"If I never see another Tyger ever again, it would be too soon!" Grandma Wanda seethed.
WHOA....I knew it! Old wolves told the best stories.
"Ack!" Grandma Wanda startled before scowling at me, "Why are you looking me like that?"
I guess the spell wore off. Best story ever! Grandma Wanda made a harumphing sound, "Best you forget that tale. No one else would have remembered."
"But..." I said.
"I said forget it!" Grandma Wanda hissed, but now that she had regained her youth, she looked rather beautiful when she was angry. It's like her beauty came alive with her fury.
Wait, why was she angry?
"But...but..." I said. I had so many questions, I didn't know where to start.
"Just forget I said anything." Grandma Wanda looked annoyed, and then she got angry all over again, "And don't look at me like that!"
Like what? I blinked. This was my normal face. Right? It's not like I had a mirror to check.
"She's always like that." Ben shrugged. And then he sighed as if he had to be the long suffering one, "Story time is over, Sam. We gotta go, our ride's nearby."
We had a ride?
"Pack up, dog." Ben continued in his bossy way, "Gareth just passed the border. We'll meet him at the roadside."
He took out his phone to check the GPS to confirm this. Betas. Never leave home without one.
"Understood, Beta." Ki smiled and got to work packing the basket on the table, "Lady Wanda, are these your belongings?"
"Ah, yes. Just put them back into the basket." Lady Wanda stopped being angry to supervise Ki, "Careful that the jars don't knock about. You may use the cloths to wrap them..."
And then she realized they were all soaked in varying degrees with blood and got angry all over again, "I curse the Tyger! I curse the first Tyger! I curse all the Tygers down to the last one! I curse..."
She harumphed again, "Those were my good tea towels too!"
I would like to point out that she had better reasons than ruined tea towels to curse the Tygers off the face of the earth, BUT given that my number one suspect right now was also my soul mate, I pressed my lips together and decided not to remind her about the missing arm.
Neither Ki nor Ben pointed it out to her either. They politely/nonchalantly went about getting ready to set off.
"Watch yourself, young beta!" Grandma Wanda scolded and tsked when Ben nearly tripped while trying to empty the kettle. It was hardly Ben's fault since the floor boards were uneven. To Ki, Grandma Wanda muttered, "The newly shifted ones always move about like they have four left feet."1Ki only smiled like a flower to the sun, "They quickly grow out of it."1As if he were that much older! But this seemed to placate Grandma Wanda somewhat, and she made a harumphing sound and turned away from the glowering Ben. I half expected Ben to throw the kettle into her face, or at least onto the floor, but he sullenly poured the last of the liquid into an empty mason jar that Ki had magicked out of the mess on the table.
Ki tightened the lid and exchanged the jar of yellow-green liquid for the chipped mug in Grandma Wanda's hand, "One for the road my lady?"
Grandma Wanda's good mood returned, "Won't mind if I do."
Were they old people flirting? Ki, I know you were old, but Grandma Wanda was dinosaur!
Ben glowered but kept his mouth firmly pressed shut together. Good Ben. He was exercising his highest form of self control not to burst out in impatience.
Maybe he knew that one Grandma Wanda acting out was enough. Maybe he was really growing up. Maybe he just wanted this mission over and done with.
"We'll escort you to the roadside. One of our men will meet you." Ben informed the lady drolly, "He'll bring you back to your Alpha. You will keep our presence on black out."
Grandma Wanda immediately worried, "Alpha Louis? I don't think you know Young Beta, but alphas can detect lies - and Alpha Louis has his Luna mother's gift of insight!"
For some reason, Grandma Wanda was truly distressed.
"Then just shut up and let Gareth do the talking." Ben snapped, because that was how Ben talked.
Grandma Wanda looked like she was going to argue, "Young Beta..."
"F***, let's just go with plan B." Ben decided all on his own, and he must've realized no one else knew what Plan B was since these plans had all been formulated in his own genius head because he sighed and explained, "We're abandoning you here. If you want to survive, you need to run out south-east to the nearest road. And I mean RUN, lady. And IF you're lucky, MAYBE a dark blue truck might just pass by. If you can get it to pick you up, MAYBE it'll take you back to the Night Forest Pack house."
Wait, but...
Ben held his hand out because he didn't want to be interrupted, "Sam, do you trust me?"
What? No!
But I managed to catch myself in time at the sight of Ben's serious expression, "Okay..."
The answer was still no. I had no idea what Ben's genius head was planning. Nor did I trust it, tbh.
"Start running, lady." Ben smirked.
I hesitated and looked from Grandma Wanda in the bloodied dress... How would she manage the basket with one arm? And then I looked at Ben... He was my beta right? I mean, he was also the one who had the sense to arrange some kind of transport back... Most of all, he was Ben.
"Let's go, Sam." Ben bossed.
This was when I decided I should trust my Beta and childhood friend a little more, "Yeah, okay."
Haven't we all grown up quite a bit by now?
Ki placed the heavy basket on the side of the table nearest to Grandma Wanda's hand, "I wrapped your other arm and placed it on top of the other things. Perchance the truck would be carrying an ice box, the driver could preserve it..."
"That old thing? Forget it." Grandma Wanda huffed, "That thing is dead to me."
She shrugged, "You must know since you are a healer, it is too far gone. And aside from a powerful healer from the Soul Tower, this is a lost cause."
And then for the first time since I met her, my grandma Wanda looked regretful, "Even if it could be attached back to my body, the soul within it has been transplanted to someone else. My fate was sealed from the moment the Tyger appeared."
Oh my stooopid mate. I felt angry all over again, "You can't give up yet! I'll help you!"
Ki smiled his killion dollar smile, "Please take care of it, Lady Wanda. It is far more feasible to restore and reattach the original arm than grow a new one. Believe me this."
Lady Wanda took pause, "Can there be such healers in the plains?"
"Now run, lady!" Ben ordered while dragging me by the arm out the front door, "Let's go, Sam, we're done here."
Ki smiled and nodded politely at the elder healer, "Until we meet again, Lady Wanda."
And I felt my lucky sense of direction pick up, "Yeah, see you soon!"
Actually, I couldn't feel certain about Grandma Wanda making it on her own to the pick up point, but at least Ben had a plan - even though he explained it so badly, I didn't get it.
At least he had a plan! Even though I promised to help Grandma Wanda, I had no idea how. Like it would be best if we could restore her arm... But I had no idea where to start. Was it even possible?
But as the cold outdoor air hit me, my lucky sense on direction reved to go... And it was happily following my beta out the door. Suddenly I remembered, I wasn't just lucky, I had the best wolves running with me.
Yeah. I trust Ben. We'll wake up from this dream travel and see Grandma Wanda back at the packhouse in a bit.
At least I thought that was the plan, but Ben had never been simple minded like I was.