the deck railings, relishing another sip of my warm coffee before breathing in the early morning air. Dew and the smell of spring flowers tickle my senses as I tilt my head back toward the rising sun, letting the heat caress my face in a loving touch as I ask the Gods for strength that today will go without a hitch.
I can hear people milling around in front of me, getting ready for the day ahead. Their quiet chatter reaches my ears, but no one approaches me. Not yet. Everyone knows not to unless it is an emergency. If I don’t have at least one cup of coffee in me before the day starts, you’re more than likely to get your head bitten off. I am one of those people, unfortunately, but it is what it is.
I slow my breathing and try to center myself, willing a calmness I never feel when I’m preparing to pick up someone new to bring back to Eridian. We’ve been preparing for her arrival since the news came a week ago, and even though it’s business as usual for us now, it feels like a shadow clouds my mind this morning.
It happens occasionally, this off feeling, but recently it has been more frequent, and I don’t know what to think about that. I even went and spoke to Solvier about it, but he just brushed it off and assured me everything was fine.
I don’t feel fine.
I sigh, putting my mug down beside my feet and pulling my ashy-blond hair into a ponytail. The shorter front ends fall lightly into my face, tickling my skin as I walk down the steps of my deck.
I make my way leisurely along the dirt path toward the center of Eridian to the gathering, where most of the pack congregates for meetings or meals. It’s a circular clearing between scattered trees with benches that we had hand carved to sit on, and a sunken fire pit in the middle where we cook our meals. With its flattened dirt floor and easy access, we turned it into a place where the pack could gather and just enjoy each other’s company.
The path from my home declines a little as I walk. I listen to the birds chirping their morning songs and a few scurries of rabbits in the distance, just enjoying the calmness of the morning.
In the nine years since we’ve been here, I’ve never gotten tired of it. The sight, the smells, the feel of this place. It’s all precious to me, this life we have made for ourselves.
Our home isn’t lavish by any means. It’s rugged, but clean, with many cabins and only the necessities we need to survive, but we make it a place where we can safely be and live freely.
The Eridian Forest is truly a beautiful place to live, with flowing rivers and waterfalls cascading down the cliffs that surround us, encasing us within their safety. The life that flows through here energizes me. The rare flowers that only bloom twice a year make you feel awed just by looking at them, knowing not many get to witness them as they glow under the night sky. It never gets old. When you’re gifted by its presence, the forest feels like it has a life of its own in ways no one could ever explain. I suppose that may have something to do with Solvier. He always seems to be everywhere at once, though he does protect us after all.
As secluded as we are down in the valley, without his protection we would be overrun by creatures. The ring of lilk trees surrounding our home keeps any unwanted visitors out. But if you go out of that ring, you lose that protection and must fend for yourself in the surrounding Forest.
There are not many dangerous creatures roaming around, but some come from The Deadlands at the top of the smaller cliffs west of us. This is where the Rogures come from when they decided to grace us with their presence. They stalk down the slopes in search of prey inside the forest, including us if we don’t get to them first.
Rogures are never on their own and only have one thought in their mind, kill. They’re beast-like hounds, skin gray and weathered and falling from their body in rotting lumps. Their two sets of teeth make for a nasty bite, but the black, venomous foam dripping from their mouths is the real killer. No one knows where these hounds originally came from, only that they keep coming from somewhere, and they’re not slowing down, growing in numbers with every moon cycle.
Edward likes to keep me updated on Vrohkaria’s current status with them, amongst other things. Keeping me informed on what’s going on outside of Eridian, even if I don’t plan on venturing out from here or beyond The Deadlands for any other purpose than to collect someone.
A squeal of laughter draws my attention and I turn my head to the side, smiling slightly at the sight of some of our pups playing tag while running rings around their moms. It’s a heartwarming sight considering what some of these kids have been through. It makes all our hard work worthwhile to see them laughing and their parents’ smiling faces as they watch them. It strengthens my need to go get the girl we are about to collect, so she too will be surrounded by this goodness.
Edward’s scouts have reported that over the last few days, her beatings and abuse have been getting worse. No one wants to risk waiting any longer, not when Edward knows he can get her out of there and bring her here before irreversible damage is done. Physically anyway. Mentally, that’s something else.
I pick up my pace, walking through the blooming scattered trees, pressing a hand to them in thanks for sheltering us. I spot Josie and Danny at the center of the gathering next to the fire pit. Josie has a bucket in her hand, waving her free arm wildly at Danny. I huff at the ridiculousness of the couple arguing over who will go to the river to collect fresh water for the large pot in the fire pit.
“I’ve fetched it for the last three days. Three, Danny! How is that fair?” Josie growls, her free arm still flailing around.
“I do it all the time. It’s doing great things for that gorgeous ass of yours anyway. Why are you complaining?” he asks, looking at her ass as his mud-colored eyes darken with heat.
I roll my eyes. They are always at each other’s throats, but it is more out of sexual frustration than anything else. He’s clearly in the doghouse again.
I stride forward, making my way through the hand-made wooden benches toward them. “Danny, just fetch the water. Stop getting her all worked up just because she won’t suck your dick. It’s your own fault,” I tell him, stopping in front of them and putting my hands on my hips.
Danny’s eyes snap to mine, oblivious to my approach with his focus on Josie’s… assets. He makes a small sound, biting his lip to suppress a smile that I know would be there if he didn’t.
“Sorry, Rhea,” he mutters, clearly not sorry one bit. He grabs two buckets off the ground and gives Josie a wet kiss on the lips before he walks off in the direction of the river just inside the forest.
“Gods, he’s so annoying,” Josie whines once Danny is out of hearing distance. “I should stick one of those buckets on his head and hope it gets stuck.” I snicker as she bumps her shoulder against mine, giggling.
Such a simple gesture, yet it took me a long time to handle being touched without assuming it would come at a price. Eleven years later, I still have moments where I flinch at the slightest contact if I’m caught unaware. But they’re rare now. Josie has taught me a lot over the years with her acts of affection and surprise touches. I can now touch and receive others’ touch without breaking out in a sweat or triggering my fight or flight instincts. All my pack members know I don’t like to be touched much, and are wary of doing so for any length of time, making me love them even more for their thoughtfulness.
It’s nice to be at a point where I can feel others’ affection and gratitude the way wolves are supposed to. I just prefer it in small doses, so I’m not too overwhelmed.
It’s strange for a wolf shifter to dislike being touched. This is how we wolves interact with each other most of the time, and it’s needed for our wolf side. But my pack knows, more than most, that everyone here has been through some shit. They respect that I’m different and don’t pry into things, which I’m grateful for.
Josie looks over at me, her chestnut hair swishing around her face with the movement, with an understanding that only very few could.
Josie and Danny were some of the first people to come to Eridian years ago, and she’s been there for me ever since. She hugged me as soon as she saw me, crying her gratitude that we helped them as I stood stock still at the contact. She knew immediately something wasn’t quite right, and luckily, I didn’t put her on her ass for it. That’s when she began to help me with my issues. Despite her being only five feet two inches tall, she has claws when needed if her maternal side comes out.
“You know you won’t hold out any longer. You might as well give in now so we can all have a peaceful dinner,” I tell her, nodding in the direction Danny went.
“Yeah, I suppose you’re right,” she says with a sigh. “If he wasn’t my mate, I would have his balls by now and wear them as a bracelet.” I snort.
Josie had been with Danny for years before they came here. They’re each other’s chosen mate and have been inseparable since they first laid eyes on each other. She told me once they had an instant connection, and they couldn’t do anything but nurture it. I’m happy she has someone who loves her with everything he has. I don’t think that kind of love happens often, especially with chosen mates rather than bloodmates.
I’ve resigned myself to the fact that I won’t have a love like theirs someday, not even a slither of it. I’m okay with that, though. I don’t want a mate, I don’t think I could be what a mate would need me to be. Though sometimes I think if things were different, if my life had taken a different path, I might want a family of my own. A life filled with laughter and love and someone that’s mine. Just mine.
I shake off the thought and shove it down. “Josh, get everyone needed here at the gathering for our final discussion before we head out,” I order through our blood link.
“On it,” he replies instantly, probably already rounding them up as we speak.
A blood link enables you to speak to another person directly through your mind. It’s a very personal connection and usually only exchanged with those closest to you. We can choose who we speak to, either separately or all at once if you have more than one link like I do. It’s established through an exchange of blood, then a symbol representing the link is tattooed into your skin using that blood.
It comes in handy most of the time. Other times, it’s annoying, like when you just sit down for the day and get told there’s a problem you need to get back up off your ass to deal with.
“You’re going out today, right?” Josie asks, bringing my attention back to her as she picks up a log to throw into the sunken fire pit.
“Yeah, I just asked Josh to gather everyone.’ Looking around through the trees toward the cabins, I can already see a few members of today’s outing making their way toward me.
“Okay, I’ll let you get on,” she says, giving me a quick squeeze before heading off in the same direction her mate went. I snicker, knowing they won’t be back for a while.
I take a seat on one of the benches behind me and wait for everyone to arrive. I stare up at the opening in the trees above me. The blue hue of the sky is full of different shades, making me think of my own ice-blue eyes and my family.
I’m proud of where Josh, Kade, and I are at this point in our lives. Although lately, I do feel like Kade has been distancing himself from the pack, or more to the point, distancing himself from me. I know it’s more to do with his wolf emerging five months ago when he turned eighteen, but it seems like he’s spending more time in his wolf form than human these days, and it’s worrying me.
It’s always a difficult time when we first get our wolf, having to learn control and adapt to the enhanced senses we acquire. But he’s had his wolf for a while now, and with no sign of Kade returning to two legs any time soon, I really need to talk to him.
I sigh, bringing my head back down, and notice how low the stock of wood is getting in the center. I make a mental note to bring more down from the storage shed later today. We self-sustain as much as possible out here, which is a lot. We go hunting in the surrounding forest for our food and fish in the river south of here. If we want anything we can’t get down here in the valley, Edward will send most of what we need through a pair of teleworkers stones that transport goods between the connected two. It’s not often that we need to use it, but it’s there for when it is needed.
We are quite happy with what we have. It’s peaceful, quiet, and most importantly, safe.
A simple way of life.
