Goddess of the Forest

Chapter V

    His stare gave me goosebumps. His eyes were so dark they almost looked black, he was pale from years of tracking by night and sleeping my day, since he never trained he wasn't as big as the other male wolves.

    “I don’t really know if I trust him.” The hairs on the back of Leto’s neck were raised, startling me. She was always strong and unfazed. “Lets get out of here, he’s a creep.”

    I shake off my nerves and dart out the door, jogging the 50 feet down the hill to our cabin. I leaned on the porch railing, thinking about the meeting and trying to reason with why Zyler was acting so weird about these rogues. I was so caught up in my thoughts that when Jackie tapped my shoulder, I about jumped out of my skin.

    “Jeez, ma. You could’ve given me a warning!” I blush at being so easily scared when I’m known for my great senses.

    She just giggles and pats my head. “Sorry dear, I hollered out the door but you didn’t respond. Need to talk about anything?”

    I sigh and shake my head. “No, it’s nothing. I came to help you with orders, do you have any cakes to decorate?” Jackie purses her lips and then nods.

    “Yeah, there’s an order for a mating ceremony cake and a pups fifth birthday. They’re cooling on the counter if you want to mix up colors.” She opens up the screen door for me and I skip to the kitchen, trying to make it seem like I’m my normal self. I hate worrying Jackie.

    We gossiped about things going on in the pack while we worked side by side. She had me decorate the ceremony cake, I have a steadier hand due to my training, and she likes to decorate the orders for the young wolves and pups. It makes it a little easier to get over not being able to have her own pups.

    By the time I had finished the two tier, marble cake, with a teal and blue color scheme, my dad walked in for lunch. He smiled when he saw us and kissed me on my cheek and smooched Jackie on her lips, soundly. I gagged and took off my apron, heading to the fridge to grab the chicken César salad that we had made for lunch.

    “Grossss, save that for when I’m not here.” I set it on the table while dad chuckled and grabbed dishes for us to use.

    “One day, we’ll be saying the same thing to you and your mate.” Jackie pointed a finger at me, giggling at the face I made.

    It was dads turn to look horrified, Jackie and I looked at eachother and fell into a fit of giggles. It was so much fun to tease my dad about me finding my mate, once a daddies girl, always a daddies girl. We settled into comfortable silence and tucked into our meal, dad was filling in Jackie with some political things about neighboring packs.

    “So we decided to send our warriors to stop the rogues before they get further into our territory. It seems that they’ve stopped about 60 miles away, so we’re going to nip it in the bud.” Dad didn’t like to use force, he liked to be diplomatic, but the number of rogues has him worried.

    “Jack, Alex, and I will be going with them, but Di…I’m gonna need you to stay here, with Waylon and Bennet. God forbid if anything happens, you three are the next in line.” Dad looked serious, and calm. “I can’t imagine that it will, but since you’ve agreed to take the title, it’ll be best practice.”

I nodded, a little relieved that I wouldn’t have to be stuck with Zyler . “When will you guys head out?”

    “I mindlinked our groups and we’re all meeting up at 6:00pm, it’ll take us about an hour and a half in wolf form and it gets dark faster in the trees. It shouldn’t take too long to disperse of them.” Dad said confidently, he was proud of his warriors and always sang their praise.

    “Just be safe and don’t take risks, you don’t know their intentions yet.” Jackie was always worried when dad joined the missions but he never came back with more than a scratch or a black eye.

    I got up from the table and gave Jackie a kiss on the cheek before hugging my father when he took his dishes to the sink. “See you when you get back, dad.” He patted my back, I wasn’t normally touchy feely but for some reason I had the urge to hug him. I had a sense that things were about to change, for better or worse I couldn’t tell.