The Last Spirit Wolf (Elena Norwood)

-Vera-

The rest of the afternoon went as expected.

After leaving the courtyard, I made my way to the clinic to say goodbye to everyone. There were hugs, there were good wishes, and there were many, many tears. Again, that bittersweet feeling in the pit of my stomach intensified. I really did miss my girls and the clinic, and having to say goodbye to them again is making me way too emotional.

Then, I even chatted to Dr. Owens about his plans for the clinic back at the Goldmoon's. Everything is on standby until we know it's safe to return; and more importantly, until Alpha Samael is out of the picture. I did note, however, that he brought with him Amelia's phone number and they've been texting. When he caught me looking at his screen, he immediately shut it down though, threatening me to say a word. I just put up my hands defensively, saying nothing.

We hugged goodbye, and decided that when the time came and if we had a chance, he would gladly go to the Castle to help me establish the lycan clinic. I appreciate this more than he knows, considering the clinic over there is a complete mess still and I have barely had the time to organize it.

After Dr. Owens's office, it was already time for dinner.

This time, there was no special good bye dinner or anything. We don't believe in such things because we have the certainty that we'll see each other again, so really, there is no need for a farewell feast. Not to mention Sofia is swamped with work after only two days of not tending to it.

To my surprise, however, when I got into the cafeteria, Flora and the other girls had once again prepared my favorite dishes; steamed fish, veggie rice, and of course, dessert. I ate with the lycans who were still being served venison meat, much to their pleasure.Visit to read the complete chapters for free. Some sentences are incomplete if you are not reading this novel on Job ni b. com. I also didn't fail to notice that even if lycans heal fast, most of their faces were pretty banged up still; meaning either they were still fighting up to a few minutes ago, or Leo really did a number on them.

I say nothing at first, but I narrow my eyes at them and their injuries.

Arlo catches me staring and quickly diverts his gaze.

Colt does the same.

Then, when my gaze lands on Ezra, I can't help myself; his face is by far the most damaged.

"You went in again, didn't you?" I ask him.

He says nothing.

"You guys do realize wolf's train far more than lycans, right? You guys begin training at what. fourteen on average? We train from the moment we can walk," I tell them, shaking my head.

From the Castle, I know that lycans think wolves are inferior in all regards; but us wolves know that were brute strength and a quick temper fails, hard work, skill and practice prevail.

"I thought I noticed a weakness, okay?" Ezra says, defensively.

I shake my head.

They all look like dogs with their tails in between their legs. Colt has barely even touched his food, despite how delicious it is.

Once I'm done, I get up, leaving them to their sulking.

"You guys should get some rest," I tell them, picking up my plate, "give your bodies some time to heal. We have a long journey tomorrow." For some reason, however, I still feel like my recommendations will fall on deaf ears.

I turn to leave, stopping by the kitchen to drop off my plates and thank the girls; then, I head to my room.

When I enter my room, I strip, filling up my bathtub with warm water and some essential oils, I clip up my hair and sit comfortably in the tub. The mix of oils, mainly chamomile and lemongrass, will help me get some good sleep tonight; I'm going to need it after these past few nights. Taking some deep breaths, I clear my mind, taking this time to meditate and relieve the anxiety I had been feeling these past few days. After about thirty minutes, I'm basically falling asleep in the tub and decide it's time to head out.

Toweling myself dry. I change into a t-shirt and crawl into bed, thankfully falling into a deep sleep within minutes.

The alarm clock on my bedside table goes off. It's three-thirty A.M. I stretch on my bed. completely rested.

Getting up from my bed, I go to the bathroom to splash some water on my face, further waking me up.

Once I'm done, I go over to the nightstand where I had safeguarded Noah's birth certificate. I open it, almost not believing that we managed to find it. I tuck it in safely inside my bag. making sure it won't be damaged on our journey. As sad as I am to leave my home again, I'm also incredibly excited about getting back to Noah and the Castle and finally settling this thing with the Council once and for all.

In only a few minutes, I'm all packed up and ready to go.

I leave my room, closing the door behind me carefully, mindful to not make any noise so as to not wake anyone up.

When I get to the first floor of the pack house, Sofia is waiting for me at the entrance.

"Good morning," she says, giving me a hug.

"Morning." I respond, returning the hug.

She yawns.

"Are you ready?" She asks.

I sigh.

"As ready as I'll ever be. I'm not gonna lie, I'm not all too happy about leaving again."

She chuckles humorlessly.

"We're not very happy to see you go again, either," she says.

There's a moment of silence as the lycans slowly start to show up at the entrance with their bags.

They each greet me informally, but to my surprise, they greet Sofia respectfully, bowing their heads.

"You guys are welcome here any time, just remember to give us a heads up so we don't kill you at the border. Leo is usually on patrol," she says, teasing them.

"We appreciate that, Alpha," Ezra says, "and we might take you up on that. Leo and I have some pending business."

I roll my eyes but Sofia laughs.

"I'm sure you do," she says.

She turns to me.

"Before I forget! Here," she says, dragging a bag that sat behind her, "Flora asked me to give you this."

My mouth almost waters at the thought of the food inside.

"Thank you," I tell her with a smile as Ryker picks up the bag and slings it over his shoulder.

"My pleasure," she says, smiling back.

Before I turn to leave though, she catches my arm.

"Vera, please be careful," she tells me, "back at the Castle, from everything you told me, you and Noah still have to watch your backs, even after his parentage is proved. And of course, if anything happens, you know this is your home. Noah's too." I nod, understanding her concern and appreciating her offer.

We hug one last time before I go into one of the rooms to shift.

My wolf is even more reluctant to come forth, but after a few minutes, I manage to shift.

*What is up with you?" I ask her.

She doesn't even look at me, instead, she stares straight ahead.

I head out, nodding at Sofia.

*Until we meet again,* I tell her.

She nods and waves as we take off, running into the woods.

A few minutes later, we are joined by a group of ten scouts, running beside us.

I take a look at them and nod. At the head of the party is Thomas; they're escorting us out of wolf territory.

Once we cross over to lycan territory, the group of wolves stop following us, howling loudly into the air as they say goodbye.

I howl too, my face up in the air as I say goodbye, for now, to my home.

We run for several hours, anxious to get back to the Castle. This time, instead of stopping for some breakfast, we decided to run well into the afternoon until we reach the lycan campsite where we can eat and rest.

By now, we are only about an hour away from the campsite and right now, the only thing keeping me motivated is the pile of food Flora made for us. We have gone the entire day. without eating; I'm sure my companions are also starved. Suddenly, however, my wolf perks up, noticing a cloud forming in the horizon.

I frown.

That's odd. There were no signs of rain until just now.

But then, she completely stops, raising dirt all around her as her paws dig into the ground.

*What's wrong?* I ask her, as she panickily looks in every direction.

A powerful feeling of foreboding settles in my stomach; whatever my wolf was feeling just now, now I'm feeling it too. Something isn't right.

After a few seconds, the lycans notice that I have stopped and are now coming towards me, concerned.

Ezra shifts, unable to communicate with me in lycan form.

"Vera, is there something wrong?"

I can't answer him, I can't even bring myself to shift in order to explain to him that something* is* wrong, but I don't know *what*.

I look straight ahead, following my wolf's gaze; the hairs on her nape are raised and she's growling furiously. In the distance, I see a rush of wind coming towards us, cutting through the tree trunks like they're made of butter; more than a gush of wind, it seems more like a giant swords swooshing through the trees and cutting them down.

It's far too fast, the lycans haven't even noticed, but it's getting lower and lower. At this rate, it will cut right through us as easily as it's cutting down the trees.

Simultaneously, my wolf and I feel something... someone... a presence, coming in from the side.

Everything is happening far too fast, but I'm seeing it almost as if it's in slow motion.

Without notice, my wolf shifts us back to my human form without me initiating the shift, just as the presence nears us.

The lycans have just now realized what's happening behind them and as confused as they seem, they're in position to fight, but there is no fighting this; they will be sliced in half if I don't do something.

I crouch to the ground, trying to bend the soil to my will as I have done before with fire.

I feel the rushing of electrical current throughout my entire body, all of the hairs in my body rise and my hands feel like they're on fire; it is more magic than I have ever felt before, and it's making me dizzy. I yell at the exertion, feeling a gush of liquid running down my nose.

Blood.

"Vera!" Ezra yells, but I barely hear him.

I begin to pass out, but not before I hear the rumbling of the ground beneath me, and not before

I feel someone picking me up from my midsection and rushing me away.