* * *
The oldest Elwood son woke up with a start, his eyes scanning the room in hopes that the scientists hadn't taken Sage or Liam while he was asleep. But an almost prideful grin formed on his face, knowing that they had escaped and he didn't have to be so wary of the scientists.
Even if there was still an everlasting tug that'd remain on everything they've endured.
It only took another moment for Luke to realize that it was Sage that woke him up. Her body shaking and paired with small whimpers made it evident that she's having a nightmare.
As if she wasn't having a hard enough time as is.
"Sh...Shhh, right here hun. It's okay." He slowly moved her up to his chest and wrapped his arms around her to steady the shakes. Stroking softly through her long locks of hair, creating a rhythm for her to follow.
"Lu...?"
"I'm here, always. Go back to sleep hun, we have a long day tomorrow." She hummed, mumbling something along the lines of 'sleepsleep,' which he agreed to.
Luke couldn't help it. He slept lightly after Sage's night terror. Even when he knew full well that his body needed to recuperate after the weeks of unsolid sleep, in addition to all the mental and physical torture. But he remained at the ready, in the off chance that the scientists did find them.
That and his wolf began to grow angry at their memory. The only orders he was meant to follow were his father's or the higher tiers of his pack. Not a puny human in lab coats that hide behind drugs and tazers.
The following morning, Liam sighed in relief to know that they would be back home that very afternoon. They had a little over eight hours remaining of travel, and coffee fueling them. The brothers felt as though they accomplish anything.
And even now, Luke was smiling into his next sip at how Sage's first sip of coffee had turned out. She didn't care for it, but Liam had snagged her one of the bottled ice teas. Hoping she would like it, knowing it isn't that sweet.
While the complimentary muffin would hold them for an hour at the most.
When Liam turned back to offer Sage a water bottle, he caught that she already finished her tea. "Course she likes that herbal crap," he mumbled, and she smiled down at the cup. Herbal crap.
She took a mental note of the name and wiggled her figure as much as her seatbelt would allow—While the two males up front were mindful of human drivers not used to morning traffic.
Sage's book of swears had increased significantly over this stretch of the drive, seeing as how they got worse the closer they reached New England.
At the next stop for gas, Liam set her up with a makeshift desk so she could continue to practice holding a pencil. It managed to distract her, and every time they would ask what she was drawing, she'd tell them.
Jade had worked on all types of small doodles with her, flowers to be exact. And to be brutally honest, Luke thought they looked damn good for someone who didn't know what a tree or plant even looked like up until this week.
With that, they managed to continue without much difficulty while Sage hummed in the background to the tune of the music. Allowing Liam and Luke to plan their first day back home.
Home. Even with less than an hour left, it still made their wolves anxious. He wanted to run down the patrol path. Scout. Fuck, he'd even take sparring with his dad right now over what he endured.
As it neared the seventh-hour mark, Sage had fallen asleep as they finally started to hit familiar roads. But only one in particular lead to their pack's land, and it was hidden from human's sight. But Liam turned his arm back around and nudged her to look back out the window just as they turned onto the dirt path.
"...Trees." She mumbled, adding the plural 's' when it meant more than one. And it earned her a confirmational huff from Luke. "There's a lot more coming, hun, just you wait."
"You just have to survive meeting mom," Liam added, but it earned him a quick smack upside the head for a comment like that—and the younger brother could only rub the sore spot as he cursed out an apology.
It wasn't long until her nose started giving off after picking up the Crescent Moon's territory borders. The idea of it was similar to what she experienced from Mystic Grimm, with what Jade and Harlow managed to produce together. But for the brothers upfront, they embrace the scent like a healthy breath.
Their reactions were odd. What was so important about trees that—
Her gasp had followed instantly as a painful stab enacted in the center of her temple. Sage attempt to hold her hands over her head as she hissed in pain. "Where's the pack line?"
"Just passed it. It's her wolf, has to be. Sage, listen to me. You need to accept it, alright?. Don't fight it. No fight. Let it in." She could hardly hear him over the obsessive ringing continuing to fill her ears, drowning out his calming voice that urged her to accept the pull.
Seeing how it wasn't working, Liam didn't hesitate before jumping into the back with her. Both his hands encasing her cheeks as he proceeded to count up to ten and down to zero. This method had worked for Jade, and he was going to steal everything he could if it meant helping Sage breathe through the emotions and accept the pack's territory.
The reason for this, in theory, is that the magic the witches provided would ward off Rogues. But it didn't account for those that were too far gone to even hear the sharp pitch warnings, while the rest knew better than to test the patience of an already established pack.
"Let them in. Home. This is home." She planted her forehead against' Liam's as she tried her best to grasp at whatever strain in front of her wanted to heed her acceptance, and it was the same reaction of the males before her had.
It felt like a rush of air that she didn't know she needed.
Her eyes returned to their usual childish excitement as the guarding trees allowed a grand entrance to the pack land. Five minutes. That's all the time remaining between them and arriving at their family's home.
The pack's connection has made a subtle return, but the brothers felt it with ease, taking it as the moment to catch up on current pack news without making the announcement just yet.
The Alpha would probably send them on makeup patrols for getting kidnapped, and either brother would be all too willing to do so without complaining.
Luke didn't even have to think now that it was engraved into his memory on where the Elwood cabin is. Finally, he was able to stop the devil's car for the very last time.
Which caught Sage's attention instantly.
"We're home." He breathed in relief, leaning forward onto the wheel. At the same time, Liam rushed out of the car—Unable to handle another second in the vehicle as he dropped his knees on their front yard and kissed the dirt.
"Thank the goddess, bless it be." He whispered out a prayer, and it timed perfectly as Camilla darted out of the house. Her blonde hair already bouncing a greeting in seeing her sons have returned.
The wolf bunkered into her head whined and panted to lick her son clean and rid him of his worries, and she squealed as he too wrapped her into a hug.
Not denying her affection like her sons usually would.
Leo Elwood had soon followed after his mate, seeing his middle son and placing a firm grip onto his shoulder and nearly swallowed his name as he tried to speak.
"Where's Luke?" The deep voice had Sage's ear twitch as she caught just how strong the strange male sounded, and it definitely piqued her interest.
"Sage, that's my mom and dad...This is home. And you're safe here. You're always going to be safe here. Always. No more blood. No more scientists." He caught the panic in her eyes, but he continued because he knew this was just something she needed to get through.
"Just stay behind me. You don't have to do or say anything. Alright? Just no hurt." She blinked, yet that wasn't a clear sign she understood just yet.
"No hurt?"
"No hurt." She repeated, and that is when they walked behind the car and off towards the front of the cabin. His mother soon spotted them, but Liam held her back before she had the chance to move towards Luke and Sage.
Both Leo and Camilla were left confused as they watched a small female hug Luke's arm as they came forward. The young she-wolf watched from behind her hair, giving an even better position for her to observe from.
"Luke who's—Who's this?" Camilla questioned, her attention weary to Sage's figure. Which wasn't something the young female liked at all, and a scared growl escaped her throat before she could understand Camilla's intentions.
"This is Sage...She helped us escape." Luke explained, and it already earned a smile on account to both his parents, changing Camilla's gaze on Sage to something of interest.
And Luke knew exactly what his mom was getting at.
"Is she your mate?" Liam smirked at the comment, while Luke only grew annoyed by his mother's obsession with him and the rest of his brothers finding their mates.
But a simple shake of his head had ruined her hope.
"No. She's just a she-wolf mom, but—" The sudden movement came in a quick cluster as the rest of Elwood resistance added three more males to the front yard, and that drew Sage into a panic.
Casey, the youngest of the bunch, had attempted to run over to Luke, but Liam managed to scoop him up before he got too close. "She was down there for a long time. She needs to get used to our kind again." Luke offered, causing his father to take the initiative to greet her properly. So he took the first steps forward and passed his two sons before stopping just before Sage and Luke.
"Thank you, Sage. For bringing my boys back home. Leo Elwood, Master of Arms of the Crescent Moon Pack. We're in your debt." He tilted his head politely, but wasn't ready to see her narrowing gaze attempting to read him.
She remained silent while her two brothers waited in anticipation, and a threatening growl trickled into the mix. His words meaning nothing of significance to her.
Leo's pride and his wolf had been deeply offended, and he matched the octave that she had managed. And although she had been hiding behind Luke's arm, her small form suddenly stepped forward, planting herself in front of Luke and against Leo.
Luke gulped, wondering how in the hell this would turn out to be. While Leo watched, interest blooming of at every angel at this little she-wolf.
"Thank you," Liam whipped his head back into their direction and threw his head back out to laugh. "Damn, dad got it first!" He called out, still holding Casey in his arms, though the little pup was still trying to wiggle his way out of.
"She has trouble verbal communication...I—We think she was there since she was a young pup." Camilla was the first to emotionally react to it, while Leo studied her once more. He offered up an arm for her to take his scent from, and she did indeed lean into the offer to carefully take a sniff.
Her eyes waiting for any sign of attack.
Power was defiantly an element among the Elwoods. It was similar to those around her had sure, but each had their own tint. Luke was the closest to his father, but in terms of their relationship, it was a louder scent.
Camilla was a softer and sweet blend, while Casey still held the fresh smell of pup—Even though he was already six. Caleb and Liam may as well have the same scent had it not been for the bond Sage shared with Liam already.
And lastly, Cameron. Her eyes connected to his in question, he held mean tempter at times, and she did not like how this male wolf was looking at her.
"Cameron, stand down," Luke said, wrapping his arms around her from behind, whispering small warnings and a reminder that nobody was going to hurt her.
That prompted Camilla to come forward, kindly offering her cheek to the young wolf, who instantly went to rub against it. "Oh, she's adorable, aren't you?" His mother had gone from nervous to fawning over her, causing all the brothers to groan.
"Did you really get mom a daughter? I had mom's birthday present all planned out already!" Cameron huffed, kicking the ground in damnation. Especially when his wolf was yearning to get closer to the she-wolf. Interest and lust are common at his age, and it was no doubt to anyone that Sage is beautiful and strong.
An instant admiration in standing up against his father only doubled his interest.
"How about we wash up and figure out what's for dinner?" The mention of food had earned a small light to flicker in Sage's eyes. "Food?" Camilla took a small glance towards Luke, and a sad gaze flashed over them both. He was dreading to tell his family that this she-wolf never looked at the moon until they were in Mystic Grimm territory.
A motherly protective arm soon wrapped around Sage's thin frame, and the woman continued to talk in that soothing voice of hers as Luke had to wait outside.
It was difficult for both brothers to allow Sage to walk away with their mom, but he had to explain the situation to his father and the rest of his brother first.
"Her whole life? You're sure?" Liam remained silent, hoping that his brother would take the lead in giving an explanation. "Close to it, she didn't know what shoes or trees were." Liam held Casey closer in his arms, taking in the concerned faces crowding around them.
"She didn't know what the moon is." Leo Elwood, one of the only ones in the pack that could rally up the Alpha had cracked with emotion after that one simple comment as he looked back towards Luke.
"You did good by getting her here." He instated, sharing the gaze with both Luke and Liam. "We never will. She's our sister now." Liam said, no longer worried about his parent's reaction to their newfound bond. And Casey had thrown his hand up into the air with a loud cheer. "A sister! Finally!" It rallied the rest of the males, but Luke knew something was off about Cameron and instant anger overcame him.
"Run it off. Now." Leo narrowed his brows, and he moved forward to grip his son's shirt, gaining his full attention. "Control him, Cameron. Listen to your brother. Now go." The young wolf nodded and turned to the back of the house. Each step towards the surrounding woods was growing more difficult, but once he ripped through his skin to fur as he plowed through the set trail.
Liam was only handling his anger due to his pup brother in his arms. If this anger appeared with ill thoughts from his own family members, what would happen when another male comes closer to Sage?
"Anything else?" Luke looked around, knowing that their neighbors were nosy into anything that could be considered pack news.
And a new face certainly drew attention.
So he leads the rest of the family back into the cabin, only to find the kitchen empty.
"Mom!" He shouted out, and Sage instantly perked her head in the direction of Luke's voice. "Lu?" Camilla's heart swelled at the nickname the she-wolf gave her son and hummed softly.
"We'll head down in a minute. A pretty girl like you shouldn't be walking around in hot, baggy clothes. It's summer!" Sage tugged at the small straps and attempted to move forward. She liked the way the dress was free and flowy that elected a smile.
Earning Camilia a small victory.
"How about I make you a sandwich, sweetheart. That way, you'll be set until dinner time." She was planning to ask what she might want, but the girl seemed distracted as she took in the home's layout.
Her new home.
Mrs.Elwood was already mentally preparing to accommodate Sage to live in their home. With five sons, they already had one of the largest cabins in Crescent Moon. But the guest room was going to receive a massive upgrade if Camilla has her way. "Bathroom?"
"Of course, hun. I'm sorry, it's right this way. Do you need any help?" The girl shook her head at the offer. The woman waited patiently outside the door before they continued back downstairs to meet with the rest of the family.
"Someone cleans up nice. How do you feel, Sage?" Liam asked, sliding in beside her. And she let out a tiny wiggle, earning her a chuckle from Luke and Liam both.
"She's so pretty!" Casey ushered, taking a moment to rush to her legs and grapple on. His own interest rallied in terms of curiosity to her smell, but Sage found herself liking his scent too.
It's a pup scent, after all.
"Casey Elwood, you let her go this instant!" His mother yelled, but it did not register in the young boy's mind.
"Pup," Sage greeted, and the boy pouted up towards her. "I'm not a pup for much longer! Papa says I'll be a hunter!" Liam looked over to where Luke was standing, both still a little weary on how close their pup brother was to Sage, but she liked to take her audience by surprise, and she so easily bent down and leveled herself with the pup.
In doing so, a smile grew on his face. "Will you play with me? Liam and Luke don't want to play anymore." The sadness in her eyes shifted up to the two older males, and she frowned outright.
Camilla watched as this she-wolf so easily guilt-tripped her boys in all of two seconds, and silently too!
"Yeah, Casey. You can help her with her colors and shapes." While the excitement blew up in his world, having rushed out of the room to get his toys to start playing, Leo caught what his son said and uttered his disgust under his brother.
"Those fucking humans couldn't be bothered with—" Liam motioned his hand across his throat that Sage doesn't like swearing, but the girl was focused on waiting for Casey to come back.
"Sage, do you want to drink anything?" As Luke was about to answer for her, she looked directly at Camilla and rising to her feet. "Water?" It was a relief to hear her talking, but with the look of deep thought on their father's face, it meant that he was conversing with someone.
"Beta Eli is coming over. Alpha is at a meeting with Eclipse and will probably be back in a week. Apparently, the message that Alpha Harlow sent out reached her, but not many people have seen it." Confusion spread across the brother's face, as they nearly missed the fact that Mystic Grimm's image still looked a certain way to the rest of America.
"...It looks like they're hunting her," Liam whispered, and Leo nodded along with his son's thoughts. But he tried to distract himself by joining his mate in the kitchen to help her with the sandwich as he provided Sage with a glass of water.
She drank it steadily, but instantly stopped when she caught Casey struggling with toys in his arms.
"Playroom! Playroom!" And at that moment, her brothers instantly lost her as she ran off to follow the pup through the unexplored house.
"What does she like to eat?"
"Chicken, but maybe she should eat something else tonight?" Liam looked over in confusion at the idea. But his thoughts flipped instantly when Cameron reappeared at the backdoor, panting heavily from his run.
He needed to keep it in his pants, and Liam didn't have any problem with reminding him of that.
"Mom, you have to help Sage with uh—Not exposing herself." That wasn't the right way to say what she needed to learn, so Luke rephrased Liam's words without any fear of embarrassment.
"Oh. Alright, you know Kailtyn will have extra clothes for her to wear. I'm going to give her a call." Leo mentioned that too many faces wouldn't be good for her at the moment, so Liam decided that he'd run out to go and get whatever was needed.
But when he returned back from the neighborhood over, a bag's worth of she-wolves clothes for Sage to borrow, he caught his mom and dad hovering over the laptop.
"She can't just live in the guest room without any personality in there!" Caleb groaned, knowing this is going to be even bigger than when their mother was expecting Casey.
Just ten times worse because she's already fully grown.
"Sage likes purple, if that helps at all."
"Of course she does Lu, the flower Sage is purple." Either brother looked at each other in confusion, having missed the simple coincidence before Liam uttered Jade's name.
"She planted that seed, huh?"
"Idiot." Leo defiantly missed the banter between those two, but noticed that his second eldest, Caleb, stilled seemed a little weary of the female that challenged their father without any repercussion.
"'Milla, I wouldn't dress Sage in those clothes until Cameron is under control." The mother had missed it earlier, but now her eyes locked on her middle pup. Storming over towards him as her nails pinched at his ear as she dragged him forward.
"I didn't raise you to behave like this!" She's our guest!" Camillia chimed, and Luke cleared his throat. "Correction. Sister." He deemed, narrowing his gaze as he was silently daring his brother to tempt him.
"Great, thanks for making it worse. Ow!" He whined, taking back his ear from his mother before backing away.
"It was more of my wolf if it helps my case. She's strong..." That reminder of just how strong she is popped back into Luke's mind as he turned back to look at his dad.
"She's immune to silver." Leo was nearly the age of being considered an elder wolf, and soon he would pass the mantel down to his son, but never has he heard of a wolf being immune to their collective weakness.
"You're kidding."
"Nope. Our cells were silver, and she's just doing pull-ups like they're nothing." Although Camilla flinched at the word choice he had used, Camero chuckled. "Pull-ups? She looks like the wind could knock her over."
"She could put you on your ass in thirty seconds tops." The compliment from Luke had caught Leo's attention, he is the Master of Arms, after all. The training of the Crescent Moon pack is under his command and leadership, and this—This was interesting to hear.
"She's trained?"
"To the limit, the second day she came back all bruised up. Wasn't much of a warning for what we were going to face, though." Silence filled the room as Camilla was struggling to regain her emotions.
Her pups—Her boys were caged and treated like animals, and now her adopted pup had faced such an upbringing that she could only pray that Sage gets better.
But through the silence, an array of laughter called out from the playroom. And it lifted the conversation into a much more positive direction.
"She's strong. She'll be alright." Leo remarked. From there, Luke and Liam remained seated at that table, constantly reassured that Sage is alright by herself in the other room. The ticks of just wanting to peek in would cause her to feel obligated to stay by their side, so they knew better than to pull her back on this progress.
Camilla had plated sandwiches with chips down in front of her sons, and they didn't hesitate to reach for them. "Should I make lasagna tonight? Does Sage like pasta?" Neither of the two could speak after having just stuffed their cheeks full, so Luke hurried through his current bite to be able to speak.
"She's only had whatever they gave her. Really don't know, mom. It's just her trying new things that she has to get used to." The woman nodded and smiled, her sons and mate knew well enough that she's plotting.
And plotting she is, and within twenty minutes, it showed, as she came up to her sons in question if Sage would like the bedsheets she picked out.
"Mom, she's not eight." Liam joked, and she growled at his comment.
"She's never seen the moon. At least let her have some comfort, damnit!" Camilla defended the young she-wolf in the other room, and the mother went ahead and continued to build up her order by adding pillowcases to match. Leo cut her off at the five hundred mark, saying he wanted to save it for vacation, but either Luke and Liam claimed that they weren't stepping foot off pack territory anytime soon, so the budget increased and more piled onto the virtual shopping car.
Leo groaned, not because of the cost, but because he is already father to five pups, but adding another that's female seemed to strain him. His wolf was prepared, though it sounded like Sage didn't have too much trouble on her fur side, meaning little attending to.
They needed to give her attention, and proper encouragement to build upon her verbal communication skills.
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Date: 11-07-2020
Time: 10:50
Words: 3736
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EDITED
DATE: 08-16-2021
WORDS: 4558