The words hung in the air, and I felt a wave of astonishment wash over me. Elder Elara's eyes widened with a mixture of surprise and disbelief. It was a revelation that seemed to transcend time itself.Alda continued, her voice gentle and filled with sincerity. "We lost touch with you when you were just a child, Layla. Your parents faced difficult circumstances, and we were separated. We've spent years searching for you, and it was only recently that we learned you were here."My hands trembled slightly as I absorbed the enormity of the revelation. Tears welled up in my eyes as I extended my arms toward them. "Alda, Eamon, I never thought I had any living relatives.”With joyful tears, we embraced, a reunion decades in the making. It was a poignant reminder that even in the midst of our individual journeys and the complexities of life, family bonds could endure.As Elder Elara watched us, a sense of warmth and unity washed over me. The Black Creek pack had become my new family, and wi
The journey had taken a lot from me, mentally and even physically, but I had finally managed to make it back to the Safe Water pack. Home. That is, if the outcasts were still there. Usually, I would be excited to finally get back to seeing my pack members and family, but something about the air was wrong. As I moved my feet closer to the pack boundaries, the familiar scent of my pack members and the land hit me at once - pine mixed in with solid oak - yet something was wrong. On a normal day, the entire pack was filled with sounds of life, children singing, a folksong being carried all about, something. Instead today, there was a silence that was uncharacteristic of the Safe Water pack, talk even less of the outcasts.My legs went one in front of the other in an all too familiar pattern, and I realized that the farther I went, the more that had changed. Usually, even in the night time, members of the pack were out and about, going about their business, and the laughter of the kids o
P.S; Dear readers, please leave a comment in the comments section and your vote rating matters too. Thank you.*****In front of me was illness like I had never witnessed before. In pools of their own vomit, little children lay face down, forgotten meals perched with flies. There were mini fire piles with ashes that looked like clothing remnants, and I assumed that those had come from the pile of clothes that sat beside the fire, waiting to be burnt. I looked around for the shelter that was supposed to keep these people safe from the elements, and in place of anything solid, all I saw was the makeshift overhead raffia roofs. “Is this how they live?” I asked Erin, my disapproval heavy on my face. “This can’t be comfortable for them, or anyone. Why haven’t provisions for homes been made for them?”“We cannot afford to,” came Erin’s solemn response, her serious face convincing me that was the truth. “The only men able bodied enough to build are the warriors of the pack, and if they fal
Her words hit their mark, and I coughed to hide my shock, running after her. “Wait up! You can’t just say something like that and walk away. I don’t think you get it. None of you get it.”Pulling her hand out of my vice-like grip, she turned around. “Don’t I? Really? Do you remember where you found us, Layla? In the bush, abandoned by our family. We had never known what it meant to be in a pack before we met you, Layla,” she laughed sardonically, running a hand though her hair. “I had a pack that ostracized me, Erin. You cannot lose what you never had, but I got to grow up wondering and asking myself if it was something about me that was so wrong, it made me unworthy of love. I spent hours of my time crying at night only to wake up to slave in a man’s home so I could have shelter. When I walked past people, the hid their children, and even on occasion, they threw stones at me. Forgive me if I wanted to find a place where that wasn’t the case. If you found out that the man you love h
Walking into the living room, Erin was shocked to see that I was already awake and going at it. “Layla? Is everything okay? Did you sleep at all?” she asked, and with a wave, I brushed it off, calling her attention elsewhere. “None of that matters. I think I've come up with a plan to help us solve this problem. Come, take a seat,” I urged, tapping at the seat beside me. Curious, she took a seat and raised a brow at me in concern. “Hey, this is pretty early. You can take a quick nap and I'll just-”“No, this is urgent. We have to talk about this now.” With a sigh, she nodded, and I filled her in on the details of the plans I had made in the frenzy of the night, letting her know that I would be sending she and Remy to the packs whose help we needed. “In a few days, they can find their way here after gathering the people they select to make the journey. You can come right back. It's perfect, if you ask me. What do you think? Are you okay with that?”She nodded, and I sighed in relief
In a few hours, the worst of the cleaning was over. The pack members had taken to wearing nylon bags on their hands so they could go over to the sites and pick up all of the ok clothing that could no longer be worn, and on the other end, a makeshift shower had been created, away from other water sources, so they could have their baths. The pack house was already clean from top to bottom, but I went around to all of the rooms and made sure that they were all clean, packing away all of the valuables into one of the other cabins belonging to the pack. Satisfied, I had instructed the move of the sick people to begin, going into the kitchen to check in the broth that was being prepared for the sick. The sight of carrots and floating bits of meat was enough to warm me up, and I thought about what it would do for the rest. “Well done guys!” I called, smiling at them.In return, I got a host of smiles, which satisfied me. “Thank you,” they chorused, beginning to dish the food into bowls. B
By that evening, multiple bodies of different animals had been brought around from all sides of the pack, and I had marvelled at the number of animal bodies that had been found. They had even gone further and traced all the water sources in the area asides from our own to a singular source, and now the plan was to go ahead to treat it the next day. Lunch and dinner hand gone over well, and although it was probably blind hope from my ends, it looked to to me like everyone who had been ill looked a little better. I had gone around finally to visit Eric, Kimora, Margot, and Lee. The latter had still not opened up his eyes, but the rest had peeled their eyes open and had been told about what it was like to find out that my parents were rogues and I had a family that came from a pack of warriors. They could barely speak, except for Margot who had said, “cool.” which had been a sign to me that I had been forgiven. At the end of the day, I climbed up to Brad's room, unafraid of cross con
Three days into our new routine, dawn brought us the return of Erin and Remy, the joy on their features was a stark contrast to the mood in the pack, but with them they brought good news that lit up my eyes.“Erin, Remy! Oh, thank the gods that you are home and safe. I was so worried about you, I kept saying prayers to the moon goddess to keep you safe.” “Hey Layla,” Remy giggled, “thank you. We were definitely safe, and I'm sure it was your prayers that kept us going. We came with help. Alpha Dan and a few others insisted on coming to help, once we let them know who we were.”With that, the throng of people behind them stepped away, and I saw the face of Alpha Dan, and a few other Alphas the outcasts had an ally ship with. Fat tears rolled down my cheeks with gratitude, and I looked between them and Remy, arms flailing. “I can't even begin to thank you enough. I can try, but my words will fail me. Thank you so much, oh gods, I'm going to start crying,” I wept, putting a hand to my