Rising from the Ashes
Chapter 21

The art class had gone well and went too quickly. It had started with Charlotte's disappointment because no they do not choose what they paint and it was not portraits they were doing. Elenora had told Charlotte that it would do her some good to challenge herself. She had merely responded that it wasn't as if Elenora was challenging herself. Landscapes are Elenora's area of expertise. They were painting a lake so Elenora added a dock, a boat, and a person to prove a point. Now the person doesn't look near as good as the rest does but she doesn't look terrible either.

All in all Charlotte seemed quite happy and she had indeed learned something. She also ate all of the food they had there. "Where are we going?" Charlotte asks for about the millionth time "And when are we shifting?"

"We will get there. I promise. For now there's this lovely thing called nature surrounding us. It would do you some good to enjoy it."

Right at that moment a bird chose to fly right above Elenora and poop. Thankfully it only landed on her shoe. "Ah the wonders of nature," Charlotte laughs

"Tell me about it kid. These are Cadence's shoes and it will be wonderful to see her face when she sees them." With that Elenora stops right beside the beautiful clearing. The Bluemoon pack is filled to the brim with several gorgeous places. This clearing is one of them. It's a small pond surrounded by trees. The water is so clean it is practically see through and it's fairly deep which makes for a good swim. As directed Mia left some swim suits on a rock.

"Isn't it a bit cold for swimming?" Charlotte mutters though she still looks fairly excited. "It's only just spring."

Fire engulfs Elenora's hands "Perhaps with anybody else it might be." With that Elenora sticks her hand in the water. Among boiling somebody alive from the inside Elenora can also warm up water. This took some practicing. At first all Elenora could do was boil the water instead of just warming it up. Mia was quite happy when she got the hang of it.

"Alright I'm jealous." Charlotte grumbles before changing into her swimsuit. Mia had bought her a nice one piece. Elenora picks up her own and eyes it.

"Where is the rest of it?"

"It's a bikini mom. That's all there is."

"I would have saved some money if I just wore my under garments."

Charlotte only laughs before diving into the pond. "It feels like a hot tub. I'm swimming in a fancy pond hot tub." Then she dives under the water again.

They stayed in the pond for hours. Long pass the time their fingers and toes started to wrinkle. Occasionally Elenora would have to heat the water up again. They stayed so long they lost track of time. Elenora told Charlotte hours ago that they would have to get out soon if she wanted to shift. Apparently swimming trumps shifting because they didn't get out until they resembled raisins. Apparently it had been a long time since Charlotte got to swim. They didn't have places in the Stonebridge pack. Not like this. You had to pay to go places and Charlotte never wanted to ask Jackson for anything. She didn't want to bother her.

"Remember you promised we could come back."

"I promised you we would go swimming again but not here." Elenora tells her as they walk towards the cabin. It's probably past six o'clock. Hopefully Nakoa will understand.

"Why not here? Here was perfect."

"I mean if you don't want to see the huge waterfall I guess that's fine. I thought you might-"

"Waterfall? There's a waterfall? Tell me we are never moving away from this pack!" Not too long ago Elenora might have told her that with absolute certainty. The Bluemoon pack is a beautiful place to go. It is filled to the brim with places that feel almost magical. Elenora suspects that somewhere near, if not inside of the pack is a door to the fairy realm. They are extremely hard to replace but it would make since with some of the creatures Elenora has seen just walking through this forest. It would explain the feel of the place too.

"The Bloodmoon pack has some nice places too." Elenora mutters before she can stop herself. "They have some really old ruins that run underground. A nice school too. Very nice school."

For awhile a comfortable silence falls between them as they walk. Then a very familiar creature runs up to her and farts fire out of its butt. The stone creature is usually terrorizing the folks on neutral grounds so it is quite a shock to see it here. "What is that thing?"

"A drocco. According to Nakoa they are quite dangerous. This one seems to enjoy farting in peoples face. Fun fact, when it farts, fire shoots from its butt."

"That is adorable! Can we keep him? Can we please keep him?" The drocco seems to know exactly what Charlotte said and what it means. It runs around Elenora in circles, it's stone paws lit up in flames. Elenora has to repeatedly extinguish the flames so it doesn't burn down the entire forest. "It could be your little fire buddy!" The drocco makes a sound that sounds somewhere between a roar, a bark, and a thunderstorm. That's the best way to describe it.

"Charlotte we live in a cabin built of wood. This is a dangerous fire creature that constantly sets things on fire." Elenora points to his flaming paws which conventionally are no longer on fire. Charlotte looks up at her. Elenora glares down at the drocco. "It's a no Charlotte. A hard no. How about a dog instead? A cat? A lizard. Lizards are great. Lizards don't light things on fire. Lizards are quiet."

"Lizards are boring! Now lets name him. Rocco? No that's too obvious. He needs a strong name though."

"If you name something you get attached," Elenora warns.

"That's a good point. How about you name him?"

"Alright you're going back to neutral grounds drocco. You're giving my daughter ideas." With that Elenora picks him up. He's quite heavy and he seems to be quite reluctant to go anywhere but their home. The sound leaves him again and he farts in her arms. Once again fire shoots from his butt but Elenora had been prepared. It merely brushes against her like the wind. "Nice trick but you are not setting me on fire." Elenora glares down at him "Drocco's are not pets Charlotte. They are a highly intelligent and highly mischievous species according to Nakoa. If he is out of the fairy realm than he either left himself or he was banished. I do not want to risk letting him into my home if it is the latter." Elenora holds him up to face her head on "Go home. Now." Then she sets him down. He disappears somewhere in the bushes.

Here is something to know about Drocco's. They are not sneaky because though this one had stayed mostly out of sight Elenora had heard it follow them home. When Elenora caught sight of it the drocco had stood completely still as if trying to pretend to be a rock.

It is not long at all before they finish the walk to the cabin. Nakoa is already there. I both hear him inside and smell him. It seems Mia had given up on waiting and started to cook for her. That was most likely to have something to do with her hands. Mia is too polite to hide in her room with a guest but that does not mean she is comfortable around Nakoa. "Oh thank god." Elenora hears Mia whisper "They're here!" She calls out for Nakoa who had already stood up and started walking towards the door.

"Mom," Charlotte calls as they move up the steps. She's still smiling. She hasn't stopped smiling today and Elenora didn't realize how much she missed just spending time with Charlotte. "Thank you for today," I can't help but hug her again "Are you going to be busy tomorrow?"

"Now that depends on whether you've done your homework or not. Have you?" Charlotte's silence is the answer "After your homework we'll go somewhere. I've got to do my own anyways. I'm hoping to get a bit ahead at work so I have more time to breathe."

"Does that mean you'll be able to make it home?"

Elenora wants to tell Charlotte that is the case except by now she had picked up on just how unreasonable Cadence is. Elenora suspects it'll only get worse after two days off. Fortunately Cadence didn't have enough time to set an unreasonable time to come in so Elenora will be getting there at six in the morning and no sooner.

Unfortunately Elenora doubts she will be able to make it to the shop to clean up her desk and so she will be working amongst the cobwebs for one more week.

They walk in together. The first thing Charlotte does is head for her room and then the bathroom. It seems she wants to shower before she eats. Elenora had lived in the forest for years. In the forest a dip in a pond or river is a shower. She'll be fine for now. Instead she walks right towards Nakoa and kisses him. It is quick and polite for Mia's sake. "You smell like pond." Mia mentions "How did you enjoy shifting? Charlotte was most excited about that earlier."

"It didn't happen. She didn't want to part from the pond. Are you making steak? Did Nakoa tell you to cook his practically raw?"

"No." Nakoa answers before Mia can. He pulls her right on top of him and buries his nose in her neck. Elenora suspects they are both going to be more touchy. They had spent too much time apart -mostly because of her- and usually mates spend the most time together when they first meet and scent mark each other. "I will eat it however she made it." Elenora rolls her eyes at him. That's the one thing she hates about him. The fact that he practically denies that entire part of him. He gets embarrassed when he drinks blood and he hides it away as if he's ashamed.

Mia offers Nakoa an unsure smile "Good because I made it practically raw. Elenora mentioned your preferences before. She also said you were too polite to say something."

Elenora has to pull away to face him completely "I did not use polite. Mia is far too kind to say what I actually said on the matter." It was a very colorful rant not too long after he told me what he was and what he drinks. While on the road Elenora realized just how much he tries to hide it all. It is one of the things Elenora decided to fix about him if you will. He has no reason to be embarrassed.

"Won't it make your daughter uncomfortable if she has to watch me eat a raw steak?

"Why the hell would I care?" Charlotte shouts from the bathroom "Unless Mia cooks mine raw. We'll have a problem then!" Elenora can only smile. The only person in this place that seems to care is the person that should care the least.

"How can I enjoy your sexy vampire side if you are always trying to hide it from me?" It sounded more like a whine than Elenora would like to admit. His eyes flash in appreciation. Elenora has less than one second to enjoy the red in his eyes before they go back to the usual brown.

"You two are disgusting!" Charlotte is sure to shout from the back room. Elenora has nothing but love in her heart for Charlotte.

That doesn't mean that she can't be a pain in the ass sometimes.

"I think you two are cute." Mia offers as she puts the steaks on the plate. Nakoa's steak looks as if it was in the pan long enough to just barely cook it before she plopped it on the plate. Nakoa eyes it as if it's gold on a plate. "Hurry up Lottie! It's done." Mia calls and it's not long before they're settled around the table.

Nakoa is the last to dig in but the first to finish. For the first few seconds he looked normal and then he went full vampire. Alright Elenora is an unhealthy amount of attracted to this man. She can't look away. Apparently neither could Charlotte or Mia because they had both stopped eating to stare at Nakoa. Mia's eyes had went from his nails to his fangs to his eyes. "Am I allowed to ask questions? I have a lot of questions." Mia blurts out before she can stop herself.

Elenora leans back and watches the show. She probably shouldn't. She should probably step in and tell them that all the staring seems to make Nakoa wildly uncomfortable. She should probably snap that Nakoa is not a fairy in a festival preforming magic tricks for fun. Except if Nakoa is uncomfortable he has a mouth and he can tell them that.

Not only that but it is hilarious to watch Mia in her mental debate that screams, This man is an Alpha. No! This man is your best friends mate and you will be preforming the ultimate best friend 'hurt her and die' talk.

Nakoa looks to Mia and he seems to have his own little mental debate This is a rogue and I must kill all rogues except my beautiful feisty smart amazingly wonderful mate. This is also my mates best friend and said mate will kill me if I am hostile in any way, shape, or form so I must be polite.

His mental debate probably went exactly like that and Elenora is flattered because of it. Flattered. "This is some intense staring. Shall I get the popcorn?" Charlotte gets up to do exactly that only to come back with strawberry ice cream instead "Didn't want to wait for the timer. Continue." Elenora can only snort.

Both Mia and Nakoa are still staring at each other in silence. "So is that a no on questions?" Mia finally breaks the silence between the two of them "If so you might as well just tell me instead of staring at me like you're Aro waiting to rip my head off."

"Who?" Nakoa frowns but Mia only smiles. Charlotte seems to get what Mia is talking about because she laughs as if she's in on some joke with Charlotte. Elenora merely stares at them. Who the hell is Aro?

"Why does he have to be the villain? Can't he be the intense lover?" Charlotte questions but Mia only offers a shrug. Which villain is my mate and is he at least the handsome sort of villain? Scratch that. Charlotte's asking the right questions. Why can't Nakoa be the intense lover? No why can't he be both? If we are talking on a strictly fiction hypothetical level I feel like the villain is always quite good looking and if said villain happens to be an intense lover Elenora wouldn't exactly cry over it.

"Who is Aro?" Nakoa turns to Elenora. Charlotte snorts again the little brat. Would it be such a surprise for Elenora to know who they are referring to? She doesn't but would that be so surprising?

"I haven't a clue." Elenora admits

Nakao sighs and lets it go before finally answering Mia's question "Ask me what you want." He decides. Mia automatically holds up her fingers in question, wiggling them around. Elenora instantly knows what she's asking because she too found it incredibly interesting. Nakoa doesn't understand at all but Mia is already looking at him like she asked her question.

"She wants to know about the blackened fingertips that come out when you're slipping into your vampiric side more than you'd like." Elenora fills in, half tempted to ask him if she could answer the question. It is quite interested and it is the feature she is most jealous about. He can quite literally kill somebody with a scratch. Except that one time she nicked herself on his nail. To be honest she felt more high on something than not. Nakoa is like a walking drug in more ways than one.

Nakoa sighs as if this question is particularly bothersome to him. Elenora kicks him under the table as hard as he can and smiles at him when he jolts up and glares at her. Finally he turns to Mia. "When I am more vampire than werewolf my fingertips will blacken and poison will lace up my nails. If they are like that and I happen to accidentally scratch a werewolf than it is an incredibly deadly poison to them. I have had quite a few incidences like that in my own pack and while traveling. In those cases I rely solely on my Elder to heal them though I do keep a serum on me just in case he is not around."

With that explanation the table goes silent for less than a second before Charlotte takes a break from devouring her ice cream to speak her own thoughts on the matter. It is a more mature thought than Elenora had when she found out. Elenora acted like an excited child. Charlotte speaks with thought. She's both ashamed of herself and proud of the person Charlotte had become without her. "I admire the trust and faith your pack must have in you. Assuming you don't hide this from them they had willingly let you be their Alpha despite this. I can't imagine how much they must love and respect you to do so." With that Charlotte continues to stuff her mouth full of ice cream.

Elenora can't help but stare at Charlotte for the rest of the night. How did she become this wonderful human being? How?

Of course she had always been like this in some way to some level. Even as a girl she'd stick to that corner in the orphanage and she had watched and she had observed. Of course then it was a lot harder to get her to open up and speak. She had to trust you and she'd have to like you. More than that she had to respect you. Now she is just growing.