"They're staying?" I absentmindedly asked as I continued to pick one of the herbs sprouting right in front of me. Amalia hummed in approval. She's currently fussing over some Arnica herbs.
"As far I know, yes. Alpha Atlas is staying until the Pack Summit. Would their pack be okay if they're gone that long?" Amalia asked me back, and I was left wondering the same question.
"Not if they've got capable people left in the pack. We've got Luna here anytime and the rest of the hierarchy," said Dahlia, one of the heads of the pack units. She accompanied us when it was her day off. She was bored, according to her.
"That's true, but they've got no Luna, right? Alpha Atlas doesn't have a mate. He got a boyfriend." that tiny voice came from Nadia, one of the young warriors in training. We've got several people harvesting herbs at the moment.
"Amalia, is this herb good?" my voice was tense. I'm getting uncomfortable with where the conversation's going. They're talking about my mate, after all. I show Amalia the herb I'm holding. I know it's an herb, but I forgot if it's alright for the infirmary or not.
"Yup, take some of it. Calendula's good. Gather some of those mints too," she informed, and I did what she told me to.
"Nadia, don't be nosy like that. It's none of our business." Adelaide chastised the young warrior. Yes, she's also with us. It's great since the herb picking season is almost over, and we need to gather the lot we can. Though we also have some herb picking during the winter season, those herbs were few. Winter doesn't give much. But, those few herbs that we gather during the winter season are more for food consumption.
"I know, but what do you think will happen if Alpha Atlas meets his mate? We're werewolves, after all. We're bound to be mated in the future." Dahlia added as she stomped on the wild grass scattered around her. I doubt if she's picked anything since her basket is still empty.
"Again, none of your business. Don't disrespect the Alpha by gossiping over his interest. He's clearly smitten over Luke, and so is the latter." Adelaide explained, and it hit me hard. I didn't even notice that hand was crumpling the leaves of the herbs I'm currently holding.
"Do you think they'll perform the human-werewolf bonding? It'll be the first one we'll personally know." Those words from Dahlia made me grit my teeth painfully. I never let my thoughts stray towards the idea of man-made bonding. I never let my thoughts get that far. Why did they have to talk about it?
I pulled the roots of one of the thorny herbs near me. The thorns dug into my palm, but I did not even feel a single thing. Man-made bonding is the act that would let the werewolf kind officially acknowledge a relationship between
If that two people wanted the man-made bonding, those people would become the mated mate. The downside of it is you don't have the actual bond that the goddess bestowed to the truly mated pair. There will be no pull and tingles. In short, it would be just like a simple marriage in human terms but recognized by the werewolf community.
"Mavis, your hand!" The thorn-filled herb was carefully extracted from my hand by Adelaide. Few trickles of blood ran down my palms to the blanket ground.
"Oh dang! I did not notice it. I was thinking about something." I grimaced. I can now feel the stings of the thorns. Amalia gave me a ridiculous look while she mashed some calendula in her hands. Nadia poured some water on my hand to cleanse it from blood, and Amalia placed the mashed herb on my wounded palm.
"You need this since prickly poppy got that toxic enzyme that would hinder your quick healing abilities," she explained. Amalia added pressure to the wound.
"I'm sure it's fine. It is just small pricks, after all." I mumbled, trying to lighten the sudden gloomy mood.
"It is, but you'll feel the sting for a while like those stinging nettles," she told me and guided me to apply more pressure to it.
"You're a bad herbal picker, Mavis," commented Nadia. She's grimacing for my expense. The poppy indeed caused my multiple-punctured palm to keep bleeding. If someone's crazy enough to enhance this herb to cause harm against us wolves, then they would be successful. It'll be a double-edged sword, though.
"I know, but not more than Dahlia. She got nothing in her basket." I was snickering at my own words. Dahlia looks at me, offended. That did it. The gloomy atmosphere disappeared.
"Excuse me? I've got branches of blueberries here." she tilted her basket to show the bottom of her basket. Indeed, there are a few blueberries in there and the branches. The women laughed in amusement. You don't harvest blueberries that way.
"That's nothing compared to mine." I gestured at my almost full basket. It's full of herbs, and there are even a few ginsengs here and there.
"At least I ain't clumsy." she stuck her tongue, and I stuck mine back. We can be childish if the situation calls for it.
"Alright, that's enough. Let's call it a day, though it's still eleven in the morning. We were able to harvest a lot." Amalia smiled at us fondly. We gathered our own baskets, and I lifted mine on my left as I fisted my right palm to keep the mashed herb in place.
We walked back to the pack while chit-chatting.
The mashed herb pressed on my pricked palm was already thrown moments ago. The wound is already closed-up, and what's left is indeed the stinging and itchiness. The prick wounds were a little tender to the touch, so I'm still holding the basket in my left hand.
The noise of the warriors in training filled our ears as we slowly reached the training grounds. Amalia decided to stop by to check the warriors. Dahlia was complaining because she wouldn't want to see the training grounds on her day off. She could've walked the other path back to the packhouse, but she still went with us. According to her, it's boring walking alone.
"What's with the hype?" Amalia asked as Nadia rushed in the training grounds direction. The voices of the pack members were rising to cheer someone. Maybe, they're having a sparring match between the pack unit heads. It happens often.
"Sparring match? I'd love to watch." I exclaimed in excitement as I followed Nadia's wake. Amalia and Adelaide rolled their eyes simultaneously as they went after us with their eyes.
There's a crowd in the middle of the training grounds. Everyone's invested in it as they circled the persons in the middle of it. I forced my way through the cheering crowd and was in time just to see George being smack down the ground.
I clapped in amazement. George was known as one of the pack unit heads who's great at close combat, but he's now sprawled on the ground panting in exhaustion.
The shirtless man he's grappling over offered his hand to George to help him stand. My eyes went to the chiseled chest and defined abs. I don't get much reaction from shirtless males, but this one gave me goosebumps.
"He's fine. Too bad he swings the other way." said that voice behind me, and I saw Dahlia almost salivating at the shirtless man. The words she told me confused the hell out of me, so I took a good look at the shirtless man's face. I gulped in surprise.
It's Atlas, and he's shirtless.
I guiltily look at his form again from head to toe. He's splendid. There's also a grin plastered on his face while he clapped George's back in appreciation.
So, he's really staying in the pack until the Pack Summit. The other representatives were already long gone after the party. From the days that he had spent in my pack, I found out that Alpha Cedric's a good friend with the Atlas's father. It ends up with Atlas being good friends with Alpha Cedric too. Also, if he's here, then Luke must be somewhere else.
I looked around and found him opposite of me. He's holding bottled water and a small towel hanging on his shoulder. Luke sported the perfect supportive-partner look. You can surely see that Atlas is the dominant one in their relationship.
I walked out of the circle and grasped the handle of the basket in my hand tightly. I don't want to linger around. Our encounter that night wasn't pleasant at all. He didn't even comment on the Assent I'm asking. I ended up walking out of the woods.
"Mavis, you're here." I was startled by that voice and looked back to see Logan's grinning face. The excitement on his face upon witnessing the sparring match was evident. I looked back at the crowd and saw that they were slowly dispersing.
"Spar with me, please. They don't want to spar with me. Sir Sky said I'm not ready yet." he pouted while clinging at my right, which is awkward at his size.
"You can always ask Wyatt if you want to," I told him with a smile. Though, if Logan was not allowed to spar with anyone yet, there's nothing much he can do. Most of all, Wyatt ordered it.
"He said I'm not ready too." Logan's shoulders were slouching. I walked towards the shade of the oak trees.
"If Wyatt said you were not ready yet to spar, yet then you're not ready." he stomped on his feet in protest. I giggled at his childishness. I can't fathom how people mistook him as an adult. He's still a baby.
"Oh, what's wrong with your hand?" he asked, grabbing my palm in his. You can still see the redness in them, and the streaks of blood weren't entirely gone a while ago. There are still streaks of them on the back of my hand.
"Prickly poppies," I answered, and he tried to rub the dried blood off of my skin.
"They're itchy. I've been prick a lot last time," he explained, clearly sorry for my palm.
"Uh-huh, they're definitely itchy. Anyway, I can't spar with you, kiddo." I tried to reach for his head, but then my hands were busy.
"Alpha Atlas was so good at combat. I want to be like him, but how am I going to be good if they don't let me spar?" he fusses while tapping my palm as if to soothe the itchiness.
"I'll spar with you after my hands are fine." his face lightened in glee. I caved in. My heart won't take the sad expression that he was making.
"It's your break already, right? Here take this basket for me." I hand him the basket full of herbs. He took it merrily while clinging unto me.
We were about to walk away from the training grounds when someone stopped us from leaving.
"Where are you going?" said that person, and Logan stiffened beside me. With the eruption of tingles on my back, I can tell who the person is.
"Lunch, Alpha?" Logan grimaced, and my defenses shot up when I saw that poor kid's intimidated.
"Don't do that. It's almost lunch break. I think it's fine for Logan to go." the protest in my voice was evident. I'm feeling adamant, precisely speaking. Logan's grip on my arm tightened.
I stared at Atlas, squaring my small shoulders compared to his wide one. The ticking of his jaws was subtle as he stared down at me.
Logan giggles in nervousness. He grabbed my injured palm, I winced. It's still tender, after all.
"Oh sorry, Mavis 'twas an accident," he murmured, gently grabbing my wrist instead.
"What's wrong with your hand?" the question was so unexpected that I didn't even react. Logan, on the other hand, was so keen and told Atlas the reason bit by bit. Atlas listens hangs on as Logan narrates.
"So, that's what happened, Alpha. Mavis was just clumsy." Logan's hand on my wrist was trembling a little.
"Can we go know, Alpha?" I asked grimly. I don't want to stay in his penetrating gaze any longer.
"Yes. Make a quick visit to the infirmary. They're bound to be itchy. Warrior," he looks at Logan. "You're expected to be back after lunch. Don't dally." He marched out after saying those words, followed by Logan's deep sigh.
"He's so intimidating," he whined, leaning on my head. I tilted my head, effectively removing his heavy skull on my head.
"Let's go." I whisked Logan away from the training area with the basket hanging from his arm.