business, she was washing her hands when the door to the bathroom opened. Scinece stepped in and smiled at Elaine. "You were only asleep for a couple of hours," she said, taking Elaine's hand and leading her out of the bathroom and onto the bed. Scinece pointed to Elaine's shoulder and asked, "How does it feel? Any pains or sudden aches?" Elaine shook her head and asked a question herself, one that she's been itching to ask since the first time they met. "You and Lincoln have powers, don't you?"
Scinece's eyes widened and she stammered to answer. "Huh? N-no, wha-what are you talking about?" And she let out a nervous chuckle. "Um, uh, if you're not feeling any pain, I'll go now. Alpha Faust also wants to see you later in the afternoon in his office." And she left before Elaine could ask anymore. Elaine let out a sigh of frustration. She knew Scinece and Lincoln were hiding something from her but didn't know how to get it out of them. Their father wouldn't say a thing about his children even if you tortured it out of him. Elaine hated not knowing about something and it's even more frustrating since it's her mates keeping secrets.
"Gina, bring my spear to the blacksmith. I'll meet you there," she said. Might as well do something productive before meeting with Faust. It was probably about Kylie and the thirteen warriors. Elaine was ecstatic at the thought of punishing Kylie herself for all the offenses she's made against an Alpha. Elaine walked out of the bedroom and made her way to Lucas and Jackson's tent. Lucas and Jackson were the pack's blacksmiths. They were humans, enslaved by one of the worst packs, Opal Pack. She took them under her wing when she found out about the underground forges where they made humans do all the work. The forge was in the worst of conditions; the furnaces improperly placed, tools haphazardly thrown about and if you made a mistake in making them a weapon, you were severely punished. Lucas and Jackson are brothers and were the last humans left in the pack. Apparently the Yule Council had found evidence of human trafficking near the pack and the Alpha was forced to lay low and stop operations until it blew over. But when Nameless passed through the pack, Gina and Duke spotted the brothers running from the pack's warriors. And ever since they saved them, Lucas and Jackson used their knowledge in blacksmithing to show their gratitude in saving them.
Before long, Elaine met with Gina who handed to her the spear and then left wordlessly to go back to training. Elaine said a thank you to her through the mindlink, seeing as she left before Elaine could say anything else, but Gina's mindlink was shut off. Something was bothering Gina but Elaine let it be until Gina was ready to talk about it. Pushing aside the flaps of the tent, she stepped inside and was immediately greeted by Lucas, who was wiping his hands in a rag. "Hello, Alpha. What can I do for ya?" He asked, pocketing the rag in his apron. Elaine looked around, and said, "I just need to sharpen my spear. It dulled when I impaled a rogue." Lucas chuckled and took the spear from Elaine. He went about pulling supplies to sharpen the blade. "Where's Jackson?" She asked and took a seat on an empty stool. "Oh, he went with Delta Alaska to get firewood. Our wood supplies were getting low," he explained, without looking up from his sharpening. Elaine hummed in response and conversation fell quiet after that.
The sounds of the blade making contact with the sharpening stone and classical music from Jackson's record player were calming and she closed her eyes, focusing on the sounds and she hummed along to the music. Minutes later, Lucas was shaking her a bit. "Alpha, your spear," he said and handed over the weapon. She noticed that the body of the spear was shinier, but decided not to question it. Lucas did always do more than what she asked for but nonetheless, she thanked Lucas and asked him to give her greetings to Jackson when he got back. Lucas nodded and Elaine left.
She made her way to the training site and headed for the training dummies. Taking her newly sharpened spear, she stabbed and sliced the dummy until it was unrecognizable. "Oops," she said and made her way to the supply shed to get a new one. When she reattached the new one, she settled for hitting the dummy with the body of the spear. While doing this, her thoughts drifted off to when the spear was given to her.
Nameless was going through Illinois at the time and were making their way to the Peridot pack. The Peridot Pack was known for their amazing weapon forging and beautiful art. As thanks for helping their pack, they gave her two sacks full of weapons and three sacks of forging supplies, which Lucas and Jackson were ecstatic to work with, and to Elaine, the spear. When she laid her eyes on it, she felt it perfect for her and her personality. The spear's body was sleek black and fit perfectly in her hands, the spearhead was black, made of a special material that they kept secret, but thought it would be the best material for the Alpha. Elaine was grateful for the weapon and since then, the spear has been with her in any battles she has gone in.
She was shaken out of her thoughts when someone tapped her on the shoulder. Startled, she spun around and pointed her spear at the person's throat. It was Jay. "I really need to keep myself out of these situations," she said, chuckling. Elaine lowered her spear and let Jay continue. She cleared her throat and said, "Alpha Faust wants to see you now." Elaine nodded and remembered yesterday's events. "How's your arm?" Elaine asked, walking with Jay to the pack house. Jay shrugged and looked down to her arm, which was in a cast and on a sling, "Better than yesterday, that's for sure." Elaine nodded and suggested, "How about when your arm's healed, you and I can train? I want you to at least be able to protect yourself in an attack. Kylie was right about one thing, there are still many of you in my pack that haven't been trained in basic self-defense." Jay looked as if she was pondering the suggestion, but they had reached Faust's office before she could answer. "Tell me what you've decided tomorrow. But for now, focus on getting your arm back," Elaine said before she dismissed Jay and entered the office.
Kylie in a glass cage and the thirteen warriors in chains was the first thing she saw. The thirteen whimpered when they caught sight of Elaine and one even cupped his privates protectively. Kylie, on the other hand, glared at Elaine. She glared even harder when Elaine snickered at her bandaged nose. "How's the nose, Kylie?" She taunted.
Faust cleared his throat and Elaine turned to face him. "I sure hope you have an adequate punishment ready for these traitors," Elaine said, crossing her arms and stared at Faust, expectantly. Faut started, "I have decided, after consulting with the thirteen warriors, to transfer them under your supervision. It seems even though they got beaten to a pulp, embarassingly, they wanted to train under you." Elaine raised an eyebrow at the thirteen, who looked at her in awe before bowing their heads. Faust continued, "As for Kylie, she will be sentenced to a whipping and then she will be turned over to you, for further instructions." Kylie started protesting from inside her cage but with a glare from Elaine and a hand silencing her from Faust, she stopped and stomped her foot on the ground, like a child having a tantrum. "Your offenses have been piling up since you became the leader of the pack warriors. Abusing your power, attacking an Alpha who is here to help, and disrespecting and injuring her pack member. Need I go on?" Faust said and stared Kylie down, who bowed her head.
Elaine nodded at all his statements and stood up. The thirteen followed her every move and Elaine felt uncomfortable. "Stare any longer and I will rip out your eyes," she snarled and they all bowed their heads. "I find your conditions agreeable and I will take the thirteen under my care. But, one wrong move and I will make you a rogue faster than you can say "yes, Alpha"." Elaine directed her last sentence to the thirteen and she left, without another word.
She made her way to the bedroom she was in earlier and found Scinece and Lincoln sitting on the bed, whispering to each other. "Hello." Elaine said and leaned against the door frame, her spear in her other hand. "Do you have any plans for the rest of the afternoon?" Lincoln asked, twiddling his thumbs. Scinece was twirling a piece of her white hair on her finger and looking down, sheepishly. Elaine shook her head and said, "My schedule just cleared up. Why?"
Scinece spoke up, but didn't look up from her lap, "We just wanted to ask if you wanted to go on a run with us. I mean, you don't have to. You probably have more important things to do than babysit your mates." Scinece would have rambled on more if Elaine hadn't walked over to her, kneeled in front of her and put a finger to her lips. "I would love to go on a run with the both of you. And nothing will be more important than my mates," she said, cupping Scinece's cheek with one hand and cupping Lincoln's in the other. The twins blushed, their cheeks warm under her hand. Elaine chuckled and kissed their foreheads. "Now, let me just get changed into some running gear and we can go." The twins nodded, their cheeks even more red.
Later, Elaine and the twins, in their wolf forms, were running through the forest, close to the border but not crossing. It's been a long time since Elaine has been on a leisurely run that doesn't involve running from rogues or running to another pack. While running, Elaine let her eyes roam the twins wolf forms. Instead of having white fur, like she had thought, they had a dull red, almost maroon-like shade of fur, their paws and the tips of their tails and ears white. They were absolutely beautiful and Elaine had to stop the urge to run her fingers through their fur when they changed earlier, but Lincoln sensed her need and pushed his head against her hand and Elaine, delighted, caressed his and Scinece's fur.
The twins suddenly stopped near a lake and Elaine stopped behind them, wondering why they stopped. "We stopped because there's something we need to tell you." Elaine was startled and took a step back from the shock. That was Lincoln's voice in her head. She looked at him, and asked aloud, "That's impossible. How are you doing that?" Most of the time, mating pairs developed telepathy after completing the mating process, but Elaine and the twins had barely met.
"That's part of the reason we took you here, our secret place. There's something you should know about us. It's about what you asked me earlier." This time, it was Scinece's voice she heard. Nodding, Elaine took a seat and leaned against a nearby boulder and waited as the twins made their way behind the trees and changed. They stepped out and sat in front of Elaine. She motioned for them to start talking.
Scinece took a deep breath and started.