The One

Chapter Five

Emerald's POV
I had just finished readying the bath for mom when I smelled Chase and Elka enter the cabin, I placed the shampoo and conditioner on the counter along with the body soap container and all the other hygiene products scattered across the tub's edge to make sliding in easier for mom. As I finished that up, I dipped my fingers in the water to gauge the temperature before mom got in, it was just warm enough to teeter boiling, but wolves could handle it as our core temperature stays well above human's core temperature.
With everything perfect I walked through the door, down the small hallway past the four bedrooms in the cabin, and entered the living room to find Elka sitting on the small love seat in one of the gowns we had stored on the front porch. The she wolf was a bit shorter than me standing at 5'5" but was always underestimated by her opponents, as the fit shaman was able to best almost any rogue in a battle using her small size and speed to her advantage along with her witts, she was usually able to exit a battle unscathed.
Chase was kneeling next to mom with his face turned down as mom gently stroked his cheek, I looked away when my nose picked up the scent of tears. He needs a moment, out of everyone in this room he is the gentlest and kindest, but also the most ferocious, I thought silently.  With my eyes finally landing on the giant of a man my mother claimed was my father, I was able to finally get a better assessment of him. Clyde was at least 6'4" towering over all of us, except maybe Chase, and he had toned arms and scars along his neck and arms, he also had quite a few of his alpha marks, which to the human eye were tattoos.
     His brown eyes met mine as I studied his face framed by dirty blonde hair, he had a smooth jaw with smile lines carved into his face. "My little dove," he smiled sadly as he stood to approach me, "May I hug you, daughter?" He said with apprehension in his voice, and tears starting to form in his eye, I didn't respond as I jumped into his arms and felt the warm embrace of my father, I'd been dreaming of this moment for forever since mom informed me and Chase that he died in an attack on her old pack, and here he was holding me.
I composed myself and backed out of the hug and walked over to the couch my mother occupied and explained, "The healing bath is ready when you are mama bear," she smiled one of her beautiful smiles at me as she started to move to get up, "Thank you darling, what would I do without you, and Elka," mother sighed, "you knew before I did it was wolfsbane didn't you?" She asked as she turned her head towards her long time friend. "Guilty as charged my lady, you know me better than anyone." Elka chuckled, "You're always getting into some form of trouble protecting these pups, someone's gotta have your back Maihra."
Without saying a word, Clyde walked over to where my mother was still struggling to stand, and gently scooped her into his arms bridal style, and asked me where the bath was. I led him back down the hall to where the bath was drawn and put my back against the wall as the giant man squeezed by with my mother held tightly in his arms.  "Are you gonna be alright mom?" I asked, to which she sighed, "Darling, my mate and my children and my best friend have all gathered in our humble abode, I could not get any better." To which I left her and my father as she got out of her night gown and climbed in the steaming water.
As we waited for mom to get back to normal, we were all getting restless, and decided to start making food after the exhausting day.  In the medium sized kitchen mom had built, after washing up at the sink, I grabbed the noodles, mom's homemade tomato sauce from the garden, bread mom and Chase had baked earlier in the week, butter, seasonings and the ground beef mom had managed to get from the store last week on the trip into town.
I left Chase and Elka to the noodles and garlic bread as I got to work on my signature meatballs, I started the meditative process by getting out a big metal bowl and dumping the ground beef in first, followed by rosemary from the garden, thyme I gathered last week from foraging in the woods, basil, pepper, a pinch of salt, and my secret ingredient, Parmesan cheese. After getting all the ingredients in the bowl and kneading it together, I started to work on meticulously crafting little balls, the key to this part was making them just the right size, I don't like having to cut my meatballs, I like them bite size.
    I was in the zone making the small meatballs and realized too late I forgot to grab the cookie sheet.  "Chase," I grumbled, angry at myself for forgetting, again, "can you please get the cookie sheet?" I sighed in defeat as he chuckled but willingly set it on the counter with no fuss, my face lit up as I began setting my savory creations on the sheet one by one settling back into the rhythm of meatball making.  After I finished plopping meatballs on three different cookie sheets, with the help of Chase getting the other two as well, I got them in the oven to bake as me and Chase sat down to wait for it all to cook. While Chase waited on the noodles and I waited on the meatballs, Elka was humming while she sliced the bread and mixed the butter together with seasonings to get the garlic bread into the oven with my meatballs.  With all the adults busy at the moment, Chase pulled out our chess set and challenged me with a devious look and smile.
After we set up the piece and before we started the game, mom and Clyde walked in, Chase immediately zoned out of the game, focused on mom.  "Are you feeling better?" my brother asked, to which she replied with a smile, "much better Chase, thank you for getting Elka right away, and Em, thanks for the healing bath, it was just what I needed to feel right." I smiled with pride at her words and was taken by surprise when I saw how softly Clyde was looking at my mother as she spoke, already getting back to her old self as she gleefully squealed, "Is that spaghetti and meatballs I'm smelling my dear children!" To which Elka chimed in as she emerged from the kitchen, "What else would we make our queen after such a full day?" Elka chuckled. Which earned a snort from my mother, which got all of us laughing up a storm. I noticed Clyde smile but was staring off into the distance, sadness clear in his gaze.
As I picked up the chess game and tucked it away in the cabinet, I drifted off in thought, I didn't realize how much Clyde might be effected walking into all our lives after sixteen years, he was getting to see a glimpse of what he's missed out on. I think my mom felt it in their mate bond because she suddenly turned her attention to Clyde and nestled up under his powerful arms. I don't know what words were exchanged between them but I'm pretty sure there was a lot of soothing things coming from mother through their bond, she always soothed me and Chase when we needed it, and I visibly saw Clyde relax after a while.
After chatting and laughing, the shrill ding of the timer got me and Chase flying off the couch to make sure our dinner didn't burn. I got into the kitchen and headed straight for the oven, I clicked on the inner oven light and to my delight saw that the meatballs were all golden brown and the bread was nice and golden as well, I pulled on the cooking gloves and pulled all the trays out of the oven and set them on cooling trays scattered about the island, when I was all done, Chase turned away from the sink bringing over a huge pot with perfectly cooked noodles mixed with mom's tomato sauce. We both smiled gleefully as I added my meatballs, tray after tray, into the huge pot as Chase stirred them all in, evenly dispersing them amongst the storm of noodles, trying to get a meatball in every forkful.
With all the meatballs added and after the bread had cooled Chase went and got everyone in the kitchen lining up by the island as I got all the plates and forks and napkins set up in a buffet like manner. With mom going first she inhaled the scents that flooded the kitchen in the aftermath of all the cooking and with a peaceful look on her face said, "This is gonna be perfect!" After which she put scoop after scoop from the huge pot on her plate, piling it precariously high, she added some bread to her plate and with a devious grin, exited the kitchen and went to sit at the table situated in the dining area of their cabin, after her went Elka, then Clyde, then Chase, with me in the rear. After piling my plate just as high as mom's, and grabbing enough bread to kill a human, I plopped down on the bench next to my brother and started scooping mouthful after delicious mouthful off my plate. With Elka and Clyde at the table it was a pleasant atmosphere of stories being told to Clyde and jokes exchanged between mom and Elka and Chase cracking jokes for all to laugh at, it felt good to have more people around, it made me realize just how isolated me and mom and Chase had been all these years. Not that that was a bad thing, mom had taught us everything, from our first shift, to how to fight as both human and wolf, how to track and catch prey, and how to forage for plants and herbs, and what to avoid, she showed us how to use a bow, and rifle, and how to defend ourselves without weapons and how to hide and how to stalk and make our prey totally unaware of our presence. She was a badass if I did say so myself, I was proud to be her daughter, and she was proud to be our mom.