Golden Meadows Part 2
2820 Words
Sean’s POV
I think I got three hours of sleep before my alarm went off to tell me to get up. It was a long night that led to nothing in the creepiest ass woods I have ever been in. It didn’t help that Felix kept talking about skinwalkers in the woods running around. The trackers kept making me jump at everything until I growled at them all. Come to find out the skinwalkers they were talking about were us. The Native Americans call werewolves skinwalkers.
I went down to the dining hall for breakfast and met everyone there. The pups were running around talking like all pups do. When breakfast came out Cali hissed at them and they all sat down. I would have to if I were them. She was scary and she didn't even hiss at me.
Once breakfast was over I went out to the training field with Felix, Ivan and their sons Miguel and Oscar. They had the boys wrestle for about ten minutes before they did some basic defense training with them. The boys were the same age as Wyatt and Eli back at Dark Hollers. I had a feeling that it was smart to start training this young.
When the boys were done with their lesson, Naja came to get them. While we were on the field getting ready to train, the three of us talked about last night and I requested that I take a guard shift tonight to see if I could encounter the rogue. Ivan reluctantly said yes and I assured him that I would be alright.
We took a spot on the field and I trained with Felix first. He and Ivan were about a foot shorter than me so I made sure to keep my center of gravity low so they wouldn’t be able to knock me over too easily. Once I had beaten Felix twice, Ivan decided it was his turn to train with me. We sparred and I wasn’t able to overpower him but I matched him really well. We shifted and let our wolves out. His wolf, Bolt, was strong like BJ and Cameron’s wolves. Once we were done we shifted back and sat down to rest.
“You’re wolf is stronger than I anticipated,” I told him.
“Bolt draws some of his strength from Phobos but he’s always been strong,” Ivan tells me.
“So you have a Lycan too?” I asked.
“Yes.”
“Phobos was the name of the Greek God of fear,” I said.
“Yes, he was. When your sister released him from his cage he told her that he was the Lycan of fear,” Ivan told me.
“That’s kinda creepy and cool.”
I spent the rest of my day talking with members and napping so I could join the guards tonight. I found a Beta in the pack here but he was strange and very annoying. He wasn’t the Beta for me and that was ok. I’m positive I would run into more along the way.
After I had dinner in the packhouse, I went out to the Northern border of the territory to assist the guards. I had no clue if the rogue would be back tonight or even come back while I was still here. I just had this feeling I needed to try and help them while I was here.
I started my patrol in the darkness of the woods. Felix had explained to me how the guard shifts work and how they patrol the area. It was pretty simple and easy to catch onto. After a few hours, I could hear the town and packhouse settle down for the night. Everyone in the pack was getting ready to go to bed or was already in bed.
I patrolled in the silence and listened for movement. I sniffed for the scent I had found last night and kept moving when I found nothing. I wonder how long tonight would drag on for.
When the waxing moon was high above me in the sky, I heard paws running along the border just outside the territory line. I had a feeling it was the rogue and stood still to listen and turned towards the sound of the paws. I caught sight of a light gray Beta wolf running along the border until he saw me.
He turned away from the pack territory and started to run deeper into the woods away from me. I shifted to let Charlie out. He turned his head to the sky to howl as loudly as he could since we couldn’t mind-link any of the pack members here. He took off after running after the rogue; the rogue just kept gaining speed. It was insane how fast this wolf was.
I ran for about a mile before giving up. I made a mental note of where this wolf was running. I would need to share that with Ivan and Felix. I turned and headed back to the border where I was patrolling. When I got back, Ivan and Felix were standing there waiting for me. I shifted and pulled my shorts back on.
“I saw him and he was headed up North. Fucker’s fast. Like Sonic the Hedgehog fast, I’m gonna need boosters on Charlie just to catch him,” I told them.
They both laughed at me before Ivan said, “we’re glad you’re ok and could give us great information. We have a warrior coming to take your patrol so you can show us how far you saw him go.”
Soon the warrior came out and I went back to the packhouse with Ivan and Felix. We went into Ivan’s office and he had a map laid out on his desk. I showed him where I stopped running and where I saw the rogue headed. I don’t know if the information helped much but it was something.
~
The next night, I went out to patrol again. I wasn’t sure if the rogue would come back or not and if he did, I was sure he wouldn’t be in the same place. I mean it would be smart to stay away from pack territory for a little while and to try to enter at a different point if that’s what he was after. Ivan let me know that the whole Northern part of the territory was an entry point for this rogue. He had attacked every guard position to the North.
It was already dark and I was at the new patrol area already looking after the space. Hours went by and the pack was quiet with everyone in bed. I kept walking the guard position, listening and sniffing the air for any signs of the rogue.
It was well past midnight when I heard movement in the woods outside the territory. I crouched to the ground to listen to what it was and sniffed the air. It was only a raccoon so I stood back up and kept watching out for the rogue.
It was early morning, about three am, when I heard movement again. I stopped walking and crouched to the ground once again. It was a large animal running through the trees this time. I closed my eyes and listened closely while taking in the air. It was the rogue coming back again. I quickly shed my shorts and shifted to let Charlie out.
As the rogue came barreling towards us, Charlie started to run towards him. He was quick to attack the rogue and take him to the ground. The rogue was weak and seemed desperate at the moment. He laid there on the ground in submission so I let out a howl to the Golden Meadows pack members to let them know I had the rogue.
The rogue stayed on the ground a few feet from Charlie as he towered over him. Moments later a handful of guards came running up in human form. I transformed back and pulled on my shorts. A few minutes later a warrior showed up with an extra pair of shorts and threw them at the rogue.
“Shift and put the shorts on,” I commanded.
He did as I had told him. I looked him over in human form and he was very thin. Too thin. He was after entry into the pack to eat food I’m sure. I honestly felt bad for this guy but he wasn’t my problem. I had helped capture him and now Ivan would have to deal with him.
It wasn’t long and Ivan was walking up with Felix right on his heels. He looked at the man in front of me and I could tell he was perplexed on what to do about him.
“Take him to the cells. Give him a shirt, food and water,” he ordered.
“Yes Alpha,” the guards said.
The guards escorted the rogue away with Felix and I joined Ivan as we watched them walk away.
“What do you plan to do with him?” I asked.
“I’m not entirely sure. I want to question him and see why he killed my men. I’ll make a decision based on what I learn,” he told me.
I nodded my head and we went back to the packhouse for the night. He asked me to be at the interrogation after breakfast in the morning. I was invested in this and I wanted to see just how fair of an Alpha, Ivan is. Would his caring nature be his downfall though?
~
Morning came way too soon and I was exhausted. After a breakfast of eggs, toast and beans, I followed Ivan and Felix down to the basement where they had jail cells and an interrogation room. We walked up to the cell that the rogue is sitting in and stood there looking in at him.
“What’s your name?” Ivan askes.
“Ray,” he answers simply.
“Alright, Ray. Why are you a rogue?” Ivan asked.
“Because I want to be,” he said without a care in the world.
Part of me didn’t think that his answer was a good idea at the moment and Ivan confirmed my thoughts. He motioned for the guards to come to him and stepped aside, letting the guards get to the cell door. I stepped out of the way along with Felix. I watched as the guards unlocked and opened the door. The rogue, Ray, looked at them in panic as they stepped in and grabbed him. They hauled him into the interrogation room and chained him to a table that was bolted to the floor. The guards then left the room and stood right outside. Ivan and Felix stepped into the room and I followed to stand close by to watch.
“I’ll ask you again, why are you a rogue?” Ivan asked.
“I didn’t want to be a part of the Silver Moon pack anymore. I just didn’t agree with the Alpha there,” Ray said.
“When was this?” Ivan asked.
“About four years ago,” he said.
“So you didn’t agree with Alpha Dave. Over what?” Ivan pressed.
“Overall males in the pack needing to be warriors. I didn’t want that.”
“Let me guess, you didn’t talk to him about it and ran off,” Ivan commented.
“I did express my need to do something else with my life other than being a warrior,” Ray told him.
“Alright what was that?” Ivan asked.
“I wanted to be a nurse in the pack hospital. He said that was for women.”
Ivan let out an irritated sigh. I knew that there were viewpoints that certain jobs were for certain people in the packs. This was a good example of that and it was closed-minded to think that way. I would make sure my pack wasn’t like that.
“Why were you killing my men?” Ivan finally asked.
“I’m sorry about that. I was starving and wanted food,” he said as his stomach growled again.
“You could have asked to join a different pack instead of running off to become a rogue, you know that right?” Ivan asked.
“Alpha Dave would have never allowed that,” Ray told us.
“Well, things have changed over the past four years and Samuel took control of the pack this past year. We can now transfer members to different packs of their choosing,” Ivan informed him.
“That does me no good now,” Ray told Ivan.
He was right, it didn't. What would Ivan do with this guy? I mean he didn’t have evil intentions but he went about things all wrong. This was a complicated situation to make the proper sentencing for justice here. Personally, I wouldn't kill him but he had to be punished in some way. Ivan and Felix were both standing there as quietly as I was. I’m sure they were thinking of what they needed to do with him. I would be lost at the moment and would be calling others for help with this.
“What are you going to do with me,” Ray asked with his eyes downcast.
“I’m going to keep you as our prisoner. You will work for your meals under the supervision of guards and will live here in the cells until I deem fit to do otherwise,” Ivan said.
I liked his judgment and sentencing. I would need to keep in contact with Ivan because he was a fair Alpha. I wanted to be like that. I wanted to be fair and just to my people. I just hope I get that chance.
We left the interrogation room and Ivan motioned for the guards to take Ray back to his cell, then he ordered to have more food and water brought to him. I think he felt bad for Ray just like I did. I wonder what Luna Cali would have done with Ray if she were in charge.
I stayed with the Golden Meadows pack for a total of five days. I didn’t find a Beta that I liked or trusted here. I learned a lot and found respect for the people I had come to know here. This pack I would say is the calmest and most caring place I have ever been to.
I learned a lot about the culture of the area and the pack kept that close to them. They were mostly Hispanic and Native Americans that spoke English and Spanish with a little Navajo mixed in there. The most intriguing thing that they do is their coming of age ceremony. Ivan sent me the information about the ceremony and I thought it was special. I might have to do something like this with my own pack.
I loaded my car up with my things after breakfast and said goodbye to the Alpha family, Beta family and the pack members that came to see me off. They made sure I felt at home here and I liked that.
I got in my car and left the territory to move on to the next. I followed my GPS as I drove into Colorado and texted Alpha Jack that I was on my way to him. I also called Meredith while I was driving and talked to her on speakerphone. I told her about the culture at Golden Meadows and what adventure I had been on. She was happy that I was able to help and that I was safe. She also reminded me that her mom came from Golden Meadows. It makes sense now why they remind me of her. After talking with Meredith, I took this time to text Jamie and see what info she could give me about Jack.
“I’m headed to Harvest Moon. What do I need to know about Jack, Stella and their pack?”
“Jack is smart and they call him the king of spies. You should remember Stella.”
“I do. How have they been doing?”
“Right now they are hunting down Jack’s ex-girlfriend, Adria, and her witch friend. Adria hexed Stella about a year ago. They lost their Alpha pup because of the hex and are seeking justice and a way to break the hex.”
“That’s awful. I’m going to see if I can help them while I’m there.”
“That would be great. Let me know how it goes.”
“I will.”
I felt bad for them and I wanted to help if I could. I had this feeling that this was going to be a part of my adventure I would always remember.
- Writer
