Chapter 5 Savings

• Lakota
• I have checked my backpack for the umpteenth time since I woke up, I keep feeling as if I am missing something and for the life of me I can’t figure out what it is. Lotus is fast asleep in the back of my head as she kept watch all night, not that she doesn’t trust Dad or Lance she just wanted to be prepared in case something would happen.
• “Lala, what is wrong?” Dad asks and Lance is in stitches as he hears Dad call me by the nickname Mom gave me and that is when it hits me, I know what I forgot to put into my backpack. I kiss Dad on the top of his head as I walk past him and I yell thank you over my shoulder as I run back to my room.
• I slide under my bed to push up a floorboard in the middle of the floor and I grab the metal box I hid there years ago, it contains the things I treasure most in life. One is a picture of me with Mom and Dad, the other is a necklace that has been passed down for generations in my Mom’s family.
• It is a blood red crystal in the middle of a golden moon, the sign of Crystal Blood Pack and I decide to wear it instead of leaving it in the box. I place the picture inside one of my notebooks and I walk back into the living room to hear Dad and Lance discuss our options after we leave the territory.
• Lance knows where we want to go and he is tracing every possible route with is finger, he quickly disregards two routes as they lead past to many hostile Packs. Leaving us with three other routes we can follow, each with their own set of challenges and as we discuss the Packs we will have to pass Lance tosses another route out of the window.
• “This one will lead us past Hollow Moon Pack and they have an alliance with this Pack, he will have no problem with selling us out. It will be best to avoid them if that is possible.” Lance explains and I smile as I see Dad nod at his words, looks like it was a good idea to ask Lance to join us.
• Two routes remain after that and Lance asks Dad which route has the most friends along the way, “Why do you ask, Lance?” Dad asks him and Lance tells us that we might be able to reestablish those friendships, giving us an advantage in the future.
• “If they know where you want to settle down they might be able to help with rebuilding the territory or warn us if someone drops by asking questions about us.” Lance states and I see a surprised look on Dad’s face, I don’t think either one of us had thought about that.
• We just thought about getting out of here, but we never thought about the future and any help we might need from someone. I look at the map in front of us and both routes hold an equal amount of friends, but I don’t know if any of them ever had an alliance with Crystal Blood Pack.
• “Dad, which of these Packs had an alliance with Crystal Blood Pack” I ask as I keep looking at both routes and Dad is quiet, a bit to long for my taste, so I look up at him. I see a bright smile on his face and I think he has realized why I asked him this question.
• “You are a smart young lady, my Daughter. We will take this route.” He says as he points at the route we will be taking. “This is your Uncle’s Pack and I know he will side with us.” Dad points at a green mark as he speaks and Lotus gets excited about the prospect of visiting with family.
• “These two Packs will probably uphold the alliance we once had if we knock on their doors.” Dad says as he points at two other green marks, but I notice two other green marks he didn’t point at and I ask him about it. “Those Packs will be a guessing game, I don’t know if they will uphold our old alliance and I’d rather not find out until we are safe.” He answers.
• Dad explains that when he was still an Alpha that he had made those alliances for the sake of his Pack, but that he never really trusted any of the Alphas and neither had Mom. “Like Alpha Geofry they believed they needed to keep their Pack pure and that meant that if you found a same sex Mate or a Lycan Mate you had one of two choices.” He says.
• I know which two choices he is talking about, either you reject your fated Mate or you leave the Pack. Most would leave their Pack, hoping to find a Pack that was more than willing to accept them and some even ended up in the service of the King and the Council.
• Dad tells us that he took in his fair share of the couples that left their Pack for their fated Mate and how Mom would always do everything she could to help them settle in fast. My Uncle is the same type of male my Father is and I can’t wait to meet him and my Aunt.
• Rebel has been awfully quiet from time to time ever since we overheard Jace and Alpha Geofry, when she is ready she will tell me what she has been thinking about or what she has figured out and till that time I will help Dad and Lance get ready for our adventure.
• I quickly lay down on the couch as I smell Doc outside our door and Lance covers me with a blanket as he knocks on the door. Dad gets up to let him in and to let Doc do his job, we all know he doesn’t like the situation any more than we do.
• Doc sees me laying on the couch while Lance is standing in front of the window with his arms crossed over his chest, not paying much attention to me or Doc and Doc links me to ask if he needs to get rid of Lance for us, “What do you mean, Doc? He is just making sure I have everything I need, Alpha’s orders.” I answer him.
• “He is here to make sure you stay on the Gamma floor and he will be in the way of your escape plans.” Doc answers and I look at him in terror. “Doc, have you lost your mind. Why would you think such a thing? This is our home, this is our Pack and I don’t know where you got the stupid idea from that I would want to escape.” I say with a small voice.
• Doc pales as Dad and Lance growl at him and I am glad that Rebel choses to help me play weak in front of Doc, instead of growling at him. Lance leaves the room to stand guard outside our door, because he knows Doc won’t say a word to us with him around and through the mind-link I thank him for clearing the room.
• Doc starts telling us about Alpha Geofry and his fated Mate, that she took her own life after Jace was taken away from her and she was forced to watch another female raise her Son. That the same goes for the Beta’s fated Mate and that his Gamma was about to do the same thing when he was killed.
• “What happened to the former Gamma’s Mate?” I ask and I sigh in relief when I find out she found her second change Mate, but that he wasn’t a part of this Pack. “I doubt she ever knew what would have happened if the Gamma had survived, but I am glad she never had to find out.” Doc answers.
• “I have been wondering if it was only the Alpha or his entire leadership.” Rebel comments and I know that this is what had her preoccupied every time. “Doc, is there any evidence?” I ask him and I really hope there is evidence to give to the Council and bring this Pack to its knees.
• Doc shakes his head as he explains that the Alpha always took every file with him and every staff-member was Alpha commanded to never speak of it to anyone. “Ask him if there are blood samples from those females and if he says yes than ask him if he has samples from our future Alpha and Beta.” Rebel says to me.
• Before I ask Doc I link Dad to get his opinion about this, Dad decides to ask him those questions as I am supposed to be too weak and we don’t want Doc to know too much. If Alpha Geofry thinks he is involved he won’t have much to spill and it might save his life in the process.
• Doc tells us he will be back after dinner with everything we might need to proof our story to the Council and Dad fills in Lance on everything Doc told us. I take the map of the table to study it again and I let my finger trace the route we are going to take, taking in every Pack name that we will pass along the way.
• I place a few marks of spots where we can rest for the night and I constantly pick two spots about an hour apart, just in case we are traveling slower or faster than we expect. Our first stop tomorrow will be a small town that is known to have lone Wolves living there, not something you see very often.
• They all left their Pack for one reason or the other, but didn’t want to find another Pack to live in and they live there peacefully. Even a Council-member lives there and that is where we will get some of the money we have, just to make sure we have some on us if we need it.
• The rest we need will be ordered through the Council and Armas will take care of the payments, just like he has done ever since we settle down here. Dad has put every cent he could save into that account and together with the money from selling our Pack’s territory we will have enough to do as we please.
• Lance has all his savings in cash just like I do, not that the two of us have much but it will hold us over for the time being and after dinner we take turns in getting some sleep before we leave.