Chapter Four

Chapter Four 

'I just need to find closure. If my body could be found then I can cross over to the other side and be at peace.' The spirit said to Nalani and for the umpteenth time since she had begun to haunt her, she immediately regretted looking in the direction of the ghost while she had been on my way to the Alpha's home earlier that evening. 

That was the thing with ghosts that drove her absolutely crazy. It was like the moment they died, they forgot what it was like to live, and they forgot the rules that guided the people on earth. They suddenly didn't care that certain things could not work the way that they presented them to be. 

Nalani was a Gifted, and her abilities included, seeing, hearing and speaking to the dead. An ability that she have fought with her life to keep a secret from the moment she realized it for what it was, simply because there were no other Gifted she knew that had her kind of power and the Alpha of the Oliver Moon Pack didn't take lightly to abilities or powers that weren't directly beneficial to the pack. 

She knew that she could be banned or killed if her abilities were ever discovered and she didn't have a way to prove to the pack that it could help them; so it was a no-brainer that she had to hide it. 

Whenever she was alone though, she could talk to the ghosts around that always thought it fit to bother her with helping them cross to the afterlife and whenever their requests weren't too ridiculous she helped them. 

Some ghosts stayed back to haunt the ones that they loved, while some had unfinished business on earth that prevented them from crossing over. Like this particular ghost that had been haunting Nalani since the early evening. 

The ghost claimed that she had died in the woods and so her body had not been given a proper burial and she absolutely refused to cross over if that were not done. What Nalani found annoying was the fact that this ghost was not even willing to haunt her murderer or find the cause of her death, but was more interested in a glamorous burial ceremony. It just didn't make any sense to her.

Nalani had spent the better part of the evening trying to explain why her request was a big problem. she definitely couldn't just walk up to the warriors to tell them that she discovered a body in the woods and she wanted the body to have a proper burial, it didn't work that way, she would be taken to the dungeon before the words even completely left her mouth, but the ghost was insistent. 

"I'm not saying I can't do it, I'm just saying it is going to be difficult, plus..." she had begun to say but of course, the ghost had something better to say so Nalani was rudely cut off.

"Yes I know, I know what you're going to say, but you could do it while you're picking herbs in the early morning, like you always do. I've been haunting you for a while to know that if you go to the woods every morning, you could act like you just stumbled on my body and scream for help. That way you don't get in any trouble." 

Nalani stopped to think through the ghost's words, it made sense. No one would question her for going deep into the woods because it was a daily routine for herself and Cordelia. She usually went to pick plants and herbs to help with making potions and cures. And all she needed to do was just make sure a warrior was within reach, close enough to hear her shout. 

She really hoped the body of this ghost was not too deep into the woods to make it seem unnatural. Sighing heavily, she knew that she had no choice but to accept or else the ghost would keep haunting her until she performed an extortion, which usually made her very sick and it took a while for her to recover from it, so she usually tried her best to not do it. 

"Fine, I've heard you. Now shut up and let me work." Nalani snapped at the ghost, already annoyed at the fact that she already had some extra work on her plate. She rolled her eyes when the ghost whooped and cheered loudly by her side. 

"Oh and by the way there's someone outside your window.' The ghost added and that stopped her in her tracks.

Cordelia had chosen a cottage far from other homes and almost on the outskirts of the pack for a reason. And one of the top reasons was to prevent people from snooping around the house. 

They made concoctions that helped save lives and the last thing that they wanted was other people polluting the ingredients or people trying to steal because they refused to pay for their treatments. So no one was allowed into the house or around it. 

A person snooping around the house could never have good intentions anyway. Usually when pack members were sick, they sent for either Cordelia or Nalani, no one was allowed near the cottage. Nalani closed her eyes and allowed herself to focus on her surroundings. 

A technique she mastered due to frequent meditations. It allowed for her to be able to pick up quiet sounds. The pack was mostly silent again, very different from the uproar that had taken place earlier in the night and had filled the grounds with piercing screams and war cries. Just as she was about to open her eyes and dismiss the ghost she heard it, the ruffling under the window at the far right corner of the room. 

Flipping the locks open she moved in the direction of the window and stuck my head outside but there was no one there. The place looked undisturbed and she blinked in disbelief, she was pretty sure that she heard a ruffling there. She looked around once more to be sure that the space really was empty before pulling the window close and rounding up the rest of her chores before retiring to bed.

***

The morning sun shone brightly through the window and almost blinded her even through her close lids. She had managed to fall asleep in the early hours of the morning after cleaning up the cottage and putting things in place. 

Yawning wide, she sat up on the bed and stretched a little, basking in the morning sun as much as she could, before setting out to begin her daily routine.

Stepping into the bathroom, she let her clothes fall from my body, breathing easier once they were all off. Cordelia had taught Nalani from a younger age to cover her body completely and she often had to wear layers of clothes or clothes much bigger than her frame to achieve that. 

Cordelia had never specified on why she needed to do this but she did it anyway and now it was more out of habit than for her sake. 

Pulling her scarf from her head, her silver hair fell free to her shoulders and she ran a finger through it to untangle the strands before getting into the shower. 

She let her thoughts run through the previous night. She had been attending to the injured warriors when the message from the Alpha had come to her, the fear that overwhelmed her frame at the thought that the Alpha wanted her to attend to him shook her to the core. 

On reaching his home, a tug had begun in her mind and it had stayed with her until the moment that she was completely out of his home. It struck her as the Alpha's presence but deep within she could feel that there was more to it. 

The rumors that surrounded the Alpha had been hard to believe once she met him last night. He was really handsome and attractive and a far cry from the monster that was constantly painted by many, but she knew that he couldn't ever find out about her true identity or that would simply be trouble.

Once she was done in the shower, she moved out of the bathroom, wearing the dress she had laid out before running her fingers through her hair in an attempt to comb it out. When her fingers moved freely through her hair and no tangles seemed to be within it, she tied her scarf tightly around it, tucking the material behind her ears before moving to the living area. 

Picking up the bag that she usually took everywhere with her, she put in the book that she was currently reading before setting out of the house, making sure to lock the door behind her. 

"Took you long enough." Nalani had been expecting the spirit to haunt the house through the night so she wasn't surprised in the least as her voice greeted her the moment she stepped out. 

"Let's hurry and go." She said once more, her impatience grating slightly on Nalani's nerves. 

"That's not how it works, I can't just start going deep into the woods, there are warriors all around and a couple of them are sure to be keeping an eye out for me. I'll start with picking the herbs that I need before I begin to move deeper into the woods." Nalani concluded. 

Quickly she trotted through the neighborhood, aiming for the tree line that led into the woods. Whispers went up as she passed through the people and their homes but it went straight over her head. 

She was used to it, being called the weird one was being treated like the outcast, thanks to Cordelia, no one gave her a hard time or tried to harm her but the pointing, stares and whispers did as much damage as they could. 

Finally making it to the first tree, Nalani began to pick out the herbs that she needed carefully so as to avoid picking out the poisonous ones that were disguised or hidden within. 

She could see the ghost tremble in restlessness and impatience but she continued to take her time, moving from tree to tree gathering the necessary things. The smell of pine needles, dirt, moss and squirrels and deer's filled her nose and she allowed the rustic mixture overwhelm her senses and soothe her, the woods was Nalani's happy place, it brought her comfort being amongst the trees and smells of the wild and she basked in the feeling.

Every once in a while, she would spot a warrior on patrol but they let her go on, finally the ghost began pointing down to a fallen tree in the middle of a heavily overgrown shrub. Nalani moved in the direction and the smell of decay almost made her gag. 

Moving in the direction, careful of the overgrown shrubs, Nalani squatted there and began digging around, the ghost had vanished and she knew that she had found her body. The more she searched the worse the stench got and it took everything for her to not completely abort what she had started. 

Just as she was about to give up she felt the clothing material that seemed stuck to something hard. Pulling heavily, she tried to pull it out with all her might but only succeeded in pulling out what seemed to be an arm covered in dirt. 

This was obviously not my first run with a dead body, as a Gifted that had the ability to see ghosts, it was a pretty normal occurrence for her but it didn't make the ordeal or the sight any better. She had long forgotten the plan, only solely focused on bringing out the dead body until she heard the voice. 

"Hey! What are you doing there?" A warrior suddenly barked, halting her movements.

It was then she realized the situation that she was in. She was currently bent over a dead body.