Chapter 6: Rabbit Hole

A little over an hour had passed since Magnus and Jacob had left Elinor and Alec to their planning, and they had made decent headway on their proposal they would need to present to the Clave for the new Institute. Ellinor leaned back in her chair, staring at the computer screen as she rolled her stiff shoulders. "We'll need to do a few scouting missions, of course, if it were to fall on Quillette land we would require their permission, though I imagine they'd be rather eager to have aid so close by to help keep their people safe. I imagine some of their pack members might want to reside there even." She was rambling now, her flood of thoughts escaping her. "Despite the- complications so far this has turned out better than any of us could have anticipated- never in all my years would I have thought it possible that there would be an Institute where the Nephilim and downworlders lived and worked together."

Alec nodded in agreement. "We still have to convince the Clave El, don't count your chickens yet." He gave her an apologetic look when he saw her annoyed look. "Hey, just being realistic- I mean I'm hopeful too, if there was any way this was going to work this would be it." He said, trying to backpedal on his pessimism.

Before Ellinor could respond the back door opened then, Mangus and Jacob entering the tiny kitchen. Magnus tossed a white mushroom on top of the mound of books on the table, the sight of the fungus making Ellinor groan loudly. "Please tell me that was not part of a circle around the tree." She pleaded defeatedly.

"What other shape do they form in?" Magnus replied in the same annoyed tone. "The Fae are creatures of annoying habits."

Ellinor picked up the mushroom, placing it between her hands as she closed her eyes, static filling the air of the small kitchen as she used her magic to examine the fungus. The air settled as she finished, her brows furrowed as she opened her hands to examine it. "It's far more malicious than the average Fae mushroom circle. I don't recognize its creator, did you?" She asked as she looked up toward Magnus.

"Not at all, and you know the Fae more than I do."

She scoffed at that. "Not by choice or preference," she mumbled bitterly. "Did you manage to break the circle?"

Magnus nodded. "Took some effort, young Mr. Black here graciously lent me some of his strength as well so I could get the ward back up, might need to rest a bit now." Ellinor's attention turned toward Jacob before she realized it and found her eyes locked on his. She was struck for the dozenth time at how deep and warm his eyes were that never seemed to leave her. She could feel her cheeks warming, forcing herself to focus on the mushroom again, chastising herself for her absurdness of being so caught up in his eyes.

Jacob waved away the concern. "We recoup fast, wolf thing. I'm fine." He said. "Could there be more of these we need to find? And why would they mess with your ward?"

Ellinor's brows furrowed as she continued to stare at the mushroom. "I- honestly I don't know. Why would the fae folk care about a ward in the middle of the forest? I did not sense their presence when I was here last, so how they even came upon it is bizarre." She was musing to herself again, trying to bring her memories of her last visit to La Push to the forefront of her mind. She looked up to Magnus then. "I don't like this."

"You never like the Fae." he pointed out. "But I have to agree with you this time." Magnus turned toward Alec then. "I don't suppose this would be something the Clave would be willing to intervene on?" He asked.

Alec frowned. "With how tense things are with the Fae right now probably not...even if things were normal- they'd just call it a Downworlder squabble and dismiss it," he murmured, holding his hands up in defense as both Warlocks fixed him with a look of exasperation. "That's not what I'm saying it is- and I'm not the Clave, and I would make the sound argument that looking into this further is in the best interest of our new Institute."

"That we also don't have permission yet to pursue." Ellinor pointed out.

"This is all a part of the exploratory mission in my opinion, and since I am the lead on this mission- with you of course Ellie." He amended quickly. " I say we are totally in the clear on investigating further."

Magnus clapped his hands together loudly. "Excellent, I do love Washington, such a brooding romantic state." He said with a wistful sigh.

Alec and Ellinor gave the Warlock a similar bemused look, Jacob on the other hand laughing at the man's response. "So...you'll all be staying for a while?" He asked, his gaze flickering to Ellinor for a moment before he returned it to the other men. "We can try to find you all a place to stay if you need it." He offered.

"That would be lov-" Magnus had begun, but Ellinor was quick to cut him off.

"We wouldn't want to impose on you like that- if we could just get permission to occupy some land we could camp on. " she countered.

"I do not go camping." Magnus interrupted

"You do now," Ellinor said simply.

"El...you of all people know how he gets without running water and access to his skincare stuff," Alec warned.

Ellinor rolled her eyes at that, Jacob speaking up before she could respond. "Honestly, we'd be happy to help. Alec and Magnus, I'll ask if you could stay at the Uley's while they're at- away, and Ellinor you could...stay here."

"I will not monopolize your bed, Jacob." She protested.

"I don't live here anymore, just crash here from time to time. I live with a few of the pack members now." He explained. "So it's all yours. You'll only have to deal with Billy." He said, giving her a teasing smile. "So really I'm not doing you much of a favor."

She gave a reluctant smile in return, conceding after a few moments of deliberation. "Fine then, as long as your Father and the Uley's agree to it."

"Excellent!" Magnus exclaimed.

"Jacob, could you arrange a meeting with your tribe's council? Just the ones who know about this sort of stuff, and your pack, do you have an Alpha or a leader we could discuss things with properly? " Alec asked his focus back on the business at hand.

Jacob nodded. "My Dad is technically the Chief, so he can get the rest of the Council on board." He said, reaching his hand up to rub his neck. "And well, I'm the Alpha of the pack so- I can meet with you on that."

Alec took that information all in stride, firing more questions for Jacob as Ellinor started on in surprise. He seemed so young to be the Alpha- strong sure, but the entire pack seemed to be built like him, absurdly tall and muscular.

She felt her cheeks heat again and she shook her head to focus herself, catching Jacob eyeing her out of the corner of his eyes as he caught her subtle movement, still listening to Alec. Annoyance bubbled in her chest, why was he always staring at her? Catching her at the most inopportune times. It had been a long time since Ellinor had felt so unsettled and unsure about herself, and the fact that she couldn't pinpoint what was causing this unease only deepened her annoyance with herself.

Magnus has shuffled over to her side as the two other men planned their meeting, pulling up a chair next to her. "You're more distracted than usual, are you alright?" He asked, taking the mushroom from her hand. She hadn't realized her grip had gotten so tight around the fungus, it's stalk crumbled now into large chunks.

She wiped her hands on her jeans, nodding her head. "It's quite a lot to mull over here. The rabbit hole just keeps getting deeper and deeper."

He nodded his head in agreement, his eyes flickering over to Jacob for a moment before back to her. "A lot indeed," he mumbled. "Jacob showed me how they shift- it's quite remarkable, you'll have to ask to see it. They're much larger than werewolves."

"They change at a whim then?" She asked.

"Yes, or when they're overcome with strong emotion- mostly when they're newly changed though, Jacob says he hasn't phased from anger in years." He supplied. "And the moon has no effect on them, nor silver, it's quite fascinating."

"Not to mention the imprinting thing, bizarre- I've never heard of anything like it, have you?" She murmured, not realizing all eyes were on her now.

"Yes, I can imagine what your initial thoughts on that are, you don't have a romantic bone in your body." He teased. "Nothing that is precisely like this, no."

She rolled her eyes, chuckling still. "And you have too many."

"I'd happily spare a few for you, you need a little spice in your life." He whispered mischievously to her.

"El," Alec said, turning toward the Warlocks. "Tonight? Meeting with the Council and the pack sound good?"

Ellinor nodded in agreement. "Jacob, can you get the rest of your pack up to speed before then?"

Jacob opened his mouth to answer but Magnus interjected. "The wolf telepathy thing should make that easy enough."

Ellinor looked from Magnus to Jacob slowly. "Telepathy?" she asked curiously.

"Only when we're wolves." He explained. "Can't really help it- works great for coordinating, not so much for privacy."

"I imagine not." she agreed, unsettled by the idea of her every thought be up for examination for anyone to hear. "That must be difficult for you at times."

He stared at her for a moment, a small smile crossing his lips. "Sometimes yeah- you sort of get used to it though." He said with a shrug. "I've gotten pretty good at it, I can think about absolutely nothing for hours now." He joked, making her smile.

"Really?" Alec interjected, oblivious to the stern glare he was receiving from Magnus. "Do you mind if I write this all down? Is there more you can tell us? How long have your people been able to do this?" He asked, picking up one of the notebooks from the table.

Jacob nodded and obliged him happily. "Sure, it's a long story though." He warned, but received no protest from his audience as he began with the history of the spirit warriors of his tribe.