A trip to her pack

Elpis POV

I knew for a fact that they weren't her parents. I didn't doubt that they were looking for their child but that child wasn't Hemera. I know because they don't have her scent. Her scent is unique, like nothing I have seen ever seen. I can't even explain it. 

I went home. I watched from the shadows as Kai trained her and how much he yelled at her all the time. She took everything in kind faith and it baffled me a little. No one can stand Kai especially when he throws this kind of tantrum but from what I could see, she was handling it very well. 

I worried but Hemera thought. Eliot and his pack have made so many packs extinct. I wondered if one of the extinct was not her pack. I looked at her as she trained. She was really trying her best but without her wolf, it looked like nothing. I couldn't announce her formally as Blood Moon's Luna without her wolf. For wolves, marriage she more of an alliance than a marriage and if other packs find out that she is a premature wolf, they will think we are not strong enough and attack. I can't let that happen.

I remember what she told me this morning. I could see the hate in her eyes and it worried me. was the hate for the wrong reasons? I remember someone told me that when someone hates the person they once loved, it doesn't mean they don't still love the person.

I like her willingness to keep going. Even if she didn't know what she was doing she chose not to give up and I love that about her. She held the sword in a weird way that made me laugh but she kept on striking even though it was the wrong way. After an hour, she finally stopped and left the training ground. 

I went to the stable to visit my horse. It was the horse my father got me before he died.

"It's been a long time Ari," I told her as I stroked her back. I heard some noises at the far end of the stable and when I looked it was Hemera with one of the horses.

"Hemera?" I called out.

"Of course, I can see you. I am a wolf." I told her. 

"Oh." Was her response. She seemed sad and I could understand. She is meant to have this to and so much more. 

I went closer to her and she was stroking and feeding one of the horses at the end of the stable. The stable was big so I had to walk a while. For the first time since she came, I saw her smile. She looked relaxed and the wind blew her curly shiny hair.

"You like horses?" I ask her.

"Yes, I do. Very much." She answered with a smile.

"Can you ride?" I asked.

"Of course. That is one of the good things about being a maid." She chuckled. 

"When everyone goes to sleep, Karla and I will pick out horses from the stables. We followed the back of the castle and went for a ride and we were never caught." She said with a smile still on her face like she remembered good things.

"You miss her, don't you? Karla?" I asked.

She looked at me with an expression of surprise. I didn't know if she was surprised I knew or that I asked.

"Yes, every day. She is my best friend you know. You are practically sisters." She told me.

I could see it in her eyes. She really missed her and I know the feeling of missing someone quite well. 

"Do you want to go for a ride? I asked.

"Is it okay?"

"This is my castle and I am asking, I am pretty sure it is okay," I told her and went to get my horse.

"I will wait for you outside," I told her.

After a while, she came out with a black horse and climbed on top of it. We rode passed the market which was almost empty and into the forest. We were both silent for a while. It seemed she didn't even want to talk. She just kept on looking around like she hadn't seen this place before.

"When did you learn how to ride?" I asked.

"Years of watching. I usually stayed by the stable and watched as the men rode and played games."

"Crane never thought you?" I inquired. I didn't know why but I wanted to know.

She was silent for a while and then she turned the other way. "We didn't get the far." She simply said still turned away. 

We stopped by the lake close by and took a walk. She smiled and looked around. I could tell she loved the place. I am glad I made the right choice. 

"I saw some people today. They said their child went missing at the same time as you did."

"Well, how did it go?" she asked calmly still looking around.

"They are not your parents."

She didn't respond. She just kept on looking around, fascinated by the place.

"You didn't seem disappointed." 

"Well, when you started the news with the people you met, I knew they would be bad news." She told me.

Wow, she is a lot smarter than I thought.

"Besides, I knew I wouldn't find them that easy. Eliot made sure of that." Her expression saddened but she changed back immediately. She didn't want anyone to see her pain. 

"You were telling me something this morning. I told you would talk about it when I get back?" I tried to change the topic. I didn't like seeing her sad.

She inhaled deeply. She knew what I was doing, "We have to attack the thing they want most now. The thing they fought to get. I am not sure what their plan is but it has everything to do with Lydia's pack." she spoke like was talking to herself. 

 She stopped and turned to me, "What do you think about taking a trip to her pack?"