Hello all!
I’ve been working on Mark of the Void and Ginger’s book so much, I’ve been missing Kootenai. It’ll be a while before we get out of Easterville so here’s a bit of a taste of what happens after Fallen Lorde.
This takes place almost Eighteen years after the Fall of the House of Lorde (fifteen years after the end of Fallen Lorde)
“Kendrick! Kendrick! Come quick!” I shouted. No, I screamed. The bowl of popcorn dropped from my hands, popped kernels spread all over the wooden floor.
I survived over a hundred rank challenges, birthing twins, and every challenge my job as Kootenai Pack Beta threw at me.
But this was too much.
It was too soon.
They were too young for this.
“Willow!” Kendrick came bounding out of his office to the game room and he skidded to a halt, “Is that? Are those?”
I nodded, unable to rip my eyes from where my teenagers had been arguing only a minute ago. It was just a normal family movie night. The kids were yelling once again about movie choice while I made popcorn and Kendrick finished up his Alpha duties for the day.
I was only in the kitchen for a minute, but when I returned, my twin teen terrors were gone. Replaced by two wolves. The tiny black one chewed on my brand new sofa, while the fluffy white one turned its attention to the popcorn all over the floor.
I guess if there had to be a perk to my children getting their wolves early, I’d take popcorn clean up.
“But it’s too soon,” Kendrick said, easing his way behind me, “They’re barely fourteen.”
“You shifted at thirteen,” I reminded him.
He winced, “I was also in the midst of major trauma,” over the years, Kendrick made amazing strides in therapy. He was very open with Danny and Ava about his relationship with his parents and his history with the leaders of the Rogue Shifter Coalition. Overtime, the whole pack knew about the treatment we’d all faced at the hands of the deceased Alpha Biel.
I rubbed Kendrick’s arm, “I guess having to watch the remake of the Mighty Ducks for the tenth time this year would have been pretty traumatic for Ava.”
“You’re hilarious.”
Kendrick looked back at our pups- whelps. My babies were whelps now. I was officially old. Soon they’d be leaving for out of pack education and finding their mates and having pups of their own.
“Who do you think their mates are?” I asked, “Should we let the twin terrors loose on the town and find out?”
Kendrick growled, “They’re too young.”
I threw my head back and laughed, “I’m not saying I want to be a grandma or anything, I’m just curious if it’s anyone in the pack.”
“I just don’t want them to feel pressured one way or the other.”
I agreed. We’d grown as partners raising our pups and growing our pack. But the rejections of our Moon Blessed Mates still lingered. Our howls turned to whimpers over the years eventually disappearing altogether, but the pain never truly went away.
I loved Kendrick with all my heart, my wolf did too. We found each other and created the life we always wanted. In doing so, we shaped the pack in our image. Moon Blessings stopped being an excuse for unhealthy behavior. My pups would never know the pain I felt with Jackson. They’d never suffer the absence Kendrick felt when Aster left.
The two adolescent wolves stopped chewing on their respective distractions and started chewing on each other.
“At least they’ll always have a sparring partner.”
“Ava’s going to kick Danny’s ass,” Kendrick said, watching the two wolves roll around on the rug.
“How do you know which one’s which?” I asked. The pups hadn’t stopped moving long enough to figure out who was who.
Kendrick shrugged, “Your daughter has hunter written all over her. Danny’s a lover, not a fighter. Besides, if he’s too mean to Ava, little Millie Nelson would never forgive him.”
At the sound of Millie Nelson’s name, the white wolf lifted his head. After a second, he bolted from the game room. The black wolf which must be Ava, took off in the other direction. No doubt to cut her brother off before he ran to her best friend’s house.
“You’re on Danny duty,” I yelled, following my daughter down the hallway.
“Stay safe, I love you!” Kendrick yelled on his way out of the room.
“I love you too!”
