The One

Chapter Six

Elka's POV
    After healing Maihra and enjoying dinner with the pups and meeting my best friend's mate, I was ready to get back to my hut.  "Maihra dear, I best be getting back home now." I told my friend, "Oh Elka, just stay the night in the guest room, please friend, I'll sleep easier knowing you're not out there with the corrupted."  I usually wasn't able to say no to Maihra, but I needed to get back, I couldn't stay around the small family too long without aching for my lost son.  "I'll be fine Maihra, me and Chase took out two corrupted on the way up here, I know how to handle myself."  'We've said too much,' River scolded as my friend's face fell and she went stiff, "Chase, you didn't say anything about that," she said calmly as she turned her dagger filled eyes towards her young son. 
Chase didn't meet his normally gentle mother's eyes as he spoke softly, "Mom, you were injured and we didn't have any problems, they didn't even know I was there." "Maihra you should have seen Chase, I didn't even know he was there, and then one of the corrupted fell, and I was able to pin the other and just as I was finding a killing grip, Chase ran over and delivered the fatal blow, you have made a fine warrior of him, stop worrying so much." I chimed in, only to earn my friend staring daggers at me as well. 'Elka, if anything had happened to him...' she tried to link with tears falling out her eyes, 'He's strong Maihra, he takes after his father and in the heat of battle is almost comparable to you, you have to trust them more,' I gently persuaded.
    She relaxed a little after hearing that, and reached for Clyde's hand instinctually as if they'd never been apart, I smiled as he gently engulfed her small hand with his enormous one, bringing it to his lips as he kissed it gently with a smile.  "I really wanted to see this side of you, my beautiful mate," he almost whispered with adoration in his eye, "you being a mother." Which earned a small hiccup of a sob from my friend, having seen enough of this reunion and missing my mate and son even more I stood from the table. I grabbed everyone's empty plates and utensils and dropped them off in the sink, the meal had been so delicious.  As I made my way to the door, Maihra somehow materialized in front of me and said, "If you're leaving my home at night I must accompany you home" 'Oh boy' River sighed as my wolf shook her head and internally I sighed along with my wolf.  "No Maihra, you need to rest and let the medicine do what it does," I said firmly, holding my ground, I felt a dominating presence saddle up next to Maihra and didn't have to look as I knew Clyde had come over. "I'll escort her, my love, please rest, I can't see you like that again, Cinder was very hard to control." He pleaded with his mate, "If he's going, he'll need someone to watch his back after dropping Elka off!"  I sighed as I heard Emerald excitedly chime in from across the room, which only upset Maihra more.  "Excuse me young lady, you will not be accompanying your father at night, you are the ONLY one that reacts badly around the corrupted, no I'll go with Clyde." Maihra ground out through her teeth. 
    This was where young Chase stepped in, "Mom," he pleaded as he got closer to the healing she wolf, "please go lie down I can go with dad and Elka, I made it to her and back without a scratch and dad will be with me this time."  I saw the moment Maihra broke as she had no other option, "Clyde if anything happens to my son, I don't care that you're an alpha I will..." and before she could finish her sentence, Clyde gently lifted her face to his as he kissed her cheek and softly said, "Maihra, I will lay down my life before anything happens to our boy."
    Finally, with everything sorted, Emerald made sure her mother got to her room, and I headed out of the cabin and onto the porch, shifting I left the gown for the family and waited for Chase and Clyde to join me.  After they came out and shifted as well, we were on our way, heading south 'Towards home!' River thought gleefully, which only made me more sad, as I didn't have pups or a mate to go home to, 'you've got me' River said mournfully, 'I know, sorry, it's just hard without them' which quieted my inner dialogue with my wolf.  As they traveled silently the young black wolf to my right suddenly pricked his ears, 'You weren't expecting company Elka, were you?' The teen linked her, as I was about to respond the huge grey alpha next to me suddenly crouched low as his ears swiveled and his nose twitched. 'Elka, maybe you should spend the night at Maihra's, it seems as though you have attracted some attention at your hut, lay low and we might be able to get a glimpse.' The alpha linked, curious I was about to creep forward when the black wolf stopped me by stepping in front of me, 'Let me go, I can blend in with the shadow's easier and know good spots to hide, from playing with Eli all those years,' he linked mournfully, with ears flat and a sad look in his eye.  'Run it by your father first.'  I told the pup.
  After I watched the two wolves beside me as Chase linked his father, I heard noises coming from my hut, 'Our home!' River cried mournfully, 'Wait, we have to know what's going on River,' I scolded my wolf as she tried to get me to run to defend our territory, when suddenly I felt something I hadn't felt in years, 'Stay here,' said a commanding voice to accompany the feeling of being near an alpha giving orders, River obeyed as Cinder gave the order.  I watched as Chase's wolf, Blade, was enveloped by the shadows on his scouting mission, as time passed slowly, River was restless but had been ordered by an alpha to stay here, so it was uncomfortable with the fidgeting of my wolf as we waited for  the scout report.
After what seemed like forever, I heard, 'Elka, don't get upset and stay where you are, I have spotted seven rogues looting your hut for medicines, food, weapons, and anything else they can get their hands on' from Chase through the link. I was about ready to rage my way through all of the rogues, but forgot I was tied to stay by an alpha command, 'PLEASE, THEY CAN'T TAKE ELI'S THINGS, THEY'RE ALL I HAVE' River screamed at Cinder through the link, earning a growl from the massive grey wolf next to me still, 'Wait for more information, let Chase pinpoint locations of the rogues and I will let you go under the rule that you only go where Chase clears, understood Shaman?' The alpha linked, shivering with pent up energy and ready to sink my teeth and claws into the people raiding my poor son's things, I could only bow my head in agreement. 'Go to Chase and follow his scent and stay low, only step where he's stepped, be careful Elka, Maihra will tear me to shreds if I don't keep you two safe.' 'It's River you should be worried about Dad,' Chase linked, 'She's fighting with vengeance and nothing to lose, good idea keeping her under alpha commands otherwise we'd never have made it this far into a stealth mission,' he chuckled through the link, which I responded with, 'your son is right Alpha, I'd have torn through them by now, I haven't been with a pack in a long time and forgot about teamwork.' I said mournfully.
A while later and me and Chase had spotted eight rogues in total, and when I saw one holding Eli's clothes in one hand and his favorite dagger in another, let's just say we were all lucky Cinder had told me to stay put. When the plan was made to take out the rogues, River was salivating and our claws were flexing hard into the ground trying to fight the alpha command.
When Cinder finally lifted his presence without warning, I gladly closed the gap between me and the two men touching my pup's belongings, I had the upper hand and went under the legs of one and twisted mid air as I jumped face to face with him, and latched onto his throat and as I tore it out, me and River shouted together 'FOR ELI!' I made quick work of the other rogue, so fast that it didn't alert the others, fangs dripping with the blood of enemies me and River snuck around the hut and through our emergency get away tunnel, only this time I was heading inside, where there were four unsuspecting males spread throughout my home.
I growled internally as we smelled the first one footsteps away in my room about to open my jewelry box, without thinking I flew out of my hole and jumped on his back, bringing the tall man silently to the ground. During the fall I had twisted him to face me and before he could register what happened I grabbed his neck in my teeth and twisted to the side. After hearing the uncomfortable crack, and releasing his limp body, I hadn't realized another rogue had entered the room and was about to shout for backup when a flash of black slammed into him and tore his head from his neck. A bloody Chase looked back, tongue flopping from his mouth in a wolffish smile, except his fangs were also dripping blood and he had wounds from the fight with the rogues outside apparent on his black hide, seeping red blood everywhere. 'There's two more in the house' I linked the young wolf, to which he replied, 'We took care of them already, all eight rogues are dead Elka.' Surprised I quickly assessed the young wolf.
'You're injured Chase, go to Eli's room, you'll find some sweats, get a pair for your father and meet me in front of the hut.' I linked him, with that the black wolf limped out of the room, which was my cue to shift and grab my skirt and tank top, I'll deal with cleaning the blood later, I thought to myself as I hurried to my supplies only to find that they had spread everything everywhere. Angrily I used my senses to sniff out what I needed from the wreckage, we'll have to completely restock and organize everything, and maybe setup an enchanted barrier around the hut, I thought to myself. I found what I needed and gathered the broom leaves, to help the wounds close quickly, catchweed to help the poultice from falling as the wolves ran home, and some chamomile for strength on their trek back to their cabin. Smiling as I grabbed my mortar, I headed to the front of the hut, stepping over the various bodies scattered about my home.
When I was all done, the alpha and his son were wolves once more sporting several green lumps of poultice sticking to their fur where they sustained injuries and with a wave farewell, the two massive figures were off, Chase already melting into the shadows. Proud of my work I linked Maihra with updates as to what the delay was, started to move the bodies, and tidy up my destroyed home. After some time and struggle, I was able to build a pyre in a clearing the next morning near a pond that no rogues in the area really used. As I dragged the last heavy rogue onto the pyre, I grabbed the torch I had brought with me on my wagon and sent the rogues of with a song of our ancestors as the flames burned and grew higher and higher with the souls of the wolves being set free.
The flames slowly died out as I gently used my rowel to get Dewdrop, my black and brown draft horse to move forward away from the burnt bodies.  I felt at peace for protecting my home and my son's belongings. I just wish those rogues had chosen a different hut, I hate killing my own kind, I thought mournfully to myself, as the horse pulled me and my supplies forward towards home I remembered I wanted to put the enchanted border up. I brought dewdrop to a halt and loosened her reigns so she could bend her broad head and graze while I set up the border around my home.
Sometime later I was wiping sweat off my brow from the heat and all the energy that was leaving me as I finished the last bit of the border enchantment. Sighing heavily I packed all my supplies back into the wagon and climbed up, taking hold of the reigns I urged dewdrop forward, "Home old girl" I called, Dewdrop happily obliged.
After getting back to the hut and getting Dewdrop unhooked, brushed, watered, and putting fresh hay down for the horse, I decided to start putting everything back in place and went in the hut to work at tidying everything up the rest of the afternoon.