Quiver

22

I awoke with a blissful feeling and surrounded in warmth. I opened my eyes, blinking a few times to see the room at the pack house. I grinned immediately and felt relief surge through me. I had sort of thought we'd have been kidnapped by the remaining members who didn't exactly like me and left us to die in the forest in the middle of the night, but it turned out they hadn't.

I'm so stupid sometimes..

I felt Roman roll over, throwing an arm over me and squeezing me to his chest. Happiness bloomed in my own chest and I wiggled even closer to him. I shut my eyes and prepared to drift back to sleep for a little longer. This was home and I could worry about talking to Yorik and seeing everyone else a little later.

**

I awoke for the second time, but this time I was missing Roman's warmth and I sat up sleepily. I stretched and yawned, loving the feel of my muscles contracting and expanding before they settled comfortably. A yawn slipped out of my mouth and I was just about to fling the covers off and dress when the door to the bedroom flew open.

I paused, only seeing a tray full of food before I seen the arms and person carrying the tray to be Roman. It didn't stop with Roman though. Cole bounded in after him and Lilith was there too, along with Bree. The room became crowded quite quickly, but everyone made sure I had enough room to eat. Roman shot me an apologetic smile, probably referring to the group of people, but I only shook my head, digging into the food.

Minutes later I murmured a thank you to Roman and decided to ask what everyone was doing in our room.

"Well, Cole just wanted to see you. Lilith of course wishes to braid your hair and Bree just wants to make sure you're okay," Roman explained swiftly. "And I brought you food in bed because I can."

I grinned at that last part as I finished up and then gazed at the others. "Cole, how about I take you and Lilith for a run after she braids my hair. Bree, I'm fine. Everything is great now."

She smiled at me, though it looked worried.

"What's wrong?" I asked, confused.

She shook her fiery head. "I'll tell you later."

Cole and Lilith were bouncing around in excitement, distracting me so I decided to let Bree's statement go for now, just like I was putting off seeing Yorik about the Jaecars for the time being.

"Alright, alright. If we want to get going on that run, I gotta get up and dressed. Then Lilith has to braid my hair then we can go, okay?"

They let out a happy chorus of yes and quickly left the room. The only one who remained was Roman. He was grinning at me with his curly brown hair a mess and sparkling blue eyes.

"What?" I asked, brushing my tangled hair out so Lilith could braid it easier.

"A run, huh? Am I allowed to come?" He asked lightly.

"Of course. When aren't you?" I smiled and moved to the dressers where I'd unpacked my things last night and put them away. I yanked out comfortable clothes and changed rapidly before Roman's teasing hands could touch me and convince me something else would be better than a run.

"I don't know," he said, a pout in his voice as he neared me. I grinned at his pouty face and leaned up to kiss his cheek.

"I'll make it up to you tonight. Now get dressed and let's go. We'll grab breakfast the raw way for a change."

**

I was happy, tongue lolling out of my wolfy mouth while I laid on our usual grassy hill that Roman and I went to. Only this time there were two young pups with us as well, Lilith and Cole. The two younger Lupus rolled around, wrestling while Roman sat near me, soaking up the sunny afternoon. Lilith had braided my hair earlier though it was sure to be unbraided when I shifted back. We had all taken down a lame buck earlier and eaten raw and then proceeded to race through the forest and streams until we felt somewhat tired.

Now we were resting, relaxing and it never felt better to me to finally be able to relax in my Lupus form around some of the pack. I knew we'd have to return though. Chloe and Garrett would worry about their daughter and I needed to speak with Yorik.

I stood, shaking out my fur and heard Roman shuffle to his paws as well. I let out a yip at the two brawling Lupus and they instantly paused, looking up at me. I flashed an image of the pack house to them and they both whimpered, wanting to stay out longer. I growled and they both pulled apart, sulking as they got to their paws. We wound our way back easily and stopped near a patch of trees where our clothes were stored. We shifted back and dressed quickly behind the privacy of trees.

We walked into the pack house with smiles, Cole and Lilith having gotten over pouting about leaving. The smells of lunch wafted into our noses and our stomachs rumbled with hunger instantly. Cole and Lilith immediately fled in the direction of the kitchen while Roman and I remained in the living room, the only person occupying the space besides us being Aurora. I guessed Chloe was in the kitchen and where Chloe was Garrett was sure to be there as well. Trevor and Cody could be heard from the basement as they shouted over video games. I figured Sarah and Holden would be in their usual spot on the indoor porch. The bítches were probably at the human mall, Yorik in his office/room, and Luke was probably outside training. I did, however wonder where Bree and Damion were.

I didn't exactly have time to figure that out though, instead I needed to go see Yorik so that's where I went. If Bree and Damion weren't here in the pack house after then I'd go looking.

Roman followed me as I made my way to Yorik. This time when I spoke to him I'd allow Roman in. There wasn't much Roman didn't know about anymore and just like before, I was planning to speak with Yorik about revenge upon the Jaecars. Only this time the plan would begin almost immediately because I was trained now and there was absolutely no excuse. Plus we had Elliere this time and Bree, two people who would play major roles as Elliere knew the layout of the compound well and Bree had magic to disable alarms and heal members. This time we would take them down and tear them apart.