~Third person~
Believe it or not, but in the beginning of time, maps were ordained out into the universe ,containing each person, animal, tree, plant, flower, galaxy, planet, and all living beings that would ever come to exist. Paths were formed for each and everyone, and they each had a destiny to fulfill. What you believe to be your decision is indeed your decision, but it might not be the one meant for you to take. In such cases, you deviate from the planned path and go on a chosen one. This path will take you away from your destiny, and you will never know what could have been. Is this necessarily a bad thing? No. It can still be a beautiful life with prosperous moments and passionate encounters, but somewhere out there, somebody else will deviate from their path because of the choices you made. Layla Lecruest was about to become all too familiar with this as she herself deviated from her destined path.
What causes the deviations? It can be an event, a journey, a plan that you chose not to go through with, an interaction, or a single sentence spoken too fast or too late. It can also be trusting someone whom you know is not to be trusted or betraying the person meant to lead you right.
The greens stood as tall as ever, and the storm had passed. The doors were opening up once again, and the members of the hidden Emberclaw pack stepped out into the deep puddles and watched the destruction before them. Wooden pillars, rocks, and water from the river had flooded the roads they had built and the water was leaking into the houses.
They stared with hoplessles gazes at the makings of a catastrophe, the wrath of mother nature. Behind them, with loud and cheering screams the pups bolted out of the doors, leaving their shoes at home. They quickly drenched their clothes and swam and swatted in the puddles, laughing carelessly at what could only be seen as a waterline for these little ones.
Afraid and unnerved, the mothers quickly gathered their pups in their arms and carried them back inside. Layla was watching from her window, her eyes taking in everything that her mind could not comprehend. Surely, had she seen storms before, but in packs with much sturdier houses and structures. Never had she witnessed such an aftermath and so much helplessness in people all around her.
~Layla~
The water covered inches up on the houses, and the roads they had built were torn up from the ground and scattered on the grass. What grass? The grass was gone; it was mud and water everywhere. The improvised lamp poles had fallen, and the water covered any light that came from the fixed lamps in the ground, leaving the panels in pieces.
My eyes glided over the debris and broken branches, and stuck on Nathaniel, who came walking through the water. His eyes burned with determination and dedication, and soon everyone gathered behind him. His mere presence seemed to have changed the attitudes of the earlier hopeless surveyors, and they were now all brimming with impatience as they awaited orders.
”We need three people on river cleanup, I want five men helping around this part of the pack; everyone else can scatter around the perimeters and start cleaning away branches and rocks to ensure no pups get hurt.”
”Yes, king Nathaniel.” king Nathaniel, I don’t know, it didn’t suit him to be called so for some reason, or maybe I just wasn’t used to someone being called king. It had always been Alpha.
I watched with a swelling heart as he bent down and lifted logs over his shoulder, carrying them away. He constantly reversed his hands so he always had one free to remove any playing pups who could get injured, but he never told them to stop playing.
One by one, he lifted them away, and I couldn’t help the smile that grew on my face when I saw him put a pup on the log that he carried. The pup laughed so big that all of his teeth were showing. ”Layla,” startled and flushed, I turned around and saw Justin standing in the corner.
”Hi,” I said and licked my lips while the awkward feeling grew twice it’s size.
His green eyes looked between me and the window. I couldn’t read him or what he was thinking, but his face was contorted in a grimace as his eyes locked with mine.
”I’m going down to help clean up the mess. I was just checking to see if you wanted to join, but I think it’s better if you stay here,” He said and rolled back his shoulders.
”Why?” I asked and grabbed my overshirt. I put it on and walked over to him.
”One good deed does not make a good person.” We walked out of the house in silence. Justin’s words kept repeating themselves in my head, and I knew he was referring to Nathaniel. This one good deed wasn’t changing my opinion of him; it was just nice to see another side to him than the ones I had seen before. A side that was caring and respectful, the one that showed him as a leader and not just a ruler.
”Keep your head down,” Justin whispered as we were walking up to the others. I gulped and nodded my head before rolling back my shoulders.
”It’s good to see you two wanting to help. Justin, you can start working on the roadscapes with the others, and Layla can me out here.” Nathaniel went right back to what he was doing after having given the orders. Justin glared at me, his chest swelling up and tensed up shoulder were evidence of how well he was taking the orders.
I jerked my head, gesturing for him to go. If Nathaniel sensed even an ounce of displayalty in Justin, I was afraid of what he might do.
”You can help me with these logs,” I looked at the gigantic logs laying two meters long on the ground and then looked at the branches that I’d much rather be dealing with.
”How the hell am I supposed to carry them?” He smirked and lifted the log in his arms.
”Like it’s your baby,” he said and smiled. Rolling my hands under the log, I could feel the weight, but it kept rolling away from me. I stepped in the puddle and tried again.
The water covered my feet, and I found a good stance by pressing my toes into the mud.
”Here you go,” Nathaniel placed the log in my arms and went over to carry his own. His shoulder flexed as he lifted the smaller log over his shoulder and took another one in his hand.
Nathaniel turned and smiled at me. With a flick of his head, he walked away, expecting me to follow.
Hours had passed, and the debris left after the storm was almost completely cleaned up. They had thrown everything over the border seeing as nobody walks out there anyways. We sat around a makeshift fire pit, and everyone helped to bring out food and blankets. The searing fire crackled, and everyone was hypnotized by the flame, feeling lucky for they had. I slowly turned my head and looked at Nathaniel, who had a pup in his lap. My heart swelled again, seeing him so soft and caring.
’What are you doing?’
I don’t know, he’s different than I thought
Clara growled in the back of my mind.
’He’s not different. He still wants to erase every other werewolf on this planet’
My eyes shot to the ground, and my head fell. She was right. Nathaniel wouldn’t stop his plan, and I only knew small parts of it. I needed to keep a clear head, but it was harder to do so.
