The Last Spirit Wolf (Elena Norwood)

-Noah-

Vera immediately takes my hand, not even questioning where we're going. As she rises, the papers that were on her lap fall to the floor; we maneuver carefully through the mountains of paperwork. I take a quick look around and it strikes me that this place seemed a lot more put together before we left.

"What happened here?" I ask her as we make our way to the door.

She turns to look at some of the old healers that are just looming over her all the time; she's giving them the stink eye. "Don't worry, I'll find out soon."

They all scatter, understanding the implicit threat in her tone.

I can't help but chuckle. Seeing her always raises my mood, but moody Vera is hilarious, as long as it's not directed to me.

We make it past the clinic, the Beta chambers, the Council Meeting Room, and the dining room as we head to exit the Castle. "Where are we going?" She finally asks.

"You'll see," I simply say.

When we are exiting the Castle, the guards bow slightly to me, noting that I am leaving without an escort. One of them comes forward a few steps, but I shake my head. I rather have no one with us for this. We walk further away from the Castle, venturing within the forest a few miles until we reach the clearing.

Once there, I proceed to take my clothes off and fold them neatly on the ground. When I turn to look at Vera, she scans me up and down with an eyebrow raised.

"You know, as tempting as this is, I don't think I want mosquito bites on my ass," she says.

I chuckle.

"I like where your mind went, but..."

I quickly shift into my lycan.

Realization dawns on her face and she smiles, quickly removing her clothes and folding them next to mine.

"Finally!" she says.

She closes her eyes and breathes slowly, concentrating.

While to most wolves, or even lycans, her age, the transformation to our beast forms is almost instant, Vera hasn't had much time to bond with her wolf, so it takes her a few seconds to call her forth. Suddenly, I see her begin to transform. I'm always in awe whenever I see her wolf. She looks like a mythical creature, her fur iridescent and changing tones in the sun. Her big white eyes also have a shine to them. My lycan can't help but begin wagging his tail.

We take a step towards her, as she happily taps her paws on the ground, feeling it for the first time in a long time; but as soon as she sees us, she begins running away, playfully.

She runs deeper and deeper within the forest. If Vera in her human form is unnaturally fast, in her wolf form, she's unmatchable. The trip to visit the Cerulean House really would've been a lot quicker if she had been able to turn.

We run for maybe ten miles in no time, reaching the destination Vera's wolf likely had in mind; her waterhole.

There are several hidden lakes and waterholes in lycan territory, some of which we aren't even aware of yet. This one seemed to have been hidden from everyone until Vera's wolf found it one time; it's become her favorite place to come to ever since. The waterhole is covered in greenery all around, with large trees surrounding it protectively. Only some rays of the sun are allowed to come through.

With one look my way and without hesitation, she jumps in.

We see her swimming further and further away, enjoying the way the water droplets on her fur makes it seem almost as if she's glowing. She even swims on her back, with her paws resting upwards and her tail wagging underwater.

We wait for her at the shore; lycans and water don't get along very well.

My lycan is looking at his mate, wagging his tail incessantly. Last time this happened, he wagged it so hard it hurt for a week. I had promised he wouldn't get any more face time with her if he kept this up, but this ban on Vera transforming also weighs heavily on him; he misses his mate.

After about half an hour, Vera swims back to us, shaking off the excess water from her fur. When she comes closer to us, my lycan tackles her to the ground to lick off the rest of the water from every inch of her body. Once he's done, Vera swtiches back to her human form, and my lycan proceeds to lick her entire face.

"Stop!" She's giggling, trying to push him off but he won't listen.

The past months, it's been harder to control him, especially around Vera. Right now, I have to really concentrate to turn back into my human form. Once I do, I get off of Vera so she can wipe her face.

"I'm sorry about that, he's been harder and harder to control around you. Ever since Alistair tried to have me killed, it's like he has a mind of his own."

"Don't worry about it," Vera says, wiping her face with some water and then coming to sit next

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"I wonder why that is. Both Caleb and Eli have let their lycan take over completely and this has never happened to either of them."

Vera stays quiet for a while.

"You know, your lycan sounds a lot more like a wolf than a lycan," she finally says.

I turn to look at her,

"But I'm a lycan," I say.

I don't mean to sound dismissive, but it's a ridiculous idea for anyone who has seen me turn.

"I mean, how crazy is it really? Your mother was a wolf, one from a very powerful line at that. Us werewolves have a partnership, so to speak, with our wolves. If they don't like something, if they don't agree with something we do, they'll let us know. They have a mind of their own. Lycans on the other hand, are subservient to their human forms."

I stay silent, considering the idea Vera is suggesting.

After a few minutes, it still sounds absurd.

"So, how was the Council meeting?" she asks, breaking the silence.

I sigh.

"Well, I put the whole wife thing to rest," I say.

"How did that go? Any opposition?" She asks sarcastically. Of course, she knew this wasn't going to go over well with the Council.

"Caldwell, as usual. Fortunately, the majority had very little to say."

She frowns.

"Doesn't this seem a little too easy?" she asks, concerned.

"Definitely. Let's just hope the plan we propose will counter any further disagreement. Speaking of which, what happened to the clinic?"

She shakes her head in disbelief.

"Can you believe those bastards dismantled everything? We were gone for a few days, and they dismantled the entire setup we had been working on for *months* because 'it wasn't working for them' I really... Noah... You might have to bail me out with the Council because I'm sending those rats back home if they pull some shit like this again."

I chuckle.

"You can do whatever you want, V. It's your clinic, you can handle it whichever way you like."

"Thank you for that," she smiles, "I'll have them cleaning toilets by the end of the week, as soon as I find out who the mastermind was."

I smile as she leans onto me.

We stay like this for several minutes, just enjoying each other's company and the beautiful

scenery.

"We should get back," I say after a while.

"Yeah, I have so much work to do still, I might have to pull an all-nigher again."

She stands up and prepares to turn. I stay in my human form to watch her. I usually like spending time with her wolf in my human form; her mere presence is soothing. When she's fully turned, her wolf comes to me, licking my face gently. "I missed you, too," I tell her, rubbing her head gently.

Then, I turn into my lycan so that we can return back to the Castle. This time, we run side by side, with a lot less urgency.

When we get to the clearing, we each turn and put on our clothes.

"Are you ready?" I ask her.

"Yeah," she says, flipping her hair from the collar of her shirt.

I offer my hand to her.

"Let's go, then."

She happily takes my hand and we walk back to the Castle, each dreading the work we have ahead of us.

"Your Highness," Caleb is waiting for us at the Castle entrance.

"Caleb," I nod at him.

"We have been summoned to a Special Session by the Council," he says and I frown.

"What's a Special Session?" Vera asks, looking at Caleb with a worried expression.

"It can mean anything, but we should hurry in, I don't want that weasel Caldwell to get in ahead of us."

Caleb turns and goes into the Castle first, leaving Vera and I behind.

"Good luck," she whispers, rising to her tippy toes and lightly pecking me on the lips.

We're still not used to showing affection in public, much less within the Castle.

She goes in before me, turning directly towards the King's wing, or rather, to the clinic.

I go in shortly after her, taking in a large breath before facing that den of snakes.