I finished chopping up the tomatoes and started working on the onions and mushrooms, throwing the onions and mushrooms into the pan to saute them when I was done. Then I started to grate the cheese into one bowl. When that was done I added it to the mixture of other ingredients that would become the sauce.After that I proceeded to crack two dozen egged into a bowl and beet them so that they would be light and fluffy, taking small breaks to stir the two things I had on the stove. By the time I was done with that the mushrooms and onions were done cooking, so I put them on the back burner and pulled out another frying pan. I poured some of the egg mixture into the pan and put salt and basil over the top.
The smell of cooking eggs filled the room and I was sure that it was making its way through the house, alerting the boys to the fact that breakfast was almost ready.
As predicted there were footsteps on the stairs a few minutes later.
Ignoring them, I scooped up some of the mushrooms and onions and sprinkled them over the cooking eggs, the tomatoes were soon to follow, filling the air with an even better smell. I smiled slightly as I got a plate out of the cupboard and put the omelet on it. It was almost perfect, the only thing it needed now was the cheese sauce. Carefully, I drizzled it over my creation and set it to the side before putting all the pans except the one I'd made the omelet in on the counter and pulling out more so that I could make more than one at a time.
I started to hum to myself as I poured some of the eggs into each of the pans and put more of the salt and basil on each of the omelets.
A pair of arms wrapped around my waist and the person who owned them set his head on my shoulder, "Do you need any help."
The small smile that was on my face changed to a smirk as I turned around in Eros's arms, "You're just being a suck-up," I accused him as I stepped out of his embrace.
"Maybe," he said, looking at me with a slight twinkle in his purple eyes, "but I think I need all the help I can get at the moment."
I rolled my eyes at him, "Don't think that offering to help make breakfast is going to change anything."
"Change things, no, but it might help me convince you to go on a run with me after breakfast. I know..."
"Did I hear someone say we're going on a run after breakfast?" Arsen said sticking his head through the doorway to the kitchen, "Count me in."
"Me too," Armarose added, following his brother into the room with Snapdragon on his shoulder.
"That's not..." Eros started to protest.
"No," I said cutting him off, "that sounds like a good idea. It's been too long since we've all gone together, and we're all off today so we might as well."
Eros's expression seemed to fall a fraction of an inch with my words.
I turned back to the cooking food to finish preparing it and getting it on the plates. For Snapdragon I took some of the uncooked mushrooms and put them on a plate with a few strawberries and grapes.
When I was done I took the plates to the table and gave everyone their food before taking mine.
Breakfast passed quickly and soon enough I found myself waiting for my boys to come out from behind the trees they'd decided to change behind. We had to walk awhile before we all felt that it was safe for them to change and I was starting to feel excited. It really had been too long since I'd gone running with my boys. Even if I didn't do any of the actual running it was exhilarating to feel the wind on my face and watch the trees flash past, just inches from my legs.
Arsen was the first to come out, tongue hanging out of his mouth and a massive wolf grin on display to tell me that it wasn't Armarose that I was looking at. Next was Armarose, his excitement for the run only showing in his hazel eyes. Eros followed just behind Armarose, his proud wolf standing tall as he walked over to me with purpose.
"Who would you rather go with?" I asked Snapdragon, who was hovering just above my shoulder.
"Arsen," she answered, "he's more fun."
"You mean stupid, right?"I asked when I saw the smug look on Arsen's face.
"Stupid is a bad word. He's not..."
"Alright," I said interrupting what ever defense Snapdragon had prepared for him, "let's get going."
I walked over to Eros and climbed on his back, working my fingers into the soft fur around his neck and squeezing my legs into his sides to make sure I staid on.
"Eros and I will take point. Follow us, and try not to crash," I said as Eros turned toward the woods in front of us.
His muscles bunched in anticipation, preparing to sprint to stay ahead of the wolves who weren't carrying weight.
As he took off I flattened myself against his back, trying to make myself small so that I didn't cause too much air drag.
Looking to the side I could see Armarose, dodging trees as if it were his job, not play time. If I didn't know better I would think that Armarose wasn't having any fun, but I did know better and I could just barely see the joy in his focused expression. Letting me know that he was enjoying the challenge of keeping up with another wolf.
To the other side I could see Arsen playing Russian-roulette with some of the trees. running toward them until he had to dodge or hit them. His tongue was still lolling out of his mouth, giving me the impression that this was more of a game than anything else.
I smiled as I looked ahead again. My boys were enjoying this as much as I was. Looking forward I could see a massive log rushing up to meet Eros and I. Eros started to run just a little bit faster, his muscles bunching slightly more than usual just before he jumped. A smile took over my features for the few seconds that we were air born. I could feel myself become weightless for the fraction of a second as we fell.
Freedom. This is what freedom felt like. It was knowing that we could just run if we wanted to and nobody would be tracking us down when we did. It was the feeling of air rushing past my face, stinging slightly with the cold. It was watching trees flash by in a blur of white and brown. It was looking down and seeing sprays of white getting kicked up. It was feeling like I am flying as we go over the bigger logs. It was the feeling of warmth that filled my soul despite the snow that covered the ground.
Time didn't seem to matter anymore, the whole day could slip by and it wouldn't matter to me at all.
That being said, I didn't know how much time had passed before Eros slid to a stop and started to sniff the air. The boys came to a stop beside us and copied the action.
I looked around confused. There was nothing special about this part of the forest, there was no reason for my boys to have stopped here. In an attempt to discover what my boys were doing I slid off Eros's back and started to look around.
Eros tugged on my sleeve and brought my attention to a paw print in the snow.
"Is it a were?"
He nodded his head once.
"Wolf?"
Again he nodded.
I looked at Armarose and Arsen, "Do you guys recognize the scent?"
They both shrugged their shoulders in a way that said, "Maybe, it's been awhile since we had contact with other werewolves."
"Eros?"
He shook his head at me.
"I think we need to find out who it is and why they are here. If the elves get to them first I doubt they will be merciful."
My boys all nodded in agreement and I walked over to Eros to climb on his back.
"Eros and I are on point. Armarose, you run to our right, Arsen to the left. When we get close I want the two of you to speed up and flank whoever it is. Don't attack unless I give the order. Let's go."
My boys took off at a dead run, Eros tracking the scent as we went.
I tried not to think of who this might be while we ran. Instead, I watched the trees and thought about what we were going to do once we got to them. There only seemed to be three options: one, it was a rogue and they were better off dead; two, there was nothing wrong with them, they just escaped from Jambres or something like that and I wouldn't be opposed to taking them in; three, we scare them off.
The first option didn't seem like such a good idea, but it was possible that it would be necessary. If I could manage it, I was going to try for one of the last two options.
After a few minutes I saw Armarose and Arsen speeding up and I knew that who ever it was, was just ahead.
Eros slid to a stop, spraying snow all around us as he did so. A low growl started to rumble deep in his throat and I put a stern expression on my face as I took in the small wolf that was curled up next to a full grown wolf.
"Shift," I commanded, hoping that they thought I had some authority.
They looked ready to bolt but stopped when they heard my voice. The small one looked up at me with fear and slight trembles started to wrack his or her body.
I tried to think about what I must look like to this little one. I was wearing all black, my dark skinny jeans and boots probably blended in with Eros's shaggy winter coat. My winter coat was unzipped at this point, all the jostling from Eros's running making the zipper slowly slip down. The shirt I was wearing was tight fitting and showed off the fact that I'd never stopped working out and still had the muscles to prove it. All my hair was covered, pulling it away from my face. I knew that my features were only slightly softer than an elf's.
Then there was Eros. He was massive, I'd always know that but it never seemed like it was important. Standing in front of these two I could see that he, by himself, was probably scary as hell. To them, he probably looked like the grim reaper himself.
"Shift," I commanded again when it looked like they were just going to stand there and look at me, "If you don't the wolves surrounding you are going to attack."
The bigger wolf reluctantly started to change, dark brown hair receding and features rearranging, informing me that this was a woman.
"It's okay Colla," she said to the little one that was now hiding behind her feet, "you can shift. Just picture you as a human and you will shift."
Colla was a little boy that looked to be about three. He was barely old enough to be able to understand how to shift, barely old enough that he could control it.
I slipped out of my coat and threw it to the lady who was standing in front of me, "You should cover him up, or he's going to get cold"
"Thank you," she said taking the coat with suspicion in her eyes before wrapping Colla in it.
"Do you have any clothes with you?" I asked with my best, I'm in charge here, expression still on my face.
She shook her head at me, "No."
I started to pull my top layer off, leaving me in just a tank top and my skinny jeans. A small shiver went down my spine as I threw that to her.
"Put that on, I'm sure you don't want my boys ogling you the entire time. Then we can have a nice long conversation about how you ended up here," I said as I slid off Eros's back, and walked over to a place where the snow looked hard enough to carry my weight without letting me sink in. As soon as I was sitting Eros walked behind me and laid right next to me, letting some of his body heat seep into my bare skin.
The girl found a log to sit on. Still looking at me with nervousness in her eyes, she pulled Colla into her lap and held him close to her.
"Boys," I called out to Arsen and Armarose, "Why don't you help the pretty lady and the little one stay warm."
They quietly stepped out of the woods and went to sit on either side of the girl in front of me.
"Alright," I said looking at her, "Let's start with your name, and you can go from there."
She took a steadying breath, "My name is Saskia and this is Colla. Our leader was a man named Jambres. Sometime during the summer he found a bomb under his bed and when he reached for it, it went off. It didn't hurt him that much, he lost his hand, but it wasn't anything that he couldn't survive. After that he started to get increasingly paranoid. He started to think that everyone was out to get him and that he couldn't trust anyone. About two weeks ago Colla accidentally ran into him while he was running around in the snow. Colla's mom stepped in, telling Jambres that Colla was sorry and asking him to have mercy. When her match saw what was going on he got involved as well. Jambres ignored their pleading and when he went to grab Colla, Colla's dad stepped in. Jambres shifted and attacked him for it. When I saw what was going on I took Colla away. We staid in the area for three days, but someone found us and told me that Jambres had killed Colla's parents. Then we started running."
"How old are you?"
"I'm sixteen."
"Do you have any desire to go back to Jambres?"
She looked hesitant for a minute, "My whole family is there and he's not usually that bad."
"So," I said looking at her seriously, "if you didn't have Colla to take care of you would have never left?"
She nodded her head slowly.
"Do you think Jambres has noticed that you're missing?"
"I doubt it," she said, "he's never really paid attention to me."
"How much do you want to go back?" I asked seeing value in this.
She looked at me with even more suspicion than before, "What are you proposing?"
"Would you trust us to take Colla?" I asked her with all seriousness.
I could see different emotions flash across her face, hope and suspicion being the dominate two.
"You don't have to decide yet. I want to take you to get a good meal and I'll give you some clothes first. I don't want to hear that a three year old boy and the girl who tried to save him from a tyrant died of hunger on my land."
She nodded her head slowly, still not trusting me but not really seeing another option.
"I'm going to take Colla and have him ride on Eros's back with me. You can shift and follow us. Colla," I said in a more gentle voice, "do you want a wolfie back ride?"
He looked up at Saskia, asking her if that's what he should do with his eyes.
"Go ahead," Saskia told him.
Colla walked over to me as Eros and I stood up. I picked him up and set him on Eros's back before climbing up as well.
"Before you shift," I said looking at Saskia, "I would like my shirt back. Don't want that getting shredded too."
She nodded and pulled it over her head before quickly shifting and carrying it to me with her teeth.
"Thank you," I said as I took it from her.
I looked at if for a second then at the little boy in front of me. "Colla," I said softly, "I want you to take my coat off for a second so you can put the shirt on too. It's going to get colder when Eros starts running and I don't want you getting cold."
He looked back at me with wide eyes and lifted his arms up for me to take the coat off. I smiled and flipped him around so he was facing me before I unzipped it, keeping it around his waist while I quickly tugged my shirt over his head. It was cute to see him looking up at me as he drowned in my shirt. Laughing just a little, I zipped my coat up and turned him back around to face forward.
"Now, I want you to hold on to his fur as tight as you can. If it doesn't feel like you're trying to rip it out you're not holding on tight enough."
He started to work his little hands into Eros's fur. When it looked like he was holding on as tight as he could I reached around him and held on too.
"Alright Eros," I said shivering, "let's get this ride from hell over with. Armarose and Arsen stay with Saskia."
On the run back I had to focus on making sure Colla didn't slip at all. He started to shiver half way through and it made his grip loosen. I put my hands over his, trying to keep them warm as much as I could. It helped his grip, but I could still tell that he was cold.
When we got to the trees that the boys had hidden their clothes by Eros slowed before finally coming to a stop. Arsen and Armarose not far behind.
I pulled Colla off with me and kept him in my arms as I walked around the tree to give my boys some privacy. A few seconds later Snapdragon landed on my shoulder, waiting for the wolves to change so she could hide in somebody's pocket.
"Arsen," I called, "Let Saskia have your shirt."
A few minutes later they all came out dressed, except for Saskia who only had a shirt and Armarose who didn't have anything on the top part of his body.
"I'll take him," Eros said coming to stand by me.
I handed Colla over reluctantly, knowing that he would get warm faster if Eros was the one holding him.
"Follow us," I told Saskia as I started to walk toward our home.
We got a few funny looks as we went but there weren't very many people and nobody tried to stop us.
I walked through the door and stomped my feet before running to the cupboard that we kept extra blankets in. I grabbed three and carried them to the front room where Saskia, Colla and my boys were getting settled.
"We seem to have forgotten our manners," I said as I walked into the front room, "We did not introduce ourselves. My name is Rose Pixie McFey. I am the Alpha here. These are my boys. Eros is my strong-arm and match. We both came from King Kenrick's pack. Eros from the main pack that rules the rest and I'm from one of the HMH packs. We are not still affiliated with them though. Armarose is my right-hand. His twin is Arsen. They both came from Jambres's pack. Snapdragon is the fairy. Welcome to our home."
I tossed her a blanket and handed one to Eros who had Colla sitting on his lap.
"If you'll just follow me, I'll take you to get some clothes."
I took her to my room and had her sit on the bed while I went into my closet and pulled out a pair of pants and a shirt that looked like they would fit her. There was only one thing missing.
"This probably a little bit awkward," I said handing her an unopened package of underwear, "but I haven't opened these yet and it feels weird to wear pants without them."
She blushed as she took the package. I handed her the shirt and pants too and turned around to let her change.
When she was done I turned around and walked down the stairs.
"Armarose," I said as I walked into the front-room, "I want you to go and make us all some lunch. Make sure you make a lot. Our guests should not go hungry."
"Yes, Alpha Lady," he said as he got up to go do what I asked.
"While he does that I would like to talk to you. Please, sit."
She did as I asked and sat down on a chair that was as far from the rest of us as possible.
"This is what I'm proposing," I said looking at her with all seriousness as soon as I'd sat down as well, "I am willing to take Colla off your hands. You're too young to take care of a child on your own, and you really should be with your family. You're also too young to have left them. There are enough of us that we can watch out for him, and he won't be in danger from Jambres if he stays with us. I want you to go back to your family and Jambres's pack. While you are there, I want you to tell anyone who is going to run from Jambres that we are here and are willing to take people in."
She looked at me in shock, "Are you serious?"
"Do I look like I'm kidding?" I asked with a serious expression on my face, "two of my people came from Jambres's group. I know how crazy he can be and I don't want anyone else to feel like they are stuck there. Saskia, if you are willing to do this, you get to be with your family again. You won't be responsible for Colla any more. You aren't risking anything to tell people that there is a way out. You can even come see Colla any time. We won't keep you from him."
"You're completely crazy," she said with a hesitant smile on her face.
"Perhaps," I said, smiling at her, "but that's my deal. Are you willing to take it?"
She nodded once.
"Okay," I said smiling, "When do you want to go back?"
"Tonight, if I'm gone too long I won't be able to tell everyone that it was just a spontaneous camping trip."
"Alright, I'll have one of my boys get a pack for you and enough food to last the week that it will take to get back." I looked over at Arsen, "Will you get on that? Eros and I have some shopping to do."
"Of course, Alpha Lady," he said standing up, almost in a daze.
That night I fell into bed, exhausted from the day's excitement and shopping for Colla. I started to get under my covers when I heard the sound of crinkling paper beneath my head. Alarmed, I sat up and looked down at my pillow. A note was sitting there suspiciously, addressed to me.
I picked it up and opened it.
"Dear Rosie,
I heard that you got a new addition to your pack today. Congratulations, if you need anything to accommodate the little one just tell Mingan next time you see him. I also heard that you made a deal with the girl who was protecting the pup. I am happy for that as well. It seems like it will benefit you and your pack greatly. As a celebration I would like to invite your whole pack to supper with me. It will be at six o'clock in the morning. If you will get all of your pack ready, I will send an escort to escort you and your pack to my table.
Sincerely, King Chayton"
I groaned and went to tell the boys that we had to wake up a little early.