The Lost Son.

Chapter 9

Emera heard a loud splash as she got close to the property line. 'Maybe I'll get lucky and see him again,' she smiled to herself and slowed her pace to a walk, then to a tip toe as she snuck toward the source of the noise. She knew there was a lake over here but it was so over grown she wasn't sure where it was. Her father had banned the pack from ever setting foot on Cartwright property, Vandalen and herself had kept the pack rule and no one came over here until, well, yesterday when Alex showed up. Just thinking about him had her knees wobbling. She snuck through the trees and bushes as quietly as possible and when she felt she was close to the edge she pushed aside a few leaves.

Peering through them she gasped,' I guess that he didn't know that there was a lake there,' she thought to herself and giggled quietly. Standing there, she was intent to just watch him. He was standing waist deep in the water, his shirt was wet and clung tightly to his perfectly sculpted body. The thin wet material left nothing to the imagination as it clung to every line and crease. Her heart began to beat faster and her wolf let out a rumbling growl. She couldn't take her eyes off of him, he was gorgeous and the water glistening off of his body made him one hard thing to take her eyes off of. Her wolf was pacing back and forth wanting to be let out so she could run to him. She didn't understand why her wolf was acting so strange. Instead of giving in however she decided that she would head back to the house, maybe a few days without seeing him and a few extra training sessions would help to get him off her mind.

She quietly snuck back out of the bushes and to her property where she took off at a dead sprint toward her house. Maybe the run would help her control her wolfs urge to go Alex. She would have changed to finish the run but with her wolf still acting out she was afraid they would have just turned back around and become a permanent fixture at his tent. She didn't stop running until she was in her room with the door closed and the shower on.

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He got back to camp and stripped out of everything before heading into the tent for some dry cloths. He found some dry pants and grabbed one of his long sleeve shirts off of the bed. He needed to find a better solution for his cloths but rather than thinking about it right now he decided to just pile them neatly of the floor in the corner of the tent. He grabbed a pair of slippers and slide them on, then headed back out of the tent to start a fire for the night. The sun was beginning to set and he found himself starring at a marvelous blue, purple and orange sunset.

After watching the sunset for a few minutes his stomach began to rumble and he walked over to the box of food he had. Since he didn't have a fridge or a good ice chest for that matter, he was stuck with dry and canned food. 'I could really go for a steak right about now,' he thought as he pulled out a can of chili. His trip to town was too exciting for him to think about getting any fruit well he was there. Instead he had just picked up the coffee and left. When he thought about town his mind went straight back to the beautiful Emera and it made his whole body tingle. Her long blond hair glistening in the sun light, the way her jeans fit her amazingly toned body and how she made a plain black tank top look like an elegant ball gown. He shuddered at the image and reached for the can opener.

After starring into the dancing fire pit for a few hours and thinking about his life and how he wanted, or more like needed to see Emera again he decided the safest thing to do was to head to bed for the night. The day’s work had exhausted him and his muscles were starting to argue with him. He laid down on his cot and quickly drifted off to sleep.

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Emera jumped out of the shower and grabbed a towel. She wrapped it around herself and headed to the closet. She pulled on a pair of sweatpants and a tank top then covered it up with a light sweater. Grabbing a pair of sandals, she slipped them on her feet and headed out of the room and down the hall.

The hall was full of girls and women carrying a box of stuff to this room or that. They were getting situated in the rooms between hers and Ryan’s in the East wing of the pack house. That would keep them protected, the other alphas would be situated in the west wing and the other wolfs would be in the different barracks around the pack property.

She went to the kitchen to catch up with Ryan and the other Elites. She got in line behind a few of the other pack members and waited for her turn. Cookie served at least two meals a day buffet style. Breakfast normally was set up as a small buffet with the ability to order eggs and various other items if you wanted. Emera quickly filed through the line and filled her plate with green salad, steak, potatoes, soup and cookies before heading over to the tables. She found Ryan setting at one with five other members of her Elites and then Grant.

Ryan must have found and talked to him, he seemed in better spirits then when she left him in the wood's earlier this morning.

"Hey Boss!" Ryan exclaimed. Travon, Amy, Anne, Lana and Frank all looked up and nodded their greetings. Grant nodded but kept looking at his tray of food.

"Amy, Anne good work today. I noticed all the girls getting situated into their rooms on my way over,” Emera smiled at the women, "Try too coral them all into one room for me in about an hour or so, I want to talk to them."

The women nodded, " You got it."

"Also, we need to have an Elites meeting after the full moon, before everyone begins to arrive, please pass on the information," she looked around the table at the wolfs, they all nodded their acknowledgement and finished eating their dinner.

As everyone finished they got up and cleared their plates then headed off for the rest of the night. Emera noticed that they seem to break off into groups as they went. Her pack was made up of relatively young werewolf’s. Most of the older ones chose to leave when she became alpha. They just weren't up for the change that came with her being alpha. There were a few of the older ones that decided to stay like Doc, Cookie, the Keeper, Margery, who watched over the green house, and Masterson, who was her mate and over looked the farm and animals that the pack raised. Between the green house and the barn, the pack was fairly self-sufficient. They only had to buy fresh produce and meats in the winter normally. But having another 100 plus mouths to feed for who knows how long, the farm wouldn't be capable of keeping up with them.

Emera and Ryan got up from the table and cleared their trays then started back toward their rooms. When they got to the beginning of the hallway they both stopped in their tracks and took a deep breath. The usually very quiet hallway was bustling with activity. The females were screeching and giggling and running from one room to another. Ryan looked at her and shook his head, he grinned and then opened the door of his room and disappeared locking it behind him. She shook her head and headed down the hallway, 'There will be no sleep for the next couple of days,' she sighed and was about to duck into her room when she caught sight of Amy.

"The girls will be ready in about 10 minutes," Amy told the alpha and then headed into the room closest to her. Emera laughed and headed into her room for a couple of minutes of piece before she needed to head back out.

She poked her head out of the door and noticed Anne waving the last of the girls into one of the rooms. "Show time," she said softly and headed down the hall to the room where everyone was waiting for her. "Okay ladies!" she smiled, "Just a few things before you go to bed." The girls all moaned. "First thing first, quiet time and lights out is 9:00 p.m." There were a few squeaks of disappointment. "The pack house goes to bed early and wakes up early, you'll appreciate it later. Also, try to keep out the West wing rooms, all visiting alphas will be staying there and it will be safer for everyone." She waited for the girls to acknowledge that they had heard her. "The last thing before bed, after the pack meeting, I am sending all the females into town," there were a few gasps and whispers about why, " You will all be able to pick out a new dress or two." The girls started squealing and giggling with excitement. She looked around the group of girls for Leanna and noticed the smile that spread across her face. She had promised that Leanna could get a new dress after that mornings shopping trip turned into a fiasco.

"Okay lady’s, calm down. The last bit of information is crucial to your trip." The girls all froze and were quiet. "We need to have everything ready before the meeting. So tomorrow will be a super busy day for everyone. Amy and Anne will split you into four groups, each group will be designated to a barracks, and the alpha wing. That group will be responsible for setting up beds with clean sheets and blankets. Each bed also needs to have a towel set and soap. The Shower areas need to be scrubbed and restocked with toilet paper, paper towels, soap etc." The girl’s faces melted into disappointed scowls. "When they are ready come find me and I will inspect them, if they don't get done then our trip to town won't be able to happen." The girls huffed and nodded. There were only 16 of them and that meant that they would have to all work hard to get stuff done. "Now, let’s get to bed it’s going to be a long day tomorrow," she turned and walked out of the room and the girls began milling around to their beds. Standing at her door she turned to watch as they all disappeared into the different rooms. When the final door closed she shook her head and then went into her room. She quickly changed into pajamas and jumped on the bed to look over the comment cards. Soon she could feel sleep tugging at her eyes and she drifted off to a deep slumber.