Chapter 16
Liora
“Liora!” Turning to the sound of someone calling my voice, I spy Luke running towards me
with a deer–a buck to be precise–over his shoulders. I laugh as the antler of the buck he
caught hits him upside the head, and he stumbles before slowing down to a walk.
“Nice catch, the pack will enjoy the meals this buck will provide,” I praise my friend. Three
days have passed since our arrival at Moonfire, and like clockwork, the Werewolf Council sent a representative with a notice the day after the attack. Since Luke is the current highest–ranking wolf in Moonfire, he was the one to receive the notice before the
representative left. We all knew what it was. It was a letter stating Moonfire has seven days to
find a new alpha and Luna, or the pack will turn rogue and the land will be seized. The letter
was a low blow to the wolves of Moonfire and caused many to break down, but Miss Maya
stepped in, reminding everyone that there is work to be done and homes to rebuild. That we all
needed to be strong.
“I know. I can’t wait for some good deer stew.” I laugh again at his childish enthusiasm and tell Luke to put the buck on the to–be–butchered pile. With the Moonfire pack being directed by Miss Maya and Dan in the restoration process, I decided to work with Luke and a few of his men in organizing a hunting party to refill the food storage of the pack. Luke would lead three warriors in the hunting part, while I worked with three omegas butchering the animals they bring back.
“Roy caught a boar, and Ash and Edison found some fish in the river that they caught,” he
continues as I turn back to the table I was working at. Earlier today, Roy, a scrawny yet muscular warrior, came in with a few rabbits he captured. The kills were neat, with him breaking their necks, and I was able to skin each animal carefully, saving the rabbit furs in
case we need them in the future.
“Miss Liora, are you almost done with the rabbit for the stew?” a timid voice asks from my
left.
“Just about. I have two more bones to take out, then you can have this last one, Evette,” I answer the omega with a friendly smile, before quickly removing the last of the bones. She thanks me as I hand her the rabbit, and disappears into the kitchen.
“It’s scary how good you are at handling knives,” Luke muses, as I bend down to look over the buck he brought me. I would say it is about two and a half feet tall at the shoulder, and maybe
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a good one hundred and twenty pounds. After looking at the antlers, I note that this buck is
three years old, making the meat the perfect toughness for consumption. Lifting the buck onto
my butchering table, I notice that there are some teeth marks on the neck and sigh. Shooting
it in the eye with an arrow would have been better so that I could salvage the hide.
O
“I know the kill is a bit sloppy, but I tried to keep it on the neck,” Luke explains sheepishly after hearing my sigh, rubbing the back of his neck.
“It’s a good kill. You just need to learn how to keep them cleaner,” I note, getting to work with
removing the hide from the meat. I ask Luke if he wants to keep the antlers, but he declines. I
shrug, knowing that the pack could use them to create arrows or other items. As I work on
butchering the buck, Roy comes and drops the boar onto the to–be–butchered pile and says
hello. I hum a noise of acknowledgment, too focused to say anything, and he shrugs with a
chuckle.
“I see our little beta here is hard at work, helping us prepare the meat,” Ash’s voice follows. I
stop what I am doing for a moment to see what fish he and Edison caught and grin when I
notice the trout in their hands. Each man carries six trout, for a total of twelve fish. They will
make for a great addition to our stock of protein.
“Ask one of the omegas to fillet those in the kitchen. They aren’t as messy as game meat is to
butcher,” I order the two, nodding in the direction of the kitchen door before looking down at
the blood–covered stainless–steel table. Ash whistles at the mess I have made, noticing the
pile of inedible organs in a metal bin beside my table.
“Why are you saving those?” he.asks, and I smirk, looking down at the pile.
“To burn into ash and turn into fertilizer. The omegas and I are making plans for a vegetable
garden that will supply the pack, so we don’t have to go into town so frequently,” I answer, resuming my work of butchering the buck, signaling that I am done talking. Luke and Roy
watch me, while Edison and Ash take their catch inside. With no one distracting me, I am able
to finish processing the buck and call a few of the omegas over to wrap and label everything
before they put it into the freezer.
Putting my knives down, I turn to examine the boar, trying to decide how I will handle it. The
skin has no fur or other use, so that will have to go. Maybe I can gut it and clean it out first.
“Save the pig for later. The pack and I have something we want to talk to you, Dan, and Maya
about at dinner, and if you haven’t noticed, it’s almost dinner time,” Luke calls out from the
boulder he sits on, Roy grinning like a child who just received a box of candy.
“I was actually thinking of using it for a pig roast,” I shrug, deciding to listen to my new friend. I
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call for Evette, asking her to take my knives inside for me while I wash and sanitize the table.
With my station cleared off, I begin to hose down the table, washing away the blood and other
fluids from the game I have been butchering.
“I am going to have a shower and get changed. I will see you both at dinner.” After putting the
hose away, I turn to Luke and Roy with a wink before heading inside the pack house. Due to everything that needed to be done, I asked Luke if I could move in here temporarily so that I can help if an emergency arises. He immediately agreed that this was a great idea, and was more than happy to help me move some of my essential items into the pack house before Dan hitched my trailer to his truck and took it to my cottage.
I wave to the omegas in the kitchen as I pass by, getting a few smiles from the omegas I have gotten close to before I make my way to the front of the pack house where I climb the stairs. and smile. The pack house was left a mess after the attack, but the omegas and I got it
cleaned up and turned it into the heart of the pack it was meant to be in no time.
I make a beeline to my temporary room and shut myself inside my little sanctuary. As much as I hate that I have been busy for the last few days, I am also thankful that the work has kept me from thinking about him. I still feel him, feel the bond that sparks every so often in hopes of being rekindled. I know it’s because of the pain I am holding back, and that the bond will fade as soon as Seth marks Caroline. That b***h has everything she wants, including me gone from her sight. If she takes one step onto Moonfire land though, I won’t hesitate to kill
her.
Shaking my head to clear the thoughts of my ex–mate away, I remove my clothes and throw them in my hamper before stepping under the spray of the shower. I just need a quick rinse–off to remove the stench of blood, and I will be fine.
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