p e o n y

WEEPING TEARS, PEONY WATCHED AS HER FATHER WAS SWEPT AWAY INTO THE HORIZON.

Priscilla clutched her daughter tightly as she watched her mate ride away on one of their geldings towards the Pack Centre. In hindsight, this must have been awfully strange for Peony; she was watching her father ride away to go and meet others when Peony had not even seen anyone but her own parents in her lifetime. Swiftly, Priscilla's attention was brought back to her daughter as she felt Peony hiccup as the oceans in her eyes poured out tears.

"Come inside, my beauty," Pricilla spoke softly, feeling as much emotion as Peony felt but attempting to keep it at bay to not upset her precious girl even more. "We could bake together, if you wish."

Peony grumbled in response; her father promised to stay home this time. Clearly, he broke that and she was upset as she trudged into the cottage. Walking into the small, cosy living room, Peony slumped on the coach and slid a blanket over her, although it was not even in the slightest chilly. Gliding like the fae, Priscilla entered the room moments later and sighed as her looked upon her daughter.

Oliver and Priscilla just wanted to keep her safe, but when it came to Oliver going away for days on end because they lived no where near the Pack Centre, Priscilla often wondered what would be better for her daughter and them all as a family.

"If you don't want to bake, I'm sure that we could go and do some planting in the garden, we could talk about the dog that you saw." Priscilla smile was tight but it was still there; she wanted to know exactly what this wolf looked like and what it did so she could send a letter to Oliver as quickly as possible.

They had made their terms clear to Nicholas Baxter, and if he was not willing to abide by them, they would have to go to the Hargreaves Pack, otherwise known as the Police State.

Alpha Hargreaves controlled everything from pack disputes to potential wars. Merciless and cruel, Priscilla didn't want to inform the police of a possible broken treaty but it was for Peony and Priscilla would easily give her life to save her daughter.

Peony's smile was infectious, her heart sung with happiness as she nodded enthusiastically and skipped towards to back of the house and out into the open garden. It was truly stunning.

Peonies, lisianthuses, violets, daisies, irises and many more flowers were delicately grown in dedicated flower patches across the massive garden. They were her pride and joy; she had spent her whole life perfecting her garden. Peony skipped over to her small garden house, a yellow wooden shed that held dozens of seeds and many watering cans that her father had gave to her as gifts. She knew that the garden was lacking in shades of blue so she took a small box full of bluebell seeds and a white, heavy watering can and slid out of the house like fox.

Priscilla raised her eyebrows and smiled when she saw the delicately painted bluebell on the side of the wooden box.

"Bluebells?"

"I think there is too much pink in the garden," Peony spoke thoughtfully, her brow scrunched up. "So bluebells will be the balance!" Her voice was cheery, a ray of sunshine in a storm and Priscilla loved her for it.

Determined, Peony led the way and they arrived at a small patch of soil that Peony had prepared the week before, right next to bright yellow dahlias. As she sank into the grass, her dress began to stain but Peony didn't care; she didn't even think of the dress. Following suit, Priscilla sat down beside her as she watched her daughter as she shifted through the soil with her delicate hands like an artist, carefully placing each seed into a small hole dug by her.

Realising that Peony was waiting for her as well, Priscilla started to sift through the soil as well, taking little seeds from the box and placing them in the petite holes.

"So about that dog," Priscilla began, a small, forced smile on her face. "What did it look like?"

"It was huge, definitely as huge as it the cows, but it had a big nose too, and it was very long," Peony described, lost in her thoughts. "It was the colour of soil with huge paws!"

"You seem to know a lot about this dog," Priscilla enquired, curious but also frightened to know how close they had gotten to each other. "How close did you get?"

"Maybe around from this flower patch to..." Peony swung around, her hair floating as she attempted to find something to measure the distance. "To that one!"

Peony pointed gleefully at the white patch with daisies which was just under 5 meters away from where they were sitting. Peony did not meet the dog in her flower patches however, she found her whilst she was gathering some fresh grass for her sick cow that was refusing to eat. It was a around half a mile into the forest, somewhere that Peony's parents allowed her to go into because they were sure that there was nothing bad in the forest because of the treaty that they had signed with Alpha Nicholas Baxter.

In return for a successful and prosperous crop yield each season, their cottage and farms would be left alone and no one could enter in their territory without being punished by the Alpha for trespassing.

Alpha Baxter had always thought that they just wanted their privacy after the death of their first born, (a healthy, young boy named Cornelius) who's body was never recovered from a patrol around the western boarder. What he didn't know was that Priscilla and Oliver were too scared to let their daughter out into the world, fearing her death.

Slowly, Priscilla's eyes widened in fear as she took in the close proximity that her daughter had with a werewolf, possibly a even rogue.

"Did it make any noises?" She questioned, digging more small holes with her index fingers for the bluebell seeds. When she saw Peony nod enthusiastically, her heart dropped.

"It sounded like a rumble, but it was really quick. It sounded like it started to cry but when I stepped forward, it ran away." She shrugged her shoulders nonchalantly , completely unaware of her mother's concern. "Do you think it was scared of me?"

"Scared of you, my beauty?" Priscilla teased her daughter with a wide grin on her face. "Even a moue wouldn't be scared of your pretty face."

"That's not true!" Peony challenged, laughter entwined with her words. They both grinned at one another as Peony gently sprinkled plenty of water on the newly planted seeds.

~

Happy Easter!
So, it's been a while! I'm sorry for the wait, I have began my revision for my GCSE exams in May and June, and I even have my french speaking exam in late April.

All my love,
Sunrisewren