Igniting Sparks

Chapter 42.

Edited by KitWulf                                        18-4-2021

*

It was dull and grey outside. The sun was hidden behind a sky full of clouds and there was no sign of it clearing up anytime soon. It would stay dry for the time being but the wind had picked up indicating bad weather was coming. The treetops and branches creaked and leaned as far as the wind could take them while leaves rustled leaving a harmony of sounds ringing through the woods. Some birds took advantage of the wind, gliding on their big wings, letting their bodies fall and rise with the currents.

Lucas had wandered through the small town of the werewolves that surrounded the packhouse. He had been amazed by how well hidden it was since he had no idea there were any houses until he accidentally wandered in between them. There were no paved roads and the houses seemed to be built randomly around one another. Every house had a lot of privacy but there were no real backyards. The placing itself gave the owners the peace and quiet they wanted.

There were some cars parked here and there and some houses looked to be in better shape than others. As Lucas glanced inside some of them he did notice every home had electricity and luxury depending on what the owner wanted. It made for a contradicting sight. The pack was modern in its ways but you could still feel the old traditional pack values shine through the exterior. He could understand why most of the pack members chose to live here instead of the more accessible town of Greenwood. This was as close to nature as they would get. One step outside your door and you were in the woods.

He had tried to talk to some of the pack members but most seemed to avoid him. The stares were there though; people kept their eyes on him. Lucas had noticed they had reacted the same way towards Azura and she had done the same thing. There were actually only a handful of people she talked to. It puzzled him to see this, knowing how close she was to Andreas and how he treated her as one of the higher rankings in the pack. He had gotten the impression she was a well-known and respected person among them but now he was not so sure anymore what her status was. Azura didn't actually seem to care though and she didn't talk about it either.

This morning they had finally gone to meet with her parents. Even though they weren't her biological family, you wouldn't be able to tell the difference in the way they treated her. The warmth coming from them as they had welcomed them in was heartwarming and Azura seemed to completely relax again. After the talk with Professor Sloan and Andreas, she had been quite tense and the prospect of seeing her folks again after such a long time had not helped. Her worries had been completely unnecessary as they had opened their home for them as if she had never left.

Lucas had felt slightly jealous seeing the three of them act and talk like a real complete family. Something he'd sometimes lacked as a child after his mother had passed when he was only a toddler. His father had given him all the love he could in his own way but it was still different than having two parents looking out for you instead of one grief-stricken father. Then again, no matter how much these people cared for Azura, they weren't her true parents and they had no knowledge of any other races besides humans when Azura came to them. Something she had struggled with quite a bit from what she'd told him. Only after going to college at Greenwood was when she finally started to feel truly at home and at ease.

After they'd gotten back to the packhouse, Azura had asked Lucas if he minded spending some time alone to which he hadn't objected. She wanted to go visit Nora's grave alone and recollect her thoughts, so he'd made his way outside through the makeshift town of the werewolves, and found himself somewhere in the woods surrounding the settlement.

Lucas sat down on a moss-covered trunk and closed his eyes, enjoying the sounds and smells around him. Being here had shed light on why Azura held this place so close to her heart. The conversation he had with Andreas the night before ran through his mind. After explaining how the mark got on his arm they'd come to the conclusion it was acting up because the Phoenix was getting stronger. Why Lucas had gotten it on his arm was still unanswered though. The itch had completely subsided now, luckily. The conversation afterward had been short but pleasant giving both men some more insight into each other.