Dropping her large backpack on the ground, Lily groans in relief, and rolls her shoulders. Josh also removes his large pack and drops the duffle back he has been carrying. Josh Taylor was the young border patrol guard that Ava had caught sleeping on duty, on her first day at Silver Moon. Luna Sophie had enlisted his help to carry out Lily's escape. The Luna had made Josh take a solemn vow of secrecy. Although Josh was young, all credit to him, he had taken the vow seriously, and had gone about his duty with the utmost diligence. Lily looked at the two backpacks and the duffle bag on the ground, her entire life's contents were in those 3 bags. She had to abandon much of her belongings, which was hard for her. Being an artist, she had insisted on packing many of her precious art supplies, she couldn't bear to leave them. Over the years she slowly managed to collect some of the most expensive paints in the world, including some of the rarest pigments, that cannot be easily replaced. Her collection of paint brushes was also of the finest quality, some made from sable fur. Her Aunt Sophie had indulged her niece and given her whatever art supplies she requested.
Luna Sophie had admonished Lily, when she saw how much she had packed.
"Lily you cannot take all of this. You will be hiking for a full day. Leave that duffle bag behind. There is only Josh and yourself to carry all of this. One backpack each is all you can take".
"I'll carry the duffle bag for her Luna. I don't mind taking my pack and the bag. I can handle both" Josh had said, puffing out his chest. Josh was tall, toned and strong, but at only 19 he had yet to fill out. He was still an adolescent male and had a lean look about him, he was still a few years off from reaching his full maturity. Lily could see he would be a formidable warrior one day. They had snuck away from Silver Moon at 4am this morning, before the rest of the pack were up. They drove the main roads for two hours, then they had to veer off to the back gravel roads for another two hours. Once the gravel roads ended, they journeyed off-road onto dirt trails, until they could go no further by vehicle, and had to finally ditch the little jeep they had been using. The rest of the journey had to be made by foot. They had been hiking for 3 hours now, and they were taking a rest break to eat their lunch. Under the shade of a large oak tree, Lily pulls out the packed lunch her aunt had given them before leaving.
"Thank you for helping me Josh. I would never have been able to make this journey on my own" Lily says as she hands him a sandwich.
"I would always help you Lily" he says as he takes the sandwich from her, their fingers lightly brushing. Josh starts turning a bright shade of red. Lily knows Josh has always had a little crush on her, but with her being three years older, she would never take it seriously. He always seemed like such a little kid to her, albeit a very sweet one.
"Why do you have to leave Silver moon? How long will you be gone? Will we see each other again?" Josh looks at her with his bright blue eyes.
"Josh it's best if you don't know all the details. If you don't know the truth, then you can't lie if anybody asks questions. Just know that it is very important that nobody can ever find me. I'm not sure how long I'll be gone for, but I anticipate it will be for a long time. I don't know if we'll ever see each other again, but I would like to think we will one day" Josh just nods at her response and looks sad. Lily is sad too; she realises she may never see any of her friends from Silver Moon again.
After another three hours of hiking, they finally make it over the ridge and descend into the valley. Coming into view is a rustic log cabin in the distance, near a small lake. As they get closer to the cabin, Lily can see it is larger than she originally thought, and it has some modern features, such as large solar panels on the roof.
"You finally made it. I was beginning to think I'd need to shift and go in search of you" says an older man, walking towards them. Lily had been told he was 90 years old, but since werewolves lived longer than humans, it meant his human age was around 70. Uncle Bob was his name, technically he was her great uncle, according to Luna Sophie. Bob was Lily's grandfather's reclusive older brother, whom she didn't even know existed until yesterday.
"Come inside the cabin, and you can put your bags in your room. I'll put the kettle on and make some tea".
They walk up the steps to a large screened in front porch, where they remove their boots, before entering the cabin. The main room of the cabin consists of an open plan dining and lounge area, with a large stone fireplace. There was a kitchen towards the back of the house and small hallway they led to a bathroom and uncle Bob's bedroom. There is a narrow staircase that leads to quite a large loft area, which will be Lily's room. After depositing the bags in the loft area, they sit down at the dining table to have a cup of freshly brewed tea, and some melted cheese on toast. Lily has an instant feeling of warmth and coziness, and her anxiety of staying here begins to lessen.
Uncle Bob doesn't say much, he keeps eyeing Josh up. Lily gets the impression he doesn't want to talk too much in front of Josh. Sophie has already briefed the old man on Lily's situation, and Lily knows there will be plenty of time to get to know each other after Josh leaves.
"Okay, we may as well get to work now. Only a few hours of daylight left, so let's not waste it. Josh you come with me, there is wood to be chopped. Lily you can start on dinner", with that the old man leads Josh outside. Lily is a bit taken aback; she doesn't have a lot of cooking experience. She has always been assigned to doing artistic duties for the pack, as opposed to helping in the kitchens. She walks into the rustic looking cabin kitchen, and to her alarm she sees there is a large cast-iron wood fired cooking stove. She can't even use an electric stove and oven, let alone a wood-fired one. Looking at the stove, she can see a little door with glass panel and a wooden lever type handle. She opens it, and can see it is already stacked with wood and some kindling, ready to be lit. Finding some matches nearby, she lights the fire and closes the door.
Thank the goddess there is a small collection of very old looking cookbooks along with a slightly battered recipe tin on the kitchen shelf. She grabs the books and the tin and sits at the dining table to take a closer look. She opens the tin first; it is filled with beautiful handwritten recipe cards. Some of the cards even have little hand drawn illustrations on them. Lily finds them charming, and she reads the first recipe which is titled "Blanche's Chocolate Chip Cookies". Blanche must have been Bob's mate. Sophie had mentioned that Blanche had passed away about 10 years ago at her werewolf age of 80. Bob had been living alone as a widower ever since. Sophie puts her great Aunt's recipe card back in the tin and closes the lid. She would explore them another time.
After an hour of hard struggle and concentration, Lily manages to rustle up a simple meal of sausages, mashed potato and peas and carrots. She finds some bread and slices and butters it. She looks at the simple dinner laid out. The sausages are a little burnt on the outside, the mashed potato a bit lumpy, and the peas and carrots slightly overcooked, but she still feels a small sense of pride that she cooked it herself. The last 3 months she has felt so useless and depressed. It feels good to do something productive, and she realises she enjoys cooking for others. It is in her nature to want to be of service and look after her friends and family. Maybe it was because she was meant to be a Luna? She quickly pushes that thought away as soon as it enters her mind. She heads to the woodshed area a short distance from the cabin, where she finds Josh shirtless and swinging an axe. Josh places a log on the large tree stump, which is being used as a chopping block. He lifts the axe high above his head and brings it down hard, splitting the log in half. Uncle bob is stacking the cut wood in the woodshed, which is already piled high with firewood. She announces dinner, and they all make their way back to the cabin to eat. The men don't seem to mind her average cooking, as they devour everything.
"You will be sleeping on the couch tonight. Just because I'm old, doesn't mean I've lost my hearing. Those stairs leading to loft are very creaky. I'll know if you try to ascend them in the night. Do you understand?" Uncle Bob says to Josh with a stern look.
"Yes s-s-sir I understand. I will sleep on the couch tonight" Josh stammers in response, turning the shade of a beetroot. Lily has to hide a little laugh at the thought of Josh trying to sneak into her bed. She knows he would never dare do that. Climbing the stairs to her loft room, she notices the stairs don't sound all that creaky. The double bed has a patchwork quilt on it, and she has no doubt it was made by her great Aunt Blanche, there appears to be little touches of her aunt everywhere. She can almost feel her great Aunt's presence in the cabin, as though she is welcoming her, and it feels comforting. As soon as her head touches the pillow, Lily is fast asleep, it's been a very long day.
The next morning Lily rises at the crack of dawn. She makes her way down to the kitchen, trying not to disturb Josh, who is still fast asleep on the couch. She wants to make him a packed lunch for his long journey home. Cutting thick slices of bread, she makes two ham and cheese sandwiches, and adds a couple of apples and pears, which she finds in the fruit bowl. She carefully wraps up the lunch and places it in his small day pack. Josh is awake now and is taking a quick shower in the bathroom. Josh will hike back to where they left the jeep, and then go back the way they came to return to Silver Moon. After Josh is ready, they exit the cabin and Lily walks with Josh for a while.
"We should say goodbye here Lily, I don't want you to get too far from the cabin" says Josh as he stops and turns to her.
"Ok I guess this is goodbye then" to Lily's surprise tears start pooling at the corner of her eyes and spilling down her cheeks. She is sad to say goodbye to Josh, the last person she will ever see from her pack. Her last link to the familiar will be gone, and she will truly be starting a new life on her own.
"You know Lily, I could stay if you want. We could live here together. I could take care of you" Josh reaches out and takes Lily's hand and looks at her shyly "I would make a good mate".
"Yes I know you would. But you have a mate out there somewhere, and she is waiting for you. One day when you meet her, you'll realise that any feelings you have for me, will pale in comparison for your love for her. The moon has a path for all of us, and you must follow your path, and so must I" with that Lily reaches up and places a soft kiss on Josh's cheek "thank you for helping me Josh, I'll never forget you. Goodbye my friend". Lily drops Josh's hand and turns away, walking back to the cabin. She can feel Josh's eyes on her as she walks away, but she doesn't look back. Resting her hand protectively on the small bulge of her belly, she knows there is no more looking back, she needs to focus on making a future for her and her baby.
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