lost and found

The hunt is on

This night felt much cooler than the past few nights but the stars seemed to shine brighter in the sky. Juniper was thankful that she had the warm gray blanket wrapped around her shoulders and the map that Elenora had gifted to her. Her cloth bag, full of food and drinks, map in hand, feeling warm and full of hope for her future, Juniper had a bounce in her step as she made her way toward the town on Elenora's map. The map that Elenora had drawn for her was perfect, showing how long the little old woman had lived in this area. Juniper found each tree and flower on the map along the way. She told herself that, someday when she came back to visit Elenora and Duke, she would pick one of each type of flower to bring to her as a thank you.

Somewhere around 3 hours after Juniper left the cottage, she had made her way close enough to the town to see the glow of its lights from a short distance. The hour was late, and the town, although large, seemed to be asleep for the night. With nowhere to go and no money to even rent a hotel room. Juniper found herself a place under a tree to sit and rest until morning. She knew that the morning was still a ways away, so she opened her bag and treated herself to some of the snacks that Elenora had packed for her. Inside the container, along with some dried berries, nuts, homemade crackers, and another slice of blueberry pie wrapped up in the same type of plastic as that morning, Juniper found a thick folded-up envelope inside of a small plastic bag.

Taking the envelope out of the plastic bag and unfolding it, written in Elenora's delicate handwriting, were the words "Good luck." Upon opening the envelope, Juniper found a note along with three thousand dollars. The note read...

Dear sweet Juniper,

I know that life for you hasn't been an easy road. And though you shared only a fraction of your story, to spare my poor old heart, I could see in your eyes how broken your past had left you. Though we have only just met, I am proud that you found the courage to escape your past. Even with what little you had! I have had this bit of money lying around for a long time, an old woman like me has no use for it. And so I am hoping that it will give you at least a place to rest your head for a few nights and some food in your belly, while you find your way. I look forward to the day that we meet again.

Your friend, Elenora

Juniper smiled brightly, holding her hand over her heart as tears formed in her eyes. Never, for as long as she could remember, has anyone been so kind to her. Never had anyone done anything to help her. For the first time ever, Juniper knew what it meant to have a friend. To have someone who cared about her. She took a deep shaky breath to calm her emotions. Juniper wrapped the money inside of Elenora's sweet letter, slid it back into the envelope, and put the envelope back into the plastic bag, before tucking it into the bottom of her cloth bag.

Juniper enjoyed some of the treats from the container, as well as the orange she took from the packhouse, and drank a bottle of water. She decided to wait until morning to make her way into town, feeling it would seem less suspicious than turning up in the middle of the night. Even though she was far from the Dark Moon territory now, she still didn't want to draw any unnecessary attention to herself. Once she felt satisfied from eating, she tucked everything back into her bag. Cradling the bag tightly in her arms under the gray blanket, she snuggled herself against the bottom of the tree. As she sat there drifting off, her last thought before she fell asleep was, when did Elenora even have time to write this letter?!

"I don't care what it takes, I don't care if we use up every last dime this whole pack has! I want that b***h found! We didn't waste 16 years on a chance to give the Alpha an heir for no reason! I can not understand how a pack full of wolves could lose one young girl! Pathetic! All of you!" Luna Holly sputtered out at her pack members. "If she is not back in the packhouse jail by the end of the week, there will be hell to pay! All of you will suffer! However, the wolf who finds her and brings her back to us will be rewarded accordingly! I suggest you don't waste any more time! Get out of my sight!" She yelled across the field of wolves, gathered by the command of Alpha Freddrick.

Since Juniper had gone missing, the female omegas of the pack were now made to keep up with all of the chores that Juniper had left behind. A lot of the pack members were angered by this. As it was their daughters or mates who now had to pick up the slack. They were very upset about the poor treatment their young ladies were now suffering. Constantly being blamed and yelled at for reasons not their fault. Often, the young omegas would go home to their mates or families with bruises on their faces or bodies because of being punished. A few had even been punished so harshly that they ended up in the pack's hospital the morning after spending a night in jail.

One would think that it would make the pack members feel a bit more sympathetic for the young girl who was abused and mistreated for all of these years. Instead, however, when someone follows leaders as cold and selfish as Freddrick and Holly for so many years, they tend to end up becoming just as selfish, just as cold. With Juniper leaving that awful pack behind, and the young omegas suffering instead of her, it gave a lot of wolves even more of a reason, on top of whatever reward Luna Holly was offering, to want to find the girl and bring her back.

Hundreds of wolves, young and old, both male and female, now made their way back to their homes. All going to prepare themselves for a long hunt. Not knowing how far Juniper could be by now, nor having any leads to start their search. Some pack members took the bare minimum, while others loaded their vehicles full of enough supplies to last them a month. Some of the pack members spent one last night home with their families, or to get a good night's rest to start off fresh the next morning. Others left as soon as their bags were packed, not wanting to waste time. The hunt was on to find Juniper now, and with the amount of wolves hunting for her. Poor Juniper's chances of being found had now grown a lot higher!