Fighting for Power (Howl of the Elements: Book One)

Chapter 12

***picture of Jasmine***

Chapter 12:

Is this a dream? Scratch that. This has got to be a fricken nightmare.

The scene in front of Layla that was supposed to be her town was utterly unrecognizable. Even though a week had passed since the Hadan pack had attacked, there were still so much wreckage everywhere. Many buildings were scorched and collapsed; some were even just a pile of blackened wood and fragments of destroyed furniture. The majority of the grass and plant life surrounding the main area of the town had disappeared, leaving only sooty dirt in its wake. If it wasn't for the large white tent and the crowd of fellow pack members awaiting the news of their counter-attack, this place would seem like a ghost town.

As soon as the townspeople noticed Layla and the other pack members approaching, there were cheers as well as some of the women hunching over with tears of relief. The one reaction that outweighed everyone else's, though, was that of Jasmine.

"Layla! You're here. You're safe," she shrieked, sprinting towards Layla, "I thought I'd never see you again."

Layla managed to force a small faked grin as Jasmine flung herself at her, "Nice to see you too."

Pulling away, Jasmine scrunched up her face and examined Layla, "Are you okay? Did they hurt you? Why did they take you guys? Why did they have to attack us? We never did anything to them. Were they...you know...inappropriate to you?" She had barely taken a breath, spouting off one question right after another, displaying her obvious nervousness of the situation.

"Woah now, slow down. I'm here to stay, so you don't need to ask a million questions all at once. I can't even remember what all you asked, but no they weren't 'inappropriate' with me," gesturing her hands with air quotes at the end of her sentence, Layla tried her hardest to lighten the mood some.

She knew that it was only natural for Jasmine to be so curious and worried, but all energy had escaped her once the adrenaline had worn off. There was no way she would be able to stay awake long enough to talk for hours, and that was where this conversation would lead to if she didn't find a way to get out of it soon.

Jasmine's tight auburn curls bounced around as she swung her head back and forth while her dark green eyes gave off a look of confusion, "Wait, where's your mom? Did she run off to return to her duties already?"

"Umm...no. She's not here. She, uh, stayed behind. We are going to have to go back for her another time," Layla stammered, not really wanting to go into details.

"Why would she stay there? Is she okay? She's hurt, isn't she? That's why she couldn't come. If that's the case, then we better not take too long to return to her. They will probably hurt her even more after losing you," Jasmine continued to ramble on, but after a point, Layla stopped paying attention and glanced around.

Her eyes caught a boy just a few feet away. His head was bent towards the ground, and his hands were deep in his pockets as he shuffled around. This was the exact opportunity that Layla had needed, and she had no hesitation seizing it.

"Hey, Shawn, can you do me a favor?"

His head popped up, and he seemed surprised at her question for a moment before shrugging his shoulders. That famous smile was sprawled across his lips again as he walked over to the two girls, "Sure, whatever you need."

"Well...Jasmine needs some catching up on what happened, but you see...it's been a really long day, and I'm beat. Would you mind filling her in so I can go crash somewhere?" biting her lower lip, she prayed that he would say yes.

"That's fine. You should go to the medic tent anyways so that they can check you over. There's beds lined up in there that you can take a nap on if you want," he pointed towards the white tent that Layla had seen when they first arrived.

"Thank you so much," she smiled and then turned to Jasmine, "We'll talk later, 'kay? I promise. I just desperately want some sleep right now."

A look of concern flashed across Jasmine's face, before it was quickly masked by a bright smile and a nod. Layla turned to walk away, but felt tingles shoot up her spine as Shawn slid his arm around her waist.

Pulling her into a tight hug, he grazed the whiskers on his chin against her earlobe and whispered, "It's good to have you home, L."

Goose bumps prickled all along her arms and her body tensed. She had never been this close to Shawn before. There was a reason that she had never wanted to before. He was known to be able to get women to fawn over him with a single touch, and Layla did not want to risk losing sight of not wanting to be one of those girls.

Without responding, Layla gently removed his hands from her waist, and wriggled away. She gave a quick final wave of her fingers behind her, and walked as fast as she could without drawing added attention to herself. Thankfully, she already had the excuse of being tired and on her way to the medic tent. She wouldn't even know how to respond to what had just happened if she had had to stay there. Although, that didn't stop her own mind from reeling with thoughts.

Calm down, he was just expressing his relief that one of his alpha's is back home. It's been a hard time for everyone lately. He just has a weird way of showing it...but that doesn't explain how it made me feel.

***

Layla felt the hard feel of a cot beneath her, and her and her heart dropped. It was just a dream? You have got to be kidding me! What's the point in even waking up? She didn't want to even open her eyes. Instead, she let out a small groan and rolled herself onto her stomach, burying her face into her pillow. Squirming around so that she could grasp the edge of the blanket with her fingers, she yanked at it until it was wrapped tightly around herself all the way up to her neck. Then she slid her hands beneath the nearly flat pillow, using them as added support beneath her head.

A slight chilly draft brushed across the little amount of skin that was still exposed causing a shiver to slide down her spine, but as soon as it came it was gone just as quick. It has to be night time if that breeze was cold. Gosh, I slept longer than I thought. Wait...if I felt that then someone must have opened the door, but I didn't hear the door... Where did that-- Before she could continue her thought process, she felt someone sit down on the bed beside her legs.

The person leaned closer, and a low male voice whispered, "Are you awake?"

"Go away, Logan," she mumbled against the pillow as she tried to scoot a little further away from the intruder.

"What? Who's Logan?" confusion mixed in with a little growl.

Layla felt the guy's body stand up from the bed, but she could still feel his eyes staring at the back of her head. Snapping her eyes open, she jumped up into a sitting position and whirled around to face her company.

She wasn't in the warehouse; she was inside of the large, white tent. It wasn't a dream after all. Her pack members had really came to her rescue and brought her home. But that also meant that the person standing next to her bed was not Logan, it was Shawn.

A/N: Okay, I am really tired as I finished this, so I apologize for any errors or if it just didn't really keep your attention. I started working a new job, so my hours have been pretty crazy lately. Good news, though, is that I will be getting regular shifts in a couple days which equals a better sleep pattern which also equals more energy put into Wattpad again. Yay! :)

Anyways.....let me know what you think! Do you like that she's back home again? Is there any characters that you guys would like to get to know better?