SWNOVELS Chapter A new twist
After a night’s sleep, there’s a silent agreement to not dwell or talk about the challenge, but Lance has permitted James to spend time off the pack, without giving him specific details, so that’s a burden off Toni’s shoulders.
Cat persuaded Toni to tell them how she beat Lance, Gareth and Charlie all those years ago, when she told them of her hideout for the hour, they insisted on her taking them to show them where the tunnel was that she’d used.
Which is how she finds herself spending the day at the waterfall, swimming picnicking and visiting the tunnel entrance.
“Do you think it’s still accessible?”
Cat’s lying with Anthony on her stomach as she poses the question.
“Probably, why?” Toni answers
“I’d love to see it, I don’t know why, just curious about what the teenage you found, wanting to see it from your eyes.” Cat’s looking directly at Toni.
“It’s dark in there, no light bar a slight glow from the water.”
“I have a torch, it’s waterproof…..” Cat suggests smirking.
Toni glances at James, then back to Cat.
“You know there are risks Cat, if you panic…. Or something goes wrong…”
“She’s a good swimmer and I know you’ll look after her”
James rolls his eyes
“And with or without you she’ll go look like you she is stubborn!”
Toni sighs
“Go sit on the bottom of the lake, thirty seconds minimum, if you can’t do that, you can’t see the cave”
The casual tone Toni uses surprises Cat.
“You’ll take me in?”
“Not if you can’t get to the bottom of the lake and hold your breath for long enough without panicking…
James will time you, but you need to dive down and then sit for thirty seconds”
As Cat strips to her underwear and dives in, James starts the timer
“Do you want her to do this?
It’s not without some risk.”
Toni asks James as he holds Anthony stopping him from going into the water after his mum
“She made me take her up the wall to the roof after she heard we did night picnics up there.
I think she wanted to be like you when she was younger.
Don’t let her die is all I ask.”
His eyes haven’t left his mate sitting on the bottom of the pool, Cat finally breaks the surface, breathing heavily, Toni looks over to James
“forty-five seconds” he shrugs
“I need to check the tunnel and cave, if it’s safe, I’ll take you in.
But Cat, promise me you won’t try this alone if I take you in, this is a one-time thing.
I can’t afford to lose my friend, nor have yet another Alpha hate me.”
Toni strips down to her underwear while she talks, not realising James and Cat are staring at her scars, it's not something that she ever gives thought about.
“I promise” she grins
Toni takes four deep breaths before submerging herself and disappearing beneath the water.
“Why do you want to head to the cave Cat?” James queries
“Try and give her a memory of her fearlessness, how strong does a teenager need to be to decide to swim into a flooded tunnel, not knowing what’s on the other side?
Last night, it was like she was already defeated and I can tell you, if Lance was due to fight an Alpha, hell any ranked wolf in a challenge, you can be dammed sure he would be training for it.”
She walks over and sits, trying to pull a fidgeting Anthony and her mate into a hug
“You’re right, she needs a reason to live, but tied to that life I’m not sure what is going to be a good enough reason, did you see the whip scars she bears on her back?”
The sadness is clear in James’s words
“It’s not been an easy life for her” Cat nods
“But thanks Cat, you are too good to be a Chef’s mate, you should have been a Luna”
He kisses her on the top of her head cuddling her and Anthony closer
“Not a chance, I am too shy for a Luna.
This life is perfect for me, YOU are perfect for me.”
She leans in and kisses James
Toni breaks the water as she hears Cat’s last statement, her heart warmed to hear the true love and feelings these two have for each other, she wouldn’t have ever thought the two of them would be together, there’s a part deep down that wants what they have, but she doubts she will find her mate.
She’s emerged behind the waterfall, having to reset her wig, something she’ll have to admit to these two if she takes Cat into the cave.
She’d almost lost it completely that time, but she trusts these two, even if it goes against her training.
It was times like this she wished she’d had her cloak with her, but she didn’t have it with her, just plain black clothes, trying to not bring attention to herself.
As she swims to the edge, she sees James and Cat hugging together
“You two sure about this stupidity?”
“Is it clear?”
There’s tension in James’s voice, although not for Cat going into the cave, but for Toni, trying to work out how he can help her.
“It is, not as much room now I’m an adult, but I can swim through.
Cat should fit through easily, maybe you could James, but it would be more of a squeeze.
But you both have to be happy for me to take Cat in, you’re a team and I won’t upset one side of that team.”
“We’re good”
James smiles giving Cat a kiss and a pat on her butt as she stands up to get in the water
“One thing… I’m wearing a wig; this is how I looked until a short while ago.
But I’d prefer no one else knows, it just allows me to be myself while I am off pack territory, I almost lost it going through the cave before, so have to admit to it.” Toni watches for their reactions.
“OMG, you are like the human superhero comics, Toni by Day, Dark Gamma by Night!”
Cat giggles as Toni rolls her eyes
“Seriously” Toni begins
“Seriously, not even my brother will hear it from me” Cat answers
“But you have to show us your alter ego…. we are your friends after all!”
Toni grins, the more friends she seems to collect, the more the pangs of loneliness seem to kick in, showing her a life, she didn’t know she was missing.
Cat had been ecstatic about the cave, seeing the different colours of the rock formations and minerals, she’d stayed in contact with James via mind link but they were in the cave for about ten minutes, before they swum back out.
That evening Toni had gone downstairs as ‘Emma’ makeup on, wig off, and some softer borrowed clothes as she’d left hers in the car.
“Wow, I love that hairstyle on you” Cat whispers in shock
“It transforms you so totally, it’s weird, the shorter blue hair softens your features”
“Well, this is my alter ego and I go by a different name in this attire, but you wanted to see it” Toni does a mock bow
James just stood there quietly
“Why don’t you just live life like that, I’m pretty sure no one would recognise you.
You could lead a normal life.”
James walks over and grabs another beer, seeing Toni again has been great, but underneath it all is his frustration that she’s just accepting the challenge, doesn’t seem to be fighting it at all, or looking for a way out.
“Oh, I don’t know, no papers… willing pack …. back story… same smell… life being forfeit if I don’t turn up to the challenge…. Oh yes and bound to the Nightshades pack… Take your pick!” Toni jokes sadly
“Tell me you will try to win; I can’t bear to think you’ve given up”
Toni can hear the edge of worry in James’s voice
“Don’t worry James, if I wanted to die, there would be easier ways to go, overdose on Wolfsbane, ingest Silver, sneak into the Iron Claw pack and announce who I am……”
Toni grins at James at the last comment, Deadfalls is one of the true neutral packs, aligned with neither the Iron Claw nor Nightshades pack.
Most packs pick a side, but Deadfalls trades with anyone, siding with none but the Royal Pack, they had a proud independent heritage.
“My wolf is proud, she’d never let me go down without a fight.
Plus I’ve spent my life hiding how I feel, it’s good to be able to let feelings out for once.
Don’t worry James, I will be trying to win...”
Her words are interrupted by an alarm going off in the house
“Hopefully a test, but we need to go”
Cat states as she runs to grab Anthony
“Test?” Toni queries
“Grab your cloak, Toni, we have to go and you will want to hide your new look.
Lance is aware people know our pack is peaceful, there’s been talk among the Alphas about things becoming unsettled, some sort of unrest.
Rumours of people stirring up allegiances, so Lance has put in an alarm system, to practice getting people into safe houses and warriors deployed quickly, since he’s declined a number of alliances.”
James grabbed her arm as they spoke dragging her outside, they jogged to an innocuous storehouse as they talked.
Going in, they move to the back room, before taking a hidden door into a network of tunnels.
“I’ve heard the rumours, but there doesn’t seem to be much of a strategic reason for people targeting this pack.” Toni states
“That’s what’s got Lance worried, the only thing we have is an easy path to the Human territory, but all dealings with those go through the Neutral zone.”
Cat’s voice betrays her worry, they walk on in silence, as they traverse two more secure doors, before getting to the main room, Toni can see the pack assembled and she stands a little outside the group as they take a headcount.
It may have been a drill, but Toni can see the worry etched on everyone’s face, she can understand why, if the Alpha had thought it was important to create such a defence system, it had to be serious.
Needless to say, she was impressed with the scale of his defence system, the Deadfalls had a good income, comfortably off but not super rich, nor did it hold a strategic value in terms of area, so it was strange that they felt the need to implement such a system.
As she mulled over these thoughts, she could feel the eyes of everyone glancing over in her direction, albeit surreptitiously, she may not be dressed all in black from the show and tell she’d been doing, but the cloak and hiding her face was a clear enough indication of who she was.
Alpha Lance walks into the main room.
“Thanks all for complying with the test.
I’m pleased to say that the warriors were mobilised and everyone was safely in the bunker system within three minutes, that’s excellent timing for everyone.
I know that this is all unnerving and a little scary, but these tests make the reactions to the alarm instinctive, so if we ever do need to act, it will be less terrifying, and more routine.
Thanks for your time, everyone, you can head home now.”
After two more nights, it's time for Toni to leave, with promises to stay in touch, she heads off, knowing the next time she will see James is for the challenge fight, a bittersweet thought.