Warriors of Blue moon

In the last three days I’ve had a couple of sorry messages here and there from Heath, so I decided I couldn’t wait for a phone call to tell him about me visiting I only had just over a week left until I’d be there, I was sat in the kitchen eating my lunch when I picked up my phone and decided I’d just message him instead and tell him now..

“Hey Heath, I have a whole week off the following week, let me know if you would like me to visit, I haven’t made any plans yet so I would love to see you”. I left it there in hopes he would get back to me soon, I was a bit put off the idea of going now considering how busy he always seemed to be, perhaps it was too soon to interrupt his duties for me to visit.

I was lost in thought when my Mum walked into the kitchen. “well hello there daughter, this is lovely, I feel as though I don’t get to see much of you and Sam these days”

“Oh hey mum” I replied as I gave her a kiss on the cheek when she came and gave me a tight hug.. ” I Know, but at least you have Lily and Daisy to keep you busy” I joked

“Yes I know but me and your father do miss you, I think we need to arrange a family dinner STAT”

“well I’m working tomorrow morning, so I’m available all afternoon and evening, I don’t have any other plans and I have today off so I’m free tonight also”

“umm Lelanna don’t forget its the girls recital tonight”

I gasped ”oh shoot, yes" I cleared my throat ”i did kind of forget actually"

"Lelanna..you have to go, they want you there”

“I’m going, I’m going, don’t worry mum, we’ll all go together, will Sam be going?”

“Yes Sam is coming too, he went to the Palace earlier this morning so he could leave on time tonight”

“ok, well..” our conversation was interrupted when we saw Sam enter the kitchen.. ”oh hey Sam, how come your home already?"

“well I decided to grab lunch for , Layton, Florence and myself from the Corner cafe and Layton gave me something to pass over to you so thought I’d drop it in on my way through”

“oh” I looked at him in surprise “what it is?”

"well I don’t know Lelanna, its wrapped up, he gave it to me this morning, he told me to make sure I gave it to you, he said its something he wanted you to have” he said as he placed a dark blue velvet rectangle box on the counter in front of me.

“Ooh that looks posh, I wonder what that could be” Mum chimed in with her curiosity “well open” .... just then she was cut off by Lily and Daisy very noisily arguing in their bedroom ”oh darn, better see what all the fuss is about" she groaned as she left the kitchen

I stared at the box as I ran my fingers lightly over the soft velvet.

“well aren’t you going to open it?" Sam asked as he looked to me in amusement ”you usually can’t wait to tear open a present”

I wanted it open it but it felt strange after all this time of me and Layton not talking to all of a sudden have something from him to me, something that looked like it could be expensive. I wrapped my hands around it and slowly opened the lid.. only to be taken aback as my breath caught in my throat from what I saw before me ” oh wow” I whispered heavily as I marvelled at its beauty.

It was a short gold dagger with bits of copper fused into the handle and beautiful carvings crafted into the gold and copper handle and some of the carvings were lined with glittered tiny diamonds. it looked as though it had been personally hand made and when I held it in my hand I could see it close up, i knew then it was an antique and there were small slight scratches and hitches on the blade as if it had been used. I looked back at the box to see a small piece of card like a note. the writing looked like Layton’s..

“Dear Lelanna

I want you to have this blade, I know you’ll appreciate its beauty and will

treasure it the way it deserves. This Blade actually belonged to my Great grandfather, he made it himself after his first battle and it has been

passed down through generations. It now belongs to me but i couldnt help but see it in your hands instead every time i looked at it.

So now it belongs to you..

All my love Layton xx”

“what the fuck” I couldn’t help but let those words fall out of my mouth as I put the note back in the box. I looked to Sam who just had a small smile on his face ”Sam this was his great grandfathers..why is he giving it to me?” I asked looking at him, feeling so confused.

"well for all the reasons he said in his note”

"wait... did you read the note before you gave this to me?”

“no” he shrugged ”but I was there when his dad gave it to him a while ago and every time he looked at it he’d always say he wanted to give it to you”

“But why me though? I mean this is something that should stay in his family”

"look Lil’s just accept the gift and stop questioning it ok! but if your that desperate for more answers then why don’t you go and actually speak to him? I don’t know why you have both let this... rift or whatever is is, go on for so long but perhaps its about time

you guys sorted it out”

I furrowed my brows as I looked back to the gift “Sam you don’t even know why were not speaking!... there’s a reason why we’ve left each other alone”

“actually Lil’s... I do know. Layton told me ages ago, when you first stopped speaking, I knew something was up straight away and he told me.. yea he was out of order but I know he’s definitely sorry”

“well that’s’ the funny thing Sam I haven’t heard this so called sorry of his... not even once!” I placed the blade carefully back in the box then pushed it back toward Sam. ”So tell him as lovely as the gift is.. I’m not accepting it, I would have preferred

the apology he still owes me and I would have preferred it ages ago rather than leaving it for this long”. I got off my stool and went to leave the kitchen ” ill see you tonight Sam”

"YOUR BOTH AS BAD AS EACHOTHER" he shouted after me as I left the room.

That dagger was beautiful and if me and Layton had been on good terms I would have kept it in a heart beat... hell that dagger is the most beautiful and thoughtful gift I’ve ever been given and I would have loved to have something with that history and something so personal to his great grandfather in my possession but I think more than anything it was cause it was connected to Layton and I still missed him and I still found myself thinking about him most days.

I spent the rest of the day in my room reading and ordering new colour paints and brushes from online. I heard my phone ping next to me, a message from Heath popped up on the screen.

"Hey Lelanna, wow I would love so much to see you and spend the week showing you around and just being with you but please forgive me my little stunner, I’m worried if you come here I wont have any time at all to spare for you and I would be racked with guilt if you ended up spending most of the week alone. I still have so much to do. My Uncle has gotten weaker again over the last few weeks so I have constant meetings with doctors and new positions amongst the pack counsel to fill and replace and that’s on top of the every day duties and tasks me and Trey are doing.

I’m sorry Lelanna, I really am. I ’m desperately hoping that in the next month or two I’ll have more free time and enough so that I can be with you for a whole week. I hope you can forgive me.. I do miss you and I hope you and all your family are keeping well xx “.

I sighed and put my phone down. well may as well tell Gabel not to take me off the rota that week. Well least I know now rather than when I got there to realize we’d have no time together, but I still felt a bit rejected.

I got up to have a shower, then got dressed and ready for the girls recital.. I went into their room when I had finished straightening my hair so that they could practice their routine with me as their audience. They were nervous but they needn’t be, every step of their routine was in sync with one another, they were so light on their feet and moved so elegantly as if they were born moving with such ease.

When we got to the ballet hall we sat in the front of the audience, the lights dimmed low, with couple of pink and yellow spotlights flowing across the stage.

The stage was prettily decorated with a backdrop of a lake with swans and fairies with an archway of flowers placed at the front of the stage. My dad was sat next to me on my left his camcorder at the ready. There were seven acts then a whole group dance. Lily and Daisy were the fourth act. They practiced so hard I just hoped they wouldn’t get too nervous, they were only 6 years old after all.

All the first three acts were beautiful and you could see that all the children had worked hard on their routines. But when the girls came on we all had tears in our eyes even Sam and my dad. They were so poised and elegant and they moved perfectly in step with each other. They made us all feel so proud.

The group dance at the end finished off the seven acts perfectly and they all stood side by side as they bowed to the audience, everyone’s hands going into loud applause, I placed my fingers in my mouth as i gave them a loud whistle. The round of applause didn’t stop until they had all left the stage.

We waited till the girls were ready to leave and Dad took us all to an ice cream parlor to celebrate lily and Daisy. We sat together with our mountains of ice cream in front of us as we praised the girl’s dancing and we listened as they gushed over some famous ballet dancer, they hoped to one day meet.

xxxxxxxxx

The following day I got my morning Patrol over and done with I couldn’t wait for this afternoon, I was going to an old war museum with my parents.. The girls would be staying with a friend of the family and Sam would be working at the Palace. I was looking forward to spending the day just us three somewhere we all would enjoy. Unlike the girls and Sam. Me, my mum and Dad all shared the same love and interest for history and memorabilia.

They had told me this museum was three floors high and filled with war human and wolf history. The museum was in the human town, but it had also held certain weapons and journals that had once belonged to people of our kind. It was all belongings from way back when humans were not accepting of our kind, it took many centuries and battles for humans to finally surrender and let us exist in our own communities peacefully. Now humans and wolves would mix, sometimes they would visit our town and sometimes we would visit them but as we had a peace treaty, no one weather human or wolf could be harmed by the other.

The museum took my breath away the moment we stepped in. I marvelled at all the antique weapons and armor they held that dated back to our ancestors. An old shield from over 250 years ago. Journals from wolf warriors and human soldiers that had fought. There were swords held in place on the walls, each one with its own little plaque underneath stating what year it had come from and where it had been found, even what battle it had been used in. Battle plans were kept in glass boxes, to be seen and not touched as the paper was now fragile and withered.

But I stopped in amazement as I came across a sword and body armour, the plaque underneath read ‘worn in the battle for peace by the Great Alpha Sir, Alec Conteras, a battle that changed the world for civilisation’

I gasped in awe, It was Layton’s Ancestor, where his line generated from. It was warming to know the people thought of Alpha Alec as the Great Alpha.. that’s what he was to us as his reign did change things for wolves and Humans.. he was the one that bought us all together. I excitedly took out my phone and snapped a picture of it wanting to send it to Layton.. but I paused for a moment looking at the picture on my phone, remembering we still weren’t speaking, I tucked my phone back in my bag and hoped one day I’d be able show him.

It was 4pm by the time we got home and I was just eating a sandwich when my phone pinged I took it out of my bag to see a text from Sam

“hey, Lil’s, you busy? I need to talk to you about something”

“No Sam I just got back home. I’m here when you want to talk"

only a few seconds passed before he text back again.

"Can we go somewhere, where mum and Dad aren’t in earshot. Its private.. ”

‘Huh! Wonder what It could be’ I chimed in my head feeling curious ”Ok Sam, I’ll leave in ten minutes, meet me at the field”

“The one we played in as kids?”

“that’s the one.. see you in a few”

“thanks Lil’s I’ll see you there”.

I led down on the grass, the sun was out for the first time in weeks even though the air was cold. I basked in the silence of the field, nothing but the sound of birds singing in the trees. I almost dozed off waiting for Sam when I could hear slight footsteps through the grass slowly approaching me. I turned my head and opened my eyes, only to be taken aback, I shot up to sit upright. “Layton!” I was shocked to see him stood only a few yards in front of me.

“Hey Lelanna" his eyes only meeting mine briefly to then look down at the grass.

“What are you doing here? Where’s Sam?”

He cleared his throat as he took a couple more steps closer ”Actually I asked him to get you somewhere alone, so we could talk”

“What?" I shot at him in anger

He shook his head then moved even closer and sat down a few inches away from me ”I’m sick of this Lelanna, We haven’t spoken in so long and I’m going to be honest.. I’ve hated it, I’ve really missed you”

“Why didn’t you just apologise then?”

“Honestly, I didn’t think an apology was enough and I hated that I put our friendship in such a shitty situation. I guess I was angry at myself, and I knew you deserved more than just sorry!”

"Layton, leaving it as long as you have just made it worse, we’ve never gone this long without speaking”

"I know. I wish I didn’t leave it so long, the longer I left it the more I felt you were better off without me as a friend”

“Is that why you gave me the dagger?”

“No, that was just because I wanted you to have it”

“So, over three months later you finally see me? It didn’t seem like you were all that bothered to lose our friendship to be honest”

He gave me a hard stare his eyes boring into mine ”Lelanna I never want to lose you. Ever!”

I tutted as a warm familiar heat began to sway in the pit of my stomach “I just wish you had come to me straight away”

“I know and I’m truly sorry, I shouldn’t have kissed you like that. I guess I wasn’t just angry but embarrassed, You’re so important to me Lanna, you always have been and always will be.. I guess I just don’t think sometimes.”

I nodded, trying to accept his apology “Ok, I get that, we all do stupid things. But I’m glad you missed me cause I’ve missed you too”

He smiled at me, a smile I’ve missed so much, one that could always make my stomach flip “you missed me?” he asked cheekily

I laughed lightly in return ”hmm maybe. whenever I felt like no one had annoyed me in a while" I gave him a cheeky smile.

He moved closer and I could smell his cologne mixed with his natural scent as it wafted under my nose causing my whole body to flutter even though I thought about him all the time I hadn’t missed just how intense my feelings were for him.

" Lelanna” he spoke just louder that a whisper as he looked at me ”I want you to know that I am so sorry, with all my heart I am sorry, I should have been more respectful to you and you didn’t deserve me treating you like I’ve treated other women, because you mean too much to me and You have to know that to me you’re not the same as them you weren’t just a girl I wanted to kiss"

I nodded ”yea I guess I can see that now.. just don’t do it again" I joked as I pushed his shoulder playfully and we both chuckled which lightened the mood.. I led down and patted the grass next to me for him to lie down too. He led down and the skin of his arm was touching mine.

The entire side of our bodies were touching, and it was doing crazy things to my stomach. I closed my eyes and asked him how he had been coping and he asked me about being a warrior. We talked like nothing had happened. I kept my eyes closed as the sun tried to shine through the clouds, smiling on the inside to myself at how good it felt to be here with him and how much I really had missed him.

We stayed like that for two hours until he reluctantly said he had to go back to get on with more work. neither of us wanted to leave, those two hours went by too fast, and it wasn’t enough for us to catch up on the three months we’d let pass by. He made more of our time by insisting on walking me home. we talked, we laughed, we joked, we even had a little play fight here and there, push, shove and the whole time my smile didn’t fade and neither did his. We got to my door and as I turned to him to say goodbye, he grabbed hold of my arm and pulled me into him wrapping his arms around me tightly. I was shocked for a few seconds, then standing on tiptoes and wrapped my arms around his neck and we held each other for a few moments.

I slowly pulled away and he quickly placed a peck on my cheek which left him looking bashful after ”umm can I see you again soon Lanny?” He asked looking hopeful

"yes of course, I’m working tomorrow afternoon.. but how about the day after?”

“yes perfect, I’ll get a few hours, we’ll meet at the field again yea?”

“yea, sounds good” I nodded with a smile

He smiled back at me as he just stared for a moment then shook his head and he sighed “its amazing to see you again Lanny.. honestly.. it’s the best” he smile grew wider as he started walking away. I waved when he looked back at me again.

I went into the house, my smile stretching from ear to ear I was alone so I could let those feelings show.. I know it was dangerous for my heart to be spending time with him again but damn it was so good to see him. I went up to my room and I pulled my phone out of my pocket to text Sam

"Hey sneaky brother.... thank you :)”