The Wannabe Warrior
Chapter 161

Madison POV

I lay on my side, on the bed, looking out of the window and staring at the mountains. They are pretty, and the little protected pocket of land is a nice place, protected from the harsher winds and nestled neatly below the mountains, but far enough away not to have the risk of an avalanche from said mountains.

Pity about the leader of the pack. I wondered for a while about the style of living up here and how the young ones cope with the isolation from other packs and people. The social skills would only be from the pack and anyone leaving the pack would be at a disadvantage, or is that the aim, to keep them from ever leaving? I have heard of communities that don’t allow members to leave, not even to replace their mates, they make arranged ones instead.

Very rarely would an outsider come here, it was too remote and the hunting would be slim, nothing of any great interest. I think those who love skiing might make a great resort here. The slops look amazing.

According to the booklet, there is only one road to this place, and a town a few hours’ drive away, no passing trade or visitors. They would have to be almost totally self-sufficient, and in this harsh-looking land, that can’t be easy, yet the children played on the ice and in the snow. I could hear the laughing of the children. When I was brought to this room, children are so resilient, and hopefully they are not scared by the taint of the sick leader..

‘Madison.’ I heard Zane call in my head and a warmth flowed through my body and to my core.

‘Sweetheart, how are you?’ I replied, so glad to hear his voice, and hope bloomed inside.

‘Can you leave a light on tonight, and the curtains open?’ He asked me.

‘Not sure, but I will try.’ I look at the red light that is on the wall in the reflection of the window and know they are watching me at the moment, so I make no move from the bed.

‘We have some scouts going to come over tonight and will try and locate you. We need something for them to see. It is very dangerous for them. Gladys kills anyone who comes near the pack; women, children, warriors. I don’t know what Gladys wants from you. It is against all she had done in the past.’ He tried again to show me how much these scouts have put on the line to replace and, and I hope none are found, no life is worth losing, just for me.

‘If I can’t get the bedroom light on, I will try and leave the bathroom light on. I am not sure if they allow lights on at night, they have not let me out of this room and I cannot open the window to see much below. I could not see any shadows stretching across the ground last night. That would be from lighting. From what I could see. Although I had not really been looking that hard, when the sun goes down, I will look at see what I can from my window, maybe a clue of what is visible in the darkness, to help locate where I am.’ I am not sure how I can help, but will do what I can.

‘Give me a moment, I need to talk to Alex and Ezekiel and let them know what I have asked, then I will come back and tell you all about my day today.’ Zane was excited about something, I could hear it in his voice, and I was pleased he was not sitting at home, stressing out too much about me, when he can do nothing about my situation at the moment.

‘I am staying tonight at the Deep Earth pack, and you are right, this is an amazing place and I can understand all the hype you and the other ladies have been glowing about.’ Zane sounded happy and excited, and that pleased me.

‘The Deep Earth people have done amazing things below ground, their way of life certainly had merit.’ I believe, due to necessity, they have evolved and invented many good things. I think some would be hard to implement above ground, but they have managed to live well together in limited spaces and resources. We seem to start to fight with each other for no reason at all, and we have all this space to live in, yet they live in confined spaces and seem not to trip over each other’s feet. I admire the Deep Earth people and their ability to get along.

‘Today, I had a good look at their farming area. Have you seen it? A few large open caves deep in the ground, with a stream that waters the garden, and it never floods the area or dries out. They grow foods that I thought would need sun to grow, but the stones that give off light in the tunnels have a property in them that encourages plant growth. They don’t need the sun to flourish. They have all sorts of plants they eat, that we see as weeds, and make up for some of the nutrients we take for granted.’ Zane rambled on about his tour and I could hear in his voice how much he enjoyed it and the people.

Listening to his voice helped calm me down and I relaxed enough to almost fall asleep to his voice, when I heard the door unlock.

Staying as still as I could and keeping my breathing long and low, I waited to replace out who had entered the room.

Jacob’s scent hit my nose and the smell of food, so Linda must be close by too. I had not realised how much time had flown by, listening to Zane and his day so far.

‘Place the tray and leave.’ Jacob whispered to Linda, and I heard the tray land on the table and her shuffling feet on the carpet as she left the room.

Jacob came forward and sat on my bed. He ran his fingers ever so gently across my face and through my hair, that I had not tied back yet.

He stayed sitting for a while, just looking at me, and touching my face and hair. I never moved or flinched, and I patted myself on my imaginary back about my acting skills. Listening to Zane talking helped keep my mind off Jacob’s unsettling behaviour and my worry about his plans for me deepened.

Finally, Jacob takes a deep sigh, and gets up from sitting on the bed and leaves. I heard the door lock and I took a deep breath, and listened to Zane as he wound up his story on his trip to the farm and other areas underground, some places I had not yet visited. When he had finished his story, he surprised me by asking.

‘What happened, I felt your fear in the link?’ Zane was good, not stopping his story of the day, until he felt me relax again.

‘Dinner was brought in and Jacob sat on the bed staring at me. I pretended to be asleep.’ I replied, trying to stay calm and did not explain what Jacob was doing while sitting on my bed.

‘What did he do while on your bed?’ Zane growled and I could feel the anger and then belatedly jealousy.

‘Nothing, but I did not want him to know I was awake. I don’t feel like talking to him. I prefer to keep listening to you and your day.’ I say light-heartedly and this gets Zane to chuckle too.

‘What did he bring you for dinner?’ he asked curiously.

‘Smells like chicken soup and it was a young girl called Linda that brought me my food. You don’t think the son of Alpha would dirty his hands by bringing me my food, do you?’ I tried to make it funny and get Zane to stop worrying, but that was like trying to stop the rain from falling from the sky. Zane would have none of it.

‘Sweetheart, I know we are apart in actual space, you in a foreign bed and me here wishing I was cuddling you, but you are always here by my side in my heart, you are what is keeping me going, you are the first person I think of when I wake, and the last person at night and are in my dreams, all through the day when I wonder how you are doing, I just feel inside of me and you are there and I know if you are sad, or stressed or sleeping, and I can do like now, and we can talk and enjoy each other’s company, and though my wolf still has yet returned, having you with me, feeling you, talking to you, helps me get through my day. I love you so very much and can’t wait to get you home where you belong.’ Zane said the sweetest words and I felt that he believed every word he had said.

‘I love you too, Zane, and can’t wait to be back in our bed, by your side where I belong.’ I whispered back with as much love as I could send to him through our link.

‘Go eat some food, and I will catch up again later. I too, am about to head to eat. I am kinda ignoring the people around me.