Forgotten Wolf

3 Home in the Trees

Midweek comes and I'm on my way to the reservation with a top-up order for a party, apparently. I have never been to this reservation, no one has, it's not a public access one. After a solid forty-five minutes of lead foot driving, I see a sign saying private access only, turn back.

'Well, that looks friendly.'

I roll my eyes for the hundredth time today. Get in, out and back home. Though, I can't lie, the scenery is nice!

Home is relatively flat and open but the further I get, the more rolling the landscape becomes. The forests are thick and green, there's even a river near the road off and on. I take one final turn and the forest opens up to a large clearing.

The main house is breathtaking and huge! I've never seen anything like it before in my life. Multi-story made of wood and stone, the mansion looks like it was crafted from the very forest around it. There are people of all ages milling about; clearly, a lot of people live here.

As I drive up to the front door, I see Jace and Xavier exit the house with two women. Jace smiles and waves me over.

"Where are the strawberries!? Don't tell me you forgot them," Jace whines like a brat as he digs through the back. I reach in the back seat, grab a basket and hand them to him as he lights up.

"There you go you big baby," I say, rolling my eyes as I laugh. His grey eyes shine in delight as a giant grin splits his face.

"Not so fast!" Says the first woman. She's in her late twenties, tall and willowy, with long dark brown hair and eyes. "That's for dessert, hand it over." She holds her hand out for the basket and Jace breaks out into the most dramatic pout; big eyes and pouty lip as his eyes lock on hers.

"Give it up Jace, those big puppy dog eyes won't work on me." She turns her attention to me. "Hi, I'm Claire, Xavier's mate, you could say I'm the head cook here."

"Oh, hey there," I say as I reach out and shake hers. She's not who I would expect to be with Xavier, far more outgoing and happy, but I guess opposites attract.

"What else did you bring me, lil' elf," I hear Jace say from the back of the truck. He has the attention span and boundaries of a child as he searches through the crates.

"Just Grandmother's order, take it up with her," I joke as I check the surroundings out. "This place is amazing, I've never seen anything like it!"

The house is impressive from a distance and up close it's amazing. Massive doesn't even capture its scale–some of the boulders used in the facade are as big as I am. The way the stonework and timbers come together gives it such an organic feel like the mansion was grown, not built.

"You're just on the front lawn, you haven't seen anything yet, lil' elf," he teases, waggling his brows.

"Elf? Really?" I deadpan.

"Well, it's elf or pixie, humans can't grow this good," he laughs, running a hand through his already messy golden brown hair. I can't help but roll my eyes and groan at his exuberance. "What about sprite? Oh, or fairy!"

He's far more impressed with himself than he should be.

"Elf it is," I grumble in defeat, which earns me a hearty laugh from everyone. "So, where would you like me to unload all of this?"

"Oh, don't worry about that," Claire quickly cuts in. "The boys can take it in. We're just preparing for a big dinner and everything's such a mess." Xavier starts to take out the crates and stacks a couple for Jace before grabbing a stack himself.

Well, that didn't sound rushed at all.

Movement out of the corner of my eye catches my attention as I see the boy from the market running from the house. "So this is where you come from, hmm," I muse quietly to myself.