He is Ghost

Electricity

Shade sat on a chair just outside the bathroom door. It sat on the edge, looking out a wide window in Lana and Victors's bedroom. It was weird to be in their room again, to be here, to be this far north once more. Shade's towel was laying in his lap as Neira turned the water on. "I don't really stink," she asked, "right?" 

Shade couldn't help his answering chuckle. " Stink pretty." 

A small used soap bar pelted into the side of his head, which only made him laugh harder. 

"What about my hair?" Neira asked reluctantly. "It's not that bad." Her fingers pulled at the stands, at the uneven ends. Not her finest work if she was being honest. 

Shade glanced at her over his shoulder. "No Neira, you have nice hair." Neira felt a smug smile pull at her lips. "That doesn't mean it can't be improved." She wished for another soap bar to throw at his head. 

Quickly, she got undressed and jumped into the hot water of the shower. It ran over her body, warming her forever chilled skin. There seamed to be hundreds of bottles inside Lana's shower, face washes and shampoos and hair treatments and body scrubs and anything a dotted on female could possibly desire. 

She plucked a bottle off the shelf, reading the label quickly before squeezing a large helping of shampoo into her hair. It lathered way too easily. 

"Neira," Shade asked from his spot outside the bathroom. "It's another three days into the mountains?" 

Neira began rinsing out the shampoo. "Yeah, maybe a little less. It depends how fast we go and how cold it will be in the pass. It shouldn't be too bad this time of year." 

"How many wolves are in this pack?" Shade asked. She couldn't see him from the shower, but she knew a hand rested under his chin. His ankle would be propped up on his knee, one finger tapping at the side of his face. 

"Should be around 8," Neira said trying and failing to find the conditioner. "There was a second mated pair the last time I was here. She was pregnant then, so maybe 9?" 

"I see," Shade mumbled. "And your old pack?" 

"Around 10?" It came out more like a question. "Maybe less. There where a few elders in my pack as a child." 

"Large packs for this side of the world." Shade's voice had a strange tone to it, a note in it that Neira couldn't place. "It's nice." 

Neira finally found a bottle of conditioner. "Whats it like over there?" she asked, pausing as she raked a large amount of conditioner through her hair. "In Norta I mean." 

He didn't answer right away. "Better and worse. The packs are larger. The average is around 20, and more females of course, by a lot. But right now there are riot's and its not as nice as it used to be." 

"What ever happened with that meeting?" Neira asked, remembering a conversation from weeks ago when they were still inside Shade's territory. "Between Izteri and Norta." 

"Not much," his tone was sour. "Izteri refuses to see reason. She is blind to her people's needs. She's power hungry, and its starting to effect Norta quiet dramatically." 

"How so?" Neira asked, turning so she might see him. 

"Izteri has values that Norta doesn't agree with. Norta strives on honour while Izteri values ambition. Normally this isn't a bad thing but Queen Unagi is blinded by her ambition. She thinks that if King Silas steps down, Norta is hers for the picking. It's much like how the royals ran things on this side of the world, and how it ended. When Elarian royals held the north they kept to themselves, keeping their attention on the people. The southern half, Zuvien, like Izteri spend so much time staring out that they never realize their failings within.