Cherokee Rose

I’m having so much fun writing this! Enjoy!

Chapter Quote:
“The road ahead is unknown to all. I cannot offer you wisdom or guidance. Only the promise that I will never leave you.”
~Barrow Hess
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Chapter 16: Cherokee Rose

Arya

Something was wrong, and not just because she broke off her engagement.  Arya felt funny, like she was drunk.  In fact, she was drunk.  But how?  She’d only been drinking diet coke.  Maybe someone had spiked it without her looking, but wouldn’t she have smelled the alcohol?  Then again, she had been emotionally compromised all night.  It wouldn’t surprise her if a pig flew in front of her and she didn’t notice.

The longer she walked, the clearer her head became, and the worse she felt.  She didn’t remember any part of the night except arriving at the club and suddenly seeing Ren.  Anything in between those times was completely blank to her.

Upon arriving at the hotel, she found her entire pack waiting for her.  She stared at them in shock.

“Arya!” Shiloh exclaimed, rushing to her side. “What happened?”

“I-I don’t remember,” she admitted.

“You remember something.  You’re crying,” Carrie pointed out.

“I am?” Arya wiped her hand underneath her eyes.  Sure enough, a mixture of tears, mascara, and eyeliner came off. “Damn…”

“Let’s get you upstairs,” Shiloh urged, grabbing onto her hand and leading her to the elevator.  Once to her room, Arya slipped out of her dress and into sweatpants and a sweatshirt.  Her pack crowded into her room once she was dressed.  She explained all that she remembered as she took off her makeup.

“On the bright side, at least the plan worked,” Dmitri remarked.

“Worked a little too well,” Arya grumbled, crawling into her bed.

“Where is he now?” Erin queried.

“Hell if I know and hell if I care.  We’re done.”

“For now,” MJ finished.  Arya gave a small smile.  She really just wanted to be left alone and Shiloh seemed to pick up on that.  He ordered everyone to go to bed.  He kissed on Arya on her forehead and left, leaving her alone to her thoughts.  Arya wanted to cry.  She wanted to cry so badly.  But crying would do nothing.  Instead, she closed her eyes and forced herself to sleep.
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Shiloh

The next day, Arya, Rigg, Dmitri, Shiloh, and Ray went to Calla’s house to drop off her dress.  Shay opened the door.  He gave them a smile.

“Hey, everything okay?” He asked.

“It’s been better, but yeah, everything’s okay.  I just wanted to return the dress back to Calla.  And the shoes.  And the jewelry,” Arya explained, raising the bag in her arm.  Shay called Calla down.  She slid down the banister for the stairs.

“Hey!  Thanks!” she said sincerely.

“No problem.  Thanks for letting me wear it.  Sorry about what happened last night.  I swear I’m not like that.  Um, so, I don’t remember what happened between the time I got to the club and when I saw Ren.  That worries me.  Do you know?”

Shay and Calla spared a glance at each other. “Why don’t you come in and we’ll explain,” Shay offered.  Knowing this wasn’t going to be a good story, Arya and her group took up the invitation.
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“I kissed a guy?!” Arya squeaked, color rapidly draining out of her face.

“Made out with him.  Ren lost it and punched him.  That’s where your memory apparently comes back,” Calla explained.

“Oh my god…” Arya groaned, banging her head on the dining room table. “I didn’t mean to!  I was drunk!  Someone spiked my drink and I don’t know how and oh my god…”

“Don’t worry about it.  I think Ren’s more upset about you breaking off the engagement rather than you kissing the guy because he knew you were drunk,” Shay said.

“The engagement is still off.  I’m not reconsidering that until Ren comes back with his answer.”

“Pardon the pun, but he looked like a pup who’d been hit by a semi after you left.”

“That’s a horrible pun, Shay, verbally and mentally. And I don’t think Arya wants to talk about Ren at the moment.  Listen, how long are you going to be in town?” Calla inquired.

“I don’t know.  Probably not long.  Now that we found Ren, and with what happened, we’ll probably head home soon.  Why?” Arya responded.

“My pack and I are going on a hunt later.  We wanted to see if you and your pack wanted to join,” Shay said.

“Really?”

“Yeah.  There’s this huge herd of deer that’s been hanging near the Haldis cave.  We could use some help.  What do you say?”

“What time do you want us to meet you here?” Arya said with a smile.

“How about six?”

“Sounds good.”

With that, Shiloh and his group left.
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Arya 

Just five minutes past six, the Lightwood pack arrived at Calla’s house for a third time since they’d been there.  Calla and her pack were waiting outside for them.

“Hey, so how do you want to split up this hunt?  My pack can all feed on one deer.  I don’t think yours can,” Calla chuckled.

“We’ll have two groups of six and one group of seven.  We figured it out before we came.  Alright Tor, lead the way,” Arya said before shifting into wolf form.  The rest of the Guardians followed in suit and were soon on their way up to Haldis cave.  The trip took a while because the group kept getting distracted and playing jokes on each other.  Dmitri and Rigg took it upon themselves to mess with Mason and Neville by occasionally sneaking up behind the two wolves and biting their tails.

Hey, Arya, Ren told us about you and your pack.  For the record, we think that’s super awesome you can do that. Shay commented.

What do you mean? Arya inquired, not having the slightest idea what he meant.

Your ability to change coat colors.

Oh, thanks.  And thanks for not calling us mutants. She laughed.

No problem.  Hey, did he go after you last night?

No.

I was just wondering.  No one’s heard from him again and-

Stop. Calla ordered.  All the wolves came to a halt, sniffing the air around them.  Besides their scents, a new one lingered in the air.  A fresh one. A new pack is here.

How is that possible? Bryn asked, standing next to her alpha. We would’ve smelled them before.

Unless they just came tonight. Shiloh suggested.

Guys, by that big rock over there, do you see what I’m seeing? Arya questioned seriously.  Everyone looked to where she mentioned.  Nine pairs of eyes were staring back at them, neither angry nor scared.  More… curious. Surround them.  We need to find out why they’re here.

The Lightwood pack dispersed while Arya and the Nightshade pack moved forward.  Sensing what was going on, the new wolves high-tailed it out of there, or at least attempted to.  Part of the Lightwood pack was already there to block them.  Taki, MJ, Walter, Frank, and Leyla were snarling, forcing the new wolves to back up.  Within seconds, they were cornered by the circle combination of the Lightwood and Nightshade packs.  All but one wolf cowered at Arya’s growls.  He lowered his head to show submission though.

Who are you? Arya demanded.

Is it really you A? The leading wolf asked.

Depends on who you are.

Still feisty I see.

Show yourself. Arya changed forms, attempting not to shiver at the freezing temperatures.  Everyone else did the same.  Arya wasn’t sure what she expected, but it certainly wasn’t this.  The guy she’d been speaking to was tall, black-haired, and had green eyes.  There were two brunette girls, two guys with blonde hair who looked identical, two black-haired girls, a brunette guy, and another black-haired boy.  The more she took in their appearance, as haggard and tired as it was, and the more she let herself take in their scent, the more she believed and disbelieved they were there.

“Arya, do you know them?” Shiloh questioned warily, giving the tall, black-haired guy a warning look.

“I do but… they’re supposed to be dead.” Arya shook her head, a sudden ager bursting through.  She thundered, “I saw you die!  All of you!”

“It was a trick, Arya!  We thought you died too!” the guy responded.  Arya stepped towards him furiously, causing him to take a step back.

“Where have you been then?”

“We’ve been imprisoned.  By Lumine.”

“Arya, who are they?” Shiloh intervened, stepping next to his alpha.  The guy she’d been speaking to narrowed his eyes at her second.

“I forgot to make introductions.” As he pointed to the respective person, the guy introduced, “This is Dean and Sam Fray; they’re the jokester twins of the group.  There’s Casey Gray, Tracy Stein, Reyna Nelson, Jake Johnson, Tony Parker, and I’m Loren Hess.  I’m Arya’s second.”
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Dun dun dun!  Her old pack is back.  Hope you enjoyed!  Please review :)

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