Clandestine

Chapter 1: Cedar

Cedar.

She notes the name down in her thick leatherback journal, humming as she thought about how useful her favourite wood really was.

Good for: fevers, flus, colds, and coughs.

She smiled won at her note book, admiring her handiwork, before raising her chisel to the tree and scraping off a thin chunk of the bark, around the size of her palm, stashing it away in a small box she kept in her tote bag. She took in a deep breath, admiring the soft sappy smell coming from the bare bark on the tree before pressing her hand to the wound. “Thank you goddess for your blessings,” Eva whispered, before quietly thanking the tree for its gift.

She may not be the most interesting person in her pack, but if there was one thing she enjoyed more than anything, that was studying herbal remedies and the uses of plants and barks in medication. Her room was decorated from top to bottom with drying herbs for her teas and flowers for her dyes. The world had so much to offer her, so she knew she had to make the most of everything.

Eva sighed contently and looked towards the sky, humming out a lullaby she was sang as a child as she slowly made her way back towards her parents cottage. Her pack saw the family as outcasts as they tended to keep to themselves, but they weren’t treated poorly. Many people really liked them in fact as the family often offered homemade tea mixtures for people to come and take, or had snacks that would make you feel more awake.

It wasn’t that they weren’t wanted by the pack, just that the pack didn’t quite understand why the family was so obsessed with understanding and using plants for their medicine instead of using the medication the pack doctor supplied. There was no real reason against it though, the Pattinson’s were quite supportive of the pack doctor, visiting him for injuries or illnesses that were beyond their capabilities, they just didn’t see the need for seeing the doctor for things like stomachaches.

Eva tilted her head side to side as she reflected on her pack. She loved her pack, her friends, and her family. It didn’t matter to her if they didn’t understand her families “unorthodox” lifestyle, she knew that she was loved and appreciated regardless, and that’s all that mattered to her.

Finishing her lullaby, Eva looked down at her watch, her eyes widening in shock as she realised how much longer she had been out than she intended. School started in 15 minutes and she was at least 20 minutes away without any of her things.

She cried out in frustration as she ran the rest of the way to her cottage, quickly rushing inside to collect her thing and and rushing back out to sprint her way to school.

“Goodbye Eva!” Her father called as he tended to the bushes in their garden. Eva shouted back her goodbyes without turning to give him a wave as she sprinted down the street. It was getting colder these days as autumn hit. The leaves were starting to become crisp, with the first few leaves starting to fall. Eva’s old skill vans crushed the leaves underfoot as she ran as fast as she could, knowing that if she didn’t speed up she would definitely be reemed out by Ms. Aster, her grimly old homeroom teacher.

She spun the corner, her school coming into view as she flailed her arms in an attempt to be even faster, jumping the steps and skidding to her locker. Two minutes to spare, Eva internally sighed in relief, spraying herself with the deodorant in her locker before spinning around and power walking to class. She swallowed deeply as she stepped inside, nodding to Ms. Aster who promptly looked at the clock and then nodded back with a curt smile. Ms. Aster was good to her as long as she was on time. The old woman could tolerate a lot of things and was passionate about her kids, but she could not tolerate tardiness.

Eva caught her breath descreetly as she made her way to her desk in the middle of her room by her best friend Kailee. “Good morning,” Eva whispered, Kailee grinning back.

“Planning on being late first day back at school huh?” Kailee taunted, wiggling her shoulders dramatically. Eva giggled and nudged her with her elbow. “Was it another mushroom again?” Kailee grinned knowingly.

“Cedar bark!” Eva responded, pulling the journal out of her backpack. And showing her the page with all the notes she had taken down. “I’m going to dry the bark tonight and then put it right here,” Eva hummed, tapping the gaping white patch in the centre of the page.

Kailee nodded lightly, not really understanding Eva’s fascination but enjoying hearing about her endeavours.

Ms. Aster cleared her throat to gather the students attention as the morning bell rang. “Good morning everyone,” she called, inciting a few good mornings back. She raised her pile of papers to show the class. “I will be calling you down to come get your new timetable, please keep voices to a whisper until each student has collected their timetable, you may discuss after.” She called.

The class nodded and stepped up one by one to collect their timetables. “Eva Pattinson,” Ms. Aster called. Eva stood up, heart beating as she went to collect her timetable, god I hope Kailee is in the same classes as me. If not her, at least have Rita in them, she begged the gods, hoping they were listening. She took the paper gently from Ms. Aster before going back to sit down and stare at the piece of paper. “Kailee Peters,” Ms. Aster called again. Kailee bumped Eva’s shoulder, offering her a gentle smile in encouragement.

It didn’t take too long her her best friend to grab the paper and return to their desk to show off their timetables.

“Okay so what do we have together,” Eva whispered furiously.

Eva Pattinson

1st Period: English

2nd Period: Biology

3rd Period: Extended Maths

4th Period: History

Lunch

5th Period: Chemistry

6th Period: Art

7th Period: PE

Kailee Peters

1st Period: Art

2nd Period: Biology

3rd Period: Maths

4th Period: History

Lunch

5th Period: Chemistry

6th Period: English

7th Period: PE

The two breathed a sigh of relief. 4 of 7 classes they were together. They could make the other 3 work. They didn’t even know what classes Rita had yet, they nodded and smiled to each other, grinning at the thought of being together all semester again.

“Hey guys, can I see your timetables?” A new voice broke them out of their world, bringing them back to reality. It was Megan, the class socialite. It didn’t matter who you were, she was determined to be your friend. She grinned down at the two of them and offered her timetable to them. “Oh Eva you’re doing extended maths too? I’ll see you there! I think it’s only us, Matthew and Katie who signed up for that class. God I hope it doesn’t suck!” Megan sighed, grinning to the two girls. The three of them discussed their timetables as a few strays made their way over as well to compare.

Eva felt relief settle her nerves as she found at least one friend for each class. She hated starting new friendships, but was glad she had enough to at least give her one friend every class.

The bell rang again and Eva and Kailee stood up arm in arm, making their way to their classrooms which, fortunately, were in the same wing of their school. The two girls separated in a fit of giggles as Kailee told Eva of all her exciting adventures from the cruise she went on during the school holidays. “Oh Eva, don’t forget, my family want to take you out the day before your birthday for dinner! Make sure you’re available!” Kailee called as she walked away.

“I’m always available for Jennifer and Callum!” Eva called back with a giggle before making her way into class. Her eyes locked directly on the table near to the back with her friends Rita, Chloe, and Maddison. Oh thank god, Eva sighed. The three of them waved her over, holding up a little wrapped box and shaking it at her. Eva’s eyebrows knitted in confusion as she walked over to the table and took the box from Chloe’s hands.

“We got you souvenirrssssss~,” Maddie chimed, tapping Eva’s hand to encourage her to open it. Eva’s face flew into a grin, quickly unwrapping the box and finding a handcrafted antique calligraphy set with a bright blue feather.

“Oh my gosh,” Eva squealed, holding up the feathered pen and staring at the iridescent colouring. “It’s beautiful, thank you so much,” she sobbed lightly. The girls squealed and gave her a hug.

“We thought the blue matched your eyes so we had to get it for you,” Rita gushed. Rita was one of Eva’s childhood friends, Maddie and Chloe being the other part of her triplet pairing. Rita was fraternal, but Maddie and Chloe were identical. The three girls were absolutely beautiful, all shared the same mousey brown hair and green flecked eyes, honestly your think they’re all identical if it wasn’t far Rita having larger lips and a rounder jawline.

Eva smiled to herself, putting the pen gently back in its casing and using the attached ribbon to wrap the box back together. “I’ll use it for all of my notes from now on!” Eva promised, causing all four girls to giggle.

The class soon started uneventfully, and the day slowly made its way by, with Eva feeling excited with how many friends she had in each class this semester. It’s going to be a fun semester for sure, Eva giggled to herself as she made her way to Art. She froze as she made her way down the hallway as a familiar scent made its way into her nose. She tilted to the side and bowed to the tall men walking past her. “Good afternoon Future Alpha Roman, Future Beta Cameron, and Future Gamma Mikolos,” Eva said politely, avoiding the eyes of the men. She didn’t meet them often, but she did know that only Mikolos had found his mate since the three of them had turned 18.

“Good afternoon Eva,” Cameron smiled at her, Mikolos and Roman both offering friendly smiles before going back to their conversation. They were friendly enough, but since they turned 18 they were being coached on their new roles so they all found themselves very busy. “Oh Eva, Luna Mary is throwing a party on the weekend to celebrate my birthday. You should get Kailee to come,” Cameron called back. Eva gave him a light smile and bowed a tiny bit, nodding her head.

“Of course Future Beta Cameron, I’m sure she’d love to come,” Eva said politely.

“I’ll expect the both of you there then!” He called before the three of them rounded the corner. Eva knew Cameron was hoping that Kailee would be his mate when she turns 18, they had been close since they were kids, until Cameron got too busy with pack duties and learning to be warrior. Eva wanted them to be mates so badly as Kailee rejected every man who asked her out in hopes that Cameron would ask her. Honestly, their relationship seemed quite pathetic, but they were hopelessly in love with each other and they hated the idea of ruining their friendship but asking the other out and being turned down.

It was another two months before Kailee’s birthday, so it wouldn’t be too much longer they’d have to wait to find out, and only 3 weeks until Eva’s. Eva had never felt that bond to anyone that people often remarked they felt before they found their mate, so she had signed up to the delegation preemptively. Every 12 months in January there was a delegation of pack members aged 18 to 25 who would meet at the Waxing Crescent Pack in Colorado. The pack was incredibly large in comparison to the others and became the grounds for the delegation after a few different packs had been tried before realising that Waxing Crescent was most suitable for the roll with their massive grounds.

Lakecrest Pack was not small in itself, but was only about two thirds of the size of waxing crescent, and wasn’t equipped to cater to several thousand young wolves each year.

Eva finally made her way into class, settling down at an easel in the back, ready to start prepping for her senior piece.

“Good afternoon students,” came the soft, sweet voice of Miss. Reed, “I think I’ve already taught most of you, but please call me Penelope or Penny.” Her gentle smile warmed the hearts of her students. She was young, only 25 years old, and she was very close to her students. Many of which were invited to her upcoming wedding in the spring.

Eva smiled gratefully at Penelope as she gave her instructions for the lesson and left the students to work on their own, turning on the radio to fill the silence in the room. Eva knew what she was doing for her art piece as she was well known for having only one interest. If it wasn’t nature, Eva didn’t want to draw it.

She hummed quietly to the radio, letting time continue passing right up until class ended. It felt so short but she loved working on her artwork, no matter how much time she spent painting it would never be enough.

She carefully gathered her things, pulling them into her chest before making her way to the last class. PE, she thought. She didn’t hate the lesson, she didn’t love it either. As the school was werewolf only (or recommendation only as far as humans were concerned) the class would tend to focus on fighting skills rather than typical sports, prepping the students to fight for their pack should they need to. All students from the same year level did PE at the same time, making the class incredibly loud as around 80 werewolves learned to spar each other together.

Eva immediately swapped into her PE uniform once she made it to the locker room, quickly seeking out Kailee and making their way to the field together. “So Kailee, the Luna is throwing a party an-.”

“Did Cameron ask you to ask me instead just asking me directly?” Kailee cut Eva off, staring pointedly at Eva.

Eva gave a sheepish smile before nodding. “I’d was only because I was already passing them in the hallway though, I think if he saw you first he would’ve asked,” Eva offered, nudging her friend in apology.

Kailee frowned at Eva before sighing. “He could’ve waited until he saw me in PE to ask. Anyway, we’re going, and I’m dressing you okay? I’m not letting you wear patchwork jeans to a party again,” Kailee huffed, acting like if Eva refused Kailee would never forgive her.

Eva giggled at Kailee and nodded, “yeah it was kind of an ugly outfit, but it was comfortable to vomit in.” Kailee grimaced at the memory of holding back Eva’s hair as she vomited up half a bottle of vodka.

“Your hair was covered in vomit. And it’s a pity, the red is so pretty,” Kailee hummed, reaching for Eva’s thick ginger curls. Eva smiled back. The two honestly couldn’t look more different. Eva had thick red curls, with blue eyes and a pale face full of freckles, whereas Kailee had black hair and a deep tan. Kailee was always pushing Eva to come out to the beach more during the summer months so she could tan more, but Eva belonged to the thick woods.

The girls giggled before the coaches rounded up the students, splitting them into groups. As part of their training, Roman, Cameron, and Mikolos were each given a group to train for the semester. It was a simple enough task, 25 students each to give a training regime and at the end of the semester they would be paired up against someone from each of the other groups to spar. Whichever group scores the most wins, is declared victorious. The groups were split evenly by current skill level, Eva grimaced as she was placed in Romans group. Roman was quiet, he hated any funny business and he didn’t have time for anything that didn’t help his pack. She knew that out of the three, his training was going to be the most gruelling. She looked over at Kailee in Cameron’s group, and the triplets in Mikolos’ group. She was never going to let them hear the end of her aches and pains from this training.

“Hello everyone, to figure out everyone’s fitness level, you will all have to run laps until you are too exhausted to keep running. By the end of the semester I want everyone doing at least 5 more laps than they do today, if not 10,” Roman stated firmly, crossing his arms over his chest. Eva’s jaw dropped. Roman was the epitome of fitness, rippling muscles and 6’8. Running laps for hours was something he did daily, Eva did not run. She liked taking in the surroundings, enjoying the view, she couldn’t do that when she was running. She ran when she had to.

She glowered at the future Alpha before turning to run with the rest of her group, barely registering the look of shock on his face from her cruel expression.