The Lost Son.

Chapter 10

Standing in the mouth of a dark cave was a white wolf. The wolf was absolutely beautiful with snow white fur and bright green eyes that seem to glow in the blackness of the cave. The wolf just stood there looking out at a large black wolf that stood on the top of a hill a few hundred yards away. The large black wolf was as dark as the blackest sky with bright blue glowing eyes. The need for them to reach each other was absolutely over whelming, but no matter how they tried neither of them could get anywhere near the other...

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Alex woke up and took a deep breath. Looking at his watch he noticed the time, 5:00 a.m. He never had remembered his dreams before but this one was different. It was the second night in a row he had had the same dream. It was starting to bug him; he just couldn't understand what the dream meant. Frustrated he swung his legs over the bed and slipped on the slippers he had worn the night before. He shuffled around the tent and found a sweat shirt then headed out to rekindle the fire and get some coffee started. He was defiantly happy he had remembered the coffee. His body ached with all of the work he had done yesterday and he sat down.

"I think I will call it even and not go for a run this morning,” he signed to himself.

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Frustrated Emera woke up. It was the same dream, again! Looking at her alarm clock he huffed,

"5:00." She quickly swung her legs over the edge of the bed and got moving. She hated sleeping in especially since there was still so much to do. After she was dressed she grabbed the comment list she had condensed and put it in her back pocket, then started off toward the kitchen for some coffee.

CRASH!!!! The noise echoed through the quiet halls of the pack house and almost made her jump. "GRRRRR!!!!!!!!!!!!!" Cookies growl followed the loud crash and she took off running to the kitchen. She stopped at the door and inched around not sure what she was going to find. She quickly ducked when she saw a frying pan come flying through the door way and crash into the hall. Cookie was mad, she couldn't remember a time that she had ever seen him this mad before. She pushed a wave of power into the kitchen toward the older wolf. After about a minute she could feel his anger subside. She walked into the kitchen and found the old wolf seated at a table just looking at his hands. She noticed his hands were bleeding steadily and the smell of iron and copper was thick in the air. She grabbed a clean towel from the counter and walked to the table and took his hands. Checking them over for injuries she noticed just few deep cuts on his palms. She quickly and quietly wrapped them in towels then set down across from him at the table. He looked up, anger still threatened to escape at any moment.

"What’s going on?" she asked him quietly. She could tell the stress of having another 100 + mouths to feed on such a short notice was starting to wear on him. The old wolf looked up at her and let out a deep breath.

"ALOT!" he snapped.

As much as she wanted to snarl and match his anger with anger, she just quietly starred at him and waited.

"Okay," she finally started, "How about you tell me the big thing first, then we can move onto the other things." The cook nodded.

"Well," he sighed, "None of the dishes got put away clean last night for starters. I know I should have done it myself and then to top it off the floors were left greasy and we lost a whole ten dozen eggs when I slipped on it and lost my balance and the idea of having another 100+ male mouths to feed is driving me crazy." That was what she was waiting for. She knew that was the main problem.

"Okay Cookie, who did you have 'helping' you in the kitchen last night?"

"James and Drake," he sighed. She shook her head; they were both 16. They were always together and more often than not in some sort of mischief. She thought that her last encounter with them had helped set them straight but she must have guessed wrong.

"Okay," she huffed, "as for the eggs, we can get more. As for the 100+ mouths to feed I will have to figure something else out for that, give me a day and I will work something out." He took a deep breath. "As for right now. Cookie, you need to go see Doc about your hands, they should be healed by lunch, but you’re going to take the day off. “The old wolf just starred at her and when he began to growl in protest she stood strong.

"You will not enter the kitchen until tomorrow morning, that is and order!" she was trying to hide a smile as the wolf in front of her was beginning to get upset. "A challenge of my order is a challenge of your alpha and I won't take it lightly." Cookie slowly stood from the table and walked out of the door not looking back at her. She knew she had probably been too hard but it was the only way he would have let her kick him out of his kitchen without a fight. She made a mental note to go check on him after breakfast, she hated using her power as an alpha that way.

Ryan came running into the kitchen half a minute after Cookie had left.

"What's going on? Cookie looks pissed."

"Yea he is. I told him he wasn't allowed in the kitchen again until tomorrow." Ryan’s jaw almost hit the floor and she felt the need to explain, "Well, first he hurt himself and second he needs a well-deserved break before we are bombarded with another massive sea of wolf." Ryan nodded his head in agreement, she was definitely right. "I'm going to need your help with breakfast though,” she grinned at him.

Ryan grimaced, "Okay fine. What first?"

"First," she giggled, "Go wake up James and Drake for me, they have a lot of work to finish before breakfast really gets going." Ryan turned and ran from the Kitchen to go get the boys.

She stood up from the table, 'first things first', she thought to herself and went about getting the coffee started. Five minutes later she had started the coffee, picked up the pots and pans Cookie had thrown around, and had found a dust pan and broom to help pick the eggs up from the ground. She poured herself a cup of coffee then carried it and the broom and dustpan behind the counter and looked down at the pile of broken dripping eggs that were all over the kitchen floor.

She took a deep breath and started cleaning up the eggs. By the time she was done she had found about two dozen that hadn't broke and placed them in a bowl to save for later. All of the other ones, shells included, went into the compost bucket for the gardens. Just as she was finishing she heard the footsteps of Ryan and two still very tired teenage boys. She looked up at them and noticed the boys were still rubbing the sleep out of their eyes. When they noticed her behind the counter they turned white.

"Okay boys,” she started, "You didn't finish anything Cookie had asked you to do last night so," she let them squirm if a few seconds, "You’re going to do it all right now." They groaned. "Well if you did it right the first time you wouldn't have to worry about it now right?" They nodded their heads and slowly walked behind the counter to start.

"One of you can wash all of the dishes you decided to put away dirty and the other can mop the floors. I want the dishes sparkling and the floor squeaky clean in less than an hour." Their eyes got big and they ran to the various stations to get started. "Okay Ryan lets figure out what to do for breakfast." he smiled and nodded then they both walked past the boys and into the fridge.

They came out a couple minutes later holding a huge batch of tortillas, beans, left over steak from last night’s dinner, cheese, sour cream and salsa. The boys looked over at them interested in what they were doing.

"What are you making?" they asked in unison.

"Breakfast burritos," Ryan answered. They got busy cracking, slicing, chopping and cooking the various items. Less than thirty minutes later the boys had finished their dishes and the floors.

"Great job boys now you can help set up the buffet well Ryan and I finish up with the food." They nodded and got to work putting out the items for the burritos. Ryan used one flat top to heat the steak, and Emera used the other to cook the eggs. About fifteen minutes later everything was laid out and the pack was starting to arrive for breakfast. Emera and Ryan made themselves a couple of burritos and an extra one for Cookie.

"Okay, James, Drake you are in charge from here," they looked at each other in horror. " You need to make sure that after everyone eats, you get everything put away and cleaned up. Dishes, tables, counter and floors. I'll be back around ten to check on things." She grinned as she turned to walk out with Ryan and the boys flopped down and let out a huffed breath. "Now to go check on Cookie," she sighed.

The rest of the morning went fairly smooth. The boys had cleaned the kitchen well, they knew that she would have their hide if they didn't and she had left them, to their horror, in charge of making lunch for the pack. She was interested in seeing what they could possibly come up with. Her and Ryan had compiled the comment lists and would address the topics at the next morning’s pack meeting. She had also created a kitchen rotation for the time that their guests would be there. It rotated all of the wolfs that were over the age of ten through the kitchen to help Cookie out. She had made sure that the younger ones, between ten and seventeen, would have shifts before or after their study schedule. She wanted them in school studying, traditional and pack related information. On the days that they didn't have school they would be arranged in different shifts. She would have to show it to Cookie later and make sure it worked for him.

Her and Ryan had also decided it would be nice to get Cookie a surprise for the kitchen, an upgrade to the sink and hand washing that he did all of the time. He never complained about it but she figured he would enjoy having a new, high powered restaurant quality dishwasher, especially right about now. She looked around a bit on the computer and then left Jenna in charge of going about calling places to see when the fastest they could get one would be, luckily they wouldn't need to get a plumber, the pack had one. It sure beat having a human around a bunch of stressed out and wired werewolf’s.

Her wolf was wanting to escape and go find the neighbor and she needed to stay busy to keep her under control. After leaving Jenna to call places about the dish washer, she decided to go and check in on the girls. It was almost lunch time and they had been working hard all morning. Amy and Anne and split the girls into four groups of four. The youngest two, Zelda and Mandy, were working with them in the 'Alpha Rooms', as they so decided to call them. The rooms weren't used much since all of the pack members moved out to the barracks. The house was very large, with enough space and rooms to house the entire pack if needed, but they were moved out to the barracks when they were built and now no one really wanted to move back in. The only pack members that actually lived in the house were herself, Ryan, Frank and Lana and Cookie. All single pack members had decided to stay in the barracks, and the mated members had taken up residence in the cabins that were on the west side of the property. The cabins were perfect for families. They had 2-3 bedrooms, a bathroom, living room and a small kitchenette.

Emera headed to the 'Alpha Rooms' to check in on Amy and Anne’s group first. She could tell by the fresh air in the wing that they had opened all of the windows. The pine scented wind swept through the hall and she took a deep breath. She caught sight of the young girls hauling a wagon loaded down with clean sheets, towels, blankets, soap, toilet paper and other items up the stairs to the second floor. She headed over to give them a hand.

"Hey girls," she reached down for the front of the wagon, "Let me give you a hand." They smiled up at her and both moved to the back of the wagon then in a few short seconds it was up the stairs.

"Thank you," they grinned in unison.

"How is the cleaning going?"

"Good!" they both answered.

"How many rooms do you have done so far?" she grinned down at them.

"Umm.... seven I think," Mandy said proudly.

"Wow," Emera smiled, "Way to go girls!" she reached her hands up for high fives, "Keep up the good work, at this rate you will be done long before dinner time." The girls beamed at her and then hurried off down the hall to their next room. She smiled after them then headed back down the stairs to go and check in on the other groups.

She made a trip to each of the barracks and was happy that all of the groups were well on their way to being done. All it took was a little incentive and things got done. She quickly checked her watch and noticed that it was almost time for lunch and headed toward the kitchen to check on what the boys and come up with.

"Hey boys, it smells wonderful!" she exclaimed as she walked into the kitchen and was hit by a fog of a savory smell. She snorted when she finally caught sight of the two teenage boys behind the counter. They were covered in flour and grease and what she could only assume was other food droppings and stains.

"So what do you guys have on the lunch menu?"

They beamed up at her and she could sense the pride that they felt in the work they had done. They all but jumped over the counter and raced around to the buffet table they had just finished setting. And she noticed they had set out the things to make sandwiches as well as a green salad. She also noticed that they had made a soup but she couldn't place her finger on what kind it was, but it definitely smelled good.

Drake and James stood silently with anticipation as they watched their alpha look over their lunch choices. Emera could tell they were nervous about her approval, especially after how the morning had started.

"Looks good boys!" she smiled at them and noticed the visible change in their appearance after she said it. They both smiled at her with wide full tooth grins. "What’s the soup?" she asked and lifted the ladle and gave it a quick stir.

"We call it, 'Everything But the Sink' Soup,” James exclaimed, obviously excited about it.

"And what is that exactly?" Emera raised an eyebrow at them and looked in the pot again.

"Well," Drake started, "We used everything in the fridge that was getting ready to go bad."

"Really?" Emera grinned.

"Yep!" James chimed in, "we were cleaning out the fridge and noticed some veggies starting to get soft, we were going to toss them, but decided to try our hand in making something with them instead."

"Okay then, let me have a taste I guess." She had to admit that it did smell good. The boys quickly grabbed her a bowl and ladled her some of the hot soup, handed her a spoon and waited patiently for her to try it. She took a deep breath, here goes nothing, she signed and stuck a spoonful into her mouth. She mulled the warm liquid around in her mouth trying to place the various flavors she tasted. Carrots, potato, squash, celery, tomatoes, onions, garlic and a few other ones that she couldn't quite distinguish.

"Well boys," she looked at them and noticed how nervous they were, "I think that you have yourself a winner. It is quite good actually." She grinned as she watched them high five each other. "Don't forget to clean up after lunch."

Emera quickly grabbed a plate and started building herself a sandwich. "I will also be needing your help with dinner tonight," James and Drake hung their heads and began to whine. Emera snapped her eyes up at them and sounded a low growl and they both stopped whining, "If you boys wanted to have a free day you should have thought about it last night when you were supposed to be helping clean the kitchen for Cookie." They hung their heads and sighed, then nodded. They knew she was right and couldn't argue with it. " Oh and one more thing," they nodded at her, " will you take Cookie some lunch before everyone gets here?" The boys turned ghost white and they stared at her with wide eyes. "He is in his room and well you are there you can apologize for leaving the kitchen a mess last night." They squeaked, and Emera had to turn to hide the smile that had come to her face.

"Yes ma'am," they stammered and watched as she left the kitchen and headed down the hallway. Emera smiled to herself as she headed down the hall toward her office. She had a few things that needed her attention before the final check of the girls’ work before dinner.

When she got to her office Jenna was waiting for her with good news. They would be able to get the dish washer by tonight. She had called the people to order one and they had told her that they had them in stock. Emera smiled at the other women and picked up the phone, dialed a number and waited for Ernest, the pack plumber to answer.

"Hello?"

"The new dish washer that we ordered for Cookie needs to be picked up and then I need you to get it installed."

"Yes ma'am, I’ll be there in a few minutes to get the details."

Emera hung up the phone, sat down at her desk and quickly ate her lunch. She decided to start on an itinerary for the visiting wolf packs, as well as a list of her pack rules for them to all have a copy of. She was still at a loss for how to go about picking a mate out of the many wolfs that were on their way to her pack right now. She hung her head and sighed she really need to go for another run.

KNOCK KNOCK!!! The knock on the door snapped her out of her thoughts and Ernest walked in.

"Hey Ernest, come on in, I have the papers here for you, it’s already bought and paid for, we just need to go pick it up and get it installed."

"Sounds good, before I head out I will go look around the kitchen and see what else I am going to need and how much space I’m going to have to work with."

"Works for me, I’ll come with you." Emera followed Ernest out of the office and headed to the kitchen. It was full of pack members quietly munching sandwiches and loudly slurping the boy's soup. They walked around the counter and headed into the back. After a few minutes of looking around he turned back to the alpha.

"There is enough room to be able to do it and it shouldn't take too long. The down side will be that I will have to turn the water off to the kitchen for the rest of the day so I can get it installed." Ernest turned back around to look at the sinks.

"Okay," Emera looked around, " I will let the boys know they have to have the kitchen spotless in the next two hours or so." She smiled at Ernest, "Thank you Ernest, Cookie will greatly appreciate it." He nodded at her and left the kitchen to head into town.

Emera smiled to herself, she just knew that Cookie would like his new dish washer. She headed off in search of James and Drake. She rounded the corner to the storage area and found them. She had to hold her breath to keep from laughing out loud. They were both slumped against each other setting on the floor and quietly snoring. She smiled and reached down to shake them awake. The scene that took place after was quite comical. The boys startled and jumped when they noticed it was there alpha. They couldn't stand up quick enough and kept falling over each other. Trying to stifle her laugh Emera grinned.

"Good morning boys," they starred at her, "you have two hours to make this kitchen sparkle. The boys huffed and frowned. "Then you are off for the rest of the night." Their faces lit up into a wide grin and they high fived each other. "I need the kitchen spotless though, not a dirty dish or salt shaker left out, do you boys understand?" They nodded and she grinned to herself as she walked out of the kitchen heading back to the office. She walked in and sat down then picked up the phone to call Frank and Lana. As she waited for them to get to the office she looked over her rules and itinerary that she had created. A few minutes later the two members of her Elites knocked on the door and walked in.

"Hey guys," Emera looked up at them from her desk, "You two are in charge of dinner tonight, we are having a special gift installed in the kitchen for Cookie and won't have access to it for the rest of the night starting in about an hour and a half."

"Okay, any ideas of what we should do?" asked Lana.

"I was thinking maybe hotdogs, chip and maybe watermelon. We will also need to use paper plates, as few dishes as possible."

"Sounds good to me, it’s been too long since I've fired up the old bbq,” Frank grinned. Emera and Lana looked at each other and smiled.

"Okay then, you need to go collect the stuff from the kitchen before its completely closed for the night." Lana and Frank nodded and left the office and headed out to start collecting the stuff for dinner and lighting the BBQ.