Moonlight Nocturne

"... Okay." She smiles tentatively, leaning in to steal a bite from Miriam's vareniky. "Yeah. She's... she's really good. I help sometimes."

 

"Maybe we can go see Joanna once you get your homework done, if you want to go somewhere cool?"

 

"... who's Joanna?" Elena perks up, playing with the hilt of the dagger strapped around her waist. "Is she a wolf too?"

 

"She's our Alpha," Nick grins.

 

"... I thought Natasha was your alpha?"

 

"....what?" He chokes. "What. Nattie?"

 

"... she's an adult and ... and in charge and stuff! And she talked to Mom!"

 

"Yeah, but. That doesn't make her in charge?"

 

"... so what makes Joanna in charge?" she asks, cocking her head curiously. "... we can really go meet her?"

 

"...she just is." Nick shrugs. "I dunno. She's cool, though... and yeah, it should be fine."

 

Elena beams, bouncing with excitement. "... I just have to finish my book report and spelling. I'm almost done."

She'll just find somewhere comfortable to curl up and finish, and then they can go.

 

The trip in the car winds through plenty of houses - and gives way to a gorgeous, wooded vista of a view, with houses few and far between, bounded by plenty of woods...

 

"We're on pack land, now," Nick chirps, sending the truck offroad and onto a gravel path... heading towards a strange, sprawling house hidden in the woods.

 

Elena stares, eyes wide. She thought the mansion was a lot, but this...

"... she lives here? Alone??"

"... What's pack land? Are there other wolves here?"

 

"No. The boys live here, and so does Winter, sometimes."

He puts the car into park, opens his door, and stops as a small, red-furred cat hops onto his lap, miaowing demandingly. "...heya Red." He skritches her ears.

"Pack land is our territory.... plus Joanna bought a big chunk outright, on the legal end. She works as a ranger."

 

"She has a punch dagger but won't teach me to use it."

 

"... you guys are the coolest people ever," Elena says breathlessly. "... what's territory for? I thought the city was your territory? Does Joanna fight wildfires and everything? Can I have a punch dagger?"

 

"Uuuh it's turf? Like. Your area. Uh. Not really, I mean, sometimes? Yeah, she does lots... and. Uh. Probably not?"

 

She barrels into him with a hug, grinning like a loon. "Can we go meet her?"

They... they let her in. They let her see stuff and know stuff and... be part of something. She's never been part of a pack before.

 

Red scurries out of the way, then hops onto the truck, pointedly grooming her paws.

"Well, yeah, that's why we're here, isn't it?" Nick grins.