Shattered

16

"How do you move on? You move on when your heart finally understands that there is no turning back."

by J.R.R Tolkien

Hawk, Colorado

The first morning when I woke up I was staring at familiar painted walls that were devoid of any real happy memories. My room was the same as I left it-of course my mother did come in and dusted off my room. The jars of the first herbs I picked still stood proudly on the shelf against the wall. I smiled seeing those. It seemed like such a long time ago...I decided that I would go to the print shop and print out an array of pictures from my travels and hang them.

No one was home-my parents, my siblings, and Emma were all out working or running errands. I was glad they didn't feel the need to coddle me too much. I was happy to be back...but as much as I would've thought.

I missed waking up in various places with Natalie screaming at the coffee-maker or complaining about our new home that she didn't like. I got change into some comfortable clothing and put Kuma's harness on before getting her into the car. My car...I can still smell my younger self in here...even though it was extremely stale.

Despite it being rather early in the morning, the pack was bustling. Everyone was doing their best to prepare for the guests that would be arriving in a few days. The Alpha had prepared and built five or so large guest houses for all the packs coming in.

"What do you think Natalie is doing, hmm?" I asked my furry companion as we left the print shop with a large selection of freshly printed photos.

Kuma looked up at me while she trotted at my side.

I chuckled and ruffled her head, "She probably misses us."

Kuma whined almost as if disagreeing. I smiled at her reaction as we got into the car and went back home. Everything was calm compared to yesterday. I came home last night to a mass of people waiting for my return. All of my friends, my family, and my Alpha and his Luna were there to welcome me back home.

Natalie, of course, groaned and stalked off not in the mood to join.

Today everything was calm and quiet which I preferred. I wasn't so overwhelmed by the presence of the people I had missed during my time away. I was happy to see them, trust me I was, but it was a bit stressful since I was used to just Natalie and Kuma not a mass of people.

Returning home, I went to work on putting up the pictures while Kuma lounged about. I would only be home for a few days and then Natalie and I would return to Maine. I was eager to get back to school and focus on what was most important to me.

"I see you don't dwindle about." It was a few hours later and Emma was the first to get home.

I was just finishing my little project and moving some things around my room. I gave her a little grin, "It was left the same but it feels so cold to me." I admitted as Kuma got up and greeted the friendly woman.

"My, oh my, look how big you got!" Emma cooed at Kuma who soaked up the attention with happy whimpers and wagging her tail. "Such a beauty, isn't she?" Emma looked awed by Kuma's coat.

"It's hard to remember how small she was when she first got here and to think that they labeled her the runt," I snorted and shook my head, "Even Natalie said that Kuma grew twice the size she thought a runt would grow."

Emma giggled and softened her expression, "How you holding up, darling?" I always did love her little southern drawl. Emma said she doesn't remember where she was born-she always remember her parents surviving with feral wolves in the wild for a long time before they were caught by hunters.