Kari's POV:
"We need to get all our fighters together." Bryce says and looks at Jamie. "Jamie I need you to train them hard starting now. I will gather everyone but I need you ready to do some hard core training. We have two days to train and get ready for Froam's attack. Can you handle it?" Bryce asks him.
Jamie gives him an assured nod. "Of course. Let me go get ready. Will you have them gathered in the back yard in ten minutes?" He asks.
"Yes." He nods again and leaves in a hurry.
Bryce looks at me for a moment then sighs. "Kari I need to get all the fighters in the backyard now." He says.
"Okay, I will go talk to Ashley and meet you guys out there." I say and stand from my chair.
"Kari." Bryce says. I turn around and look into his eyes.
"What is it?" I say.
"You can't fight with us. I want you to stay with all the women and children here." He says. I glare at him.
"You have got to be kidding me." He gives me a look telling me he isn't. "This is unbelievable! Not only is this my fight, but you expect me to be the Luna of this pack and not fight for it?" I yell at him.
His face grows soft, "Kari I know how much you want to be a part of this but he's coming to take you away from me again. I need to stop that. It's not that I don't want you to fight, it's just that if you are close enough to Froam he can teleport and take you easily."
I let out a light growl, "Bryce I can't let our pack fight for me if I'm not even helping them in the battle."
"You will help all of us more if you are protected and away from the fight. We won't be able to focus if we are worried about you the whole time." He says.
I sigh. Damn why does he have to be more stubborn than me. I close my eyes and take a deep breath.
"Fine." I say.
I open my eyes to see Bryce perk up and look at me.
"So you will stay here during the fight?" He says.
I roll my eyes. "I guess so."
He walks over to me and embraces me in a hug. My slight anger leaves my body and I hug him back.
"I love you so much Kari, I never want to lose you." He whispers in my ear.
"You won't Bryce. I will always be with you." I whisper into his chest.
He kisses me on the head. "I have to go get everyone. I love you shorty."
I smile up at him. "I love you too." I give him a small kiss then we part our separate ways.
On my way to Ashley's and Jamie's room I begin to think. I really want to do something to help my pack. I know now that me joining them in battle will only distract them but I just want to help them out in some way... What is it that I can do though?
When I get to the room I gently knock on the door. "One minute!" A voice yells.
I'm assuming it's Ashley because it sounds more like a girl's voice. Suddenly the door opens and reveals Ashley. She's wearing one of Jamie's shirts and a pair of his boxers.
"Eeehh!" Ashley yells excitedly "Kari you came to visit!" I laugh as she pulls me into the room and shuts the door behind her.
"That's a nice get up you've got on." I say and visibly look her up and down.
She blushes a pats the shirt down with her hands to smooth out a few wrinkles. "Well my clothes are in the wash and I have nothing else to wear."
I raise and eyebrow and look at her, "Is that really the only reason why you're wearing his clothes."
Her face grows more red and she looks at the floor, "Well um..." She says, "You were right... We are mates."
I smile brightly a give her a hug. I feel her tense slightly but she soon hugs me back.
Wow she really is getting better with people. I'm so happy that her and Jamie are mates, he is perfect for her!
"You're happy about it right?" I ask her. I pull back from the hug and see her smiling face.
"I'm more than happy. Kari I couldn't ask for someone better. He cares about me so much. I've never had that before, it's a really nice change." She says. Then she looks at me curiously. "I don't think you came here to talk about me though. What's up?" She asks.
I frown and think about my conversation with Bryce. You see I'm mad that he won't let me fight but I understand where he is coming from. I just don't know what I want and I don't know what to tell Ashley. I might as well start from the beginning.
"Ashley I was with Bryce when Jamie told us what you heard." I say to her. She looks down.
"Oh yeah. That." She says. "I'm guessing this might be a long talk let's sit down." She adds then brings me over to the bed.
It is messy and unmade but I don't have a problem with that since Ashley basically spends all of her time in here.
When we sit Ashley says, "Alright, now what were you saying about what I heard."
"He's coming back for me. Now everyone in my pack has to fight for me and they won't even allow me to battle. How can I be a good Luna when I can't even help my own pack when they are fighting for me?" I say. Ashley thinks about it for moment.
"I understand where you're coming from, but I also see why they don't want you to fight. Putting you out there on the battle field would be too risky for everyone. If he gets you this time, there is no saying that you are coming back..." Ashley says and looks down.
I guess I never really thought about it like that... It's a really scary thought. Never being able to see Bryce or Evie again. That would kill me. This still doesn't mean that I don't want to help my pack though.
"Ashley I still need to help some how..." I say gently.
"I don't really know what you can do. Plus the people who were talking said that there were only three days left before he came. What can you do in three days to help the pack?" She says with a shrug.
That's when it hits me. We have been so worried about Froam coming that we forgot about the traitors and all the rouges staying in our pack.
"Ashley! I have the perfect idea on how to help. Sure it's not much but it will definitely help us but I need your help." She gives me an unsure look.
"I don't know Kari. There isn't much I can do, especially with all of my old pack hanging around, I don't want to be near them..." She says. I roll my eyes at her.
"Ashley this plan involves getting rid of your old pack mates. Trust me it is going to be perfect! Now here's what we are going to do..." I explain to her my plan and eventually she agrees to help me out.
---
I peer out the window and look at all the wolves training in the back yard. The amount of training wolves is a lot bigger than our normal amount of fighters because the rouge pack that is staying here is out there training as well.
Although they are a pack, they are still rouges because they have no place that is permanently their home yet. All their wolves are easy to pick out because they have red eyes and are a little on the dirty side.
Even though I know which ones aren't part of my pack, I have no idea which are the traitors. That's where gossiping comes in handy. This I can't do alone though. I need a professional gossiper, but unfortunately she is out there training with them so she doesn't even know my plan.
That is why I have Ashley filling up water cups right now. I'm going to go out there and set up a water station and tell everyone it's break time.
I stand and slowly make my way back into the kitchen. When I get there I see a bunch of cups on a rolling Cart filled with water. I also see a flustered Ashley.
"Um, I'm not sure if this is how you wanted." She looks up to see my confused face. "Oh no, I did it wrong. Did you want more or less water in each cup?" She says worriedly.
I laugh and she looks at me surprised. "Ashley they are just fine! Don't worry it's just water, plus there is that hug jug of water you filled up so if anyone wants more they can fill up their cups again."
I see Ashley visibly relax. I walk over to the cart and place my hand on the handles.
"I will push it, do you think you can get the doors for me?" I ask nicely. She nods and walks in front of the cart.
We make it to the door that leads outside. Suddenly Ashley stops and I nearly crash the cart into her.
"Woah! Ashley, why did you stop?" I say. She turns around.
"Well I was just looking out the window and I noticed that everyone is in wolf form." I give her a curious look. "I mean how are they going to drink out of these cups if they are in wolf form."
Wow, I'm stupid. "Maybe we should just wait to give them water when they train in human form..." I say.
"That sounds like a better idea." She says with a nod.
I wheel the cart back to the kitchen and drop it off in there. I turn around and see Ashley in the fridge.
"You hungry?" I ask her.
She doesn't answer me so I walk over to where she is and I see her gazing at the food. I laugh and she snaps out of her daze and looks at me while blushing.
"Sorry... I was so hungry I kinda zoned out." She gives me a sheepish smile.
"Want to make some brownies?" I ask her. Her face lights up and she nods enthusiastically.
"Absolutely! I haven't had brownies in so long!" We laugh and I grab all the ingredients while turning on the oven.
"Will you grab the pan?" I ask while throwing together the ingredients.
"Sure thing." A few minutes later the brownie pan is placed next to me and is already greased and ready for me to put the batter in.
I pour the batter then walk it over to the oven and place it in. When I turn around I see Ashley licking her finger that were covered in brownie batter.
I start laughing and soon Ashley starts laughing with me. "It smelt so good, I just couldn't resist!" She says defensively through her laughter.
"We'll dont hog it all yourself, let me have some!" I shout and run after her with my finger pointed straight at the bowl.
She dodges me and runs away with the bowl. "No way, this is all mine!"
I laugh and chase her around the kitchen trying to get a little bit of the batter. A few seconds later someone coughs loudly from the entrance of the kitchen.
I immediately turn around to see Bryce standing in the doorway looking at us funny. He is all sweaty and is only wearing pants which exposes his beautiful abs. I catch myself before I start drooling then my face turns to shock.
"I thought you were out training?" I said. He smirks.
"I was, we are taking a break." Suddenly a huge group of people come spilling into the kitchen. Most head for the water Ashley and I set up but there isn't enough room for everyone.
I mean sure this kitchen is huge, but all these people are making me feel cramped. I push my way through the sweaty group of people and I find the person I've been looking for.
"Mimi!" I shout. A velvet red ponytail flips around to reveal my friend. She smiles and walks over to me with a few boys following behind her.
"Oh hey Kari! I was surprised that you weren't out in training." She says.
My smile falls and I sigh. "Yeah Bryce won't let me fight. Ashley and I set up the waters for you guys though."
She laughs, "You don't have to defend yourself, I was only curious." She looks behind her at the two guys standing behind her then looks back at me. "Oh yeah these guys are Louis and Kirk. They are from the group that helped save you."
I smile at them gratefully. "Thank you for that by the way. You guys are heroes in my book."
"I'm going to talk to Kari alone, do you guys mind?" Mimi asks them. They nod and wave to her as they leave. She looks at me and smiles. "Their kind of cute huh? Plus they are only a couple years older than us." She says with a smirk.
I laugh, "Leave it to you to make friends with the rogues." I say.
"Hey they were cute, I just couldn't resist." She says and smiles.
"Mimi can I ask you a huge favor?" I say quietly. She raises an eyebrow.
"Um, sure I suppose. What is it?" She says and leans onto the island.
"Well there are a few traitors in the rouge pack. I'm trying to figure out who they are but I don't know any of them well. Do you think you could use your magic and talk to those two guys and try to find out if anyone was acting weird?" I say.
She frowns. "So basically you just want to use me for my body to get information about traitors?" She whispers back to me.
"I mean when you put it that way it sounds bad..." I say lightly. Then she starts laughing.
"I'm kidding. I would love to help. I will do everything in my power to make them talk." She says with a wink. "I'm going to go start on that mission. Looks like you have a visitor." She says and walks away from me.
I scrunch my face up. Visitor? What does she mean. Just then arms encircle around my waist and sparks fly though my body as a chest presses against my back. I smile to myself. Oh this visitor.
I turn around in his arms. "You do realize you're getting sweat all over my clean shirt."
Bryce laughs and I feel his chest rumble against my own. "If you really minded you would have me off of you already." He says.
"True. I guess I don't mind that muc-" an alarm sounds loudly through the kitchen and I look at Bryce. "Those are my brownies come on!" I grab his hand and maneuver us through the crowd. When we reach the oven I see that the brownies are on top of it and Ashley is sitting on the counter next to it with Jamie I front of her, blocking her from others.
We get closer and Ashley sees me and smiles, "I got them out of the oven don't worry, I couldn't have our delicious food getting burnt." She says.
I laugh and get closer to them. "Thanks Ashley, they look and smell delightful." I close my eyes and take in the delicious brownie smell. Since I'm a wolf now it smells ten times better then when I didn't have my wolf.
"Not that it wasn't great seeing you girls. But breaks over we have to get back to training." Bryce says from behind me. I frown.
Sure he's going to be right outside, but I like it when he is near me. It makes me feel complete.
"Alright fine I guess you can go back to training..." I say with a pouty face and turn around to look at Bryce. He sighs as he sees me.
"Kari you know I have to train with everyone. Don't worry you will see me after training." I roll my eyes.
"I know, I know. Well at least Ashley and I have some brownies to share." I say and perk up a little. He laughs.
"That's the spirit. I will see you later shorty." He leans down and kisses me on the forehead. I smile.
Bryce lets go of me and heads toward the door. Then he yells, "Breaks over, everyone in the back yard. Now!"
I smirk. I love it when he takes charge. It makes him ten times hotter. Well if that's even possible, he's seriously a god. I honestly have no idea how I ended up being mates with him. He's way to hot for me.
"Um Kari?" Ashley snaps me out of my gaze and I realize that only Ashley and I are left in the room. I look at her.
"Oh sorry... I kind of zoned out for a little while didn't I?" I ask her. She giggles and nods her head.
"Yeah but it's fine. Do you want me to cut the brownies now?" She asks. Oh right the brownies!
"That would be amazing." I say with a smile. While Ashley grabs the knife to start cutting them, I grab two small plates so each of us can have some brownies. I also grab a Tupperware container with a lid so that we can put the left overs in there.
Once we got everything settled, all the extra brownies away and all our dishes cleaned, we settled into some chairs and started eating our brownies.