The Wannabe Warrior
Chapter 158

Zane POV

The whole packhouse was alive with new-found energy. Once the news that Madison was alive and well, talks about a party for when she returned and other excitement, well those who had loved Madison, there was a couple of girls here, that looked angry that Madison was still alive, and I was not sure if that was from being jealous, or because it meant they had no chance to be with me? Or they were traitors. We have had enough traitors in our midst, and now I was a little paranoid, and seemed to be watching for any sign of a traitor almost all the time. So, I was going to give the girls the benefit of the doubt and put it down to jealousy and have them watched, carefully as well, good to cover my butt this time.

Mitch and Graham seemed to have great relief, both having carried guilt for having had her kidnapped, while under their protection, and no matter how much I argued with them about that guilt, neither would bend and said they would carry that guilt for the rest of their lives. They first bumped each other. Those two had started to get a closer friendship, built on mutual guilt, a silly reason, but if that is what makes them into great friends, then I am all for it. Mitch needs to make more friends. He had been a little withdrawn since he learnt so many of his warriors were traitors, it had him not trusting his own judgement anymore and then, with Madison being taken under his watch, it was like the rug had been pulled from under him and he did not know what to do. Even dad was having trouble getting him out of his slump.

Not to mention, poor Addison, she found herself being smothered by Graham and she did not know what to do about it. I tried to console her, but the best I could really do was get the other two ladies to spend more time with her, so Graham would not fret about not being by her side, twenty-four seven, a little overboard-yes, but you can’t help how you feel. and I am sure if Madison was here, I would be tempted to do the same, you want to see your mate is safe and happy I could understand how he felt.

Dad had arranged to go to visit Alex for lunch and spend the day there, and I managed to get myself invited to come along. I wanted a look at this diorama that dad often talked about. It is said to give a whole new look to our lives above ground. The Deep Earth people snake about all over the place and I guess with over one thousand years of living and digging new tunnels as they grew, they would have a large area covered.

A group of us set out.

We loaded up some more of Marys cakes, muffins and bread, that Alex and his pack seem to enjoy, the exchange of good between the cooks had been the talk of the pack, we have a different palate than they do, and being introduced to their style of cooking had been an adventure of the taste buds, I did enjoy their savoury pies and they seem to enjoy Mary’s variety of muffin, more particularly was the apricot and the blueberry ones, a lot of fruits they do not get their hands on, as these do not grow locally and though other areas may have them, they do not seem to trade with each other, we have yet to sit down and learn more about these people, and they was of living.

Alex was outside of the cave waiting for us to arrive.

I guessed his scouts had alerted him of our pending arrival, and the hugs and slaps on their backs, as we greeted each other. They were warm and welcoming, having not been in the living area. This was new to me and I was eager to look at what Addison had talked about and how Cecilia and Lucy lived. They had often mentioned little things that were different and one place they both seemed to enjoy was the showers. The underground, they said, was different and they had to conserve water. Although they had an underground stream, it can dry up in summer if not handled with care, so they use the stream mainly for drinking and cooking and have another source of water for bathing, which is recycled for the toilet system, before it flows away through special tunnels dug just out for the waste.

Everything sounds intriguing and one day I might have to spend more time here looking at what they have and how we could implement some of the ideas aboveground.

The diorama was exactly as Madison had described to me and I was in awe at its detail. They do have a widespread tunnel system that covers more ground than I had expected, there must be thousands of countries covered, linking each pack together. I am told they have a different hierarchy system and I am interested in hearing about that.

‘There are a few mountains that are within a day’s journey if you go by land. These ranges here are the closest to the Dark River pack and, as you can see, that river snakes all around there, so she could be anywhere in that region. There are two small towns, one here and one there.’ Alex points to places on the diorama and the mountain range and my heart sinks at the two locations of the towns and then the huge area Madison could be in.

‘They may not be near a town.’ Dad comments as he looks closer to the mountain area.

‘You have a pack up there, can you replace out if they have seen a new pack, say something within the last ten years, arrive and take over an area?’ I asked, looking at the no-go zones that they had marked up there.

‘I ask if they would know if any new pack moved in, would take away some of their hunting grounds, and up there in winter, there is not much around and food must be caught and stored for the long winter. It is a very harsh life up there in the mountains.’ Alex pondered for a moment.

‘Madison?’ I called softly.

‘Zane.’ She sounded a little stressed, but I put it down to missing me and where she is.

‘Do you have any more information about your location?’ I coaxed softly.

Madison filled me in with the booklet’s information and the co-ordination of where she thought she was.

‘Madison said here.’ And I pointed to a place closer to us than we expected and dad’s eyes lit up and Alex grinned.

‘Excellent, a nice pocket of protected land, closer than I had thought, and it does have a pack nearby. My people have complained about it. It is run by a ruthless woman and she has had many of us that are found killed on sight. It does not matter whether a woman or child, if they are discovered, they are killed in a brutal way.’ Alex said softly as he looked at the diorama where the red marker had been placed years ago.

‘That sounds like Gladys, sorry Alex to tell you this, but she is my sister and she has the throne as her goal and I believe the person behind all our fighting.’ Dad informs Alex with a sad expression.

Alex looks at him with sympathy and rubs dad on the back in a comforting way, not holding it against dad for his sister’s behaviour.