The Guardian: Full Moon

Chapter 10

Leon’s P.O.V

I ended up running back to the large willow tree that Enya had taken me to yesterday. I pushed past the leaves and walked right up to the edge of the lake, where I promptly collapsed onto my knees and screamed out my pain. I let the tears fall freely from my eyes, and screamed until my throat hurt. “Leon.” Thorin said, sounding just as hurt as I did. “Please Thorin.” I said out loud, my voice weak and tired. “Please, just don’t talk to me right now.” “I’m sorry Leon,” Thorin said quietly. “but your father followed us. He’s right outside.” “Let him stay there then.” I thought, too tired to say anything out loud. “I don’t want to talk to him.” “I understand.” Thorin said sympathetically before falling silent again, leaving me to wallow in my pain.

It was maybe only half an hour before the tears stopped falling, though it felt like hours. My eyes were puffy and my throat was sore. Mindlessly, I reached down into the water, and scooped some up into my hands. I brought the water up to my mouth, and took a drink. The water tasted surprisingly crisp and clean, and it’s cool temperature soothed my sore throat. I laid down on my stomach and plunged my entire head into the water, keeping it submerged until I needed to come up for air. I sat up and took in a deep breath, pushing back my wet hair. I laid back with my hands under my head, looking up at the branches for a moment before closing my eyes.

I was relishing in the peace and quiet when I heard the rustle of the willow leaves. I listened to the sound of the foot steps as they got closer, and stopped to the right of me. “Get out.” I said gruffly, not even opening my eyes. “Leon.” My father said calmly. “I don’t want to talk to you.” I said turning onto my left side. He breathed out a heavy sigh and sat down next to me. “I know you don’t son, and I deserved that sock to the jaw. Nice hit by the way.” I could hear the smirk in his voice, but I was too upset to even laugh.

An uncomfortable silence fell between us until my father spoke again. “So… how’d you find this place?” My father asked awkwardly. “Enya showed me… yesterday.” I mumbled in response. “Leon… could you at least look at me?” My father asked exasperated. “No.” I replied standing up and walking back out from under the willow tree. I heard the leaves rustle as my father followed me out. “Dear Goddess, I can’t even be upset without my father breathing down my neck.” “Leon, please!” My father called after me. “I know you’re upset, but could you at least listen to what I have to say?” He asked. I stopped walking and turned to face him. “Fine.” I said exasperated. “I’m listening.” I said while crossing my arms.

My father stood in front of me, hands on his hips. He didn’t say anything for a while, as if he was gathering his thoughts. Finally, he drew in a deep breath and let it out slowly before talking. “I realize that this is my fault Leon. It wasn’t fair of me to blame Enya for what happened. Especially when I was the one who assured you that is was fine for you to have feelings for her. I didn’t think about your feelings, and I’m sorry for that.” He paused, taking a breath and closing the distance between us. He grabbed my shoulders and looked into my eyes. “Can you forgive me son?” He asked, his eyes pleading. “Right now dad, I really don’t know.” I said shrugging out of his grip. “I need time to think.” “I understand.” He said softly. “I’m sorry.”

I couldn’t say anything in response, didn’t know what to say, so I just turned around and started walking back to the FireHeart territory. My father fell in beside me, and we walked back together in silence. We had almost reached the border when I saw something on the ground, glinting in the evening sunlight. I knelt down to pick it up, and immediately recognized it. It was Enya’s switch blade. “What’d you find?” My father asked as I stood back up. I turned to show him the knife that now rested in my open hand. “A knife?” He asked reaching out to take it from my hand. I closed my hand around the knife, and brought my fist to my chest. My father looked at me, quirking an eyebrow in confusion. “It’s Enya’s.” I said plainly, not looking at my father.

I could feel my cheeks heat up a bit as my father let out an amused hum. He said nothing as he kept walking, only glancing back at me with a knowing smirk. I glanced down at Enya’s knife again before following my father the rest of the way home. The knife was beautiful, with an intricate purple pattern etched throughout the blade. The more I looked at it, the more at ease I started to feel. It was as if the knife itself was trying to comfort me. A silly and foolish thought, but that’s how I felt. Somehow, I just knew that I would see Enya again, and that she would be okay. I followed my father into the Pack House and walked straight up to my room. I closed the door and strolled over to my bed. Lying down I held the knife to my chest, silently thanking the Moon Goddess for leaving me this piece of Enya.

Kai’s P.O.V

We were all paralyzed as we watched Leon punch his father in the face. “This is your fault.” Leon had said before he ran off. Alpha Sterling had stood up, rubbing his jaw. He apologized to mom and dad before running after Leon. We all just stood there for a few minutes, too stunned by what happened to even move. The trance we all seemed to be under was broken when one of the patrolling werewolves coughed and cleared his throat to get our attention. Dad apologized to the werewolf and we all headed back home. I couldn’t help but feel a sort of kinship towards Leon. Even if I didn’t like it, it was obvious that Enya and Leon both cared about each other. I just wish there was a way to know for sure that Enya was okay.

Little did anyone know, Enya was much closer than they realized. Taking up refuge in the abandoned Hunter base, she was thriving. She had spent the entire night and part of the morning working non-stop on the passage between the base and the den of her wolf friends. Now with it complete and a magic barrier in place, she turned her attention to settling in. Carrying her bags to the room that she had chosen the first time she came here, she set them down and spent the rest of the day unpacking. Instead of a bed, she opted for constructing a sort of nest, large enough that the wolves could stay with her when they wanted to. (She had made it so her wolf friends could pass through the barrier at will.) She used magic to make a large cushion-like mattress and piled it with furs, pillows, and blankets that she had collected over time. Now finished setting up, she crawled onto the mattress and collapsed. Snuggling into the pillows and furs, and tiredly pulling a blanket over herself. She fell asleep with a smile on her face, knowing that tomorrow she could do anything she wanted.

Enya’s P.O.V

I woke up the following morning excited. It was really setting in that I could do absolutely anything I wanted from now on. “Good morning Enya.” Arima said gently. “Good morning Arima.” I replied in my mind, smiling and stretching. “What’s on the agenda today?” Arima asked curiously. “Well, I’d really like to start training again today; but I’m starting to wonder if I should put a barrier around the forest in addition to the one around the base.” I replied, sitting up and contemplating the idea. “Now that you mention it, that might be a good idea.” Arima replied thoughtfully. “How are you going to set it up?” She asked. “Well, the one around the base uses enchanted crystals planted in the walls. I could do something similar to that.” I suggested, crawling to the edge of the mattress and standing up. “Well from what I’ve seen of your skills, you do have a talent for enchanting crystals. So that’s probably the best option.” She responded. “Thanks Arima.” I said smiling and stretching again.

“Let’s find something to eat and then head to the library.” I said, making my way out of my room and heading for the greenhouse. “There should be vegetables ready to pick, and I think there’s still some rabbit jerky in the kitchen.” I thought as I walked. “I’d rather have fresh meat.” Arima said, disappointment evident in her tone. “I know, but I’d rather get that barrier up before hunting again.” I said, trying to console her. “Fine.” she said, sounding dejected. I chuckled quietly to myself as I imagined what she would look like pouting.

I made it down to the greenhouse and found some tomatoes, bell peppers and spinach that I could use for a simple salad. I placed them in a woven wicker basket and walked out of the greenhouse. I strolled over to the water and washed the vegetables. “I'm impressed with the diversity of plants in the greenhouse.” Arima praised. “Not to mention the sheer size of it.” “Thank you Arima.” I replied, somewhat shyly as I scrubbed away the dirt. “It took a long time to clean up after I found the base.” I said smiling. “And just as long to figure out how the magic functioned.” I added with a chuckle. “Though the real credit for the diversity should go to my parents. They made sure we could grow anything we needed at home. I just took a sample of everything from their seed storage.” “That doesn’t change the fact that what you’ve done is amazing.” Arima chastised me.

“All right, all right. I get it.” I said standing up with the now clean vegetables. “You’ve made your point, Arima.” I retorted as I started heading back up stairs to the kitchen. “Glad you finally understand.” Arima replied, somewhat snarky. “Whatever.” I replied with an exasperated sigh, and a slight shake of my head. It’s not that I didn’t enjoy the company now that I was living out on my own, I was just getting a little annoyed with being sassed by a voice in my head. Though, I had to admit, Arima’s sassiness was kind of amusing as well. I made my way to the kitchen and quickly chopped the vegetables, tossing them and the rabbit jerky into a bowl. I cleaned up the unusable scraps, throwing them down a garbage chute that I made, and then made my way to the library.

Once there, I placed my bowl down on a side table and went to find the book that I needed. The library wasn’t completely organized the way I’d like it to be, but it was organized enough that it didn’t take me too long to find the book I needed. I took the book back to my chair and placed it on a reading stand so I could read while I ate. Not even fifteen minutes had passed when I suddenly heard a whine. “Arima, did you just whine?” I asked confused. “I’m bored.” She replied with another whine. “Are you serious Arima?” I asked, both annoyed and amused. “I can’t help it Enya.” She replied, still whining. “I’m a wolf. Wolves are meant to run free, not stay cooped up in a library reading a book.” “You can’t even run yet.” I replied with a chuckle. “I can’t shift yet, remember?” “Don’t get sassy with me Enya! You know what I meant.” She said, obviously upset that I was teasing her. “Alright, alright, I’m sorry for teasing you.” I said consoling her. “Just give me a little more time to find the spell I need, and then we can go outside.” “Fine.” She said after a short pause, and then she went quiet again.

I ate my food and browsed through the book for about an hour until I finally found the spell I needed. “Found it!” I exclaimed, setting down my now empty bowl and standing up. “About time.” Arima retorted, her boredom evident. “Yes, yes, I know you’re bored.” I replied, rolling my eyes and shaking my head slightly. “We’ll be outside soon, I promise.” I almost busted out laughing when the thought of an excited wolf pup popped into my head. “Don’t even think about it.” Arima said warningly. “Sorry.” I said stifling a giggle. “Let’s just go already.” She scoffed. “Okay, okay, I’m going.” I said standing up. I walked over to one of the tables that I had already set up with the crystals and other items I needed. I quickly enchanted the crystals and gently loaded them into a bag. I left the book on the table and grabbed the bag and dirty dishes. I dropped the dishes off at the kitchen and made my way to the wolves' cave. As I got closer to the cave, I could smell the forest outside. The closer I got to the mouth of the cave, the more excited Arima got. I took a deep breath, relishing the cool fall air in my lungs. “Alright, let’s go.” I said out loud and took off running.