The Last Spirit Wolf (Elena Norwood)

-Vera-

"Hey!" Jeremy calls me, "Sorry, I couldn't find you. Here," he hands me a little box. I come close to him and take it from his hands, the smell immediately making my mouth water, "I took the liberty of cooking for everyone as a thank you," he says, bowing a little. "That's so nice! Thank you, Jeremy." I smile genuinely at him.

I walk back with him to the clearing where everybody is already eating and sit where I left my bag initially.

When I sit down, Eli hands me a water bottle.

"Trouble in paradise?" Eli asks as I sip on the bottle and he devours his meal.

"Did you know he called off this whole wife search thing?"

He nods.

"He discussed it with me."

"And you're okay with this?"

"Yes," he answers with a shrug. "Doc," he wipes his mouth, "Noah is the King, the Council doesn't rule over him, as much as they'd like to believe they do. He agreed to all of this because he thought it would take some pressure off your back; you know, being his mate *and* a wolf, the Council naturally isn't a fan of you. But you saw what happened back there. I wouldn't be surprised if those assholes plotted with their Houses to get rid of you. For good."

I open up my meal and it's a beautiful array of meats, vegetables, and fruits.

"Wow," I say.

"Yeah, the kid can cook. I'm glad we stole him from Cecil," Eli says.

"Wow' at the Council wanting me dead," I clarify and begin to eat.

He scoffs, "That's how the Council works. They can't take 'no' for answer; and the minute they don't like something or someone, they find ways to make it disappear. In this case, it happens to be you."

He speaks of this so casually it really makes me wonder whether the threat is serious or not. I get lost in my own thoughts as I continue with my meal. It really is delicious, but I can't really enjoy it considering what Eli just told me.

If they really do want me gone, they will stop at nothing to ensure that happens. But if they succeed, Noah will still not take in a wife, I'm sure of it. What's more, if they are found out, if it is known that they went against the explicit wishes of their King, they will all be put to death.

Someone clears their throat in front of me, drawing me out of my thoughts. It's Violet and Cassia.

"Hmm, Lady Vera," Violet starts, "can we join you?"

Violet still can't muster the courage to look me in the eyes and Eli raises his eyebrows at me, clearly amused considering these two tried to kill me less than twenty four hours ago. "Just Vera, please, and of course."

They both happily plop down in front of me while I continue eating.

"We just... we wanted to apologize for... for everything really." Violet starts, not really knowing how to do this.

"Yeah, and we didn't really mean to harm you, we just wanted the King to choose Violet," Cassia finishes.

"Cecil threw what she thought was wolf's bane at me, hoping it would kill me," I comment.

Sometimes I'm too blunt for my own good, but these two better make no mistake about what happened back there.

They both look at each other nervously.

Cassia clears her throat,

"Yeah, about that. How did you know it wasn't wolf's bane?" She says, casually steering the conversation away from their murder plot.

"Because it didn't kill her, obviously," Violet whispers to Cassia, as if the question she asked was too stupid to bother me with. But she's wrong.

"Wolf's bane tastes sweet initially, then it turns bitter once it starts releasing its poison. It's quite distinct."

"Tas-tastes? You mean you've tasted it?" Violet asks in shock.

"Of course," I say, licking my spoon. It really was a delicious meal.

They don't really know what to say after that so I take the opportunity to ask them a few questions I had been curious about.

"How old are you guys, if you don't mind me asking?"

"I turned seventeen a month ago," Violet answers proudly.

"I turn eighteen in three months," Cassia says.

I stare at them.

Children. They're both basically children.

"When William said you were 'of age' I assumed you were older," I tell Violet.

"Well, for lycans, sixteen is considered 'of age.' It's when we can safely carry a pup and start our own families," Violet says happily.

"Goddess..." I whisper.

The more I learn about lycan society, the more disappointed I am of it. Only because you could* have a baby at sixteen, doesn't mean you *should*.NôvelD(ram)a.ôrg owns this content.

"Do you mind if I ask you another question?" Cassia says, interrupting my thoughts once again.

"Sure," I say, sipping on my water bottle.

"Why didn't my concoction work on the King? The one Violet wore as a perfume when they met? I went back and revised my recipe; I've been giving it to women for years and it always works. I thought it was the mate bond, but we tried it on Lucas this morning and he was confused, to say the least. Could it be because the King already bears your mark?"

"You tried it on Lucas?" I laugh.

"Yeah, he wasn't too happy with me." Violet admits, blushing, "but it did work on him."

Poor Lucas.

"Well, it could be that it's because he bears my mark; it could also have to do with the fact that Noah has a natural immunity to magic," I explain. "Immunity to magic?" Cassia asks, "how is that possible?"

"He comes from a long line of witch hunters, so to speak. In time, they developed certain natural protections against spells and magic in general." Not to mention the added protection my mark likely offers.

"Wow," they both say at the same time, discretely turning to look at Noah.

After a while, I remember the other question I had for Cassia.

"Cassia, what was that thing you gave to Violet for the fight?"

"What thing?"

"Some concoction to raise her stamina? She was quite... angry," I say and Violet blushes once again, turning to look away from me. This girl is most definitely not a fighter.

"That wasn't Cassia," Violet answers, "mother gave me something before the fight; she said it would help me. I didn't think to question what it was."

"Dried shrub root," Eli answers, "it's an old warrior trick. We used it before battles to increase our stamina and aggressivity. With years of usage, we realized it had two terrible side effects; it caused addiction and made many lycans feral. Many never came back to us."

"Cecil would give you something so dangerous?" Cassia asks, notably displeased with this information.

"She was desperate," Violet whispers; a feeble attempt at defending her mom.

I smile sympathetically at her. I can see none of this was Violet's fault now, but it makes me dislike Cecil even more.

"Alright, ladies. The chatter is over, we have to get back on track if we want to reach this lake by night fall." Eli says, standing up and offering his hand to me.

"Again, Vera. We are so sorry about everything. I hope in time you can find it in you to forgive us," Violet says, taking my hand, her expression genuine.

"Already forgotten," I say, waving my hand dismissively.

This seems to satisfy both of them because they jog back to Lucas and Jeremy, looking a lot more relaxed than before.

Eli hands me my bag.

"Doc, whatever this thing between you and Noah is, you both have to put it aside. You will both need to present a united front in whatever he decides from now on. The Council will sense if there is any rift between the two of you and will exploit it any way they can. Don't let that happen."

I nod and he walks away, joining William and Caleb again.

We continue to walk for several more hours, mostly in silence. At nightfall, we reach the lake Noah mentioned.

The water is crystal clear, revealing all of the terrain under it. It's quite beautiful, but it's hard to see why Noah wanted to see it.

"We'll sleep here for the night." Eli says, dumping his bags on the ground and starting to build the campsite.

Everyone gets busy helping Eli and I go off into the woods on my own to collect firewood, but I feel someone following me.

I turn around.

"Hey," Noah says, "listen, I'm sorry for getting mad earlier, I'm really not mad at you, it's just this entire situation... I shouldn't have let it happen. None of it."

He's massaging the back of his neck.

"No, I'm sorry," I come close to him, "I realize how much pressure you're under, and I thought all of this was going to help you get the Council off your back, that's why I agreed to it in the first place."

He takes my hands in his.

"Vera, this isn't your Kingdom to fix; quite frankly, it isn't mine either. *We* aren't the problem. It's everything else. It's old traditions, customs... we will never move forward if things don't change. Even opening up new trade routes is cause for argument in the Council; it's incredibly childish and counterproductive."

I smile up at him and he sighs, releasing my hands as we both begin to look for firewood.

"You know you can talk to me about any of this anytime, right?" I tell him after a while.

"I know, but when I'm with you, the last thing I want is to relive the shitty day I've had."

"So, what's the plan now? Ditching the Families and your *wife* doesn't just mean we are vulnerable to rogues; it also means trade will suffer."

"I was hoping I'd come up with an idea before we reached the Castle..." he admits.

"So, taking the scenic route...?"

"Gives us a couple of days extra before we get there."

After a few minutes, when we gather enough firewood, we head into the campsite where the tents are already up. Violet, Jeremy, and Cassia are running around the lake. Lucas, Caleb, William, and Eli are finishing up with the tents. Before we step within sight, I think of something. It's a long shot, but it's worth considering.

"Hey, Noah? I think I have an idea."