Traversing Worlds

Arc One Ch. 10

Kurou found the growing anxiety over not being able to find Kira diminish the moment she stepped into the kitchen with Edith. Without a hair out of place or a visible scratch to be seen Kurou felt he could breathe a little easier, since the Gloomy Wood pack was an ever present problem that suddenly became even bigger headache.

Noticing him Kira made a beeline right for him sporting noticeably red cheeks. "Uncle Kurou...I am sorry I didn't mean to make everyone worry...I just wanted to be closer to my parents for a little while longer." She said in a small voice while looking down in embarrassment.

"I am just happy to see you safe and sound." Kurou said with a smile while bending down to ruffle the nearly white hair on top of her head which greatly reminded him of Karin.

Kira created a shy and flustered appearance which greatly reflected how much the original's attitude had changed since leaving the Stonemason pack. Originally she could be considered bright and outgoing youth but after living within the Pine Wood pack a noticeable reserve to her movements that didn't go unnoticed by those of the Frost family. Many were disappointed by this as many viewed her as having more potential than her mother who'd been hailed a rising star.

A trace of sadness could be seen lingering in Kurou's gaze as he pulled away. Ingrid came over after noticing that he hadn't moved to clean up yet. "Hurry and go get cleaned up already you can chat during dinner." While in a much softer tone so no one but the two of them could hear she said. "And don't forget to bath tonight the stench on you is even more repugnant than usual after shifting." Kurou held a sour expression hearing this, since he just happened to be one of the unlucky few who had to escort one of the Gloomy Wood youths back, thinking of this put his mood in a worse state thinking about having to tell his mate what this meant.

Kira noticed that tonight's dinner appeared livelier with both Jun and Hana telling everyone about their day. While Jun who happily went on about how well he had done during his training Hana seemed more subdue and even formed a slight pout on her round face. Being able to spend time with her grandmother was nearly impossible causing the young girl to greatly treasure the moments. Unlike Jun who wanted to follow in their father's footsteps Hana on the other hand held a greater ambition, which was one day becoming the Head Elder liker her grandmother. To do that she eagerly spent time observing her grandmother while working only some messenger ruined the day by forcing someone to bring her home early due to important pack matters.

After hearing about how Hana's day went Edith calmly told her mother about the progress she made while learning from the Healer. She also gave a few comments on how things were doing with communal meals, overall things had greatly improved since adding in some of the cooking methods using in Ingrid's maiden pack.

Kira found that everyone's gaze naturally found her next, like the original she squirmed under the sudden attention. Speaking a complete lie about sitting near the alter while praying that both of her parents made it safely into the Moon Goddess's embrace went over unexpectedly well.

Kurou nodded. "The Moon Goddess didn't abandon you she is still looking after your safety." He said sounding assured by his own words which Kira didn't try to refute, since it helped keep how she had done made that trail down the mountain a secret.

After dinner while Kira had been pulled into playing a few game before bed, Kurou pulled Ingrid off to their room to speak about what'd happened earlier and exactly what it meant for them at this time.

"You really do carry an unbearably horrid scent..." Ingrid said before trailing off seeing how cold and unamused Kurou current expression was at this time.

"I will wash up in a minute before that tell me doesn't this scent remind you of something?" He asked while looking at her with a serious expression.

Knowing that Kurou wouldn't do anything to make her suffer arbitrarily she began to really think about what the awful stench reminded her of. It didn't take her more than a few sniffs before an extraordinarily dark expression graced her paling features. She quickly covered a hand over her mouth before gagging. The moment she recovered her composure she gave him a teary eyed glare.

"Who is so nasty as to roll around in that...that...ugh I think I am going to be sick..." She spoke in a low tone but it did nothing to hide just how disgusted she was at the thought.

"Apparently the Gloomy Wood pack found it to be a useful tool for spying on the border guard. While trying to locate Kira's scent we found dozens of old and new tracks past the area that has been logged. While we managed to capture ten it seems that a few escaped, only it wouldn't be so bad if they had followed the rules set by the peace treaty now all of them are dead. Still the question remains on how Alpha Jewel is going to react after finding out how Alpha Grant could let their son die."

Ingrid nodded knowing about the conditions surrounding the peace treaty, Kurou didn't need to tell her a thing but he had been truthful about many aspects that went on within his family pack. Being a complete outsider to join such an old pack line with such strong alpha blood to know so many secrets had caused her mother-in-law to covertly exclude her from many important family events.

"Alpha Grant has been so adamant about none aggressive behavior when dealing with others. I truly wonder what caused him to change his mind so quickly." She muttered before looking up at Kurou and frowning. "You've said enough now go wash up."

"His father must've said something to him...alright I am going." He said before quickly escaping.

With no one to see his grim expression grew uglier while thinking about the fact that Ingrid still didn't know the whole situation. He'd always vaguely alluded to why Grant took over at such a young age, his mother made sure that every lose end had been tied up including having her own family silenced. No one could speak of this incident at all though no one really wanted to either since thing slowly had gotten better until now when Grant finally broke the balance.

'It won't be war between our two packs this time...' Kurou unhappily thought while drying off.

While walking back to bed he worried over the feature and what it would bring his the three youngest children, Edith held a love of helping others and was aiming to become a healer, as for Jun he had talked with the instructor many times and they both concluded he would have no problem in the future leading his own team, moreover it was his sweet but foul mouthed little girl Hana he worried about the most as she walked in her grandmother Hanae's footsteps.