novelraw Chapter 19 - Reluctant Reunion
Chapter 19 - Reluctant Reunion
The shrill of my alarm clock cut off my short amount of sleep. My eyes shoot open, and I glare at the machine on the night table beside me. Considering it’s been over two years, and I still held onto the stupid alarm clock Blue gave me, it shows just how valuable the object is at waking me up. With a groan, I get started with my day, turning the machine off before getting ready for the rough day awaiting me. Today, I will be facing the wolves of Forest Paw, and Dominic wants us to leave exactly at six o’clock in the morning—exactly one hour from now.
With a burning desire to skin my friend’s hide for agreeing to this request, I quickly shower and dress into my mother’s Tracker uniform. If they wanted the best of the best to train Forest Paw, then I will dress as the best. Feeling as ready as I’ll ever be and needing maybe another ten hours of sleep, I make my way downstairs, take the box of food to my car with my multiple suitcases, and drive to the pack house.
“Hey, Fire. Sleep well?” Dominic’s cheery voice fills my ears as I exit my Mustang and direct an Omega wolf walking by to take the box of food into the kitchen. Stupid morning person.
“Why don’t you shove an icicle up your ass.” I grumble, accepting the large travel mug of coffee that Miles holds out to me while trying and failing to stifle his laughter. He tugs at his own uniform, inherited from his father, as he tries to keep his composure. Dominic just rolls his eyes at me, knowing that unless I’ve had a good eight hours of sleep or three cups of coffee in my system, to expect a grouchy version of myself. I liked my sleep, and nothing has changed about how much sleep means to me since teenaged me first discovered her love of sleeping in.
The rest of our wolves soon assemble, ready in their own pack-issued uniforms, looking like a perfect squadron in our pack army. Some are blurry-eyed, still needing a few more hours of sleep like myself, while other bounce around energetically. I repeat—stupid morning people.
We decided to carpool, making sure at least two wolves are in the car together to save on the cost of gas for this trip, as well as to relieve the boredom of the six-hour drive through the long Canadian winter roads. Dominic calls shot gun in my car, getting a grumble from Lease who wanted some girl time, and me to once again glare at my friend. If he’s going to wake me up early and send me on the highway to hell, the least he could do is drive there.
“It’s only for a short time, Amber. We train, we get out, and we will be home again.” Christian says quietly, handing me a new large travel mug of coffee while Miles piles into his own car. It feels weird to say that I spent months tormenting Christian back when I first became a rogue, and now he’s here comforting me as one of my closest friends.
“I know, Chris. I just hate having to go back there. I made a vow the night I left that prevented Leo from finding his second-chance mate. The pack probably hates me, and it’s their hate that I fear will hurt our own pack.” My reply is quiet enough for only the two of us to hear. I can feel Dominic’s questioning gaze from the car, probably wondering what’s taking us so long to head to our designated vehicles, but I am reluctant to go. As part of my duty, I knew that I would have to help ally packs, but Forest Paw territory is the one place that the thought of stepping into made my anxiety climb a few levels.
“Walk in like you own the place. You’re Fire Foot, the wolf who gave us hell. So use that hellfire and pay them back.” Chris playfully punches my shoulder, getting a low chuckle from me. But Christian is right. I used to raid from Blood Moon like I owned the place, and he reminded me that I need to bring out that confident wolf now to conquer whatever waits for me from everyone I left behind. With a sigh, I reluctantly walk towards my Mustang and climb into the driver’s seat. Driving away from the place I call my true home; I sigh once more and give Dominic a small smile hoping to reassure him that I will be fine.
The drive towards Forest Paw is slow going on the slick roads, but the wintery scenes of the forest bring a gleaming smile to my face. I always loved the winter and being able to run around in wolf form most days. Dominic and I joke with the others in our link, playing random road trip games; currently, we’re playing ‘I Spy’.
[I spy with my little eye something that is red.] Greg’s voice reverberates through our link, causing everyone to groan.
[I swear to the Goddess, Greg, that if it’s Amberle’s Mustang, I’m kicking your ass.] Lease growls, causing Dominic and I to laugh. I learned through my time with the pack that Lease and Greg have had this love-hate relationship since they were pups. The two of them grew up together, and from what I’ve been told, she was the only one who put up with Greg’s shit growing up. The game ends with Greg’s crappy attempt when he confirms that the guess was my Mustang, and there was a unanimous vote to grab something to eat. We stop at a café just off the highway, and all fifty-four of us file in. Many of the humans in the area send us questioning gazes, but we just stay to ourselves.
The waitress is kind enough to take down our orders, including the ones we’ll be taking with us on the road, while many of us refill our travel mugs with coffee, tea, or hot chocolate. I’m just sinking my teeth into a delicious turkey club BLT when Christian decides to join me at the small table hidden away.
“How are you holding up, Fire Foot?” His question causes me to laugh around a mouthful of food, leading to me trying to gulp down hot chocolate in hopes of getting the stuck food down my throat.
“Better, but still unwilling,” I grumble once I manage to clear my throat. Glad for the company, Christian and I start talking about training ideas for Forest Paw. We wave over Miles and Dominic to join us once those two have procured food and drinks, and I begin explaining the training that Forest Paw used to be drilled in. This included the torturous tasks that Abby used to have me perform under the suggestions of Mia and Zack. Speaking of Abby, Dominic informed us last night that she had stepped down to raise her pups, causing the hope and curiosity of Zack having more children and me having more nieces and nephews. Maybe I can meet them this trip and try to talk to my brother about patching things up if we could.
Abby stepping down also explained why the Trackers were out of shape, considering that she-wolf is tougher than any Alpha I know. She would have every Tracker in the pack running laps around the territory daily to keep up our speed and stamina. After coming up with a few ideas, namely being the ways I first trained the Blood Moon wolves, Dominic motions for everyone to grab their final orders of food and drinks before we all climb into our respective vehicles. We still have another hour of travelling before reaching Forest Paw territory.