Among The Mountains

Chapter 14

Evening fell quickly for those who were awake the entire day. A comatose Chase was the only one in the living room as something attempted to open the front door. It was jiggling the doorknob while scratching at the door with no luck. It went to the back of the house, making its way to the patio door. It watched Chase from the window before hiding in a bush next to a wall.

Upstairs, Ember and Ruby were searching through the trail cams on TV, hoping to find a sign that Alara might have been around the area while everyone was sleeping this morning. They even looked through last night's trail cams to see if they could catch a glimpse of her running away from the area. They found nothing.

"There's gotta be some trace of her," Ruby said.

"Let's face it. She has left us, and she's never coming back," Ember said in disappointment.

She sighed and plopped down on a chair in the corner of the room.

"I can't believe this..."

Ruby was in disbelief about the decision that Alara made, possibly in the middle of the night. Yes, it is true that everyone felt left out, like they were left in the dark about everything, but that didn't mean they blamed her. In Ruby's mind, not even the alphas were to blame for hiding her secret from everyone.

"Find her," Ruby mumbled.

"What?" Ember asked.

Ruby jumped to her feet.

"Tell them to go find her. We can't let it end like this."

"But-"

Ruby grabbed Ember's shirt, clinging to it like she was begging for her to agree with what she just said. Ruby pointed towards the window as she continued her convincing speech.

"Ember, if we leave her out there feeling the way she does...she will carry this for the rest of her life. She will never be happy again."

Ember was about to say something, but the presence of their alphas made her pause. They just came out of their room because of Ruby, who didn't know that her voice was loud enough for everyone to hear her. They saw that the TV was still on the trail footage that was now empty. Ruby calmed down and allowed her hand to fall to her hip.

"I...I didn't mean to..."

"We're the ones that should be apologizing," Telka said softly. "We've done something that broke the pack."

Her voice did not sound as strong and powerful as it usually was. Raiden stepped in to speak for her, resting a hand on her shoulder as she hung her head in shame and guilt.

"We thought we had no choice, but we realize that...we should have told you regardless of choice."

Now Raiden's head was in the same position as his mate as his voice started to crack.

"We are sorry for putting you all through this. If we could take it all back—"

"Don't say any more about it. We understand it now."

Ember stepped forward to speak to the alphas, who lifted their eyes to look at her.

"It took us a while but...now we know that you did it to protect us...to protect Alara."

The alphas lifted their heads, unable to speak with glassy eyes.

"We want you to know this...you are still our alphas. Always."

Ember went to one knee as she began to kneel to her alphas. Ruby did the same in a bowing position as the alphas watched them. They started to realize that they had given the girls a different view of them, and this new image had given them the respect that they thought was lost forever. This sent a new type of spark through the gains of both Telka and Raiden.

"Rise from your feet." Raiden commanded.

His tone was softer than it usually would be when it came to giving commands. The girls saw Telka nod in agreement before they slowly rose up to stand.

"You have more than you ever know for us." Raiden said kindly to them.

"Thank You. We thought you needed to know." Ember smiled.

Thump! Clang!

A loud noise was heard from downstairs as everyone rushed to see what it was. There was a chair that was tipped to the side and a broken glass cup was shattered on the floor. The back patio door was wide open as the curtains blew inward. Raiden went to see about his brother, who was waking up from falling into unconsciousness.

"Something was in here." Raiden said.

"Or someone." Telka added.

"Her..."

Everyone looked towards Chase, who was trying to tell them about who he saw.

"Chase?" Raiden said.

"It was...Alara..."

Chase closed his eyes once again after he whispered the name of the intruder. Ember quickly closed the patio door as Ruby began to clean up the broken glass on the floor.

"She must have gotten thirsty. She's not able to hunt on her own yet," Telka said.

There was a short pause.

"We should leave some food out for her." Ember suggested.

Telka started to search the fridge for some overnight food and wrapped some in a tablecloth.

"This should be enough."

She was about to go out with the cloth of food when Raiden stopped her.

"That wouldn't be a good idea for you. You are half werewolf." He reminded.

"Then how are we supposed to—"

Telka thought of an idea when she looked at Ember and Ruby.

"Don't tell me you're going to give us the job." Ember said with regret.

"We will be watching you. Don't worry."

They gave the girls the food as they looked at one another.

"Let's make this quick." Ember said.

They quickly ran out of the house to dart to the backyard where the trail cams were located. They were careful to make as little noise as possible as they quietly rushed back inside the house. Their hearts were beating fast as they sat down for a breather.

"I'm never suggesting anything again." Ember declared.

Telka looked outside at the paths that led to the river and the mountains with a focused stare.

"Raiden, you should take your brother upstairs."

Raiden nodded and picked up his brother as he carried him to his room. Telka turned her attention to the girls.

"You two should get some rest too. We have a long day ahead of us."

Ruby tried to study Telka as she was walking to the stairs.

"You mean..."

Telka stopped with one foot on the first step on the stairway.

"Yes. Tomorrow we are going to the mountains."

Ember blinked after hearing what Telka just said, then turned to give Ruby a look of blame and annoyance. Ruby looked sheepishly at Ember as they got up from the table.

"Next time I will talk more quietly." She said as they made their ways to their rooms.

As soon as they entered, Ember took a pillow and started hitting Ruby when she turned to

climb into her bed. Ruby retaliated by taking another pillow and hitting her across the face with it. The night turned into a pillow fight until the girls fell fast asleep.

In the same bed.