Night Stroll

Eleonora had ten spots left where she needed to install cameras at, Nora was trotting behind her and carrying the box with the last cameras and sensors. It had already gotten dark and thanks to their good vision at night they didn't need any extra light.

"Can you give me the next one?" She held out her hand and waited for Nora to place the next device in her hand. She fixed it to the tree and climbed down again.

"Another world destroying devise has been forcefully draped to another innocent tree." Nora said, for the 20th time that day. She had a new remark every time Eleonora installed one of the devices. "You know I'm not destroying them because they are for our safety but –"

"Yeah, yeah. I'll make sure no tree was hurt in the making of this." Eleonora interrupted her.

"You better do." Nora said in her sweet voice that sounded threatening at the same time.

"Let's move on to the next spot."

They continued and Eleonora checked her phone on the way. Theo and the others had been done with their route and returned to the pack house.

"Let's do this fast and have a drink with the others."

"How are Dede and Klaus doing? News spread fast." Nora chuckled.

"Good, I guess. I talked to her yesterday about it but haven't seen her since. Probably means that she's doing better than fine." Eleonora smiled.

"What about you? Did anyone from the party catch your eye?"

"Nope." Eleonora said while they reached the next spot and she climbed up another tree. After the tenth time of climbing a tree again it started to be easy. It reminded her of her childhood.

"You'll find someone soon enough."

"You know, Dede gave me some pills to dull my sense of smell and cover my scent somehow."

"What?" Nora looked shocked, almost dropping the cameras and sensors.

"I swear don't drop them!" Eleonora screamed, worry on her face for the expensive goods.

"Hell no. What kind of chemical trash are you taking?"

"No idea, but I like the idea of it. You don't have to be obligated to like someone because you're fated to be or attracted because of some scent."

"Why can't you see this fate as something like love at first sight. There's a good reason why wolves are fated for each other."

'There she goes again.' Eleonora thought to herself. Nora was a big fan of mates and loved the sweet stories how they met. Rather it was a coincidental meeting at the end of the world. If they were high school sweetheart or if they found each other in the eye of danger. For Eleonora's taste Nora read too many love stories and fantasy novels. It was well possible that the people who are mates liked each other, but there were always cases where a partner abused or mistreated the other one because of that undeniable love. Eleonora didn't want to be driven by some instinct or urge that went against her sense of reason.

"You know my point on that." That's were the conversation ended as usual.

"You'll change your mind once you find yours." Nora added quickly and handed Eleonora the next camera and sensor.

'Nora might be right with her statement. Maybe I really like my mate later.' But Eleonora was sure she wouldn't change her mind or regret thinking that way.

"Anyway, coming back to the topic of the pills. I think it's a good way to fall in love yourself or see who your mate is without all of those werewolf hormones."

"You do realize the mate bond is not dependent on the scent or smell of a person. It's the souls itself. It's true that you can recognize your mate by scent but that's not all there is. You can always reject him or her and the connection is cut, well in a painful way that is." Nora took a deep breath. "Hey!"

Eleonora was startled at the sudden call of Nora, that she barely held on to the tree to steady herself. "Are you crazy?"

"I smell blood." Nora's gaze was drawn to the end of the territory into the darkness of the forest.

Eleonora jumped down and was on alert. "Let's see what it is." She trusted Nora's words since Nora was a tracker and her nose was one of the best in the pack.

They made their way towards the direction where Nora had smelled the blood coming from, after a few minutes of walking Nora held her arm out to stop her friend. "Over there." She pointed at a spot in the high grass, Eleonora was able to smell the blood too since they had come closer, but she wasn't as precise and fast as Nora in finding and locating it. But she knew she had smelled that scent before.

Eleonora moved closer to the spot and pushed the grass out of the way. Something wet left on her hand. She took her phone out and lightened the are in front of her. Now that the area was lighter Eleonora could see a lot of blood and a triggered bear trap, gashes of flesh and black fur were stuck to it. She realizes who that scent belonged to. "A rogue must have tried to come into the territory again." She knew too well which wolf it was. "He got hurt badly with the amount of blood that he lost."

"How gruesome. I hope no other animals walk into the traps. Who set them anyway?"

"I have no idea. Dad didn't say anything about this. I'll have to tell him about this later. Let's go home for now, we'll install the last cameras tomorrow when it's bright again."

Nora nodded quickly and the two returned to the pack house. Nora said her goodbyes and left for her own house.

"Are you done already?"

Eleonora jumped at the sudden voice.

"What got you so scared?" Theo laughed at her.

"Nothing, I just didn't know you were here." She looked at her brother, he was in his workout clothes and coming out of the door to the garden, probably wanting to go for a late-night run. "Do you know anything about bear traps near the border?"

"Did you find any?" He asked startled.

"Yes, but none of us got hurt by it. I wanted to ask dad about it tomorrow."

"I didn't hear him say anything. But it's dangerous if there are more traps laying around. There are kids playing in the forest, they could get caught in it."

"If you're going for a run, let me join you. I'll show you the spot." Eleonora suggested. "And there is something else you should know, wait for me here."

Theo nodded and waited for his sister to return in gym clothes. After a fast run they reached the area with the bear trap that Nora and she had found earlier.

"What else did you want to tell me?"

"There was an animal trapped inside that freed itself." Eleonora explained walking closer to the trap and the scent of blood getting thicker. "I think it was a black werewolf and the scent matches that of the rogue from the lake."

A low growl escaped Theo's lips. It was understandable that he would be angry, knowing that the same rogue who intruded their territory once tried to do the same thing again. And almost succeeded at it.

"Come on." Eleonora motioned for Theo to follow.

"You want to track him?" Theo said in disbelief running a hand through his black hair.

"It's the best chance we got."

Theo sighed and followed, giving the sign for Eleonora that he agreed. They both sniffed the air and followed the trail of blood and lingering rogue scent.

"Just for the record, this is a stupid idea. We know there are at least three rogues if not more and we could be walking right into their lair." Theo stated.

"Jap." Eleonora replied in a happy tone. "And at least one of them is hurt. We're just going to talk to them."

"They didn't seem to want to talk when they attacked you last time." Theo stated coldly.

Eleonora rolled her eyes at him. This time she would be prepared and not caught off guard by any attacks. "That's why you're here."

Even if her brother was annoying at times, she trusted Theo more than anyone else in a fight. It could have been because the two sparred together almost everyday and knew each other's fighting styles like their own.

The two followed the trail for almost an hour as rain started to fall. Eleonora held her hand out to see how much it was, the rain was gradually getting stronger the further they went.

"If we don't find anything soon the rain will wash everything away."

"I know." She snapped.

"Leo, we have to hurry up." Against her expectations Theo speed up their tempo and took the lead in the search. Eleonora had already thought that her brother would turn around and leave but he must have been more determined to find the rogue than she thought.

The rain didn't stop and a few minutes later they were walking in what felt like a storm. Eleonora's shorts and her green shirt were stuck to her skin like glue, Theo didn't look any better his long curls hang flat on the sites of his face and looked worse than usual. Eleonora didn't even know that was possible. But she couldn't complain. Her own hair was wet to the point that her curls were almost straightened out from the rain. Red strands of hair fell into her face, and she had trouble keeping it in place. At the last attempt of tying her hair up her hair tie snapped and she was left with an open mess on her head. It was an understatement to say they were a mess.

"I think we're getting closer." Theo said, fighting against the sound of the storm with his own voice.

"Then keep quiet." Eleonora shushed at him. "Here." She reached into her pocket and took out two small white pills.

"What is that? I'm not taking any drugs from you."

"Do you really think I'm carrying drugs with me? Idiot." The whispered the last part.

"I heard that." He angrily took the pill and swallowed it. "Happy now?"

"Very." She swallowed her own pill. She was happy that she had taken the scent masking pills that Dione had given her. This was a perfect chance to try them out.

"What are they good for?" Theo asked while ogling his hands strangely as if fearing they could fall off any moment.

"You swallowed it without knowing that?"

"You gave it to me in the first place, why are you complaining now?"

"Forget it. They mask your scent a little, we can stay unnoticed like this." Eleonora started walking further into the direction they suspected the rogue in. It didn't matter that their own sense of smell was blocked by the pills, they couldn't smell anything anyway, the rain was too heavy for that. They simply relied on their instincts now.

"I won't even ask where you got this. I bet this is still some illegal drug."

"For once you're right about something."

He rolled his eyes and they walked further in silence. They had to be more cautious now, Eleonora had a feeling that they were getting closer to the right spot. That's when Theo grabbed her by the arm to stop her, covering his lips with his finger to make her keep quiet. She nodded in response and Theo pointed at a spot in the distance.

The two had stopped on top of a small hill at the edge of the forest. The rain was still covering most noises and smells but they could see two figures in the distance, two wolves to be exact, a black one and a light brown one. Theo and Eleonora didn't make a sound and waited.

The wolves seemed to just lay around and do nothing, that was until Eleonora saw that the black wolf was lying on his side and the brown wolf was licking his hind leg.

'He got caught in the bear trap and she's nursing him.' A strange thought came to Eleonora's mind. What if the black rogue who attacked her was now cozily lying around with his mate. She found it surprising, but rogues had mates too, it was just uncommon. Most rogues were male, and she-wolves didn't like to leave their packs to life in neutral territory. And only in very rare cases did the rogue wolf join his mate's pack. There was always a reason why a werewolf went rogue, some were banished for crimes, others fled, but only a few packs were nice enough to give second chances.

Eleonora took a step forward, but Theo's strong arm stopped her. He shook his head with a stern look, not wanting her to go any closer. Just as they turned back around the two wolves stood up and seemed to say their farewells. The she-wolf snuggled up to the black rogue, then she turned around and ran away.

"I'm going after her." Eleonora hadn't finished her sentence as she was running into the direction of the she-wolf.

Theo did the same as her and ran into the other direction, running after the rogue. They had to at least find a place where he was hiding.

Eleonora pushed some branches out of her face as she ran through the cover of the forest, it was hard to keep up with the speed of the she-wolf since Eleonora was still in her human form. She couldn't let the distance get too big in fear of losing her. But she couldn't run too close either in fear that the she-wolf noticing her, tried to fight or inform the black rogue of their pursuers.

Eleonora was sure they had made it into another pack's territory by now, the she-wolf was getting slower, and her head and ears turned to pick up any sounds. The rain had subsided and you could sniff again. Eleonora was still following the brown she-wolf as she walked up to two other wolves, supposedly of her pack. The she-wolf casually trotted past them and nodded her head as if acting normally.

'Oh.' A thought came to Eleonora. 'The she-wolf must be on patrol in her pack. She could be a fighter or a tracker.' Seeing the small frame of the she-wolf Eleonora wanted to guess she was a tracker. She followed silently and saw her switch her shift with two other werewolves.

A couple of minutes later the she-wolf reached a little cottage and returned to her human form before entering the house. Eleonora could get a glimpse of the brown-haired woman, she looked to be a few years older than her but not older than thirty. Her skin was slightly tanned, probably from the sun. Eleonora could see the woman's beautiful features before she vanished into the house. She saw that the lights were turned on in various places of the house before they were shut again.

She sighed deeply. What would she do with this information now? It's not like the black rogue would come here to find her. She hoped Theo had a better chance at following him.

Her phone went off suddenly, she fiddled into her pocket to stop the sound that it made. She looked ahead of her and saw the lights in the house turn on again.

"Shit!" Eleonora quickly swiped over her screen and took the call. "Are you nuts!" She would have screamed at Theo if she didn't have to be quiet. She looked up from her hiding spot between trees, thankfully the lights were turned off again.

"Didn't you have your phone on silent?" Theo asked and she cursed herself for forgetting it.

"What happened, why are you calling?" She whispered into her phone.

She heard a deep sigh, meaning no good. "I lost him."

Footsteps were heard behind her, and Eleonora pushed herself against the tree as good as possible, hoping she wasn't visible in the dark spot.

"Alpha Dane should be happy to hear nothing happened tonight." A male voice said.

"Yeah, sure." A younger man answered, judging by the voice. Eleonora thought he sounded rather bored.

She tried to look up silently, not wanting to alarm the two men that were passing past her. She got a silhouette to both voices, a man in his forties or fifties and a younger man around her age. She felt that she had seen him somewhere before but couldn't remember where. He had dark brown hair and a piercing on his left ear, at the collar of his shirt she could see a tattoo in his neck. But the men left as fast as they came, sadly Eleonora didn't get a clear look at their faces.

'Alpha Dane.' Eleonora repeated the name in her head. She had heard it a lot from her father. Alpha Dane was the Alpha of an allied pack. A wide grin spread over her lips.

"Leo?" Theo's voice was heard through the phone again. "Is everything fine?"

"Yeah, sorry. Someone was passing by just now."

"Good. So, what about you? Did you find anything?"

"Well." She stopped, if she told Theo about the she-wolf he would tell their father and he would try to talk to the woman and find out where the rogue is. But if her guess was right and the woman was the rogue's mate, she couldn't risk giving away this chance. The woman wouldn't sell out her mate to an enemy. She was meeting him in secret at night, out in neutral territory, that said enough about the risks she would take. "Nothing. I lost her too. I guess she was a tracker, she outran me."

"Shit." He sighed. "Fine, let's meet back at the border." Theo said with a disappointed voice.

"See you." Eleonora hung up and swiped on her phone. She opened maps and saved the location she was at. This way she could easily find the house again.