Chapter Ten
The week went by really fast. My art professor was adamant that I concentrate on drawing people. She liked my river drawing of Clint and Jason fishing, but wanted more images. I spent my free time on campus, drawing students hanging out in groups or quietly studying. By the end of the week, I had a good variety and collection to hand in.
Of course, there were others that I couldn’t help but draw but didn’t let those see the light of day. One was of Brody holding Cade back, both in human form, as another wolf was going for the killing blow on a fox. While I didn’t know the wolf or fox, I was positive both were shifters. And Cade’s face was a mixture of fury and helplessness, so I knew it was real. Brody was looking away in pain and disgust, not watching the last moments of the fox’s life. I didn’t sleep that night after drawing that. Somewhere out there, there was a family grieving the loss of a family member or friend. What did the fox even do? The whole scene was in the middle of the woods, with only the four of them that I could see. I shuddered, knowing that even if there was a reason, was it the truth? Was it worth the shifter’s life?
The next night, Cade called out of the blue. I was ecstatic to get a call so soon from him, but from his voice, I could tell he wasn’t himself right away.
“Kendra.” Cade greeted me with a soft sigh. “How are you?”
“Okay. Better now that I’m talking to you.” I tried to tease but got no response from him. I tried another avenue. “How have you been?”
“I’ve been better.” He sighed again. “How are classes?”
“Going well. I’m learning different mediums, it’s challenging-”
“That’s good.” He cut me off, distracted. I frowned.
“Cade, are you really all right?” I asked hesitantly.
“Of course. Training is everything I imagined it would be.” I couldn’t tell if that was sarcastic or not. A few beats of silence followed, and I didn’t know what to say.
“Have you talked to your family?”
“Not lately.” He answered, not saying anything else.
“How’s Brody?”I tried again.
“Better than the last time we talked. Here, I’ll let him talk to you.” Cade passed me off without another word.
“Hey Kendra, how’s things?” Brody tried to sound chipper.
“Brody, something’s wrong with Cade.” I whispered, knowing Cade could probably still hear me. “He’s not acting like himself.”
“It’s been a little crazy around here, is all.” Brody offered. “We don’t have a lot of time to ourselves like we did at home.”
“Yeah I know, but,” I protested, but Brody cut me off.
“Kendra, there’s nothing you can do. Just focus on your classes and finishing out this semester.”
“The end of the semester seems like a long way off.” I commented dryly.
“It will be here before you know it. We take it one day at a time.” He seemed like he was talking about their situation more than mine.
“Brody, how is training?Really?”I asked.
“Best time of my life.” Brody replied lightly. I frowned. “Look we have to go. It was good talking to you. Talk to you later, Kendra.” And with that, he hung up on me. I stared down at my phone, frowning. What was happening to Cade and Brody at training? Worried, I found Elder Nicolas’s number and called him. It took a few rings before he picked up.
“Kendra, my dear. What a surprise. How can I help you?”
“Cade and Brody are not acting like themselves.” I jumped right in. “I’m worried about them. Do you know what they are doing at training? Why are they acting so aloof?”
“I see.” Elder Nicolas sighed and sounded like he switched his phone to the other ear. “Kendra, their training is highly secretive, and the details are only known to a few.”
“But you know, don’t you? You know everything.” I said eagerly.
“As flattering as your belief in me is, I know very little regarding the day-to-day activities of the training.”
“But Enforcer Carver-” I protested.
“My grandson is busy with his own unit and cannot delve into the training of others.” He stated. “However, I know recent events have rocked the entire program.” He paused before asking, “When did you last talk to your young wolf?”
“Right before I called you. He’s not acting like himself, Nicolas. I’m worried.” I bit my lip and, out of habit, pulled my necklace out and started running the pendants along the chain.
“Kendra, there are some paths that must be traveled alone. Cade’s journey will be long, and he will be changed by the end, there is no doubt.” Nicolas sounded like it was an inevitable journey. Something that no one could do anything about. But if it was emotionally damaging to those going through the training, wouldn’t someone step up?
“But,” I tried, but Nicolas cut me off.
“We all change, my dear, the important point is how those experiences shape you. Each of us have to decide if those experience will change us for the better, or worse.”
“I’m afraid for him.” I admitted softly.
“I have no doubt.” Elder Nicolas said quietly. “Cade is a strong wolf, he will come out of this for the better, I’ve no doubt.” He said confidently.
“And Brody? He’s going through the same thing.”
“Cade will ensure Brody is right beside him, through everything. Those two will both have an unbreakable bond when their training is all said and done.”
“I just,” I sighed. “I don’t like this. It’s not right they have to be gone for so long. The trainings sound awful, and I’m worried about what I’m,” I almost said drawing, but quickly changed it to, “imagining.”
“I see.” Nicolas replied. “These imaginings, are they particularly vivid?”
“Yes.” Knowing Nicolas would understand what I was getting at.
“I suppose things are escalating then.” He paused considering something. “I know you are worried about him, Kendra, but you really need to focus on you,” I went to protest, but he added, “for now. Focus on you, and Cade can take care of himself and Brody for the time being. They aren’t in any physical danger.” I caught how he didn’t say anything about emotional danger.
“I know there’s nothing I can do for him. I just feel so helpless.” My eyes started to water in my frustration. I wiped a stray tear away, mad that there was nothing I could do.
“Look after yourself and keep things happy when he does call. Knowing that you are taking care of yourself and well, will take some pressure off his shoulders.”
“Why would he worry about me? I’ve always said I’m fine and don’t include details because I know how much he’s going through.”
“If I’m not mistaken, and I rarely am, I believe both you and Cade have a deeper connection than you know. Time will tell.” He replied cryptically.
“You mean?” I questioned but couldn’t say the words. Did he mean what I thought he meant? That Cade and I could really be lifemates?
“You’ll figure it out, my dear,” he paused before adding, “Oh I need to go. I’m meeting my grandson for supper. You take care, Kendra.”
“Thanks. You too.” I ended the call, knowing that he wouldn’t tell me any more than he was willing. So, I needed to focus on me, let Cade and Brody experience hell because there was nothing I could do about it, and I was supposed to be content with that? One thing was for sure, if this prophecy ever did come true, and things changed? One of the first things to go would be that stupid Enforcer Training. No one should be subjected to them, especially if what I drew the other night was exactly the kinds of things each trainee was put through. There had to be a better way.
With my mind in turmoil, I pulled out my sketch pad to let my mind wander. The image forming was a familiar one. A house that I had drawn numerous times throughout the years, not understanding why I kept drawing it or if it held some significance. In the past, it was always a house nestled in the woods with a warm glow around it. The house always seemed welcoming and I felt a sense of peace every time I drew the picture. This time, however, there was a slight difference. In place of the barren porch, a human figure took form. With a few more details, the shape was female, but the facial features were hard to make out in the shadow of the porch. I felt like it was important to know who the female was, but without more details, I had no hope of identifying her. Giving up after a while when no other details became apparent, I put the sketch pad to the side and called to Amber. If nothing else, I might as well keep up the shifting exercises and see if I could make more progress before meeting with Luke that weekend.
The wind was blowing from the trees, towards the house. It was a welcome breeze since it was warmer than normal that day. Amber had me try to force my wolf into my hand like before, but we didn’t have any luck with that. Amber and I had been working in the backyard for about an hour when Clint came stalking out of the backdoor with murder in his eyes. I quickly stood up with Amber, bracing for whatever he was about to throw out.
“Did you see or hear anyone hanging around the house?” He asked briskly, looking between me and Amber. Both Amber and I had been the only people home for a while, Clint was at work, but must have just finished his shift.
“Uh, no.” Amber said as we both shook our head. “What’s wrong?”
“A wolf marked the front steps.” Clint growled. I was confused at first, but then my eyes widened in understanding.
“Marked, you mean…” I trailed off, thinking…eww. Wolves really did that?
“Yeah. Pissed on the front steps.” Clint growled, his words barely audible. “What the hell…” he muttered, clearly mad himself.
“He must have kept upwind, I never scented him,” Amber frowned.
“Any idea who it was? Or why?” I asked.
“The wolf walked around the front of the house, leaving his scent all over the place. He must have just done it, otherwise someone would have seen a wolf wandering around in the light.” He glanced at me before adding, “It smelled like that wolf who left flowers for you at your house that night we first talked to you.”
“Dusty?” My eyebrows shot up into my hairline. He had been here? Why?
“Yeah.” Clint took a deep breath to calm himself. “I don’t like this.”
“Would he have scented me? Among all of you?” I asked worried. If Dusty knew where I lived, did that mean the High Council was following me? Or was Dusty just being his creepy self?
“Yeah, you’ve been here long enough the scents would have mingled enough. He’d know you’re living with other shifters.”
“Well, shit.” I said, defeated. “Why would he mark the steps?”
“Sending a message, I guess,” Amber responded, looking disgusted.
“Clearly I’m not up on shifter lingo.” I muttered. “What does peeing on steps mean?”
“It’s part of territory marking.” Amber explained. “Even though this is clearly neutral territory that has been left that way for decades, apparently this Dusty wanted to make a point.”
“That point being?” I asked. I couldn’t see how him making himself known would help him any. If I ever got my hands on Dusty, I would wring his stupid neck. I knew he was humiliated when we were summoned to the High Council. But that wasn’t my fault. And he should be off at training, not snooping around my house.
“Maybe he wanted you to know he knows where you are. He left you flowers last spring, maybe he wants you.” Amber shrugged. “Could be anything, but him knowing you live with us could have consequences.”
“Would he go public with that knowledge?” Clint asked sharply, as he stopped pacing to wait for my answer. I thought about it before replying. Dusty and his pack were disgraced last spring at the High Council meeting when they brought up false charges about me seeing and knowing about wolves. Well, they were true charges, but they thought I was human and having a human with knowledge of the shifter world was a huge no-no. But since I was unwittingly a latent wolf, their pack was disgraced for falsely reporting. I couldn’t imagine Dusty wanting to go through that again.
“I don’t think he will,” I said slowly, shaking my head. “The last time didn’t go so well for them.” I explained the past history, and both nodded.
“Yeah, that would make anyone hesitate.” Amber agreed.
“So, what do we do?” I asked, looking between Amber and Clint. “Dusty knowing is bad, but I can’t see him moving on the information. Him marking the steps was just a warning maybe?”
“I guess for now, we carry on.” Clint sighed. “We’re banking on the fact that the news won’t travel to the wrong ears. Even if it did, it would take some time for the High Council to dream up a charge to hold us all. We technically aren’t breaking any laws by rooming together, especially in neutral territory.”
“A little unorthodox, but not illegal.” Amber agreed.
“Okay. But what if he comes back?” I asked. The thought creeped me out that Dusty could come back at any time now that he knew where I lived.
“If he comes back,” Clint growled, a little of his panther peeking through, “then we will be sure to roll out the welcome mat.” He nodded to us and went back inside.
“Should we tell the other guys?” I asked Amber as we followed Clint shortly after into the house.
“Oh, don’t worry about that.” Amber waved off my question. “Clint will have already raised the cavalry.”
I was skeptical but within the hour, Patrik had dropped by with an overnight bag and bunked in the basement, and Jason pulled the next night’s shift. I was surprised, but secretly grateful for their concern. I wasn’t sure when I first moved in, but they had slowly evolved into my second family, and I was glad to have them close in these circumstances. Not that I was scared of Dusty. He was a little shit and annoying. But I didn’t want him to cause trouble for any of my new friends.
Cassie texted me during the week too, and one particular conversation stuck out to me. Our pack was invited to a gala at the end of next weekend where high-profile packs would mingle and the High Council would be present.
I was so not interested in hobnobbing with the wolf elite at some gala function. Cassie said the bright side of it all was that Cade and Brody planned to be there as well. So at least we would get to see them. I just had to survive another week with no mishaps to make that happen.