"Do we have to?" Jana complained, holding Xander's hand in hers. They had just returned to the house and were sat in the car watch as the sun was beginning to rise above the fields. They hadn't wanted the night to end but they were expected back at the house. There was only one day until they were due to move into the flat and they also were expecting to meet Ellie's social worker later that day.
"Unfortunately," Xander said, squeezing Jana's hand, "Otherwise they'll send out a search party and they won't be very impressed if they're panicking thinking Elgar's kidnapped you and instead just find us- you know."
"I wish they'd just leave us alone sometimes," Jana sulked, "It would be nice to spend more time with you alone. We can't even be alone at work anymore now that they've hired more people to our team."
"That's only because everything think we spend the whole time kissing," Xander said.
"Well yes, we kind of do," Jana admitted, "But we do actually do work… occasionally. Anyway after last night we will be doing a lot more than kissing now."
"I'm pretty sure they think we're doing that during work hours too," Xander added cheekily.
Jana playfully hit Xander, "Could you not? My dad can probably hear you right now. I'm sure he probably know we've already arrived."
"How likely is he to kill me?" Xander asked.
"Very," Jana admitted glumly, looking down at the oversized t shirt she'd borrowed from Xander, she loved how his scent clung to it- the smell of the woods mixed with the seaside, "But don't worry I'll protect you."
"His little cubs is growing up," Xander said, "It's not going to be easy for him."
"If Mum was still alive she'd be happy for us," Jana said, "I know she would, she'd make my father back off."
"Do you think that if your mum was still alive that'd she'd live in the wild with your dad or as a tame wolfblood?" Xander asked.
Jana shrugged, "I haven't thought about that. It might seem crazy but Mum was always very interested in the human world, it didn't scare her at all. Before Rhydian and I were taken from the pack as cubs she was constantly nagging my father to let her take me to human world. Rhydian was allowed to visit the human world- back in those days my father wasn't so strict about human contact, beta wolves- healers and members of the council of elders- were allowed to visit the towns and take their children there to see what human life was like. Mostly it was to show the cubs that our way of life was far better than life in the human world- not that it always taught them that. As an alpha's daughter I wasn't allowed to see the human world, it would have jeopardised the pack's safety and reputation if I became too attached to that way of life. Of course, I am a tame now, despite everything that my father wanted for me."
Xander smiled, "I guess things really have changed in the pack. Your father is letting a human live with them now, I never thought he would do that."
Jana sighed, "As far as the rest of the pack is concerned Meinir will be treat like untested obligate, just running errands in the human world, probably not allowed to be a member of the council. It's not like she's going back to the life she just left, according to Aran their gang has a new leader now. The gang used to mean everything to Meinir- even if they were just a sadistic bunch of twenty-something year olds who like to terrorise the cubs and refused to listen to elders."
"How old are Aran and Meinir?" Xander asked.
"Meinir's ten years older than me, so she's twenty-six, almost twenty seven now," Jana replied, "And Aran's three years younger than her, so he's twenty-four."
"Well I'll have to tell Ellie it's completely out of the question," Xander said, "She's not dating someone who's nearly a decade older than her."
"You needn't worry," Jana said, "Aran's not interested in Ellie."
Xander gave her a quizzical look, "I thought he was, I mean just a little bit."
"No, Aran's just overprotective," Jana said, "He's spent his whole life looking after me, even if sometimes it didn't seem like that because Meinir was constantly getting him into trouble. I think he just sees Ellie as being like a human version of me, and so he just protects her the way he protects me."
"It's good to know that," Xander said, "I was half expecting to be locking him that shed at the bottom of garden."
"Please, don't," Jana protested, "I've been locked in there before, it's not very nice. There's loads of spiders in there, and I don't even mind spiders. Of course, Meinir is absolutely petrified of spiders, but I didn't tell you that ok?"
Xander laughed, "Ok. Now come on we should go inside."
Alric growled as his daughter and her boyfriend approached the house. There was only one explanation as to what had happened the night before- no one would dress up like Jana had for any other reason. Alric wanted to kill the human boy- they might do things like in the human world but in the wolfblood world there were rules and ceremonies- the boy hadn't even made a formal declaration! They hadn't even arranged any wedding plans, and yet he'd already overstepped the mark by doing something like that before Jana and Xander were properly married.
"Hi, Dad," Jana said in cheerful tone, her cheeks red no doubt from the cold.
"Hi, Jana," Alric said, making a deliberate point of ignoring Xander. At least the boy was quiet, the same couldn't be said for his irritating little sister- Alric was half tempted to propose a union between Ellie and Bryn just as revenge for being hounded with questions about pack life.
"Hello, Alric," Xander said, feeling like he was being rude by not addressing Jana's father as Mr. something.
Alric grunted a reply.
"Hello, you two," Ellie said as ran down the stairs, "I trust you had a good night. I'm going to made pancakes, anyone want any?"
Jana and Xander nodded eagerly.
"Oh, of course you two do," Ellie said, "Do you think I should make any for Alice?"
"Who's Alice?" Jana asked.
"Her social worker," Xander replied, "You should meet her."
"I can't," Jana said, "I've got to go to work. Just promise me you'll do everything you can to make sure that Ellie can live with us at the flat."
"Of course," Xander said, "I can't think of anywhere else they'd send her."
"Neither can I," Jana said, "But I'm still worried."
"Don't," Xander replied, "Everything will be ok."
BREAK_BREAK_BREAK_BREAK_BREAK_BREAK
"Do you want some tea, Alice?" Ellie asked her social worker, who had arrived only a few minutes earlier, "Ceri should have bought some herbal tea when she went shopping earlier, let me just find it."
Alice smiled, "So do you like living here?"
"Yeah, definitely," Ellie said excitedly, "It can be a bit mad sometimes, Maddy and Rhydian, Ceri and Gerwyn's son and his fiancé, they're staying over the moment and so are some of Gerwyn's relatives but they're all going to be leaving at some point during the next month. Then it'll be real quiet, it'll be quite strange, I'll miss them. Ah, here it is!"
"Have you ever considered staying here rather than with your brother?" Alice asked.
"A little bit," Ellie admitted, as she switched on the kettle, "Not that I would want to impose on Ceri and Gerwyn's hospitality. But I'm a teenager and yeah I guess teachers and matron and the nurses were a little like parents but real parents, I'm not sure I could go back to all of that. It's not that I just want my own way, it's just that I've grown up being used to it just being Xander and I- we're both very independent now. I think it will be great living with Jana and Xander, certainly good preparing for when I go to uni."
"Yes, but I'm wondering if having a parent figure in your life might be good for you," Alice said.
"Well, it's not like I'm going to living miles away for Ceri and Gerwyn, they are great parent figures," Ellie explained, "They said we're allowed to come over any time we like and that we can talk to them about anything, and they're always inviting everyone over for dinner anyway. It'll be almost as if I'm still living here I bet."
"Well the thing is there have been other offers," Alice explained carefully, "We are aware of what happen at Segolia and we've been in contact with them- a small admin mix up I believe, you shouldn't have technically been allowed to take part in the trials, you're too young but I'm glad to see that the treatment has been so effective and worked so quickly. We originally were hoping to get you into a private boarding school up here, closer to your brother, but still offering the save level of education that you were receiving at your old school, see we're worried that letting you attend an ordinary comprehensive will hold you back. There was one suitable school but there was no spaces, see joining a school in year eleven, even with your grades, isn't an easy thing to do. We then contacted Bradlington High, naturally considering you're close friends of many of the ex-pupils and considering your grades they were more than happy to accept you, however many of the subjects you are currently taking are taught by different exam boards, some topics you've studied are relevant, others are not. You'll have a lot of work to catch up on."
"So will I be going to Bradlington High?" Ellie asked excitedly, "You don't need to worry too much I finished GCSE maths and English last year, and I was doing GCSE English Literature outside of school hours so I'm sure my tutor could probably email me the rest of the work perhaps. I could always use the free lessons to catch up on work."
"French, political sciences and history were the only subjects effected," Alice explained, "Of course, your history teacher, Mr Jeffries, is a good friend of the family I've been told, I'm sure you won't fall to far behind. But there's still the matter of where you will live."
"At the flat," Ellie said in confusion, "With Xander and Jana."
"We don't think that would be suitable," Alice explained, "Well, actually, they don't think it's suitable, I think it would be perfectly fine for someone as independent as you, but it went to a vote and that's the decision they made."
"Why?" Ellie asked, "What was their reasoning? Xander's always been there for me, Jana's like a sister to me, if anyone understands about the things I've been through its them. Yeah, Xander can't cook, but Jana can a bit and I can cook fairly well, we're not going to starve or get fat. Xander's never been behind on bills even when money's been tight, not that that happens too often, Segolia pays him very well. If anything Xander is too much like an adult- he's all no dating anyone expect your best friend until your eighteen, no chocolate more than twice a week, make sure you're in bed by half nine and worst of all he absolutely insists on being a chaperone at every school dance I go to, I don't anyone who does that anymore."
Alice laughed, "It's not anything that Xander or Jana did. They passed the assessments with flying colours. We just feel that there's been a better offer."
"Who?" Ellie asked doubtfully.
"There's a woman called Jane Vilkas," Alice said, "She usually fosters younger children with behavioural difficulties. You might have heard of her actually."
"Jana and Rhydian," Ellie said, "So that's where Jana's surname came from."
"Yes, she kept the surname when her traveller community took her back and disappeared," Alice admitted, "We were surprised when she returned to Stoneybridge eleven years later, not quite as surprised as when we learnt that Jana and Rhydian weren't actually siblings. It wasn't until Gerwyn tried to get custody of his son- hearing that he'd been taken into care- of course we said no, Rhydian was quite settled in foster care at that time, and Gerwyn, well he'd just left the traveller community and was still adjusting to life. We let Rhydian change his surname to his father's of course, we thought it would help him better develop his sense of identity. We always intended for him to meet his father later on, of course we never expected Gerwyn to marry Jana's mother- but I guess that's just the way things work out sometimes."
"I don't want to live with Jane," Ellie protested, "I know a lot of care kids argue about their placements but this is different. Jane had no love for Jana, and what with Jana dating my brother, I'm scared she won't let me see them. I've heard about Jane from what Jana can recall and from what Rhydian's shown me of his social service notes- she was described as 'ill-equipped to deal with children with strong and wilful personalities'- well that's me isn't it. I don't want to live with someone like that. What about the Vaughans have you asked them?"
"The Vaughans only foster boys unfortunately," Alice asked, "And they said that now they had two younger children they felt they weren't ready to foster another child. I did ask them, explain that you know Rhydian."
Ellie sulked, as she heard the backdoor open and Xander entered.
"I thought you weren't going to be here until two," Xander said as he walked in with a shocked look on his face, "But I could bearing cookies and doughnuts, just don't tell Maddy ok?"
Ellie smiled, "Maddy's going to have twins in about six months' time but she's already started making us eat healthy. You should have seen the look on Gerwyn and Rhydian's faces when she told them they had to start eating lean meat, it's like they thought that lean meat wasn't proper meat and that it was in some way contaminated!"
Alice smiled, "It does sound like you've had a great time here. But I'm sure you'll have a great time at Jane Vilkas's too."
Xander dropped a bowl and it shattered on the floor, "What do you mean Jane Vilkas? Do you have no idea about how badly she treated Jana in the past?"
"Xander, Jane has undergone training since then," Alice explained, "In fact, she would like to meet Jana so that she make amends for the way she treated her in the past."
Xander scoffed, shaking his head, "Why can't Ellie live with Jana and I?"
"She needs a mother figure in her life," Alice argued.
"But I have Ceri," Ellie argued, "And there's Miss Sweeney and Becca."
"We mean 24/7," Alice clarified.
"The flat's only ten minutes away from here," Ellie said, "I don't understand any of this. What do you think social services is trying to achieve by doing this? By all means let Jana and Jane have their little family get together if that's going to make her feel better, but don't expect it to fix anything. I'm not going to live Jane, and that's that."
"If you don't agree we will get a court order," Alice said, "Ellie, I don't think it's really advisable to pursue that course of action."
"But you said yourself," Ellie began, "You said you were more than happy for me to live with Xander and Jana, why not defy them and let me live with my brother?"
"It doesn't work like that," Alice said, "Rules are rules unfortunately, I'm so sorry, Ellie."
Ellie felt her eyes burn with tears and ran upstairs. There was only one thing she could do, if living with her brother and Jana, or Jana's family wasn't a possibility, she wasn't just going to be sent anywhere.
She collided into Aran in the hallway.
"Ellie, are you ok?" Aran asked, his voice filled with concern.
"When are you guys leaving?" Ellie asked, trying to keep her voice calm.
"Tonight, sunset," Aran explained, "Why? Elllie, what are you up to? I couldn't help but overhear the conversation downstairs, the decision will be overturned I'm sure."
"It doesn't work like that here," Ellie said, "Let me go with you, please. I'm asking you because you'll understand."
Aran hugged to younger girl, "Xander would kill me for agreeing with this, and Jana too. I can't do this, Ellie. How long until you turn sixteen?"
"Seven months," Ellie said, failing to hold back tears, "I know I'll be able to do what I want then but…"
"You're just like Jana," Aran said, "Stubborn, wilful, headstrong, you can't stand being told you've got to do something you don't want to do. All the qualities of a true leader. You'll go far, Ellie, I know you will, and those seven months will be nothing more than a faded memory by the time you go off to college. Trust me, study hard, devote your time to that and your reading, distract yourself and time will move faster, I promise you."
"I've never told anyone this," Ellie said, "But I actually hate school. I really do, the only reason why I study so hard is because life is cruel. You know everyone was so shocked that my grades shot up once I was taken into foster care, most kids in my situation would have just given up, but it showed me that life is ridiculous cruel sometimes and that you've just got to do as much as you can to survive. The difference between here and the wild is that, whilst life is cruel in both places, if you try hard here you can still fail, you can have everything and know everything and that can still not be enough, in the wild, at least from what I can tell, if you know something and you're able to do it, that's usually enough to see you through. I've always been enchanted by the idea of living the kind of life you lead, ever since I read about the hippie subculture a few years ago, I know I'm not a wolfblood like you but I think I'm stubborn enough to make things work."
"Ellie," Aran said, "I know you could make it work, but your brother would never allow it. The pack isn't just a nice little place, what if you made a mistake and got exiled, you'd be expected to find your way back here all on your own. You might act like Jana, but you are not Jana. Can you find your way without a compass? Do you know which berries are poisonous or not? Do you know how to find fresh clean water or build a shelter with your bare hands? No, I thought not, well Jana knew that before she turned three, so you can understand that there's really too much for you to learn."
Ellie felt her face crumble, tears spilling down her cheeks, "But Jane was horrible to Jana. What if she's horrible to me, or she doesn't let me see them? What if they try to make me stay with her until I turn eighteen?"
"You'll survive it," Aran said, "We have a saying in our pack, cryfder yn dod o'n eiliadau gwannaf, strength comes from our weakest moments. It means that no matter how many horrible things you experience each one of them will make you stronger later on."
"I still know what I want," Ellie said.
"I think this is about more than just the pack, isn't it Ellie?" Aran asked, "I'm sorry Ellie, but there are somethings we can't hand in life not because life is cruel, but because the gods are cruel and they make it so that we can't have the things that other people have."
Ellie looked at him puzzled, "What do you mean?"
"Only Meinir and Jana know," Aran said, "And the only reason Jana knows is because she has an amazing memory- I wasn't expecting a four year cub to remember something like that, or even know what it meant. Ellie, you're beautiful and wonderful, and I've seen plenty of girls who are crushing on guys to know that's what going on now with you, and I promise you that one day you'll find the right guy- I said the same thing to Jana when Rhydian was exiled and look at what happened. I just can't be that perfect guy for you, I can't be that perfect guy for any girl."
Ellie nodded in understanding, she knew that it hadn't been an easy thing for Aran to tell her.
"I'll stay or I'll try to," Ellie said.
"If they stop you seeing Xander and Jana then head for a place called Cadir Idris," Aran said, "The pack will be there until February. We'll sort out getting you back in touch with your brother and his wife."
"Xander's not married," Ellie said smiling, "I think Xander doesn't have the audacity to get married without letting me help with the planning."
"I'm sorry," Aran said, "In the pack, the wedding ceremony is a formality, it's when a couple... you know... for the first that they are considered married."
"I wonder how everyone knows that's what happened last night," Ellie said.
"Jana hates makeup," Aran explained, "Her favourite jumper is that old blue she wears all the time that's got more holes in it than that strange cheese that Gerwyn likes. Her boots, she wears them pretty much all the time- and you can tell. I think it was kind of obvious that something was going on, but it wasn't until I saw how smug she was this morning that I knew for certain. It's hard watching your little alpha grow up so quickly."
"She's like a little sister to you," Ellie said.
"Yes, and not just a sweet little sister," Aran said, "We used to constantly play pranks on each other, get into fights, she was a real little sister to me and Meinir. Not that May would ever admit that."
Ellie smiled.
"Good luck," Aran said, ruffling Ellie's hair.
BREAK_BREAK_BREAK_BREAK_BREAK_BREAK_BREAK
It wasn' t until after Alice had left that he noticed that his hand was bleeding, well it had been Ceri who noticed.
Xander sat at the kitchen table as Ceri carefully pulled the shattered cermic out of his hand and cleaned the cuts with some kind of natural disinfectant before covering them in some kind of herb paste and wrapping his hand in bandages.
He didn't want to cry but how could they be so unfair? It was almost like they were deliberately trying to find any way possible to keep him and his sister apart.
He felt tears slip down his cheeks, and Ceri hugged him. It had been a long time since he'd had a mother and he certain wasn't as close to Ceri as Jana and Ellie were but for the first time in years it felt like the part of him that knew what it was like to have a mother was alive again and happy again. It was like it was a butterfly that had spent years and years as a miserable caterpillar eating just enough leaves to keep ticking alone and these past months it had transformed and now it was ready to fly.
He had no idea what he was going to do but at least he wasn't going to be alone.
Ceri sniffed the air delicately, almost believing that her senses were lying to her. But she looked up through the kitchen window and couldn't believe her eyes. She watched in horror and happiness as the dark haired teenagers burst through the door carrying a small baby wrapped in a thin green blanket.
"He's coming," Bryn said before collapsing.