Forest Pack Community Book One (COMPLETED)

Felicia Winters was always the outcast. She preferred it that way. She did not want to be noticed or be in the spotlight. Things tended to go very wrong when that happened. It happened when she lost her parents at the age of seven. Just old enough to remember every detail. Details she remembered every night. It happened after a school concert, and she had one of the solos. She did so well, and everyone was happy and laughing. They were even on the way to celebratory ice cream. Everyone was laughing and telling jokes, and reminiscing about the night. That’s when it happened. There was a loud horn…then a scream that seemed to come from everywhere around her as metal crashed into metal, crunching as she watched her mom and her dad hit the dashboard, steering wheel, and seats like they were ping pong balls. Blood was splattering everywhere. Felicia did not know what they had hit, but she was scared out of her mind. A voice inside her said, “You’ll be ok.” And then it was gone. It comforted her and scared her all at the same time. Mostly, it scared her if she was honest with herself. Because what the heck, like she wasn’t scared enough. At some point, she blacked out due to fear and minor injuries. The thing she knew, she was waking up in a hospital with bandages that seemed to be everywhere. A kind-looking nurse was sitting in the chair next to her bed. Blearily, she tried looking around. The nurse looked up from her book and said to her, “Felicia, honey, you’re ok. You’re in the hospital.” Felicia instantly started to worry and be scared. Looking around, she did not see either of her parents. She looked at the nurse who had stood up and was kindly looking at her. “Mom? Dad?” She weakly croaked out. The nurse’s heart broke for her. Knowing that both had perished in the crash, and that this would traumatize the little girl. She had already pushed the call button for additional help. So that someone could get to the doctor. Sadly, she looked at Felicia and said, “Felicia, honey…” Felicia said, “Wait, how do you know my name, and where are my mom and dad?” Worry and fear creeping into her voice as she got a tad louder as her voice got stronger. The nurse said, “Your backpack had your name on it. As for your parents…” Just then, the doctor rushed in with a couple more nurses behind him, waiting and willing to help in any way possible. “Felicia your awake! We were beginning to wonder how long you were going to sleep.” The kind doctor said. He looked at the nurse who had been sitting with her and asked, “Nancy, has she said anything?” Nancy simply answered, “She’s been asking for her parents, Doctor Goodwin.” Her eyes betrayed the sadness she was feeling for the little girl. The doctor turned to one of the nurses and whispered to get me someone from the child counseling services now! He then turned and got the rolling stool and sat down next to her bed. Felicia’s fear and worry started to turn into fear and anger. In which she aimed towards the doctor. “WHERE IS MY MOM AND DAD!” she said a little louder. The doctor looked at her kindly with a sad look in his eyes and said, “I’m sorry, dear, they didn’t make it. They died in the crash.” Felicia then screamed and immediately started to cry. Nancy put her arms around her and held her while she cried and wailed, “No! No, it can’t be! They must be ok! I want my mommy! Daddy! NOOOO!” Nancy just silently held her crying as the little girl’s heart broke into a million pieces. Wondering if she would ever be ok again. Just then, counseling services walked in. Her name was Ruth Jamison. She had been doing this for 20 years. Kids always hit her hard. But she loved her work since she loved being able to help people in their time of need. No matter how it affected her. She had her tools to deal with the pain she saw every day. When Ruth walked in, she saw the small girl crying and wailing in the nurse’s arms. Holding her tightly like a lifeline that might slip away. She immediately walked up and sat on the other side of Felicia, gently touching her leg, letting her know she was there so as not to scare her. “Hello Felicia, my name is Ruth. I’m so sorry.” That’s when Felicia finally looked up and, with tears streaming down her face, asked, “Why? Why them?” Ruth didn’t have an answer that would take away the pain. So instead, she gave the best answer she could. “Why is a very good question, and I’m not sure exactly why. Maybe the ‘why’ will become clearer later. I know that’s not what you want to hear right now, and I wish to everything holy that I could give you exactly what you want.” Ruth looked at her sadly, waiting for Felicia’s response. Felicia looked at her, still holding onto Nancy. Her mouth opened in a wide O. Not knowing what to say to the lady named Ruth. The only thing she knew was that she wanted her mom and dad, but they were gone. She sat there motionless, just staring. The doctor who had been standing nearby was monitoring everything. Finally said, “We need to check her out. Her reaction time is as expected. But we need to check everything else out, too.” When Nancy tried to let her go so that the doctor could work. Felicia said in a scared tone, “Please don’t leave me!” as she looked at Nancy in panic. “You can call me Nancy dear, and I’m not going anywhere. But the doctor needs to make sure everything is ok. How about I hold your hand while he works?” Felicia just nodded. Felicia stayed in the hospital for the next few weeks while she healed. With Nancy and Ruth taking turns so that she was not alone even at nighttime. Giving the two women time to sleep, shower and eat. Most meals were taken with Felicia. Meanwhile, Felicia’s social worker, Mary West, and her staff were desperately trying to find her family. But Winters was proving to be a popular name. Neither Ruth nor Nancy wanted Felicia to go into the system. They knew the system could be harsh and ruthless, and she was traumatized enough as it was. Losing one’s parents at such a young age was hard enough. They let her stay in the hospital as long as possible while others searched for family. One time, while Ruth was with her, she asked, “Felicia, I need to talk to you. We have been looking for other family members. I wanted to ask you if you knew of any we could find.” Felicia thought for a second and said, “Well, I’ve seen pictures of my grandparents and pictures of people standing with my mom and dad. But I’m not sure.” Ruth had an Aha moment and then asked, “Do you know where your house is? Your address?” As the first responders didn’t think to grab the personal effects, beyond getting names for identification purposes. Felicia thought again, as if trying to pull information from some dark place from the recesses of her mind. She slowly started to say, “I remember lots of trees and houses. We lived not too far from the biggest one.” She went on as things started to come back. “We were coming from my school concert…” as tears started to form. Ruth realized where her memory was going. “Don’t think about that just yet. Go back, what about those trees? Can you tell me more about your school? What’s the name?” She asked, excitement bubbling up inside her. Felicia responded, “My school is called Timber Hood. The town I live in is called Forestville because it’s got so many trees. They surround us. I loved climbing the trees. Mommy always told me that it wasn’t how little girls should act, but Daddy always let me, telling her that I needed to be a child and that there was plenty of time to learn those things. Mom just rolled her eyes and walked away.” Felicia smiled, lost in the memory. Finally, they had a lead to follow. She turned to Felicia and asked, Felicia, do you mind if I leave for just a minute. I want to tell someone so that we can find your family quicker.” Felicia just nodded. Ruth hurriedly stood up and left the room. She went up to the nurse’s desk and said, “Felicia’s given me clues to find her family and possibly her home. I need Mary West.” The nurse behind the desk nodded excitedly, because everyone knew how hard they had been looking. Mary did some research and finally found where Felicia had come from. Unfortunately, it was about 25 miles from where the crash happened. As she passed the crash site and continued to drive towards Forestville to find Felicia’s family. As she drove up to a set of gates, two large men stopped her. “Who are you and what is your business here?” they asked menacingly. “I…I…” she stammered. “I am here because of Felicia Winters and her parents. I’m looking for any family. They were in a crash, and her parents were killed at the scene. We’ve had her in the hospital healing while we looked for her family. It wasn’t until she was healed enough to tell us about her town, Forestville, and Timber Hood school. The big man said wait right here. He then turned his back and mind-linked his leader, the Alpha. “Alpha, there is a woman here about Felicia Winters. The Beta’s niece.” “Finally, after a month, she’s been found. Mick and Joy will be so happy that she’s been found. We will need to see about her parents’ bodies so that we can give them a proper burial and funeral. Let her in and give her directions to the pack house.” “Yes, Alpha.” When he had turned back around, he said, “Once through the gates, take this road straight till you get to the last left, and take that road till you see a huge house. Our leader will meet you there.” “Thank you.” And on she drove, taking the directions she was given. A couple of minutes later, she arrived at the house. And there stood an imposing man and a woman who was regal, beautiful, and kind-looking. As she got out to approach the pair, they also walked towards her. “Hello and Welcome to Forestville. I am Ben Conall, and this is my wife, Lissa. I was told you had information on Felicia Winters. We’ve been looking for her and her parents for a month now.” Mary finally said, “My name is Mary West, and I’m sorry to inform you, but Mr. and Mrs. Winters died in a crash a month ago and have been in our morgue since the crash. It happened 25 miles from here. She’s been in our hospital since.” It wasn’t till yesterday that she was well enough to tell us about her past. She was very traumatized at the time, and we didn’t want to ask till she had healed both mentally and physically.” She’s still emotionally lost and traumatized, but she’s doing better than she was. Two women named Nancy and Ruth have been sitting with her day and night while we looked for her family. No one wanted her to go into the system at such a tender age. Please tell me she has family here?” “She does. She has an aunt and uncle. We also see her as family. She is well-loved and missed terribly.” “Oh, thank the Lord!” Mary exclaimed. “Everyone will be so happy! She has really dug herself into all our hearts. The few times she smiled were the sweetest moments. We’ve been putting off discharging her till we find her home. Now that we have, how do we…” Mary trailed off. Ben replied, “If you give us an hour, we can get a couple of vehicles together. One to carry us and her aunt and uncle, and one to carry her parents back.” If you come in and wait, we can get you something to drink while you wait. Even something to eat if you so wish.” “Thank you for your hospitality. Coffee would be great.” Answered Mary. Lissa spoke up at that point, “If you’ll follow me, I’ll get you set up with coffee and maybe some treats. Our cook makes the most delicious sweets. How does a slice of apple pie sound? It’s her specialty.” “Thank you, that sounds lovely,” Mary said appreciatively. Once Lissa had taken care of Mary, she left to get the people who were needed and to tell Mick and Joy. She mind-linked their lead warrior and said I need 2 of your best warriors in my office now.” All she heard was, " Yes, Luna. She then mind-linked Mick and Joy, “Mick, Joy, I have news about Felicia. Please come to my office.” Lastly, she mind-linked Ben, “Ben, I am getting two warriors, Mick, and Joy, to meet at my office and tell them what is going on and what we are doing. You love overseeing the vehicles so that we can go as soon as possible.” Ben replied, “Thanks, babe, I don’t know what I’d do without you.” “Probably get lost.” She chuckled. By the time she got to her office, all four were waiting for her. “Alpha is busy getting the appropriate vehicles that we will need. Please come in.” Once everyone was seated, she began. “Thank you for coming so quickly. Felicia has been found along with her parents. Unfortunately, they were in a crash. Her parents died in the crash, and she survived. She’s been taken care of in a hospital by kind humans who did not want to put her into a harsh environment. We will be taking two vehicles. One to carry myself, Alpha, Mick, Joy, and eventually Felicia. The other vehicle will hold the two warriors and her parents. Warriors, go get the coffins we use to carry our dead in so that they can be transported back. You are their honor guard.” As they stood up, they both bowed and said in unison, “We are honored, Luna.” And left the room. Lissa turned back to Mick and Joy. “Felicia remembers everything about the crash. We are not sure what Felicia Winters was always the outcast. She preferred it that way. She didn’t want to be noticed or be in the spotlight. Things tended to go very wrong when that happened. It happened when she lost her parents at the age of 7. Just old enough to remember every detail. Details she remembered every night. It happened after a school concert, and she had one of the solos. She did so well, and everyone was happy and laughing. They were even on the way to celebratory ice cream. Everyone was laughing, telling jokes, and reminiscing about the night. That’s when it happened. There was a loud horn…then a scream that seemed to come from everywhere around her as metal crashed into metal, crunching as she watched her mom and her dad hit the dashboard, steering wheel, and seats like they were ping pong balls. Blood was splattering everywhere. Felica didn’t know what they had hit, but she was scared out of her mind. A voice inside her said, “You’ll be ok.” And then it was gone. It comforted her and scared her all at the same time. Mostly, it scared her if she was honest with herself. Because what the heck, like she wasn’t scared enough. At some point, she blacked out due to fear and minor injuries. The thing she knew, she was waking up in a hospital with bandages that seemed to be everywhere. A kind-looking nurse was sitting in the chair next to her bed. Blearily, she tried looking around. The nurse looked up from her book and said to her, “Felicia, honey, you’re ok. You’re in the hospital.” Felicia instantly started to worry and be scared. Looking around, she did not see either of her parents. She looked at the nurse who had stood up and was kindly looking at her. “Mom? Dad?” She weakly croaked out. The nurse’s heart broke for her. Knowing that both had perished in the crash, and that this would traumatize the little girl. She had already pushed the call button for additional help. So that someone could get to the doctor. Sadly, she looked at Felica and said, “Felicia, honey…” Felicia said, “Wait, how do you know my name, and where are my mom and dad?” Worry and fear creeping into her voice as she got a tad louder as her voice got stronger. The nurse said, “Your backpack had your name on it. As for your parents…” Just then, the doctor rushed in with a couple more nurses behind him, waiting and willing to help in any way possible. “Felicia your awake! We were beginning to wonder how long you were going to sleep.” The kind doctor said. He looked at the nurse who had been sitting with her and asked, “Nancy, has she said anything?” Nancy simply answered, “She’s been asking for her parents, Doctor Goodwin.” Her eyes betrayed the sadness she was feeling for the little girl. The doctor turned to one of the nurses and whispered to get me someone from the child counseling services now! He then turned and got the rolling stool and sat down next to her bed. Felicia’s fear and worry started to turn into fear and anger. In which she aimed towards the doctor. “WHERE IS MY MOM AND DAD!” she said a little louder. The doctor looked at her kindly with a sad look in his eyes and said, “I’m sorry, dear, they didn’t make it. They died in the crash.” Felicia then screamed and immediately started to cry. Nancy put her arms around her and held her while she cried and wailed, “No! No, it can’t be! They must be ok! I want my mommy! Daddy! NOOOO!” Nancy just silently held her crying as the little girl’s heart broke into a million pieces. Wondering if she would ever be ok again. Just then, counseling services walked in. Her name was Ruth Jamison. She had been doing this for 20 years. Kids always hit her hard. But she loved her work, since she loved being able to help people in their time of need. No matter how it affected her. She had her tools to deal with the pain she saw every day. When Ruth walked in, she saw the small girl crying and wailing in the nurse’s arms. Holding her tightly like a lifeline that might slip away. She immediately walked up and sat on the other side of Felicia, gently touching her leg, letting her know she was there so as not to scare her. “Hello Felicia, my name is Ruth. I’m so sorry.” That’s when Felicia finally looked up and, with tears streaming down her face, asked, “Why? Why them?” Ruth didn’t have an answer that would take away the pain. So instead, she gave the best answer she could. “Why is a very good question, and I’m not sure exactly why. Maybe the ‘why’ will become clearer later. I know that’s not what you want to hear right now, and I wish to everything holy that I could give you exactly what you want.” Ruth looked at her sadly, waiting for Felicia’s response. Felicia looked at her, still holding onto Nancy. Her mouth opened in a wide O. Not knowing what to say to the lady named Ruth. The only thing she knew was that she wanted her mom and dad, but they were gone. She sat there motionless, just staring. The doctor who had been standing nearby was monitoring everything. Finally said, “We need to check her out. Her reaction time is as expected. But we need to check everything else out, too.” When Nancy tried to let her go so that the doctor could work. Felicia said in a scared tone, “Please don’t leave me!” as she looked at Nancy in panic. “You can call me Nancy dear, and I’m not going anywhere. But the doctor needs to make sure everything is ok. How about I hold your hand while he works?” Felicia just nodded. Felicia stayed in the hospital for the next few weeks while she healed. With Nancy and Ruth taking turns so that she was not alone even at nighttime. Giving the two women time to sleep, shower and eat. Most meals were taken with Felicia. Meanwhile, Felicia’s social worker, Mary West, and her staff were desperately trying to find her family. But Winters was proving to be a popular name. Neither Ruth nor Nancy wanted Felicia to go into the system. They knew the system could be harsh and ruthless, and she was traumatized enough as it was. Losing one’s parents at such a young age was hard enough. They let her stay in the hospital as long as possible while others searched for family. One time, while Ruth was with her, she asked, “Felicia, I need to talk to you. We have been looking for other family members. I wanted to ask you if you knew any we could find.” Felicia thought for a second and said, “Well I’ve seen pictures of my grandparents and pictures of people standing with my mom and dad. But I’m not sure.” Ruth had an Aha moment and then asked, “Do you know where your house is? Your address?” As the first responders didn’t think to grab the personal effects beyond getting names for identification purposes. Felicia thought again as if trying to pull information from some dark place in the recesses of her mind. She slowly started to say, “I remember lots of trees and houses. We lived not too far from the biggest one.” She went on as things started to come back. “We were coming from my school concert…” as tears started to form. Ruth realized where her memory was going. “Don’t think about that just yet. Go back, what about those trees? Can you tell me more about your school? What’s the name?” She asked, excitement bubbling up inside her. Felicia responded, “My school is called Timber Hood. The town I live in is called Forestville, because it’s got so many trees. They surround us. I loved climbing the trees. Mommy always told me that it wasn’t how little girls should act, but Daddy always let me, telling her that I needed to be a child and that there was plenty of time to learn those things. Mom just rolled her eyes and walked away.” Felicia smiled, lost in the memory. Finally, they had a lead to follow. She turned to Felicia and asked, Felicia, do you mind if I leave for just a minute. I want to tell someone so that we can find your family quicker.” Felicia just nodded. Ruth hurriedly stood up and left the room. She went up to the nurse’s desk and said, “Felicia’s given me clues to find her family and possibly her home. I need Mary West.” The nurse behind the desk nodded excitedly, because everyone knew how hard they had been looking. Mary did some research and finally found where Felicia had come from. Unfortunately, it was about 25 miles from where the crash happened. As she passed the crash site and continued to drive towards Forestville to find Felicia’s family.