* * *
Unfortunately, Alpha Harlow couldn't stay long, as he was called for another issue revolving Pack business. Which left the two brothers under the supervision of Beta Josh. And was joined by Mystic Grimm's Master of Arms, Holden Mystic, who, of course, knew their father.
News spread of the newcomers taking shelter on their territory quickly, and Luke was insanely thankful that they were safe in one of the most notorious packs in the United States without too much of a hassle.
Liam voiced his confusion as several wolves went ahead and gifted them supplies for their trip back to Crescent Moon, showing that the past is strictly in the past when dealing with scientists.
Everything they left at the guest cabin's doorstep would be utilized, and they were once again thankful for all the fortune they've been given since they escaped.
The Moon Goddess herself surely saw to it.
Throughout the commotion in the cabin, Sage had been sleeping peacefully. But hours had now passed, and her body was healing itself. The ringing growing dimmer with each passing second she's stationed across Pack lines.
While her mind was still fuzzy, it wasn't nearly as painful as before. With the given boost of energy, Sage is able to sit up against the pillow and take in the room before her.
It didn't have the sterilized medical smell like the female from before had, not entirely. The tug on her arm suggested that she was tied, but upon seeing the IV, she didn't hesitate to rip out the small string from her arm, causing an immediate hiss at the fact that it was painful.
Thankfully Luke had thought ahead and left a tall glass of water by her bedside. It didn't take long to notice his scent in the room, and that with the water gave her the comfort she needed to drain the glass until it was empty. It quenched her thirst for a moment, but her hunger started to pick up.
Glancing around the room once again, she noticed that even with the males' scents around her, Liam or Luke wasn't in the room with her. Meaning that they were old, but lingered heavily amongst the other two strange males and two females. The combined scent of others confused her and prompted her curiosity to peek through one of the doors.
Although it wasn't her people, it was indeed a bathroom, one that she gladly used. And after dousing her face with some cold water, she smiled down at the facet in delight. But when she returned to standing at full height, she flinched as she caught her reflection in the mirror.
There was a person in front of her!
Panic soon rose into her body as she felt still. How did a person fit in there? She couldn't understand, so instead, she attempted the other door across the bed.
The hallway was dimly lit, but the scents grew louder until she walked straight into the den, earning her far too many eyes for her to turn away from.
Absolute terror filled her body, causing her to shiver. But Luke jumped up from his position off the couch and eased his way over. "Hey—Hey, it's alright, they're here to meet you, yeah?" He mistook her shivering for being cold, causing him to turn back and ask Jade if there was anything warmer for her to wear.
"Yeah, I put a sweater in the suitcase. It should be at the bottom." She called out, and Sage followed her figure as she darted across the kitchen, currently fixing up a dinner plate for Sage.
Luke offered his hand, and she lingered on it intently before doing the same. Course Liam's laughter was heard throughout the cabin, but it was a sense of trust that made Luke's wolf hum in approval.
He sat her back on the bed as he began digging through the suitcase, but Sage's eyes turned back to the bathroom, only to be pulled away as he held the piece of clothing over her head. Causing her to lift her arms up, but she still didn't look back at him.
"Go use the bathroom. Jade's fixing you something to eat. She even has some chicken." Her eyes turned into saucers as she gasped towards him, but then returned her curiosity to the thing in the bathroom.
"Er...I can get Jade if—" She had no trouble in going before, so what was the problem now?
As she stood back in front of the mirror and pointed, Luke finally understood what was bothering her. He wondered if she ever knew what she looked like. Sure there were little glances in the rearview mirror, but otherwise, this object is foreign to her, and she couldn't comprehend how her eyes looked at herself or looked at him through the wall.
"That's you...Right? That's me, and that's—" His explanation was entirely interrupted as her fist connected to the glass.
How she went from frantically touching her face to gaining the fear factor of attacking an inanimate object caused Luke to stumble back, disoriented as to what happened.
And the looming scent of her blood was the only thing that pulled him out.
"Shit." He cursed, grabbing a small towel and wrapping it around her hand to secure the bleeding, just in time for Liam to make his appearance in the room.
"What the hell happened?!" He yelled, and after smelling Sage's blood for the third time within two days, it irritated their wolves in seeing her get hurt so much.
Jade was just behind Liam as she peeked her head into the bathroom. "Is she okay?"
"She's fine, just got afraid of the mirror. Can you get the first aid kit, Luna?" The she-wolf nodded and rushed back out to ready the box for them.
Luke sat her on a stool at the island, thankful that the extra guards had understood and left the cabin. Her face was entirely passive, especially after attacking a mirror. There were no expectations for the once captive she-wolf. But Sage's attention went straight to Jade's soft smile.
"Hello, Sage. I'm Luna Jade. It's very nice to meet you." Though it only caused her to blink, purely in fascination with the female.
"Got yourself good, huh, Sage?" Liam came over with a teasing grin, and she growled off in his direction. "Hey! I'm the one who saved you a piece of chicken!" Jade already held massive respect for Sage in terms of surviving the facility, but it seemed like surviving these two brothers was its own separate battle.
Luke managed to get a good amount of the glass out before wrapping up her hand. Although it was her right hand, she had no problem using a fork with her left. Though it wasn't until after she was done eating that Luna Jade offered her cheek to Sage.
Both brothers knew that Sage is more wolf than human, but then she was barely a wolf to begin with, especially in terms of being a part of a Pack and around her own kind.
But she once again surprised them both, as she politely rubbed her cheek against the Luna's offered one. Sage thought she smelled heavenly and smiled brightly at the woman.
"Oh, she's such a traitor. Two minutes—Two freaking minutes and she's already—"
"Liam," Luke growled, knowing that this was progress and nothing to get jealous about. This was what they needed from a break, and it was clear that neither had a woman's touch when Sage desperately needed one.
"You're such a sweetheart, aren't you?... You know what, how about I do your hair, so it's not frizzy tomorrow?" Sage tapped her inner wrist like she would with Henry, but Jade, unfortunately, did not know what that meant.
"Um..." She turned back to the males, and they completely missed the signal. "Sage tapped her wrist, what does that mean?"
"She likes hair ties—Like something to tie around her wrist. And braiding! Yeah, she likes to braid her hair." Jade nearly groaned at Liam's explanation.
"You poor thing, not to worry. I think I have some in the bag I brought over for you." She spoke so softly, and while Sage couldn't understand the majority of what Jade was talking about, she did catch the fact that Jade returned with hair ties.
Luke, on the other hand, shook his head as he nicked down in the direction of her hurt fist, "You missy, you have to take it easy." She twitched her nose, not liking his stern tone over something as simple as her injury. Jade took note of Sage's discomfort and motioned to the girl's plate. "Did you eat enough, sweetheart? There's more in the fridge if you're still hungry." Sage shook her head, her expression returning back to the impassive phase. However, her eyes continued to dance around the room, everything catching her attention. Even the minor details, such as the figurines on the shelves to the paintings and television.
Goddess did the TV look interesting. And of course, she pointed at it.
"All yours, Liam."
"So you get tree and leaves, but I have to explain what a TV is?" The two brothers began to bicker back and forth, not answering the question outright but enough for Sage to get the name.
"T...V?" Jade nodded supportively as she wrapped an arm over Sage's shoulder. "It tells stories. Do you like stories?" The girl didn't know what stories were, but whatever was currently on at the moment, started to produce a soft lullaby following the credits, and Sage started to sway her head to the tune.
"She likes music..." Liam turned over to see her in the calmest state he's seen her in ever.
Alright, music is their antidote.
It wasn't that long for Jade to distract Sage with the idea of coloring and drawing. Even though all was in the girl's head was numbers. It was clear she knew a few things, but a vast majority was missing.
"Two—Three—Four—" She'd continue off with a short pause in between, as though she needed to dig further into her mind for the answer. But Jade was supportive with that enthusiastic and kind smile of hers that gave Sage the courage she needed to continue.
Writing numbers turned out sloppy, sure. But holding a fork had proved to be worthwhile as she knew how to hold a pencil. And after a few attempts, she started to work on her name.
SAGE
Luke couldn't believe what the females had been working on so far.
Her name? Already?
"How's she doing?"
"Great, how is she doing with verbal communication? Does she talk at all?" Luke shook his head in defeat.
"Sometimes. In emergences, yeah. Like with the waitress calling your pack, and then she would say 'beep b—'"
"Beep beep." Sage finished his sentence, causing Liam to groan from his position off on the couch.
"I love you, Sage. But I swear there was only one tracker on me!" Whoever started the tongue war between the two was unknown, but Sage was already starting to have more of a personality now than when they were locked away.
Her skin and everything about looked much more lively.
"Days and numbers, how does she know them and not letters?"
"They had a sick schedule, Luna...Training and testing were all on specific days." A shiver ran down Jade's spine as she learned how the three of them lived.
Or more so Sage than the other two.
"What are you two going to do when you get back to Crescent Moon?" Luke caught Jade's motherly instincts starting to bond with Sage. It wasn't hard considering the question. "A tutor, definitely. Get her to start eating properly and learn about being a wolf. We have three other brothers, think mom was begging for a daughter." Liam scoffed and came over with a beer in his hand. "Yeah, mom starts calling us by our girl names when we're misbehaving, fucking—" Sage started to get a distaste for swearing. After being around the males for as long as she had, she was able to pick up a creative few.
Her actions were halted as she stared directly at Liam, almost daring him to finish the word.
"If she says the 'F' or 'A' word, we're going to have some problems, brother," Luke warned, while Jade tucked a strain of hair that fell loose behind Sage's ear. But she looked lost in her own world with the colors and design she was trying to create.
"Do you know what color that is?" Sage shook her head, knowing rightly what the question was, but failed to come up with the right answer. So for the next half hour, she began learning all the colors in the mark set.
"Casey's going to have a field day with her," Liam said, elbowing his brother. But the mention of their youngest sibling settled a sad smile over Luke's face. His wolf was yearning for his family and for his pack. Sure this integration to others of his kind was nice and all. Still, it was easy to feel their weariness, about the situation and their possible hostility.
Especially with the Luna staying with them, it only bumped up the security outside.
Without any warning, the Alpha had come through the front door and slammed it shut behind him. "These fucking rogues..." Harlow spat, and that caught Sage's attention, right alongside his powerful scent. He hadn't properly gotten the chance to meet her, and she looked younger than he was expecting.
Skinner too.
His wolf paced around unsteadily—Something was wrong here. Something about this female was stirring up his inner beast.
"Sage doesn't like swearing," Jade scolded her mate, taking a swipe of his nose, only for him to rumble in response. "Is that so?" Luke nodded upon the Alpha's question.
"She likes to repeat. I'm not sure she knows exactly what she's—"
"Fuck." She tested, and the room filled with laughter. Or most of the room did, while Luke remained silent and shook his head, his eyes fully disappointed. "That's a nono word." Even though she's been told a few times now not to say it because it's a bad word, they didn't explain why it's considered a bad word when they said them all the time.
Her attention soon moved from Luke to the Alpha in question. Her own wolf was tilting her head, which soon translated into skin. A threatening growl erupted throughout the room, and both of the brothers craned their heads in submission.
Sure Luke is built like a tank, but he was no Alpha.
Even Jade felt the tension of her mate's warning, but it still didn't affect Sage. Not even in the slightest.
If anything, it made her curious.
She wiggled in her seat playfully like a pup who could do no wrong, and it settled his wolf enough to not feel a challenge from her constant eye contact.
"Sage, I don't recommend angering an Alpha," Liam whispered, but sure enough, everyone heard.
"Nothing to worry about, right Harlow?" Jade stepped up, taking hold of her mate's hand, trying to soothe his wolf. "Hmm, yeah. She's a pup anyway." Sage's wolf felt downright annoyed at that comment, and Luke caught her nose twitch. "No sir," He defended. "Her wolf is very well trained." With Sage's huff of agreement, it caught Harlow's attention which he questioned further.
But Luke had no desire to put Sage back mentally in the cage after all the progress she's managed so far. But as he started to step outside with Harlow, panic wrestled into Sage's heart.
"I'll be right back. Finish your project." He pointed off to the paper, seeing that she was copying what Jade was doing beside her.
Luna Jade considered herself a pro after holding her position for a few years now. Her relationships with pups of the pack are high. High enough for her to know how to help Sage and what to start working on.
Instantly it was clear that Sage is smart, as she managed to pick up everything that Jade put in front of her. But getting her to speak proved to be a challenge. Even when Jade pressed on it, the girl remained silent.
Her hand soon became tired from drawing, and with her limbs still suffering from removing the trackers and a damaged fist. Sage placed herself in front of the tv and watched the story unfold, her eyes darting back and forth to follow along.
The faces were bizarre, their words quick, and they didn't look at her like the mirror had. Which meant they weren't a threat.
Currently, she was curled up in a blanket oat one of the many couches as she watched the flatscreen, eager to keep listening. And once Luke returned, he easily lifted up her legs to sit under them. Earning him a shriek of a giggle.
"Okay, that was precious." Jade smiled as she greeted her mate with a small kiss, and Liam only rolled his eyes. "You thinks he's ticklish?" The three of them looked at one another at the temptation to check. It wasn't as if Sage knew what being tickled meant, or was she paying attention with the TV still on.
"Well, aren't you comfortable." She looked up to blink playfully at the Alpha. Which followed with a huff of a greeting, which even his wolf chuckled at, agreeing that she's a funny little thing.
Luke was starting to see how Sage read people. Perhaps it had to do with the position in the pack because after the showdown an hour before, it seemed to make her less tempting to anger him, but still not any less curious.
"Sage, do you know who he is?" Her eyes locked towards Luke, and she nodded. "Alpha...Alpha Har-low." So she did know?
Or did she just learn it?
Whatever the case is, it didn't seem to matter as her wolf still didn't submit or show any fear of his wolf. But Harlow just grinned at the small female's attempt to say his name.
An idea ran through Liam's head, thinking it'd be good for Sage to spend some time outside. She's been cooped up for so long that even he felt the need to have fresh air.
It didn't take much convincing to take their party outside. The patrol was notified by the Alpha as they sooner turned off onto the porch, but even Jade's signature smile couldn't make Sage put her shoes back on.
"She's a wolf, alright." Harlow chuckled. The others took their position off on the patio furniture while Sage was left standing up to look into the sky. Her finger pointed up, and Luke smiled sadly to his sister. "That's the moon, our goddess above." She seemed so fixated on it that even Jade's comment passed over Sage's numb ears.
"She's never seen the moon?" Harlow growled at his mate's suggestion, damning those scientists to hell for what they put the sweetest soul through. Even the thought of her being deprived of something so eternal made him and his wolf ill at the thought.
The woods that the three of them visited the other day lacked any sort of grass patches, so walking down the steps with bare feet was a new experience. One she readily enjoyed, as she wiggled her toes against the strain of grass before bending down and grazing her hand over the tops ends.
And then she shifted without thought or reason, but the panicked whines and pants stopped the others from talking as Jade rushed over to see what happened.
"Sage?!... Shh shh, honey, it's alright." The Luna said, attempting to calm the girl. But Liam only laughed at his sister struggling. "Goddess sake, Sage! Undress before shifting." Jade shot him a glare for antagonizing her, but luckily the two managed to pry the clothes off the frantic wolf.
With her fur finally free, she huffed out a quick phrase of appreciation before acting out on her freedom, and she evidently chose to plop down into the grass and begin rolling around. The laughter from the two other males from the porch caught Sage's attention as she barked in their direction.
"You're right. She's a little spitfire." Harlow agreed, rising up to meet his mate and wrap his arm around her, smiling down as they look to Sage.
Personally, Liam didn't want her to play alone, but the second he shifted—Sage pounced.
However, Harlow stared at her intently. Her wolf is easily bigger than any normal she-wolf he's seen. Definalty bigger than his own mate's.
"She has Delta, Beta, or Alpha blood in her," Harlow claimed, causing Luke to glance back to the Alpha—Only there wasn't much of surprise on Elwood's face given his observation.
"That why she had one of your warriors submit to her?" He questioned back, and the smirk dismissed any sort of offense the gesture would usually give
The unknown factor that came with Sage was still causing Harlow to run through a list of who she could be related to.
But none came to mind.
______
Date: 11-07-2020
Time: 10:48
Words: 3007
______
EDITED:
DATED: 08/02/2021
WORDS: 3461