Chapter 5

Emily

Emily didn’t know how long she had been in the cell. She couldn’t see daylight and she was only brought one meal a day. This was of course to keep her weak, and keep her from being able to shift.

Oh how she would love to shift and be able to run through the woods. Stretching her legs and being out in the open cold air sounded heavenly.

Emily’s wolf was beautiful. Her white-blonde hair had nothing on her solid white wolf fur. And she was large. Her lineage made sure of that. Her father had been a very powerful alpha himself. And when she married Nick and became Luna, it only added to her power. A power that she would always keep, no matter what happened.

She was lucky in that way, she guessed. Because her family was so strong.. and important. They were the oldest family of wolves in all of the Americas… dating back to the beginning of their kind. Her ancestors had been some of the first.

That day she was allowed to bathe, if you could call it that. The guards brought her a bucket of water, a rag and a small bar of soap. Even so, she was glad to scrub off the blood and gunk that had been stuck to her since that night.

They brought her clothes as well, because today would be the first day of her trial. As weak as she was, she dressed quickly, anxious to see her children and her family. She knew her brothers would come and support her.

Emily’s brother Brian, who was now the alpha of her fathers large and very formidable pack would make the trip, along with his beta, and her other brother, Alan. Her father was too weak to travel so far but she knew he supported her. Her father would burn the world down if something happened to her. Still, someone had to stay back home with her family pack.

Not soon enough, the guards came down to get her. They brought her out of her cell for the first time in days, up the stairs and out into the cold, bright, world. It had snowed, and everything was beautiful. Emily had to shield her eyes as she hadn’t seen daylight in so long.

They yanked her along hastily, her feet dragging. They went up the hill and headed for the town hall building, where they held meetings… and where her trial would take place.

Being in the open air was cathartic for her. After being trapped in that cell for days she loved the way the cold air felt on her face, waking up her body after it had been sleeping for so long.

The smells… the smells were hitting her left and right. She could smell the snow, and the timber of the woods. Then she could smell evergreen and cinnamon, and knew her brothers were close by. But then she picked up something else.

Emily breathed in deeply. Something heavenly was in the air…. making all her senses come alive and crackle. A deep smell of woodsmoke and spices … it was mouthwatering. Not only that.. it was.. familiar. A smell she knew well, although she couldn’t remember from where or who. Something from her childhood, perhaps.

As they came around the side of the building, Emily could see several people standing outside. Some she didn’t know, others she recognized instantly. She saw that Caron, Susan’s husband was there. And her two brothers, Brian and Alan.

They ran up to her immediately and she hugged them both at once.

But then she heard …

“Emily??”

She immediately looked up and remembered where she knew that ethereal smell from.

She locked eyes with her past.. and said:

“Lorenzo”.