Finding Rose

"Hello?" Rose said.

Jesse stuck his head through the crack of the door, and greeted her good morning.

"Morning Jesse." She giggled.

"How'd you sleep?" He asked.

"Pretty good actually." She answered.

"That's awesome...... Listen, Sam had to leave for the day to kind of take care of some things at home, so I'm here to help out with whatever you need." He smiled.

"Oh ok." She said. "Well first thing I would like to do is grab some grub. I haven't eaten anything since yesterday's fiasco, and I'm starving." She grunted.

"Ahaha that's sounds about right. You would have a bigger appetite, that's for sure. Come on, then..what are we waiting for?" He opened the door for her as she made her way to the kitchen.

After they got a bite to eat, they both made there way to Henry's office. As they walked in, they saw Henry talking to Locklin. Henry's gaze then turned to Rose.

"Ah Rosalie, there you are." Henry said.

Rosalie walked in to what she felt was an interrogation. She wasn't sure what it was that made her feel uneasy, but Locklin turned around and looked pissed that they walked in during there conversation.

"Come in, come in." Henry waved them over. "I'm glad your here Rose." He ruffled some papers on the table together. "I want to show you something I found."

She made her way around the table and Locklin moved to the side. He stood back towards the door, but seemed interested enough to stay.

"I found this newsletter this morning. It's an article that was written in 2003. It was essentially sent to all the packs located here in B.C. from the council. They typically sent this out monthly, just to notify everyone about big announcements or changes to our laws. But look here." He slowly moved his finger down the page and pointed to a black and white photograph near the bottom of the page.

She looked at the photo and scanned the faces. While she was fixated on the photo he read the caption.

"Council meeting 2003, associates were Ka-Luna Pack and River Court Pack. To the left stands Alpha George Packet, and Jon Winters of Ka- Luna pack and to the rig-"

He was cut off when the door to the office was slammed shut. They both looked up to see Locklin made a quick exit. Rose looked at Henry and Jesse who just shrugged their shoulders.

Rosalie looked back at the photo, where she saw her father. She had almost forgotten what he looked like but a sudden flash of memories, coursed through her mind.

She remembered her father taking her fishing, and taking trips down the river in their red canoe. Stories around the camp fire, and long nights gazing up at the stars. She remembered as if it all happened yesterday. All this time and, she almost forgot his face.

"Hmm." Said Henry. He picked up the newslet and read a portion of the article. "It says here the reasoning behind the council meeting was to settle a discrepancy in regards to territorial rights. Apparently the Ka-Luna pack said they rightfully had ownership of the River Court Packs territory and were already in litigation for 2 years."

He turned to Rose.

"Do you remember anything about this? Can you remember if your father brought any of this home?" He asked her.

"No, I'm sorry I can't. I'm going to be honest, I didn't even know he was working close with our pack Alpha. I just thought he had some boring office job." She replied.

He continued to read. "This looks to be the final outcome of the litigation." He scanned towards the end of the article. "Ah ok, it looks the the council ruled in favor of the River Court Pack, dismissing all claims set by the Ka-Luna pack." He gently placed the newslet down removing his glasses, and then took a seat.

He sighed. "I'm sorry Rose."

"Whatever for?" She asked.

"I thought there would be something more, that's all." He rubbed his eyes.

She could tell he was mentally tired.

"Thank you Henry." She said

"For what?" He asked.

"You found my dad." She nudged her nose under his hand and placed it on her head. He smiled and gave her a gentle scratch.

Jesse leaned over the table and grabbed the newslet to take a look for himself. He looked at the photo and quickly glanced over the article.

"Hey, look at this." He said, and turned the article back to Henry. He then pointed at another man in the photo. Henry looked at Jesse.

"Do explain." Henry demanded.

"Look at his name." Jesse said.

Henry read the caption underneath the photo again. "Okay, George Packet and Jon Winters of Ka-Luna Pack joined by members Daniel Orrison and Alpha Fred Packet of River Court Pack." He looked at Jesse.

"Brothers perhaps?" He questioned himself.

"Maybe." Replied Jesse.

"Well, just another thing to look into I suppose." Said Henry. He looked at Rose who looked regretful for getting them invlolved. "Don't worry Miss. Rose, this is a good thing." And gave her a smile.

The door suddenly opened and Mandy entered the room. "Morning. So how's the research going?" She asked.

"Good." Replied Henry. "We are making promising gains."

"That's wonderful news!" She looked at Rose then her father. "So I was wondering if I could steal Rosalie for a bit?" She asked.

Rose looked at Henry. "Go on then." He said.

"Excellent." Cheered Mandy.

Rosalie walked towards the double doors with Mandy and Jesse followed.

"Where do you think your going?" Henry said to Jesse.

Jesse looked at Henry and pointed to the doors in the direction of the girls.

Henry shook his head and pointed to a chair. Jesse rolled his eyes and slumped in the seat. A stack of texts were then dropped on the table in front of him. He went wide eyed and sighed.

........................

Mandy and Rose walked out of the office, and made there way outdoors.

"Hold on." Said Mandy. She quickly went back in and came out as her wolf.

"Ah." She sighed. "That's better. I thought since we can talk to eachother now, I can have you all to myself while Sam is out." She attempted a smile.

"That sounds like a wonderful idea." Rose said.

"I feel like I haven't been able to really get to know you, since you arrived. Sam's kind of kept you busy this whole time, and thought this was a good time to get to know eachother." She said.

They started walking through the field towards the back of the property.

"There's this spot that I want to show you. It's a little bit of a walk, but I figured we can talk there." She said.

"Mandy." Rose said. Mandy stopped and looked at her.

"Yes Rose?"

"I know it must have been hard getting your brother back after a year, to only have him busy helping me, but I want you to know that I'm very thankful for your friendship and understanding." Rose confided.

"Oh." She looked down at the ground. "I'll be honest Rose, I was a little jealous when I saw Sam come here with another shewolf. But when he told me about you, I felt stupid. I can't imagine what you've gone through, and if Sam has hope, then I do too."

They continued walking and made their way into the brush. Mandy talked about the family, and the things that Sam and her used to do that got them in trouble. She also talked about the rough upbringing they had. Mandy was the younger sibling and admitted to getting away with alot of shit, but there was always a heavier responsibility put on Sam.

"Can I ask you something Mandy?" Asked Rose.

"Of course. Shoot!" Mandy replied.

"What's Locklins deal?"

"Oooo...why do you ask....you like him?" Mandy said rubbing it in.

"No!" Rosalie looked away. "It's weird but there something about him that makes me feel uneasy. He just seems so....so...."

"Weird?" Mandy laughed.

"Ya...I guess." Rose answered.

"Don't worry, we all kind of think it, but he takes good care of us. He was chosen to be alpha about a year ago. He was but a name that my dad mentioned years ago, but arrived shortly after Sam left. You know how it is...he worked his way up the community and showed lots of promise towards the pack. Lots of potential. And once Sam declined alpha dad was left to continue leading the pack. When it got real bad between him and dad, thats when Sam decided to leave the pack house and his family. she sighed. Then dad was ready to retire and Locklin was chosen to take Sam's place. Hmm speaking of that it's coming up to a year since he took over, and there's going to be a party with fireworks and everything, ooo you are really gonna love th-" Mandy had kept rambling on, and didn't notice Rose had stopped a while back. She finally looked back.

"Rose? what is it?" She asked.

"Sam, was supposed to be alpha?" Asked Rose in a shocking manner.

Mandy was silent. "Oh shit....you didn't know?"

"Now I do!" She said amazed. "But why would he turn down such a thing?"

"Mmm....maybe I'll leave that up to him to tell you." Mandy said. "Come on, were almost there."

They walked another kilometer or so before it took them to a clearing, and then a few feet of brush. Once they were on the other side, Rosalie found her self looking over a quarry.

"Holy shit." She said.

"I know right." Mandy took in a deep breath and relished in the view.

It was a deep pit, that had to have been several hundred feet down to the bottom. It looked like a small lake from where she stood, as it had filled in with this year's rain. Rosalie wanted a closer look, and took a step closer to the edge to peer over the side.

"Careful!" Yelled Mandy. "There's no going back if you fall in! If the drop doesn't kill ya..the water will. There's no way to get out of there."

Rosalie heathed her warning and slowly backed off to where it was safer. She took a whiff of the air.

"What's that smell?" Rose asked.

"It's Iron ore." She replied. "They used to mine here back in the day, and once they found a richer deposit, they took there business elsewhere. This was back when dad was a kid. Sam and I used to run here all the time, and when the water level was high enough we waited for it to freeze over in the winter, and would go skating." She grinned. "There was a lot of good memories made here."

Rose just watched Mandy as she reminisced about their younger years. She could tell she longed for those days to return, and who knows, maybe one day they would. Mandy looked up at Rose, and felt heartache, knowing that she didn't get to experience more as a child. But looking at her, it was as if Rose felt bad for her.

"Comon......we better get heading back. Sam should be home by now and will wonder where you are." Mandy led the way, and the walk home was silent.

Once they returned to the back of the property, Rose could see Sam's truck pulled up in the driveway. There was so much that she wanted to talk about, and he'd only been gone for part of the day. As they got closer Mandy turned back to Rose and thanked her for hanging out.

"We should do this again sometime." She said.

"I had a good time, thank you Mandy." Said Rose.

Sam popped out from inside the pack house and walked over to the girls.

"So, you guys go for a nice walk?" He asked.

"Yes." Replied Rose. "Mandy took me to the quarry and had some one on one time with eachother, it was nice."

"Oh ya! what ya guys talk about?" He asked.

Mandy looked at Rose, looked at Sam, then back to Rose. "He's all yours bye! And scurried off.

Sam watched her run off then looked at Rose. He sighed. "This can't be good."

Rosalie trotted back towards the door and looked at Sam.

"Com'on, let's talk." And made her way inside.

"Yep! This definitely doesn't sound good." He rubbed the back of his head as he headed in after her.