* * *
Luke thought he already saw the low points of Sage's life, but seeing her sick and longing to go outside was starting to wain on him. Especially when she was feeling too weak and struggling to maintain any energy was damning at best.
And when she had finally battled the cold, the itch on her neck still didn't pass.
Or this depressed attitude.
Nothing could get her out of it, mom's cooking of chicken and potatoes, hair ties, offers of runs, swimming, or hunting. The family felt her wolf struggling to cope already, and it made them worry as they couldn't imagine how she would be at Mystic Grimm.
On the fourth day, Luke had a plan to stop her pup attitude. One that involved him throwing her over his shoulder and dropping her on the ground in the backyard, already facing the wood's edge.
"We're going on a run. Now." She huffed. It was indeed angry and not in any way, shape, or form ready to comply with his order.
"Sage. You are not allowed to sulk. You're not leaving."
"Alpha." He groaned into the air and pointed to the woods. "If you don't shift in five seconds, I am dragging your ass to the lake and throwing you off the cliff." She was testing his limits, so much so that he almost missed the state of her neck...
Almost.
It was blood red, irritated to the brim. Goddess, no wonder she was aggravated.
"Sage, hun...Does this hurt?" She nodded, but when his hand felt against it, she hissed as it felt like a burn. Still, on the ground from her being throw, she struggles to get away from his touch as though he caused her pain.
This prompted another call to the pack healer.
"I don't know what this is, Luke, but she needs to stop playing with it...Honey, you can't keep scratching it. I know it hurts, but it's starting to bleed and scar." The soft voice made it difficult for Sage to feel angry at, but with Makenzie here, it made for a quick check-up otherwise.
"She's doing better. I just wish I knew what this is...No other pack has dealt with this." As the doctor started cleaning up, she politely asked the status of the Alpha's choice in removing Sage.
The decision still hadn't changed.
"See, all set Sage...Now shift." She didn't like the order or the look in his eyes as she's gotten used to the privacy, but neither was bothered by her naked form as Luke just gazed away.
That is his sister, after all.
"She's eating better. I can see that from here."
"Yeah, she's not skin and bones...Even her wolf looks healthier." Luke nodded down to the freshly shifted Sage. The girl still had the wrap against her neck as it transferred when she shifted.
A yelp occurred as it started to tingle even further, but no matter how informed Sage is...Her wolf was still confused at the foundations of a pack.
She just knew it was where they belonged.
Run?
"Call me if anything changes, but keep the bandage on her neck. It'll stop her from scratching it...Otherwise, we might have to find a cone." Sure it was a dog joke, but Sage did not like the sound of that in any regard.
Leaning onto her hind legs did she gesture her two paws up in a begging motion.
"Thanks Kenz...We'll go to the lake and then to the cliff, round back, and come home. Alright?" She nodded, eager to feel the relief of a normal run. But the brother could still feel the struggling sadness on how she felt with leaving.
When Jack explained how she thought it was back to that cage, Luke knew he would act the same or worse, if he thought he was returning. After learning what's topside? Goddess, the Alpha needed to change his final decision.
Leo was making preparations on leaving too. Harlow was open to a second Master of Arms, and didn't mind the big family. But that meant leaving Alpha Remus without the position right alongside losing seven wolves on their already low number against Mystic Grimm pack.
While the run felt refreshing, enduring...Everything that Sage needed, it reminded her of the beginning of her stay.
Especially when Luke wouldn't stop licking her until the right side of her ear was soaked with love.
He was a puppy like that.
She wiggled at the effection, leaning her side into his as he assumed she was trying to smile up at the sky. Even her wolf was as quirky and playful as her human. And Luke's wolf rumbled in affection, and in a last-minute decision, he decided to bring her along on patrol.
Sage enjoyed herself immensely, her wolf loved being given an important task in the pack. But Luke knew it didn't suit her. She was too quick and strong to be a scout. He was still betting on Tracker, her nose was damn good.
He warned the others to stay a decent distance back, but Sage was far too involved to really mind those around her.
The rumors have already spread through the pack about the Elwoods adopting a she-wolf. However, most were wary of the newcomer...The sloppy tongue hanging from her mouth had relinquished those worries automatically.
Those on the current rotation followed whatever order Luke put into place. It was easier for Sage to accept the females, it was the males she had trouble being introduced to. They looked at her as though she was a challenge, and it insulted her wolf greatly. Not knowing what exactly their intentions were.
Those near her age were prone to wanting to mate, and as much as Luke wanted to deny it. Sage was a perfect candidate for a multitude of wolves in his pack, age, and strength-wise.
Granted, they didn't know she was immune to silver, nor could draw a tie with the Delta. But that was a conversation for a later date.
Most knew that she would be leaving in the coming days, and those meeting her today couldn't understand why.
Their questioning the Alpha's reasoning had given Luke an idea, if he gathered enough pack members to plead with the Alpha, then he might properly reconsider Sage's stay.
Introducing Sage to the Patrol team had been a mistake, especially when anyone mentioned it near her. The family struggled with the word no when it came to her, but seeing her alive and active again was all they wanted. So, of course, she came with.
If not alongside her brothers, then beside Izzy and Ally.
Both Jack and Eli used this against the Alpha, that she wanted to be put to work. That she wanted to stay, but the male wasn't budging.
However, the week had gone by just like that and Harlow claimed he was solving it. But that was little to nothing of helpful in regards to actually knowing the details.
The lack of eviction didn't escape Sage's notice either. She knew what a week was and what entailed at the end of it. But as of right now, she was just enjoying this given walk alongside Ally and Izzy.
Granted, neither of them believed that the Alpha would truly let her leave now. It was four days extra, and she has stayed here without another eviction notice.
Everyone was hopeful, but realistically the Alpha was dealing with other problems. One of which involved the council finalizing his choice of Luna.
Sage decidedly had a bright start to today and tried to forget the looming deadline above her head. So she helped make omelets alongside Caleb, played with Casey for a good while before he was sent off to a summer school.
He was always super excited to show Sage as she was the only one to listen to every single word he said and clung to it like it was gold.
He loved stories, and ultimately it was helping her with her vocabulary, constantly hearing stories and people speaking. She didn't need to be treated like a child. She just needs a moment or two to understand.
After all of this, Sage swapped with multiple members of the family to patrol. They joked that she should just man the entire sector throughout the night with the way her wolf was acting.
But her wolf was antsy, and she couldn't understand why.
So now, on the fifth shift change, she pranced along with Ally and Izzy.
They were talking about what they learned in training. But since Sage wasn't a pack member, she couldn't attend.
Leo didn't doubt that Sage would cause a storm once she joined the ranks.
You alright, Sage? How's your neck?
She turned back over in the direction of Ally, the she-wolf has proved to be a very good friend and it earned her a smile.
Doesn't hurt.
Izzy looked to her sister, and a shared grin at the comment. The girl was getting better at verbal communication, just like Liam said.
I bet we can take you shopping one day. I'm sure you want clothes that fit you.
That peeked up her interest as she put her nose to the ground in search of any game. Getting fairly hungry after skipping lunch to join Caleb during his patrol.
Socks?
We can definitely find some socks, I was thinking about shirts and jeans.
Sage didn't know what jeans were, considering she's only seen scrubs and whatever her family and those around her wear now.
So what the hell were jeans?
Sage, do you like coffee?
No. Tea.
They assumed she's never tried the other hot drink, but then again, she rightly didn't need any more energy as she's already managed the whole day without taking much of a break.
Alright, come on, we can head back.
Ally had offered, but Sage continued forward without much worry to what the she-wolf had said behind her. There was something strange about this scent that Sage caught in the wind.
It smelled foul. So much so that she was struggling to keep from tearing her nose away from the ground.
Find anything good, Sage?
Help.
The two sisters came forward, smelling directly in the spot that Sage had her nose up against and couldn't find anything of interest. This didn't discourage her in the least. Instead, it led her down another path, then another.
Sage, come on back, there's nothing here.
The protest made her stop, so she looked back down to the scent trail that sparked a burning sensation to spread from her nose straight to her eyes.
Lu?
What's up hun, you get lost on the way back?
His laughter had filled her brain, but she huffed in damnation.
Smell bad.
With that, she sent the scent through their link and continued her trek forward, feeling that it was right to ignore the sister's pleas of returning back with them.
Luke had almost gagged when it finally reached the connection. His wolf heaving at just how loud it translated over their shared link.
Sage hun, I think you found a rotten deer. Come head back or—
The painful whines hit her ears, and that was enough for her to continue forward. Goddess were the two females in awe to see her hind legs bend and move in such a competitive manner that they were yelling more than following.
Creeping forward, the smell finally reigned enough for her company to catch, and in following the freshly coated trail.
Sage peeked through the bushes as a sudden array of worn-down wolves circled the area, almost as if they were acting as their own patrol group.
But one smelled familiar.
Looking through the list of new wolves she's met, Sage put the name to the wolf. It was Zoe, bleeding, but the scent was being masked by whatever godawful scent was there.
Lu...No deer. Wolves smell bad.
She sent another image, and it instead caused Luke to through his head back in warning to the rest of his pack.
Sage, you listen to me, sweetheart. You fucking kill every last one of those bastards, you understand?
The girl didn't need to be told twice.
The two that were brutally mauling Zoe were first on her list. And when either Izzy or Ally had come into the picture, they began their descend in helping Sage's attack.
But whatever this was...It didn't feel like just the normal group of rogues wandering in.
No. There were dozens. Hiding in plain sight.
Sage?! Sage! Can you hear me?
She was currently occupied with her jaws clamping down onto another of these smelly wolf's throats. She huffed a quick affirmative and sent an image.
Izzy and Ally aren't responding. Hun, where are you?
Pretty lake.
He barked orders to those around him, and the Enforcers followed in pursuit to where he believed his sister to be, and goddess was this a heartache.
Liam was just behind him, as was Caleb. Either of them bickering that if there was one scratch on their sister, they'd skin them alive.
After finishing off yet another one, Sage looked off to see Izzy and Ally struggling on their own. Had it been a mistake attacking without a plan?
Yes.
But she tackled from behind and unhinged her jaw to aline as close to the smelly bastard as she could. Riding from behind had she used every ounce of her wolf's ability to claw, wound, and mane this current one.
He had been the hardest to manage, but the addition of another sought even a challenging lesson. She needed to learn to manage a dual attack. Sure, humans were one enemy (Some of the time), but this was what her world revolves around.
With blood coating her teeth, she threw a threatening growl to the remaining few, and though they attempted to retreat, Sage was not going to fail Luke's order.
She was told to kill each and every single counted Rogue in the vicinity.
They weren't meant to be on the territory. Even her wolf was disgusted that their smell was lingering.
Even fighting now, it uplifting the jitteriness of needing to continuing this scouting mission of hers.
Hearing a familiar bark had she turned to see Ally. She was gaining Sage's attention as they've lost the means of communication otherwise. It was all in due favor in attempting to get her to help Izzy. She was struggling, and while most were focused on Sage now, it didn't stop her from trying to aid the sisters.
In the end, they had created a protective circle around Zoe. When the final Rogue hit the ground on Sage's account, she instantly went towards the fallen pack member.
Whining out and licking up the wounds that riddled her body. What were they doing?
Why were there so many grouped up?
Sage we're—
Luke stood in complete and utter awe, and he wasn't the only one.
The sight below them looked like a damn war zone with the sprawled out bodies in every other space.
The three gals from the pack, however, were sporting little to no damage.
Yet still on high alert, Sage growled in warning. Coming forward to protect another fallen member.
Kenzi had gone behind a tree and shifted to skin, ready to aid those hurt. Although it took coaxing for Sage to step away from Zoe. When the she-wolf properly listened, she caught sight of her brother coming around in inspection.
Liam was the first to shift, followed by Luke and Caleb.
"You okay, hun?" He whispered, his own anxiety rallying higher than what he usually would with something like this.
"Is she okay?! Goddess, that was beautiful!" Ally cheered, tackling Sage, who was still in fur. Still bloody as ever, but she was still able to smile with glee.
The rounds of appreciation and thankful pats gave her wolf a good standing.
There was no way the Alpha could kick her out now after that. Though when Liam awaited for Luke to respond to his linked message, he huffed.
"Something's wrong, linkings blocked." He shared with the group, and Luke narrowed his eyes.
"Sage had no problem with—" A form of understanding reached him. Being immune to silver must also correspond to her bypassing the generated shield it creates.
The pack healer took to looking over Sage now, cleaning her up in her human form as she was indeed bitten a few times. But none were all that bad, not at all compared to Zoe.
"WHAT THE HELL HAPPENED—" The booming voice of the Beta had the majority of the wolves cower at the level of authority. Still, Jack knew from the get-go that Sage wouldn't be among that category.
"Area's not allowing any links to pass through."
"How'd you find this then?" Luke blinked off towards Sage, who was taking the offered medication and water.
Eli walked directly towards the young she-wolf and kneed down to level with her.
"Can you tell me what happened, hun?" Where words failed her, she moved her hand to his cheek, which aided the image transfer tremendously as she shared that it started with the smallest of smells, bringing her to this clearing.
"Is this was why she was out here for the past two days?" Eli turned back and questioned it, and like a magnet, it clicked as to what drove Sage to be out here searching in the first place.
"Sage, did you smell them before?"
"She couldn't have. She didn't know what they smelled like, but when she sent that Zoe was hurt, I just..." He motioned to the fallen wolves, and Ally came up beside Luke and nodded.
"I think I got three, Izzy too. Everything else..." Sage sat holding the water to her neck as she looked around to her work. She was on a kill high, considered she just managed a killing spree.
"That her?" A male asked, and whoever nodded allowed him to come down towards her.
"Must've been hot hun, wanna hang out sometime?" His husk voice had hit a trigger, and did not hesitate to growl in warning.
"Better hit the road Daniel, that's Elwood's sister." The rumor hit him easily that she's the girl from the facility.
"She really gonna get the boot after this?" Jack couldn't predict what the Alpha would do now, but they had a whole lot of work skinning and hanging all these pelts.
"Beta, found the silver." His eyes darted down to Sage. If she is truly immune, then it wouldn't have any effect on her. And by the looks of them, they defiantly held the brand of the black market.
"One. Just pick one up." After the time well spent with the Beta and the Delta, she favored began to favor them as well, so she blinked in pure attention and looked back down to the small coin.
Bending down did she pick it up without any hesitation or pain, so when another wolf offered a bag, she dropped it in.
Looking at her fingers, there was no indent or sign of burning...Goddess was she a mystery.
"Does it hurt?"
"Doesn't hurt." Luke pulled her into his side with a soft growl of approval.
Granted, she was wearing a pair of borrowed clothes and still smelled strongly of blood and the remanence of Rogue stench, which was becoming harder to bear.
"Help...Clean?" She whispered, and Eli shook his head. "Nah, you did enough, princess. Go get some sleep for me, yeah?" She was pretty tired, so perhaps this was a good idea.
On route home, she had been greeted by more than a few wolves, all of them showing some form of appreciation as they heard about the Rogue attack.
Granted it was simply Liam who walked her back home, but she smiled politely to everyone who came by. Though she rightly didn't speak or converse with them, it was nice to be at least talked at and engaged with them, instead of having been partially avoided for some time now.
When she walked through the front door, however, Leo wrapped his arms around his little pup. "Heard you gave them hell, Sage...How was it?"
"She killed 12." It wasn't a normal number. Hell, the two other she-wolves had gotten the best of two or three.
"That a girl! Bet your brothers are skinnin' them up right now. Let's get you something to eat, hun. Didn't eat much today, did you?" She shook her head, and in that Camillia had made the girl a chicken wrap as well a side of fries.
Goddess, did she love potatoes.
Within the next hour, she fell asleep on the couch curled up beside Liam. He was busy fixing up the small patch on her neck again after the proper bath she received.
Luke came in just after she slipped into her a dream. A smile playing on his face as he was returning home with the order of a scheduled meeting. The Alpha wanted to see her.
But Liam picked up her arm and dropped it, she didn't even respond with her aggravated huff like she usually does.
"Tomorrow works too, I guess."
"Is the Alpha still going to make her leave?" A proud grin reappeared on his brother's face as they rallied the fact that she would be brought to join the pack as an offering of thanks. The first in years.
She surely deserved it before, but now it turned into a demand. It spread like damn wildfire as Zoe's mate had been outraged.
And he wasn't the only one that was livid that a small pack of Rogues had managed to get so far onto Crescent Moon territory.
Remus was attempting to figure it out as well. He took every bit of manpower and even went to the scene himself to search through the endless possibilities.
He assumed it was a decent six or seven, but the number of bodies never seemed to end when the Alpha included the pelts starting to rise up on the pole.
The service would be to warn others on what the pack was capable of, and that was just the kind of justice that made Zoe's mate feel better as he stayed by her side in the infirmary.
After today she deserved to sleep in her bed, and it was Luke who forced Liam to go to his own room. Even he left her alone to the soothing sounds of rain music his mother recommended.
And one of Luke's final thoughts as he left the room, was imagining Sage's reaction when she would be introduced to rain for the first time.
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Date: 11-16-2020
Time: 7:01
Words: 3607
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EDITED:
DATE: 09/14/2021
WORDS: 3685