This time it wouldn’t be so easy to fool them. Kaycee knew the boys would be so bored, while the girls looked over and ran tests on the blood samples, that they would focus on her. Mason’s Cappas had refused to take the team along for investigating where William or Derrick could have been given the poison so Hector and James would be all over Kaycee about why she had decided not to go back to the medical center as planned after her alarm woke her up at six this morning. She may not be able to avoid them forever, but at least for now they had no real idea of where she was. Even seeing Mason had been pushed back, as Kaycee shifted into wolf form and ran through the woods near the housing campus. She needed to clear her mind from the dream before facing anyone; to get her mind back under control before she lost it completely.
Upon waking up, Kaycee started to realize that parts of the dream made no sense considering the memory that started it. She remembers making the promise to never do a prank with real creatures, but after that, the dream broke away from the memory. Interacting with the Dream Katherine should have felt different somehow; not so real. It was like her sister had never died; like they had never been attacked. Like her studious sister was able to actually help work through all of the information that had been thrown at Kaycee throughout the treatments of Derrick and William. But Kaycee couldn’t figure out from where Katherine had come up with the information about the change from Rogue Syndrome to Wolfsbane allergy since Kaycee believed that no data had been forwarded yet from the other packs. The dream, Kaycee figured, had just been her subconscious inserting her own feelings into Katherine and maybe sharing some of the knowledge from the poisonings, but it was still odd to interact with even a dream version of Katherine again. It couldn’t be anything else. But...even in the constant nightmares following the attack, Kaycee had not felt the level of interaction with Katherine as during the dream last night. Until last night it was just reliving a memory.
Noticing she was getting closer to the housing campus, Kaycee slows her run to a slow walk. She knew she should be headed back, that the Omegas should have arrived by now. Mason was likely looking for her to introduce her to Uncle David, but she still didn’t really feel like being around anyone just yet. Though she was getting hungry. Kaycee had skipped breakfast, opting to drink one of the supplement shakes she usually drank as a nutrient boost after training or active missions instead. So by now, Kaycee’s stomach was ready for some real nutrients, and she hated eating in wolf form, as the raw meat didn’t always sit well once she shifted back. Sighing she decides to head over to the pack house at least to grab some food when Kaycee notices a car coming from one of the roads leading out of the campus to drive parallel to her path through the trees. The windows in the car were down, and the scents within the car reached Kaycee on the wind. Moss flower, granite-hyacinth, and dogwood scents hit her nose first. Then suddenly Kaycee noticed the scent of lilacs mixed with cedar, causing her to trip over her own feet.
The car turned into the central campus as Kaycee crashed into one of the trees by the road. Fucking hell, Kaycee thought, shaking her head to shake away the pain from the crash. Looking out at the road, Kaycee watched the car move out of her sight trying to reason through why the familiar scent would have thrown her off. Lilac. It was the lilac-cedar scent. Like Kat-Kat’s but like she has the same shifted scent as me, Kaycee thought as she got up and started to follow the car in confusion. She was so confused by the scent that she didn’t notice the musty-stone scent of another wolf coming towards her from the trees. At the last second, she senses movement behind her and leaps out of the way of a large auburn colored wolf who tries to tackle her. Recognizing him as James’s wolf Kaycee growls in annoyance before turning and trotting off towards the pack house.
"I almost got you," James said into her mind, giving her a wolfy grin as he matched pace with Kaycee.
Kaycee rolls her eyes at the comment and refuses to answer him. While on a mission it was nice to be able to communicate with him while in wolf form, but right now Kaycee really does not want to talk. James seems to sense this and just follows along until they get closer to the Pack house. As Kaycee starts to head into the house, James nips gently at her heels, causing her to turn and growl gruffly at him. He immediately moves into a playful stance to try and entice Kaycee to follow him by bouncing back and forth at her. Kaycee watches him a moment before glancing behind him at the training yard. There seems to be a large game of keep away or tag occurring that the whole pack is participating in. Focusing back on James, Kaycee sees that he is now rolling on his back and wiggling like he is scratching an itch. Snorting at him, Kaycee just shakes her head.
James stands back up and moves to rub cheeks with Kaycee. "Alpha Mason thought this would be a good way of meeting with our guests. Come play Kaycee," he tells her, moving towards the game before stopping to look back at Kaycee.
"I’m hungry. Plus, I need to meet up with Mason. My uncle is due to be coming in today," Kaycee tells him through the mind link, looking back at the game, her tail wagging slightly at the thought of playing.
James moves over to nudge Kaycee’s shoulder, "They are BBQ-ing with the plan to have a mingle for lunch after the game. I’m sure Mason would be okay with you playing before meeting your uncle. I did tell her I was going to see if you had headed back yet and get you to play, so she’ll probably be expecting to find you at the game anyways."
Kaycee looks once more over at the Pack house before taking off at a full run towards the training yard, giving a short playful howl. James gives a loud “woof “ before taking off after her. The two of them race each other before plowing into the game, Kaycee tackling Hector before taking off to try and tackle one of the Cappas who is gripping a large, worn out, leather disk that is the goal to claim. Grabbing the disk, Kaycee pushes instead of pulling causing the other’s grip to break allowing her to take off, to avoid losing it to someone else, towards the center of the training ring. Turning to see that everyone is a good distance away, Kaycee places the disk down in front of her and lifts her head, howling out a challenge before grabbing the disk and running off with several wolves and large cats in pursuit.
Kaycee’s howl echoes through the housing campus, causing the Thetas assigned to greeting and guiding guests at the large guest housing building to share smiles between them at the playfulness of their Omega. One of the Thetas, Williams mate and James’s mother, Natalie, had to shake her head when she heard the sound. Standing six foot; her thin, black hair is pulled back into a loose ponytail that reaches the middle of her back. Deceptively looking to be in her forties, Natalie actually is almost one hundred years old. Natalie’s thin frame is stronger than normal Thetas since her mate is one of the top ranking Cappas and very insistent on her being fit, indicated clearly in the lines of muscles that are made visible by her hold on the tablet she is using to check in guests. Her dark brown eyes glance up as a silver Cadillac pulls up into the drive of the guest housing. Walking down to meet the guests after brushing off her grey pants and straightening her cream-colored top she notices a young teenage girl sticking her head out the window as if trying to find something, auburn locks flowing in the breeze, her bright yellow flowy top with spaghetti straps catching on the frame of the car.
As the car makes a complete stop, the girl jumps out, her long legs being shown off in a pair of shorts that end halfway up her thigh and white flip flops on her feet and runs over to Natalie, bouncing slightly in excitement. “Did you hear the howl? Do you know where it came from? Was it a real challenge,” the girl asks in a rush, causing Natalie to chuckle with amusement.
“I did. It was our Omega, probably challenging players in the keep away game taking place in the training yard to catch her and take the prize back so no it's not a real challenge, just a playful one,” Natalie informs her with a smile, looking over to see a large man exit the driver’s door, dressed in black jeans and a long sleeve gray shirt, and walk towards her, brown sandals on his feet.
The girl’s eyes get even bigger as she bounces, even more, turning to look at her father. “Can I go watch them play? Please, Daddy?”
The man, clearly an Alpha based on the power surrounding him, shakes his head at his daughter’s antics. “I don’t know Nancy. I think we should find out where we are staying first.”
Natalie bows her head slightly at the Alpha as she jumps in with more information as Nancy starts to pout, “We can have someone take your bags up now and then have an escort later to take you to your room. We are going to have a BBQ lunch at the training grounds, where they are playing, once everyone has arrived. During the wait, you can even join into the game if you wish.”
Another woman, short in stature and dressed in a flowing blue sundress, tan sandals on her feet, walks over and holds onto the Alpha’s arm causing him to look down at her, “Let her go run off some of her energy David. She’ll pay attention better during the meeting later if you do,” the woman says, nodding her head at the pleading look on the teenager’s face.
David sighs but nods his head which causes Nancy to squeal and launch herself into his arms. He grunts slightly before hugging the girl. During this conversation, several Thetas have unloaded the trunk and are waiting patiently nearby so they could find out where to take the bags, one of them taking the keys from David and driving away to park in the guest parking area.
Looking down at the tablet, Natalie inquires, “I just need your affiliated pack so I can get your bags sent to your rooms.”
“We are the Dawns from Fox River Pack,” David tells her as another young woman comes to stand at his other side.
“Okay, so Alpha David Dawn, mate Valorie, and daughters Nancy and Katherine.” Natalie reads, making a mark on the tablet and waiting for the room assignments to pop up.
A soft giggle from Natalie’s right side causes her to glance up at the young woman who had snuck up to stand next to Natalie’s shoulder. “I’m actually his niece, Mama Guarst.” the woman corrects with a smile.
Natalie stares at the woman who smiles wider at the look of shock on Natalie’s face. The woman looks like a more feminine Kaycee. Her long, honey brown hair is pulled back by a clip, and she is wearing a lilac-colored sundress. Katherine’s light hazel brown eyes twinkles in laughter as Natalie reaches over and hugs the young woman to her.
Natalie had watched the girls often when they lived here at Blue Moon Pack Campus. When Kaycee had turned up alone, Natalie had been the first to volunteer to move temporarily to the guild so she could be closer to one of the little girls she had spent so much time with, even as it broke her heart that Kaycee had insisted on Katherine being dead.
Tears falling from Natalie’s eyes wet Katherine’s shoulder and the older woman begins to murmur “Goddess blesses, you’re alive, Katty’s alive.”
Katherine chuckles lightly, hugging Natalie tightly back, “Yeah, I’m alive Mama Guarst.”
Natalie pulls back and wipes away her tears, “You are an adult so you can call me Natalie, Sweetie. Everyone will be so excited to see you.” Natalie looks back at her tablet a moment, taking a deep breath to compose herself before reading off of it once more, “Alright, so your family is going to be sharing suite number twenty-three. Oh, and Alpha Mason left a note that she wants to meet with you, Alpha David, before the main meetings. I’ll just send a quick IM to let her know you arrived. Okay, she says she’ll be right down.”
“That sounds great,” Valorie replies, smiling graciously at Katherine’s interaction with Natalie, though she Is confused as to what has prompted the emotional response to the reunion.
“Why don’t I take Nancy over to the training grounds so we can join the game and you can wait for Alpha Mason here,” Katherine suggests, smiling at her Aunt and Uncle.
When David nods Katherine gives one more hug to Natalie, before grabbing her cousin’s hand and running around the corner of the guest housing, both girls giggling in excitement. Natalie smiles after the girls before moving to direct the other Thetas to take the Dawn’s bags to their rooms. Reaching the top of the stairs, she holds the door open so the bags can be carried in easier, glancing off to watch as Katherine and Natalie reaches the far corner of the guest house.
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