Hunted

Chapter 29: Missing A Dose

               My mom was a big believer in homeopathic treatments for things, especially since the doctors couldn't seem to help me. I also preferred taking something natural to being on a million pills but over the years I realized I needed a balance of both.

Mom got me into gardening really young and it wasn't hard to keep up with it since I was homeschooled. We grew all kinds of plants and herbs and I continued doing it after she passed, inheriting all the plants from her yard and adding to them over the years.

Apparently the pack itself grew a lot of that stuff too. They even grew crops and raised animals, rarely leaving the territory for food. It was kind of cool and I was planning to get out to look at it but for now, I had what I had in the room Rykan made for me while right outside, he was also having a greenhouse put up for me.

I couldn't help but smile when he told me he was doing that. He knew I wanted my own space and he made sure I had it, he made sure I had more than I even hoped for.

Growing up with all those herbs, I started getting into making my own tea. I'd dry them and store them in jars, sometimes in their own jars but sometimes I'd mix them right away if I already had a recipe I knew I liked. With the addition of new plants Rykan brought in for me, I had more herbs to work with and that meant more experimentation which was why I was in the kitchen with a bunch of jars of dried plants, boiling water and trying different combinations.

I was writing down the measurements for one that turned out particularly well when Xavier walked in the room. He wrinkled his nose and I smiled sheepishly.

"I know, it's a weird combination of scents," I said, scribbling down the last notes. "I'm just trying a bunch of different things."

"What are you doing?" He asked, his eyes darting around at the many jars I'd brought into the kitchen.

"Fully homemade and homegrown tea," I said, setting down my notebook. "You a tea person?"

"I don't really drink it," he shrugged.

"I'm a tea addict," I admitted.

"I noticed," he said, his mouth quirking into a smile. "I just came in to let you know Alpha will be passing by soon with the rest of the pack, if you wanted to come out."

"Oh," I said my eyes lighting up. It was kind of fun to watch a shit ton of wolves race past the house when Rykan led their runs. "Yeah," I said, hopping off the counter and heading towards the door. "I guess you're not running because it's your turn to babysit, huh?"

"It's not babysitting," he said, rolling his eyes and following me outside.

"You can understand it feels a little like babysitting, can't you?" I pointed out, walking down the steps of the porch and circling around to the side of the house where they always ran past.

"I guess so but I really don't think of it like that," Xavier said, following after me and leaning back against the wall. "I'd rather not go anyway. I'm not social."

"You're kidding," I said flatly, making him chuckle and shake his head. I already knew Xavier wasn't social, he shied away from most things, kept to himself and was pretty quiet most the time.

I waited for the sound. That was the cool thing, I always felt and heard them coming long before I saw them. There were so many and they ran so hard that the ground would shake, they ran so fast you could hear the breeze as they passed by. Except Rykan made a point to slow down whenever they passed the house when he learned I came outside to watch them pass by.

I heard them coming and saw when they slowed down. Rykan in wolf form was beautiful. His fur was the same dark brown as his hair and even as a wolf, there was no doubt he was the leader. His head snapped towards me as they passed by and I couldn't stop the smile.