Finally Free Again

"You made an excellent recovery, young lady." Doctor Thomas said, checking the last scans of her ribs. "Your ribs healed without leaving a scratch on them."

"But since your bones broke, they healed to be even stronger now." Dione added with her finger raised.

Eleonora and the Doctor laughed. Eleonora took another deep breath and smiled, not feeling any pain when laughing or breathing. She was relieved to feel normal again. "I had the best doctor –" She looked over at Dione who looked disappointed. "Doctors I could ask for." A grin spread on Dione's face. 'God she's still so childish.' Eleonora thought.

"Now get out of here, you two. I don't want to see you unless it is to bring me cookies or some delicious cake your mother baked."

The two girls laughed. "Sure doc. I bet mom will shower you with sweets if she hears the good news."

"I hope she does." He smiled back.

"Well, I'll be coming here more often." Dione stated, rather than asked. "I'm here for another week and I should learn something while I'm away from Europe."

"I would be glad about some help, Dione." Doctor Thomas exclaimed and Dione's smile grew even bigger.

"Now get out. I can already hear people waiting outside the door." He pointed towards the door.

Eleonora sharpened her senses, she could hear fast steps and a rushing heartbeat behind the wooden door. She giggled to herself. "That's just Nora." She opened the door and a pair of arms flung around her.

"Oh shit." Nora drew back and stood down immediately. "Sorry, forgot the broken rib thing. Does it still hurt?" She looked up at Eleonora, who had a wide grin on her face. Lora was two heads smaller than her, even though she was a year older. It was always a spectacle when the smallest person in the pack could be one of the most dangerous ones.

"I'm all healed, no need to hold back anymore."

"Thank the Goddess." Nora wiped her forehead in relief. "Now let's go for a run. You've been missing out on training." She grabbed Eleonora's hand and dragged her along the hospital hallways. Dione winked amused at her pleading sister who was dragged out against her will.

Nora stopped in front of the hospital, facing the forest. "No excuses, we're going on our usual tour."

Eleonora chuckled. "I haven't shifted in a week, no need to hold me back." And within seconds both of the girls were running towards the forest, leaving their shoes and clothes behind until they changed into their wolves in the safety of the trees.

Eleonora's red and Nora's brown wolves ran straight to the border of the territory, only passing a few wolves on patrol that were all too familiar with the two she-wolves running like this.

In the north of the territory they circled at the border and ran straight to the east side, right to the edge of the forest. The two slowed down and walked next to each other. Nora's wolf was a head smaller than Eleonora's wolf, but that made her a great runner and tracker. Eleonora was always jealous of the speed that the little she-wolf could reach. Nora sniffed the air once and nodded her head, the air was clear. Since Nora was a tracker her nose and senses were better than that of Eleonora, she was more of a fighter and stronger in that aspect.

The two walked past the last trees onto a clearing. Infront of them a dozen large machines made their way into their vision. No matter how often Eleonora came here, she was always amused at the trashed machines that Nora herself had destroyed. After the cutting down of the forest was stopped the machines had been left here, and with time the once shining cars and tractors were covered in flowers of every color and grass had spread over the area. Eleonora had her doubt that it grew naturally, Nora had most likely helped with that. But this place had something magical. It seemed to be out of time. Their favorite spot and their hiding place.

Nora jumped up on one of the machines and dug with her paws in the driver's cabin. A backpack dropped to the floor and Eleonora opened it with her snout. It revealed some clothes and with that Nora and herself changed back into their human forms. They put on the clothes and settled down on one of the cars.

Eleonora was wearing hot pants and a white pullover; it was a mixture of clothes, but it would be enough to shield against the autumn breeze.

"Here." Nora sat down beside her and gave her a bottle with brown liquid.

Eleonora took a sip and stopped as the burning liquid made its way down her throat. "Wow, this is stronger than the last one." A wide grin spread on Lora's face. Eleonora gave back the alcohol bottle and Nora took a sip as well.

"Dan and I have been experimenting with the recipe the last weeks. This is our new product." With new product, Nora meant the homemade alcohol. She was really a nature freak and couldn't stand most things that the big companies produced, so her and her mother build a big greenhouse when she was still young. And as Eleonora and Nora reached high school and got older, Nora started to experiment on making her own alcohol. She was so good and her alcohol so popular that she started fabricating and selling it.

"What's going on with you and Dan?" Dan was Nora's mate, they had already been high school sweetheart. Eleonora liked the thought that the two might have been mates, because they were already in love before knowing it.

Nora took another strong sip. "He asked me to move in with him." Eleonora gasped at the news. "He got some money from his parents and our business is doing great. He bought a beautiful cottage in the territory and told me I could decorate it any way I want."

"Isn't that great?"

"I know, I love it. And it sure is easier and nicer when we life together but we're only 22. I don't want to settle down like some old lady yet."

Eleonora broke out in laughter. "You're kidding right?" She had to hold her stomach from laughing. "When you found out you two were mates, you told me you wanted to move in with him at that moment."

"Well, but-" Nora hesitated.

Eleonora took the bottle from her hand and drank too. "Spit it out."

Nora took a deep breath. "I saw the house and it is big, well too big for just two people. It is everything I wanted. An open kitchen, a nice living room, a greenhouse next door and enough bedrooms to have more than one kid." She buried her face in her hands. "Kids, you know!" She held on to Eleonora's shoulders. "I'm not ready to have kids yet. We're only 22. I'm not ready to be a mom yet. Heck I don't think I'd ever be ready for that."

Eleonora couldn't stop herself anymore and broke out into an uncontrolled laughter. She received nothing but death stares from a desperate Nora. "Just tell him." Eleonora rolled her eyes, since Nora obviously didn't get what she wanted. "Tell him you're not ready for kids yet. Knowing Dan, he is less ready than you are. The house is for your future, that doesn't mean you need to have kids now. I bet Dan didn't even think about that yet. Knowing him he's worried you don't like him with all your hesitating."

"Really?" Nora shot up from her stop. "Shit!" She threw the open bottle at Eleonora and ran into the forest. "Sorry, catch up with you later." And she had changed into her wolf faster than Eleonora could say another word to her.

Eleonora drank another sip from the now half empty bottle. She put it to the side and reached for the backpack where her clothes had been in. She rummaged through a few other clothes and snack bars until her hands reached something hard. She took the phone out and typed in the code. It was a phone that Nora and she had placed there for emergencies, and this was an emergency, at least for the poor Dan. Eleonora searched for his number and texted him fast, she hoped he had his phone in reach though.

'A very emotional mate is on her way to you. Thank me later.' And she texted the message.

'Come to the construction site.' She send another message, but to her brother.

She waited for a good ten minutes to hear a howl in the distance. Theo was close, so Eleonora took the last sip from the bottle, placed it back in the bag together with the phone and stumbled down from the car onto the ground. She would lie if she said she wasn't drunk from drinking most of the alcohol alone, but wolves had a high tolerance. Well screw that, Nora's liquor was stronger than the normal alcohol in stores. A single bottle had the strongest wolves on their knees. So, Eleonora wobbled to the next tree and took of her clothes again, this time rather clumsy than fast. She tried to steady her vision on the open space between the trees and shifted. It took her a good while longer to change since she was drunk but the pain of the shift was thankfully covered too.

A growl behind made her straighten in her position and her wobbling stopped for a moment. She turned around and walked towards her brother's black wolf. For some strange reason he was just standing in the middle of the cars, not moving, just looking at her.

A snarl escaped him. 'Is he picking a fight?' Eleonora thought annoyed, she would welcome a sparring anytime but not now, she was too drunk, even as a wolf. So, she shifted her weight around and walked past the first trees, knowing her brother would follow her.

Suddenly Theo was standing in front of her tilting his head at her in confusion. She snapped her head back behind her, at the spot where he stood just a moment ago. 'When did he get this fast?' She thought to herself but brushed the thought away rather quickly. She nudged him with her head, showing the direction she wanted to go to. Theo followed her quietly, sometimes walking at her side to prevent her from falling.

After a few minutes they reached the lake. Eleonora had gotten rid of most of her drunkenness at this point and walked towards the lake. She stepped in and shifted back to her human form when she was completely covered in the water.

"Why are you drunk in the middle of the day?" Theo asked annoyed. He had changed too and grabbed one of clothes that they hid between the rocks. It was just a pair of black sport shorts but it covered everything up. "That walk took us almost an hour and you're heavy."

"I'm not!" She screamed back at him.

"Try to carry your weight for an hour, you are heavy!"

Eleonora rolled her eyes at her brother, not wanting to bicker anymore. "At least you got a little faster, dear brother."

"Oh, stop with your sarcasm. And what would you mean by that, I've always been fast?"

"You've been a lot faster when you passed me earlier at the construction side."

"I never passed by you. Were you too drunk to see me walking towards you?"

Eleonora touched her head with the pain of her drunkenness. "Forget it." She found it strange, she was sure she saw Theo in the middle of the cars. But she could have been drunk enough and imagined it.

"So why did you want me to come here? I told you we couldn't find anything else of the rogues." He said crossing his arms as he sat on the ground.

"I don't know. I thought there would be something here. And we promised to do this together. I know you would have my head if I walked around alone." She explained, playing with the water around her rather bored. "By the way, Dan won't be available for the next few days, maybe a week."

"What do you mean?" Theo's forehead formed wrinkles again, at his confusion.

"Nora is moving in with him." She giggled. "He'll be occupied for the next days."

"Man, finally." He rubbed his face. "Dan did nothing but sulk since Nora wouldn't move in with him. What changed her mind?"

"Oh, you don't need to know that." She giggled, making circles on the surface of the water.

Eleonora couldn't see it but was sure her brother rolled his eyes at her.