Thirty-Four. Sprigganager

Elijah and I arrived back at the pack house just in time for dinner service in the dining hall.

- Come sit with us – Danni links as we walk in. I scan the room and see Danni sitting with her family and Grandad at a table.

“I’ll get us something to eat,” Elijah comments, kissing my head.

“Okay,” I nod, smiling as I walk towards Danni and her family.

“How was camping?” Callum asks excitedly when he sees me walking towards them.

“It was great, thanks,” I reply, sitting in the chair next to him.

“Did you go hunting? Did you cook your food on the campfire or eat it raw?” Callum continues to ask. I scrunch my face up at the last part.

“Ew, no, not raw. Blaze hunted a pig for us, which Elijah cooked, and we ate around the campfire,” I say.

“Ooh, wish I could come,” Callum says.

“Next time, Cal,” I smile.

“Next time, what?” Elijah asks, placing a plate of steak, chips and salad before me.

“Come with us camping,” I say, looking up at Elijah and smiling as he looks at me and Callum. Elijah kisses my forehead before sitting down.

“Next time, Callum.”

“Can I come too?” Preston then asks. Elijah chuckles.

“Unfortunately, Alphas and Betas can’t go on trips together,” Grandad says. Preston’s face drops.

“Why not?” Callum asks.

“Just in case both of them get hurt, who would look after the pack?” Danni smiles, looking at her son.

“The gamma?” I innocently ask. Everyone laughs.

“That would only be temporary. Very temporary. The pack would be left vulnerable to attack, so Alphas or Betas are sent on away missions at separate times,” Grandad states.

“Oh,” is all I say.

I begin eating when Danni gasps.

“What?” Liam, her mate, asks.

“You marked each other, didn’t you?” Danni asks, looking at Elijah and me with a happy smile. I feel my cheeks go hot as everyone turns to look at me. I think the whole room goes quiet.

“Yes, we did,” Elijah says proudly. Liam gets up and hugs Elijah, congratulating him, and Danni just continues smiling at me.

“Congratulations,” she says.

“Thank you,” I reply.

“Yes. Congratulations,” my grandfather finally says, offering Elijah his hand.

“Redwood Pack, as Alpha, I would like to make an announcement,” Grandad states, his voice booming across the room. The low chatter stops, and I watch as everyone turns to look at my grandfather.

“I would like to announce the marking and mating between Elijah Hillcrest and my granddaughter, Lillia Greystone. Our future Alpha and Luna!” Grandad announces. The room explodes with applause and cheering.

“May they help our pack prosper and add pups to our pack!” someone calls out.

“Hear, hear!” another person says, followed by more cheers and clapping. I think I’m going to die of embarrassment.

“Oh, my goddess,” I whisper to Elijah when the noise quietens. I want to bury myself into his chest, and when I lean towards him, he wraps his arm around my shoulders, bringing me into his side.

“It’s all good,” Elijah whispers, kissing my head.

“Does that mean you’ll also get to go to Alpha Training Academy?” Callum asks, his eyes lighting up again.

“Alpha Training what?” I ask.

“Yes. She will be going,” Grandad answers Callum.

“Cool,” Callum says, returning to his meal.

“What is that?” I ask, looking at the table.

“Alpha Training School is where they train the next Alpha, Betas and Gammas for their positions. It’s a two-year course in Hecate. I’ve looked into it for you and…” Liam begins.

“But what if I don’t want to go? I just got here,” I say, suddenly feeling anxious.

“You won’t have to start immediately, and they now offer online courses for mates of Alphas, Betas and Gammas,” Danni smiles.

“You don’t even have to attend. You just won’t be put on the leaderboard,” Liam adds.

“The leaderboard?”

“It’s a board that ranks the top one hundred wolves who’ve attended ATA that are still alive. I was number fifty when I completed ATA,” Elijah says proudly.

“How many years ago was that?” Preston asks, making the whole table laugh.

//\\///\\\//\\

It was decided because now that I was mated and the pack had been told, I had to move in with Elijah. I didn’t mind, but I felt it was a big step in my relationship with him. I’d known him only for a few weeks, and now we were living together. Which kind of makes me feel slutty, considering how quickly I wanted to have sex with him.

- Don’t be silly. Most wolves mark and mate the day they meet – Penny tells me, which makes me roll my eyes.

- Says who? – I asked her, which made her quiet.

Elijah owns a small apartment in the pack house. It has two bedrooms, an ensuite, a separate bathroom and an open-plan kitchen-living and dining area. I like it. Obviously, it’s smaller than the Alpha’s suite, but I don’t mind. When I was packing, Grandad told me the Alpha suite would become ours when we took over, but I’m happy to not move into the suite yet. It sort of puts a finality on my position as Luna of this big pack, which is a huge responsibility.

“Small steps,” Danni tells me the following Saturday when we had our afternoon tea together. I told her how I felt about being Luna, and she told me small steps. Danni suggested, and Grandad and Elijah agreed, that I take on a job at the pack house until I start Alpha Training in the new year (it was decided that I would, in fact, study online, going to campus only if I had to).

Which is where I am now. On Monday, I met the head of housekeeping, Arisha, and we discussed what sort of jobs I could do around the pack house. Arisha wanted me to work in reception, where I could meet and greet people or take over Shoshanna’s position at the service entrance. But that made me feel uncomfortable. Even though someone had already replaced Shoshanna, and they were willing for me to take over, it didn’t feel right. Plus, from what I could see, it looked boring. I like escaping into my thoughts, but I want to work with my hands if you know what I mean?

So I’m here in the laundry room instead. It was decided that I would rotate through jobs as an extra helping hand on housekeeping, and that way, I could fulfil my duty as Luna by putting me on the floor with the omegas in the pack. I liked that idea. I’m familiar with it, and the work, although sometimes it can be lonely and hard, is something I could see myself doing.

This morning I helped to strip beds from the guest rooms, collected the laundry from the kitchens and training rooms and sorted them into colours before placing them in the washing machines. While they were washing, I helped vacuum and sweep hallways, returning to the laundry to move the clothes into dryers or to hang them on the lines outside. I found this work soothing and relaxing. The staff here are great and joined me in on all their conversations. It’s interesting what you hear from being in the background. For example, Danni is well-loved in the pack, and they know what Olivia did to me.

“I hear your dad is coming back today?” Otelia, one of the girls my age who works in the laundry with me, asks.

“Yeah. I’m really excited,” I admit. I haven’t seen Dorian, who I have been calling dad in my head, since I woke up from my medical coma. He had to return home, but he promised to see me soon. And he comes back today.

The packed house has been in a flurry of activity since we were told of his arrival. Which is why we’ve been stripping the beds from the guest rooms, trying to get ready for him.

“Arisha is letting me go early today; I’m meeting Dorian for a late lunch in the dining hall,” I admit to Otelia.

“Go now,” Otelia tells me, looking up at the clock on the wall. It reads twelve-fifty-one.

“Are you sure?” I ask.

“Yes. Go,” Otelia says, grabbing my pile of folded sheets and pulling them in front of her.

“Thanks,” I tell her.

“No problem. I’ll let Arisha know you left me with all the work,” Otelia winks, making me laugh.

I walk down the hallway, heading towards the dining hall.

“Lillia!” Elijah exclaims when he sees me. I look up and smile as he walks towards me. Some of the other pack members sigh as they watch us, and I feel my cheeks heat up as I hear them comment on my relationship with Elijah.

When Elijah reaches me, he wraps his arms around my body, pulling me closer towards him and kissing me gently on the lips. I breathe in his scent as he kisses me, feeling comfortable and safe in his arms. The ‘awe’ sounds hit my ears again, and I buried my face into Elijah’s chest, embarrassed.

“Your dad’s here,” Elijah whispers after I hear people walk away.

“Okay,” I reply, looking up at his beautiful face. Elijah grasps my hand and interlaces our fingers as we walk down the hallway toward the offices. We talk about my work and the pack members I’ve worked with. I think I surprised Elijah and Grandad by wanting to work in housekeeping, but from Elijah’s comments, I can tell he’s proud of me.

Grandad and Dad look up at us as we walk into the Alpha office, and I notice Dad looking at Elijah and I’s hand before smiling back up at us.

“Hi Da-Dorian,” I greeted, smiling. Dad gets up from his seat and hugs me before sitting opposite Grandad.

“How have you been?” Dad asks. I tell him everything I’ve been up to, and Dad nods. I can’t read his expression when I tell him I’m helping out in housekeeping, but he comments that it’s an excellent way to get to know my pack and the people in it.

“I’ve been speaking with Brent, and if you agree, I’d like to take you and Elijah to Sprigganager with me for a few weeks,” Dad says.

“Sprigganar?” I ask, trying to repeat the word Dad used.

“Fairyland,” Grandad translates.

“Well, it actually means land of sprites,” Dad corrects. I look at Elijah before returning to Dad with a smile.

“I would love that!” I cry, “But only if Elijah wants to come,” I add. Elijah squeezes my hand in agreement.

“Good. We leave in two days,” Dad smiles.

\\//\\\///\\//

The following two days were a blur of activity and packing. Between celebrating Dad’s arrival with a big pack feast and packing, I didn’t get to visit the team in the laundry room much. I felt guilty because I had just started working with them and was leaving.

I went to the laundry to say goodbye on the day I was leaving.

“Hi,” I said quietly, popping my head around the corner into the laundry room. The laundry room is big, with six big industrial dryers sitting on equally big washing machines on one side and counters with shelving on the other. Three omegas were ironing to the left while the other four workers were folding laundry and singing to the radio.

“Lilly!” Otelia cries when she sees me at the doorway. Everyone stops what they’re doing to say hello to me, smiling.

“Where have you been? Too good for us already?” Toby teases, getting an elbow in the gut from Otelia rolls her eyes, and I grin. Toby is two years older than me, and like Otelia, we’ve become fast friends.

“Sorry. With Dad here, we’ve been busy hosting, and I’ve been packing because guess what?” I ask, excited to tell them my news about going to Dad’s home.

“You’re going to Fairyland to visit the rest of the family,” Otelia states, making my face drop. Toby cracks up laughing.

“Shit. Sorry. That’s it, isn’t it?” Otelia asks.

“Yes!”

“Big mouth,” Toby teases, making Otelia grunt.

“It’s okay. But yes, I am visiting my dad’s family in fairyland,” I agree.

“When?” Otelia asks.

“Today,” I say, watching Otelia pout.

“I’ll miss you,” she says.

“I’ll miss you too,” I reply, giving her a hug.

“Bring me back a souvenir,” Toby tells me when I hug him.

“Like what?”

“A teaspoon!” Otelia states.

“A teaspoon? Why a teaspoon?” Tobias scoffs.

“What? My family collects teaspoons, okay?”

“I’ll get you a teaspoon,” I laugh. We say goodbye, and I practically skip out of the laundry on my way to the foyer. I’m excited about travelling to the fairy realm. Elijah told me that only some of the fay live in this realm. The rest live in their own realm. The fairies are the only super-species still able to travel to their home realm, and I’m really excited to be able to go.

~

Edited with Grammarly

A/N – I am so sorry that there is only being two chapters in this update. I have had writer’s block with this story and have not enjoyed writing it. But! I realised what was holding me back. It was not spicy enough. I’ve added spice and am now back with ideas. The problem is though that I'm only a few chapters ahead as I've had to go back and edit some chapters. Sorry!