Just a bit of a heads-up: There's a bit of a fighty element to come later in the chapter. But, don't worry! I've balanced it out with something pretty cute at the end of the chapter. Read on to find out what it is and enjoy. =)
The next couple of days seemed to pass pretty calmly at the pack house. Aside from the hanging air of slight tension that seemed to surround mostly everyone, life seemed to go about as normal as it did for the wolves, humans, and their witchy guest. As it would turn out, Kaitlyn had learned more about the supernatural world that existed around her than most other people would ever hope or even care to know; in fact, to some of the others, her knowledge of the supernatural came pretty close to Alex's. While this was definitely a happy accomplishment for Kaitlyn, Alex, Seth, and Cody, there was just something that seemed to sully this….
…And that something was Eva's presence in the pack house. While Trish and Ashley did their doctoral duties to make sure that the redhead was in the best shape she could be in for when she left, there was still just so much about the witch that mostly everyone wanted know. Just who exactly is this witch? Where did she come from? Why was she even in the woods near their property in the first place? Who bit her? And, more to the point, could they trust her to be there? These seemed to be the prevailing thoughts and concerns from mostly everyone as they kept an eye on Eva to make sure that she wouldn't try to do anything that would possibly bring any kind of harm to them. After all, even though she was a witch, that didn't necessarily mean that she could be trusted.
Even Eva was facing her own bout of insecurities the longer she remained at the pack house. She knew that she had to do her part and carry out Randy's plan soon, but the problems she kept facing were an aggressive want not to do what her Mate told her to do and mostly everyone in the pack house keeping too observant of a watch over her. 'How the hell does Randy even expect me to take down the wards here if I can't even be left alone long enough to do so? He didn't tell me that everyone here was so watchful over outsiders,' Eva thought as she got redressed in preparation for finally getting to leave the pack house. Today was the day that Trish and Ashley had told her that she could leave the house and go about her way back to her home and her life. Eva had told the two blondes that she could just go back into the city and make her way back from there, which the two women agreed to under the condition that she let Dean and Roman take her back. While Eva didn't exactly think she needed any protection due to her magic, she reluctantly accepted this offer. Eva had just pulled on the shirt that Trish gave her to wear when a voice at the door caught her attention slightly.
"Just so you know, I'm not the least bit happy about me and my brother having to take you back as you are going with us," Dean said, leaning in the doorway. "Rather just let you walk through the woods and test your luck with the demons out there."
Scoffing, Eva said "Please. Like some monster birdies and snakes and other shit like that can do any real damage to me. I'll just torch them all before they can get to me" as she let Dean get a glimpse of her magic by conjuring a small fireball in the palm of her hand before sending it away.
"Goody gumdrops for you then, broom rider," Dean said in an overly sweet voice.
"I told you my name isn't broom rider, mutt," Eva said, saying "mutt" with a bit of bite to her voice.
Hearing Eva call him that had Dean on the verge of wanting to shift in anger and charge at the witch…although, the sandy blonde had a feeling that if he were to try something like that, he'd probably be intercepted by one of the others. Stifling a growl that rumbled in his chest, Dean said "I'll be waiting in the main entryway when you finish getting ready in here" before taking off back the way he came in a huff.
Once Dean was gone, Eva let out a sigh as she went about pulling on the shoes that Trish gave her. She hated having to act like that-even though, in her mind, Dean was the one that started it-but it was all just stuff that came from her defensive side and having to stick up for herself after a large amount of ribbing and teasing that would come her way from Brock, Dave, and some of the other members of Randy's pack. 'And isn't it going to be the most ironic fucking thing if I burn what could've been a bridge to people that could save me from those assholes? Although I can't help but feel that too much damage has been done there for me to be able to build things up with them,' Eva thought after making sure that the shoes were comfortably on her feet. Smoothing her hair down with a no-longer-bandaged hand, Eva let out a breath as she walked out of the infirmary and headed up the same hallway Dean had not too long ago headed up, her thoughts still a jumbled mess as she tried to figure out how she was ever going to do what she needed to get done.
…
Watching from the tree he had taken to hiding near as he watched the pack house, Randy still couldn't believe that Eva had yet to take down the property's wards like she had told him she would.
"The hell's the deal with your woman, Randy?" Dave asked from where he was standing near the other brunette. "I thought she said she'd know how to take down these damn wards."
"Dave's right, Randy," Brock said from where he was leaning against one of the trees that was further back from the boundary of the pack's property. "Here I was thinking we were going to get to terrorize those bitch wolves and the humans with them soon. I don't like to be kept waiting to do things like this."
"Just be patient, you two," Randy said, even though he was wondering the same thing. "Eva just needs time to do these things."
"Well, she's had pretty much two damn days to get it done. I don't know how much more time her ass could possibly need," Brock snapped. Mumbling, Brock said "Of all the witches, Randy had to take her as his Mate…."
"Hey! Don't talk about her like that!" Randy barked, striding over to Brock until he was standing toe-to-toe with the blonde wolf.
"Aww, what's the matter?" Brock asked before smirking and adding, in a mockingly childish voice "Does wittle Randy not wike it when people pick on his Mate?"
It wasn't much of a secret among the pack that Randy had a bit of an…explosive temper, so to hear Brock talk to him like this was enough to set Randy off as he shifted in a fit of blind rage and tackled Brock to the ground as Randy growled and snapped his teeth at the blonde, who seemed to have no trouble at all keeping Randy at bay. The next thing the brunette wolf knew, Brock had powered him off of and away from him as he was sent flying into the trees behind them, his back colliding with the rough bark of one of the towering trees. Rising to his feet as he shook off the impact of colliding with the tree, Randy growled lowly at Brock as Dave rushed to get in between the two before they could charge at each other again.
Holding his hands out, Dave said "Hey hey HEY! Easy now, you two! Save the fighting for later. Don't rip each other to pieces over this shit."
Hearing what Dave said, Randy snorted as he shifted back to his human form and walked away from the two more muscular wolves. Walking back to where he was standing before, Randy continued to silently watch the pack house. 'Come on, Eva. Don't keep us waiting any longer,' Randy thought, a somewhat steely gaze coloring his face.
...
Standing in the entryway with Seth, Alex, Cody, Roman, Dean, and some of the other members of the pack house, Kaitlyn waited with everyone for Eva to finish getting dressed so that they could leave. As she waited, Kaitlyn couldn't believe that the day had finally come that she was going to leave the pack house and return to her life in the city. While she was a bit eager to get back to her friends, Mr. Foley, and Miss Jackie, Kaitlyn actually felt not so ready to go back; this being because she had actually started to enjoy her time with Seth and the others. Even though, at first, she was hesitant to be there after she had gotten her injuries treated, as the days went by, Kaitlyn found herself enjoying her time with the wolves and her fellow humans; she was even looking forward to Naomi's baby shower that was set to happen in a couple of days. But, after that, would that be the end of her contact with Seth, Alex, Cody, and the others? She hoped it wouldn't be because, in addition to actually making her feel normal and safe, she didn't want to say goodbye to the two-toned wolf...largely because-dare she admit it-she was starting to feel something for Seth. 'But, what am I thinking? Seth probably doesn't want to date anyone else after what he told me happened with Leva,' Kaitlyn thought.
Kaitlyn's silent contemplation had been broken when she head Dean say "Finally! Took you long enough" as Eva finally joined the group gathered in the entryway. Once the redhead was with them...and after she had another back-and-forth with Dean...the group of seven was all set to leave. Before she left out the doors with the others, Kaitlyn turned back to the pack and said "Before I go, I just want to say...thank you. To all of you. I honestly didn't know what to expect when I had first got brought here to get my injuries treated; after all, I'm in a house in the middle of woods that are littered with demons and other sorts of monsters. I've learned so much and just getting to meet you all has been so much of a huge help to me. I don't think I'll ever forget my time here for as long as I live. So, again. I just want to say thank you."
"It was no trouble at all, Kaitlyn," Rikishi said from where he was standing as he smiled a warm smile. "Anything we can do to help fellow denizens of our supernatural world, we'll do it to the best of our abilities."
"And you guys were more than enought of a help," Kaitlyn said, smiling. "I've learned so much and I just feel so much more comfortable about knowing just what's out there. And, with what I know now, I feel like I've got a better understanding of the supernatural world."
"It was no trouble at all teaching you that stuff, Kait," Seth said from where he was standing near Alex and Cody. Smiling at the two-toned woman, Seth said "After all, we did have a pretty awesome student to teach."
Blushing a bit, Kaitlyn said "Again. Thanks a lot for all of this."
"It was like Rikishi said. It was no trouble at all for us to do so for you," Seth said, a slight blush of his own starting to come across his face.
Having taken notice of this, mostly everyone around the two-toned pair shared secret smiles and grins at the sight of the two together; this being because everyone in the house taken notice of the fact that the two-toned pair had formed a pretty close bond with each other over the past few days. It also made everyone happy because they felt that this could be taken as a sign that Seth was making baby steps towards finally getting over his grief with Leva's death.
Clearing his throat with his own smile still on his face, Roman said "Come on, guys. Let's head into the city so that we can do what we need to do there and head back."
"Sounds fine with me," Dean said before spinning on his heel and sauntering out the doors.
Filing out the doors, Kaitlyn, Seth, and the others all stepped out of the coolness of the house into the warmth of the afternoon sun. Walking over to the garage structure that housed all of the pack members' cars, Roman and Dean pulled one of the garage doors up as Roman walked inside and headed over to a red 2015 Toyota Camry that was parked right in front of him. Grabbing a set of keys from the key rack that was near the door, Roman opened the driver's door of the car and closed it behind him before starting the car and backing out of the garage. Once the car was out of the garage, Dean walked over to the front passenger's side door and gestured over to the other five before climbing into the car himself. Discreetly rolling her eyes, Eva got in the car on the side behind Roman as she sat down and closed the door behind her. Rolling down the window, Roman asked "Well. Aren't you four getting in?"
Sharing a quick, and surprisingly devious, look with Cody, Seth asked "Actually, Ro. We were thinking that since today is Kait's last day here, how about we make things interesting for taking her back into the city?"
"Interesting, you say?" Dean asked, perking up at the sound of that.
"Yeah. Interesting," Cody added, a bit of a devilish grin starting to come across his face.
"And how exactly were you two planning on making things interesting?" Roman asked, seeing as how both of his brothers and Cody were hyped up about this.
"How about we race back into the city?" Seth suggested. "I'll take Kait, Cody'll take Alex, and you and Dean can just drive Eva into the city."
"Hmm... That actually sounds like fun, when you put it that way," Roman said, a grin of his own starting to color his face. "Let's do it!"
"Oh, hell yeah!" Dean shouted, fist pumping the air. Looking back over to the other four outside the car, Dean said "Don't feel too bad when we smoke you two."
"In your dreams, Dean," Seth said with Cody rolling his eyes at that.
Hearing this exchange go on between the guys, Kaitlyn leaned over to Alex and, in a whisper, asked "Um, why are the guys talking about racing?"
"It's just something they like to do," Alex whispered back. "It's a lot more fun and safe than it sounds."
"You've actually been with the guys when they've raced before?" Kaitlyn asked, surprised to hear this.
"Yeah," Alex said, grinning a bit. Seeing a still hesitant look on Kaitlyn's face, Alex laugehd a bit before saying "Don't worry, Kait. You'll like our own version of racing. Just trust me."
Hearing that Alex was giving her a vote of confidence on this subject, Kaitlyn decided to take Alex's words and stood with the younger woman as they waited for the guys to finish talking. Once the guys were finished with their talk, Kaitlyn watched on with Alex as Seth and Cody shared another grin with each other before the two men shifted into their wolf forms. This was something that still surprised Kaitlyn when she saw it because...well, who wouldn't be surprised to see two men turn into wolves right before their eyes? What happened next surprised the two-toned woman even more: Alex climbed on Cody's back and Dean could be heard telling Kaitlyn "Your turn, Kait. Just hop on Seth's back and we can get our race started!" Looking from Dean to Seth and back to Dean and back to Seth again, Kaitlyn couldn't help but blurt "Wait. You want me to do what now?"
*snickers* Wolves racing a car to the city. I'll bet no one was expecting this, were they? X3 Ohhhhh, my brain is so weird... ^^, Anyway, looks like our merry group of four wolves, a human, a dream prophetess, and a witch are all geared up and ready to head back into the city to take Eva back and to attend to some other stuff they have to do (which I believe will largely fall into the category of getting stuff for Naomi's baby shower). And just how are they going to get back to the city, you might be asking? ...With a race! XD I don't exactly think there's a prize for the winner, but hey...it's something fun to do, right? ...Right? Now, on a not-so happy note, we cut to Randy, Dave, and Brock who are watching the pack house (like they have for the past few days) wondering why it's taking Eva so long to take down the wards on the house and its surrounding property when Brock taking a jab at Eva spurs Randy to shift and tackle Brock. Huh. Interesting that talking about Eva could provoke such a reaction from Randy. But, leave it to Dave to keep the peace(ish) between the two. Shifting back to his human form, Randy makes his way back to where he was watching before. ...Well now. At least in the midst of all this drama and anger, there's some happiness from the pack. But...how long will the happiness among the pack last? Stay tuned to find that out. And don't forget to R&R please. =)