Morning Run

Silas:

I blinked once, the light coming through the curtains was bright. I felt the weight and sting of the chains. My wolf whimpered a bit, "Well if we hadn't been so out of control they wouldn't have used them!" He huffed in response as I lifted my head and looked around. I saw Sinlan sitting on the other side of the room, already awake and watching me.

"Morning."

"Apparently, so you think you can let me out now?" He shrugged and cocked his head to the side. "Come on, I'm sorry!" He let out a small laugh as he walked over to lift the chains. Carefully I began to move my arms and legs. Letting the blood flow return to normal and working out the soreness in my muscles. 

"Glad to have you back with us." He said with a small nod as he put his arm out and offered it to help me up. I grabbed it and jumped up to stand next to him.

"Yeah yeah, but I do want to say thank you for making sure I stayed in check last night." I saw a few of the scratch marks still on his arms and immediately felt ashamed of my behavior. I should have been in more control, it was my job to stay in control of myself. He shouldn't have had to pull that weight. "I'm sorry, how are you healing? It looks like you treated some of them." Several were already closed and just fading scars that would be gone within the hour or so. 

He looked at his arm and ran his hand over it gently, a small smile coming to his face. "Actually our mate treated them." My mind froze. She treated them? Meaning she saw them! Which means she saw me and knew what had happened! 

"What? She saw me? What did she say?" Would she want to leave after seeing me hurt him? I couldn't blame her if she did. I lost control, it was completely my fault. My wolf began to whine and this time I fully agreed. We might have messed up our one chance.

"Well yes and no. I kept her at the door, but she asked and I told her as much as possible, of course explaining it to try and diminish her reaction. She actually seemed to understand and gave my healing a slight boost."

My heart was racing. She understood, but would she be upset or scared of me from it? "What happened after you told her?"

"Well we talked a bit about wolves' reactions to their mates and then I walked her back to her room. She did say she was open to a tour today though, especially at the lakes." His eyes lit up and my racing heart stopped mid-beat. She wanted a tour? So, she was planning to stay at least another day! We hadn't scared her away!

"Good." I said trying to hide my excitement, but my smile was unavoidable. I was thrilled to have her staying even one more day! "Thank you for handling the situation so well. I am lucky to have a mate partner like you. If it had been just me I probably would have already lost her."

I meant every word, if he hadn't been there I would have definitely broken my agreement with her. I would have tried to mark her, no doubts about it. "You would have tried to do what we should do. Big scare."

"It is when we made a deal with her to give her time. You know it too." My mind was clear now. My wolf would not confuse me anymore on the matter. I was in control now and that would not change. I felt my wolf huff as I responded. He knew I was right, even if he didn't admit it.

"The moon goddess definitely does everything with a purpose. Don't be so hard on yourself though. I told her last night and now I'll tell you, Alpha wolves are known for being stronger and more difficult to control. What makes you our leader has a downside, but you pulled through when it mattered. Although, I think the Omegas and other wolves that helped last night would appreciate some assurance they won't be punished for their part." 

I laughed and shook my head, "Poor pups. Let's go, I could use something to eat anyways. Sylvia will probably be awake soon and we should have breakfast ready when she is." I walked to my dresser and quickly changed my clothes as Sin left the room, most likely to do the same thing. When I reached my door to leave the wolves on the other side quickly lowered their heads, offering me their necks. 

"Alpha." They all said in unison. 

"Hello, at ease, I wanted to thank you before dismissing you to get some rest." The two wolves stood up, it was Brine and one of our members who was assigned defense-run duty. "I know you traded off with others and probably got very little, if any, sleep. So morning duties are cleared to be off, just get some rest, and if you see anyone else who worked my door tell them the same." 

"Yes Alpha, thank you." They both said before turning and walking away. I smiled a bit as they turned the corner at the stairs. They were good wolves, reliable even when I wasn't. 

"Stop overreacting, it wasn't that big of a deal."

"Maybe not to you!" I walked to the restroom and began to brush my teeth; the lingering smell of Sylvia was in the air and it made my wolf stir. I could do this, we could do this. After a quick face wash, teeth brush, and rebraid of my hair I was out the door and on my way down the stairs. I walked down the hall quickly, trying to ignore the scent from Sylvia's room. As I reached the first-floor Sin and Lionel were walking into the kitchen.

"What do you think she would want for breakfast?" Lionel asked Sin as he walked to the fridge.

"I mean eggs and bacon are usually a win with anyone, but I'm open to ideas that may help impress her." I shook my head at him, she didn't need to be impressed. If anything his heroics had already started him on that front. 

"I'm sure she'll appreciate anything we offer." Lionel turned and lowered his head to acknowledge my presence. I returned the gesture, "Should we have the cooks prepare it though? I honestly would not trust either of us with the food!" 

"Hey now, I cook just fine." 

"As your advisor, I officially say let the cooks handle it." The three of us shared a laugh. We had learned long ago to not overstep into the kitchen territory. We had cooks for a reason, the main one being we could not cook without burning whatever we were making. 

"I mean you heard him, let's call them in." Sin said with a smile as he got up and went to get the wolves who worked in the kitchen. 

"I heard you had a hard night." Lionel said as he sat the eggs and bacon on the counter. 

"Honestly, I would say Sinlan had the hard night. I mostly just slept at the end of it all. I'm surprised he's even awake." He should definitely take some time to sleep before the day really begins.

"He's a strong wolf and did his duty as your Beta. I'm sure he has no regrets or complaints. Now, the question you need to ask is if it will be a repeat tonight." I looked at him for a moment, thinking it over. I wanted to say no, that it definitely would not happen again. However, part of me knew it was likely my wolf would change his mind again after being around her all day. I needed to be honest.

"I wish I could answer, but honestly I plan to do my best to avoid it." Lionel gave a small curt nod before going back to the fridge and getting out some butter as Sin and the cooks returned.

"We'll make biscuits too." They said after quickly glancing at the ingredients already on the counter. I nodded a quick approval to them before turning back to Sin.

"What time is it?" I hadn't checked in my haste to have some food ready.

"Just after nine, she will probably be awake any minute now. Want to fit in a quick run first?"

"No! We should be here when she gets here!"

I felt my wolf push to stay and nodded to Sin, "I need one. I'll be back. Wait for her and I'll have someone from the morning watch follow me to make sure I don't do anything stupid." My wolf wanted to argue but I felt his excitement at being out and running through the woods. The pain in my chest at the thought of being away from the house when Sylvia woke up was sharp, but I'd be back. I had to keep my emotions at bay with this. I couldn't get lost in them again.

"Fine, but only a quick one, we are going to be here when she wakes up!" I rolled my eyes at his persistence but turned to exit the house. At the edge of the grounds, the defense teams were trading off.

"I need someone to run tail placement with me. My wolf needs a quick outing. Who needs practice on pace and movement?" May as well make it a training exercise. I wouldn't be the easiest to keep up with, but that could be put to use.

"I do, sir." A young wolf named Alex raised his hand and stood forward. 

"Let's go then." The other wolves lowered their heads as we walked away. We got around the bend of the house and stripped to shift. My wolf began to growl once he was out. The feel of the ground beneath our paws calmed my mind. 

"Any place specifically, Alpha?" His voice sounded through the link for our pack. I thought about where to go, we had a tour planned for later. She had apparently asked to see the lakes, may as well go make sure it is clear and ready for us later.

"Let's go to the lake. I'll be taking our guest there later, so let's double-check the perimeter before then." 

We turned and I took off in the direction of the lake. The one from our dream. Sin and I had both dreamt of her there, it only made sense to have our first day there. We would have a picnic for lunch. I think she would like that. "I agree." I smiled at my wolf as we reached the road we had to cross to get to the lake. Alex was a few paces behind but overall kept up.

"Nice work on pace, this next part will practice your movement. Stay at my tail, don't let yourself shift position."

"Yes, Alpha."

I darted across the road, quickly moving in random directions to try and throw Alex off the path. I darted left and right, even running in a circle around a small group of trees clustered together before picking up my pace and going backwards towards the house. I felt his hesitation, his energy was picking up from his frustration in trying to predict where I would move. 

He had shifted to my side a few times, now for the trick trial. I turned without missing a beat and ran full speed back towards the lake, my head going straight towards him as he was only a few paces behind me in the proper position. He stopped running and jumped just as I reached him. I heard him turn and follow me again. We reached the lake quickly after that and I shook off the dirt from the run as I turned to him.

His wolf was much smaller than mine, and it had the mark of our pack visible on his back. "Nicely done, not bad at all."

"Thank you." I could tell he was tired, his energy was low and clearly weaker than before.

"Rest a bit here while I run the circle, then we'll head back." He nodded his head and laid down, his paws tucked beneath him but his head staying up to monitor as I ran around the lake. The waterfall was quiet right now, the snow and ice had slowed the movement of the water. A quick run told me the area was clear, no intruders had been there recently and no unfamiliar scents were mixed in with any of the soil.

I didn't stop to tell Alex we were heading back, I just ran past him. The training was back in motion and he got up quickly following me back. He was quick and did well on the way back. We reached our shifting area and quickly shifted back, getting redressed. "You did well, join your group and you can report your speed was approved for night duty." Day guard duty was a little lighter and mostly used for training than anything else. Night guard duty was higher pay and had the chance of running solo if your partner had to miss it because there weren't backups like we had for the day guards. We only put wolves on night duty if we knew they could handle it. 

He lowered his head quickly, a large grin on his face, "Yes Alpha, thank you!" He turned and headed towards the group he was with earlier as I walked back into the packhouse. As I did I smelled her immediately, the beautiful wave of flowers bursting through the air as I opened the door. She was awake.