2. Falling leafs
1699 Words
Green River Pack, Oregon
September, that was her favourite month. The sun was still present without being burning hot and the winds were chill without being too cold. And then there were the colours. The colours were a swirl of green and orange that made the world look magical on a cloud free day. Alas, neither the gentle touch of the wind and the sun nor the colourful landscape were able to make Lena smile the way she usually smiled in September. Furthermore, this was the second September she’d been less enthused by the beautiful change of seasons. However, she still managed to find some inner peace during this time of the year that she had craved, and that made her somewhat optimistic.
Lena was leaning against a tree listening to the sound of nature when a loud bump from the fighting pit shook her out of her meditative state.
“Told ya I knew a trick or two.”
Jess was smirking as she looked at Lucas who was lying on the ground. Lucas, however, didn’t look pleased at all as he got up on his feet.
“Easy to say when you’re cheating…”
“There’s no such thing as cheating when it comes to fighting. In this world it's kill or be killed. You may as well learn that the hard way.”
Lucas shook off his childish frown and looked focused once more. Lena smiled a bit to herself. Not only had her brother grown to be a young man in looks, he’d also started to act mature. Though Lena had trouble accepting that her brother now stood half a head taller than her and weighed around forty pounds more than her, she loved how he had become a man in his behaviour. Well, she loved most parts of it.
Just as Lucas had regained his fighting stance, two girls of around sixteen passed the fighting pit. Their smiles and whispers were apparent and Lena watched as her brother gave them a smoldering smile which made them giggle. Gross.
“Are you done giving creepy stares or do you need a minute?”
Jess looked at Lucas with a raised eyebrow. Lucas, however, just grinned and winked at Jess.
“What can I say, I’m the future Alpha. It’s natural for girls to want me.”
Before he could comprehend what was happening, Lucas hit the ground once more. Jess had effortlessly tripped him in one swift motion.
“What the hell, Jess, I wasn’t ready.”
“Well let that be the lesson. When Your Highness is able to get girls on their back during a fight then maybe, maybe, you can get them on their back elsewhere.”
Lucas stood up again but he still didn’t look very defeated.
“Well, is that a challenge, ‘cause you know…”
Lena’s eyes got wide. Before he could finish, she’d interrupted him.
“Ew, no, are you kidding? I’m standing right here!”
Lucas quickly turned to look at Lena. His face was surprised and his cheeks started to get red.
“I mean… I wasn’t saying that I…”
“Luke! It’s time for our run.”
Carl stood around a hundred feet away with crossed arms. Lucas drew a sigh of relief as he put his hands together and looked to the skies.
“Thank you, Goddess.”
He slowly started to run towards Carl. Before he reached him, however, he passed the two girls from before and gave them a winning smile which made the girls blush and giggle. Lena heard a laugh beside her and she looked at Jess.
“Girl, you should see yourself. You look freaking hilarious.”
Jess put a hand on Lena’s shoulder.
“Look, I know it’s hard, but you have to accept that Luke is getting older and, you know, hor…”
“Don’t you dare say it!”
Jess burst out laughing again.
“Chill, I was going to say hormonal. Get your mind out of the gutter!”
Lena frowned.
“Hormonal is basically the same, it’s just less… explicit.”
“Oh come on. Luke is fifteen now. I mean, that was the age I was when I lost my virginity. s*x is natural and fun and we can’t all wait ‘til we find our…”
Jess suddenly froze and her face switched from smiling to looking guilty.
“s**t, I’m sorry girl, I…”
“Don’t worry about it.”
Lena gave a small smile to show that she was genuine in her response even if the smile in itself wasn't genuine. Jess put her hand on Lena’s arm and gave it a squeeze.
“We haven’t really talked about it for a long time. How are you feeling?”
Lena let out a small sigh as she leaned up against the fighting pit.
“At some point it stopped getting harder to be apart.”
Jess squinted a bit.
“Right… and at what point did it start getting easier?”
Lena swallowed the lump in her throat because she knew she couldn’t answer that, the reason being that it hadn’t. Not once in fifteen months had it gotten easier to be away from him.
“I’m okay, Jess. I’ll probably never be as okay as I was before, but I still have reasons to feel blessed. So yes, it’s hard, but… it was still the right decision.”
Jess nodded silently. Suddenly she switched her energy.
“Well, I still have some fight in me. Do you wanna punch my face?”
Lena laughed but before she could answer, they heard the sound of cars pulling into the driveway. Both Lena and Jess looked toward the sound and Lena felt warmth in her body as she saw a silver Mercedes park. Jake and Alpha Ben are back! Lena smiled at Jess before she quickly started to run up to the car.
Alpha Benjamin had been called to the yearly gathering of the Oregon Alphas. Besides the Green River Pack, four other packs lived in the state and every year the Alpha, Luna and Beta would go to discuss potential threats or conflicts.
Lena soon approached them, but when she got closer, she saw the bleak expression on Jake’s face. Even when Jake spotted her, he still looked somber.
“What’s wrong? Did the gathering not go well?”
Jake gave some quick instructions to some of the men before he approached Lena.
“It went fine, no one wants to fight us or anything, but Alpha Max of the White Falls Pack, his Luna, and his Beta didn’t show up. At first we thought it was a sign of defiance, but then some scouts were sent and, well… The place was totally abandoned. It was as if they had vanished.”
Lena felt her face start to mimic the expression Jake was donning.
“Were there any signs or indications of a fight, or…?”
“No, none, which I guess is weird, but I would lie if I said I wasn’t a bit relieved as well… I did not want to find a crow somewhere…”
Both Jake and Lena stood in silence for some time before Jake shook his head and smiled.
“Anyway, how has your week been? Any funny anecdotes?”
“Uhm, well, Jess cooked on Tuesday which made a dozen people, including herself, really ill. It might not be the funniest story for the inflicted, but I knew better than to eat it and had a chuckle or two at their expense.”
They both grinned a bit when Lena spotted something pinned to Jake’s shirt.
“Well isn’t that a fancy brooch you have there!”
Lena started to laugh as she looked at the pink, heart shaped jewel pinned on his chest.
“You know, I always pegged you for a guy who would rock a pastel pink, and boy was I right.”
Jake looked at his chest and gave a sarcastic smile.
“Har har, very funny. I actually got this from Alpha Nick’s four year old daughter. Apparently she heard that I got married and wanted to give me a gift. I mean, she’s a little late on the wedding gift, but it was cute. Oh, and speaking of…”
Jake stuck his hand down his pocket and soon he flashed a matching brooch in his hand.
“She wanted me to give one to my wife as well.”
Jake then stretched his arm and offered the brooch to Lena. Lena lifted an eyebrow and gave Jake a sceptical look.
“Do I have to wear it?”
Jake gave a great smile of amusement.
“Oh come on, it’s just your style. Besides, the girl was cute as a damn button. You wouldn’t be that critical if you had seen her big brown eyes.”
Lena hesitantly took the brooch from Jake, who looked a bit grave again.
“How is Cody?”
The sting from the question made Lena cross her arms and she looked at the ground.
“No change really. He still has issues with sleeping and he doesn’t really speak that much. I mean, he’s lovely and sweet and Cody, but… Goddess Jake, I don’t know what to do.”
Jake walked towards Lena and put his arms around her.
“I know… But Cody’s a fighter and we won’t give up. We’ll find someone who can help him soon, I promise.”
- Writer
