The Last Spirit Wolf (Elena Norwood)

-Vera-

When I step outside with my bag, I notice the guys have already chosen their beds, leaving me a top bunk bed all to myself.

"Hey," Jeremy says, "Thomas offered to give you his room if you wanted to be closer to Alpha Sofia."

I consider this for a moment as I put my bag on my bed.Content bel0ngs to Nôvel(D)r/a/ma.Org.

"Thank you, Jeremy. But I rather stay here," I tell him with a smile.

Even if I am Sofia's best friend, I hold no rank within the pack, meaning I get no 'diplomatic' privileges when visiting another clan. If I did switch rooms with Thomas and it was found out, we could risk offending the Goldmoons.

He simply nods and heads into the bathroom while the other guys are resting on their beds.

*Vera, can you come? I'm the last room down the hall to your left,* I hear Sofia.

*I'll be right there.* I respond.

In a few short minutes, I'm knocking on her door.

"Come in," I hear.

"Hey," I say, coming in, "what's going on?"

She's sitting in the middle of her bed, her arms crossed, looking pissed.

"This is a beta room," she says.

I stay silent, waiting for her to continue because so far, I don't actually see what the problem is.

"Vera, this is a "beta" room," she explains, "they put me, the Alpha of their most trusted allied clan, in a *beta* room. This whole thing isn't sitting right with me."

"Maybe the Alpha room is being remodeled?" I say unconvincingly, trying to give the Goldmoons the benefit of the doubt.

"It isn't. It's only a few doors down. I saw the cleaning lady go in there. It's being used."

"Being used? You think they have another guest here other than us?"

"Yes. And it's a guest they consider to be more important than me."

I thought she was only being pissy because she didn't get the biggest room, but I have to remember we aren't children anymore. Sofia is the Alpha of her pack and if that's the case, if the room is being used for someone deemed more important by the Goldmoons, she has a right to be angry.

For any other Alpha coming to visit, it would be a deep sign of disrespect to not be placed at the Alpha guest room, particularly if it's a clan they're friendly with. In this case, our pack is not only friendly, we are actively investing in the Goldmoon clan by opening a clinic here; and still, they choose someone other than Sofia as their primary guest? Added to the fact that their warriors weren't even aware of our visit, which was planned ahead of time; something isn't adding up. "Do you think he's just being petty because of your history?"

Sofia is now serious; not angry, not offended or pouty, just serious. She's in Alpha business mode.

"No. I don't recall him being stupid, and if he dared risk offending me because of something that happened so long ago, this isn't someone I want our pack doing business with. Too emotional, too stupid," she says. "Who do you think they're hosting?" I ask, sitting on the bed beside her.

"I don't know, but we need to find out. Whomever it is, their business here must be extremely important for the Goldmoons, even more than ours."

We stay silent for a while as Sofia sits looking at the door, thinking.

"Oh, I almost forgot. I mind-linked Dr. Owens earlier. He'll be waiting for you at the new clinic as soon as you're ready, and please take this bag to him."

My eyes light up and I jump from the bed. This news instantly lifts my mood, replacing it with excitement. One of the main reasons for visiting the pack house was Sofia and the twins, of course, but also Dr. Owens. "Where's the clinic?" I say, maybe a little too excited.

Sofia raises an eyebrow.

"Southern portion of the pack house, it's a new building, hard to miss I imagine."

I take the bag hurriedly. It's quite heavy, but it doesn't matter.

"You weren't this excited to see me, just saying!" Sofia yells after me as I close the door and head towards the new clinic. I'm so excited I barely even notice how *heavy* this bag is, it feels like I'm carrying a literal ton of bricks. Once I reach the open courtyard in the middle of the pack house, finding the new building is quite easy.

I reach it after about 20 minutes of power walking through the pack house and everybody staring at me as if I'm crazy.

When I reach the building. I notice everyone hard at work, organizing the interior and placing all the equipment. It's a carbon copy of the clinic back home, so it's not difficult to guess where Dr. Owens will be.

I head to the third floor and walk past the clinic rooms and the nurse's station, which still doesn't host any nurses, a sense of nostalgia invading me.

I reach Dr. Owens's office, finding him organizing a bunch of papers into his archives.

"And here I was thinking you had taken a vacation," I say, walking in through the door and dumping the bag on the floor.

He looks up, a big smile on his face.

"Vera," he says, standing up and giving me a tight hug.

I hug him back, incredibly happy to see him again.

Dr. Owens is really the only father I've ever known, and I was touched to know, before I left for

the lycan Castle, that he considered me a daughter.

"It's been so long." he says as he holds me at arm's length, "you've changed so much."

I laugh.

"Well, I hope not too much."

"No, of course not," he smiles at me, "oh, you're just in time for lunch," he says, "come with me, I'll show you around."

"Oh, there's that bag Sofia asked me to give you, I don't know what it is but it weighs a lot."

"We can take care of that when we come back. Come, I'm starving."

We walk towards the courtyard once again and then take a left, leading us to the cafeteria. The cuisine varies from territory to territory, and I do vaguely remember the Goldmoons having the best desserts of all wolf packs. "Hey, Dr. Owens!" Someone approaches him as we are in line picking up our food.

"Oh, Amelia, hi. This is Vera," he introduces me, "she's here for a few days visiting from Dark Moon."

"*The* Vera?" Amelia comes closer to me, extending her hand, "it's nice to finally meet you, Dr. Owens has told us so much about you!"

I shake her hand and smile.

"All good things, I hope."

"Well..." says Dr. Owens and Amelia and I both laugh.

"You guys can sit over here, I saved you a spot."

Dr. Owens and I follow Amelia to a table off to the side that is partially empty.

"Amelia has been of great help in establishing the clinic, once it opens, she'll probably be the one in charge of the staff, if she accepts, of course," Dr. Owens says, beginning to eat his food.

"You are too kind, Michael, but I still don't know if I'll be the right fit for a clinic," she says, but notices my frown, "I'm a warrior, you see, I don't think I have the tact to run the staff at a clinic.

I was actually raising my eyebrow at her addressing Dr. Owens so casually, but I digress.

"Oh, I wouldn't worry about that. Dr. Owens is never wrong. If he thinks you're the right candidate, trust him. Besides, I can tell you from experience, your warrior training will be * extremely useful with running the clinic; it's more like a warzone than you can imagine."

She laughs and takes a long look at Dr. Owens while he's busying himself with his meal.

I once again raise an eyebrow at this.

Perhaps Amelia has a crush on Dr. Owens? I mean she seems like a mature woman, it would be age appropriate.

She notices my stare and clears her throat, returning her attention to her food.

We continue eating, chatting here and there until Amelia politely excuses herself as she is late to the training grounds where she's in charge of the new recruits.

"She has a massive crush on you," I tell Dr. Owens as Amelia walks out through the cafeteria doors.

"Nonsense," he says, wiping his mouth with a napkin, "she's far too young."

"Now that's* nonsense. She's what, in her forties?"

"Fifties," he clarifies, "far too young."

I snort.

"It's perfectly age appropriate."

"It absolutely isn't."

"Dr. Owens you're not *old.*"

We begin walking towards the kitchen with our trays.

"No, but I'm way older than her," I roll my eyes at him, and then it hits me. The sweet, nostalgic smell of those desserts I loved so much as a child. My mouth is watering already.

"If you don't drop it, I won't tell you where they are," he says with a mischievous smile.

I narrow my eyes at him.

"You would keep those desserts from me?"

"If you don't drop it, absolutely."

After a moment of consideration, I give in.

"Fine, no more mention of Amelia... for now."

"Good girl," he says, dipping below a counter in the kitchen and retrieving three desserts.

Oh, Goddess. The smell.

"Come, we have to hide them. There usually aren't any desserts left at this time so whomever was saving them can't know we took them."

We both giggle and leave the cafeteria, I almost feel bad for stealing these.

Almost.

We enter the clinic again and head straight to his office to eat the stolen goods.

"This is amazing." I say, tasting the first crème brulee with that sweet, sugary top and then the soft, cool interior. It's the best thing I have ever tasted; perhaps Jeremy back at the pack house can recreate some of these desserts. We eat the rest in silence, unable to speak and relish on the taste at the same time.

"So," Dr. Owens says once we are done, "are you going to tell me why you're really here or do I have to guess?"

I sigh, setting my spoon down and getting ready to tell my story all over again.