"Well that's a sight for sore eyes," I mumbled uncertainly as I looked down at the lights.
I was standing on a small cliff that over looked the lake that sat between us and the town of Birdsong. I wasn't sure if we were going to be able to stay in Birdsong long, there weren't many lights, but I was hoping that we might be able to find work and hopefully lodging for a couple days. If we were lucky there would be someone who needed extra help permanently. Hopefully, there would be someone who doesn't ask where we came from or how we got here.
"We'll make camp here tonight," I said to Snapdragon and the boys before getting off of Eros and going over to Arsen to get the last of the food that he had been carrying.
I looked at the small amount of dried fruit and beef jerky.
"Arsen and Armaros," I said remembering the massive amounts of food that it took to feed my boys, "You two are going hunting. If you can find anything for Snaplet, that would be useful as well. Get meat first, but watch for fairy food and gather it after you have the meat. Snaplet, same routine as usual. Get rid of our tracks and all traces of our scent. You have the markers right," when Snapdragon nodded I turned back to the twins, "Don't catch anything with the markers."
"I don't know why you insist on making deals with the animals. They would do it just because she's a fairy and fairies take care of the forest," Arsen said as he shifted to pull his pack off.
"What do fairies usually do for the forest?"
"They help move seeds, help heal animals, they make sure fertilizer is spread out beneath trees... lots of stuff really... They just help the forest," Armaros said as he threw his pack to the side.
"Should we have you stay in the forest?" I asked Snapdragon with mild concern.
"No, you should just have a garden. I can play in a garden."
"I''ll try, if nothing else we can get a potted plant. Eros, I need you to start a fire and get some water on to boil. it shouldn't take the twins long to bring back dinner. Do we still have spaghetti noodles and that weird sauce that you just add water to?"
"Yes, Alpha Lady. It's in Armaros's pack. I'll start cooking it now." Eros said as he changed into his human form as well.
"Don't start on the sauce yet. Wait until the twins get back with the meat."
"Of course Alpha Lady," Eros replied with a slightly mischievous glance in my direction, "and what will you be doing in your free time?"
"I'm going to go down to the lake and try to get cleaned up. I can't look like I spent the last four days running around the forest. I'm going to have everyone take baths tonight, but I figured it would be better if I fed you first."
Eros walked over to the cliff and looked at the lake and the small path that lead to it.
"I'll carry you down," he said with a slight frown, "Did anyone remember soap?"
"Everything I need is in the middle section of Armaros's pack," I replied walking carefully over to the bulky center pack and unsnapping the buckles that held it to the rest of the pack.
As soon as I had it in my hands Eros scooped me up into his arms and started jogging toward the path.
"My leg doesn't really hurt as much as it did before," I said looking up at Eros.
"But you're still a little clumsy with it," he said, glancing down at my face briefly, "I don't want you hurting yourself more trying to take a bath."
"I wouldn't."
"Or going on the tiny path leading down to the lake."
I shrugged, knowing that he had logic on his side, even though I knew I'd done worse trying to get away. The small path leading down to the lake was nothing compared to the lack of a path on most of my great escapes.
At the bottom of the path Eros carefully set me on my feet.
"In about half an hour come and get me. If you come any sooner I will stick the twins on you."
He had a slight smirk on his face as he replied, "Yes Alpha Lady."
I watched as he turned around and started walking up the small path leading to our camp. Nobody would ever hear me saying it out loud, but I actually found Eros very attractive. He was muscular and handsome.Of course, most werewolves were handsome; that was one of the side effects of having a match. If the person was made for you, you wouldn't make ugly babies. Eros did seem to be more handsome than most, though.
When he had disappeared from sight I turned to look at the bag with all the stuff to wash up.
After pulling out the shampoo, conditioner and soap I stripped down and waded into the lake. The water was cold but refreshing. It felt like an eternity since I'd been clean, and the silky water felt like a little piece of heaven had come to earth just for me.
I dunked my head under water and stayed there for as long as I could before coming up and scrubbing myself off. When I was done I got out of the water and walked over to the bag. I toweled myself off quickly before pulling out the clothes that I was saving for going into Birdsong.
All clean and fully dressed I sat down on a rock and looked up at the sky. The stars were bright and beautiful but they paled in comparison to the full moon. As I looked I felt a sense of peace fall over me. It was over. I was finally done running.
A few minutes later I heard the soft rustling of leaves and the crunching of feet coming toward me.
"Are you done?" came the soft question.
"I am," I replied, lifting my arms up as Eros came around to stand in front of me.
"We need to rebandage your leg. It has been looking a lot better, though . Does it hurt?" he asked as he pulled me into his arms.
"Only a little bit," I lied.
He glanced down at my face for just a second before looking back to the small trail that he was running up.
"I don't believe you."
I shrugged, unwilling to argue.
As we got closer to camp I could smell the spaghetti and rabbit meat cooking, probably almost done.
My stomach grumbled a little bit and Eros laughed, "I think it's time for dinner."
"Finally," Arsen said when he saw us, "Armaros wouldn't let me eat without you. Something about showing respect to our alpha."
"No," Armaros said, "I was making sure you actually got food."
"Thank you, Armaros. I appreciate the consideration."
"No problem. We still need you, you know. If you starved to death would have a few problems," he replied, handing me a plate of food as Eros sat down.
After Eros got his plate of food we ate in silence, each one of us considering what would happen tomorrow when we arrived in Birdsong. Even Snaplet was quiet as she consumed her mushrooms. Usually she would strike up a conversation during dinner but tonight she was silent. The boys didn't even fight over the last of the meat, they split it up in even portions without a word and ate it silently.
I knew what must be going through their heads. It was the same thing that was going through my head. Dreams of the future, finding a place to stay, work. What kinds of jobs would we find in a place like Birdsong? How long would it take to make friends? Would we even stay long enough to make friends? Would we run into shifters, or fairies, or elves, or even nymphs? If we did run into shifters would they respect that we didn't answer to a king or would they report us and cause us to have to run again? There were a lot of uncertainties to deal with but I had to lock away the thought of possibly needing to run again. I was going to be positive.
When the food was gone I looked at the twins, "Bath time boys. You need to look respectable tomorrow. I left the bag with the soap next to the lake."
"Yes, Alpha Lady," they said as they stood up.
"You too," I added when Eros set his chin on my head.
"I need to rebandage your leg first," he replied without moving.
"Okay, but as soon as that's done we need get you cleaned up too."
"Yes, Alpha Lady," he said, still not moving.
"We need to get on that then because I don't want us looking tired tomorrow."
"Okay," he said with a sigh as he set me on a log and went to go get the bandages.
He came back and knelt in front of me and, almost reverently, he rolled up my pants to reveal the damage to my leg. A look of sorrow consumed his face. He lightly stroked my leg before placing a soft kiss on one of the deeper lacerations. I wasn't surprised by his actions, it wasn't an uncommon behavior for him. After all, kissing is the human equivalent of licking, and his wolf had spent a lot of time licking my wounds. He kissed a few more of the deep cuts before he picked up the disinfectant and bandages again.
I watched his face as he worked. It was cute to see the look of deep concentration, the way his eyebrows would scrunch up and his mouth would set into a dissatisfied expression.
When the job was done to his satisfaction he looked up at me and smiled a sad looking smile, "There, that should do it," he mumbled before standing up.
"Thank you," I said as he walked down to the lake.
"Don't mention it," he said, looking back at me with that same sad smile.
I yawned after he was gone and went over to get the blankets. It looked like Armaros had pulled them out already. They were sitting in a neat pile beside the bags with a sleeping Snapdragon on the top one.
Being careful not to wake her, I scooped Snapdragon into my hands and put her in the soft grass before spreading out one of the blankets. I laid down and pulled another one over me before picking her up again and setting her on my chest for bed. My eyes fluttered shut and I went to sleep.
"Rosie," someone said shaking my shoulder softly.
I opened my eyes slowly and looked up into a set of purple eyes.
"We have a visitor, Rosie," Eros said helping me to sit up, "We need you to be awake to meet our visitor."
Confused, I looked around. At first the only things that stood out to me were the boys. The twins sitting in their wolf forms to either side of me and Eros, now pulling me all the way to my feet. I moved Snapdragon to my shoulder and looked deeper into the woods.
Snapdragon tugged on my ear a little bit and pointed in the direction of the woods when I looked at her.
"Do you see the eyes," she said in a voice that I didn't think the super sensitive wolf ears around me could hear.
I focused on the patch of darkness that she had pointed out and eventually saw the almost cat like eyes examining our group.
Whoever it was blinked a few times before stepping out of the shadows slowly.
It was almost shocking to see the figure that emerged. I expected a werecat or perhaps a wild mountain lion, but the creature that emerged was neither of these. He had features that looked sharp enough to cut me in half and long, straight, black hair that was held out of his face by a leather band around his head. His clothes were plane and grey but the leggings did nothing to hide the powerful muscles underneath. The tunic did a slightly better job but it was sleeveless and the shirt that was underneath revealed the same toned quality to his muscles. They weren't the same kind of muscles as my boys, they were more lean, but they looked just as deadly. I got the feeling that this creature in front of me was extremely fast. His eyes were the most captivating part of him, however. They were the most brilliant blue I'd ever seen and they competed with the moon for brightest source of light.
"Elf," Snapdragon whispered in that same, barely there voice.
I racked my brain, trying to remember what I'd learned about elves, but came up empty. I may have been on one of my longer escape trips when they covered the elf unit in school.
Giving up, I took a deep breath and stepped forward, "I am Rose Pixie McFea, I am the leader of this group."
The elf tipped his head to the side slightly, "I am Mingan."
"I'm pleased to meat you Mingan. Are we intruding?"
"You are not," he replied straightening his head, "I simply wished to meat the next king werewolf."
"I'm not that alpha. In fact, I'm not really an alpha at all."
"Do the others not give you allegiance, and only you?"
"They do but that's only three werewolves. The smallest pack is much larger."
"Not anymore. If you have their sole allegiance you are their king alpha."
I disagreed with him but didn't want to argue. It wasn't that I was scared of him, though he was imposing, no, it was that it didn't seem like it would help anything.
"If you say so," I replied before motioning to Armaros, "This is Armaros, he is like my right-hand. His twin is Arsen. Eros is my strong-arm. The fairy is Snapdragon. We would offer you food, but we're running a little low."
"That is fine, I do not wish to eat."
An awkward silence filled the clearing.
"Do you need anything?" I asked just to break the tension.
"I do not. I will simply tell you that me and my kind welcome you to the area. We have no quams about your presence and are willing to assist you if you wish to stay. You can send your little Snapdragon to find us if you require our assistance," at the end of his welcome he closed his eyes and bowed his head in my direction once before looking me in the eye, "I am aware that I woke you with my presence. I shall leave you to your dreams now."
He spun on his heels in one quick motion and disappeared into the darkness.
"We should leave," Snapdragon said after a few minutes, "Elves don't offer something unless they want something in return."
"They said they wouldn't hurt us," Arsen said after shifting into his human form, "I say we stay and just don't take icy up on his offer."
Armaros shifted quickly and said "I will do whatever our Alpha Lady says."
"Dido," Eros added.
They all looked at me with expectation in their faces. I looked at each of them in turn, thinking as I went.
"I'm going to sleep on it," I said nodding my head once, "it's past my bedtime and decisions like that should not be made without adequate sleep."
They all looked slightly disappointed at my decision to hold off on making a decision, but they nodded their heads and started getting ready for bed.
The boys shifted into their wolves and curled around the spot that I'd been laying in when Mingan showed up. Eros was my pillow, Armaros was on my right, Arsen was on my left and Snapdragon curled up on my chest.
It took awhile but eventually I heard deeper breathing coming from the boys, indicating that they were deep asleep. I fell into my own dream listening to their rhythmic breaths.