11
Colton is preoccupied most of the day with overseeing the new buildings, checking in with the sentinels on patrol and keeping himself busy. We have fallen into a routine of doing what we need to do separate first thing in the day and gravitating back together by lunch, or after, to do things together. Today was exceptionally busy I guess as I had lunch with Sierra, like we always do, and then checked in on the school and some of the smaller workshops without laying eyes on him once.
The wolves have started getting life back on track again. With the kitchens being used as both a mess canteen and a bakery to provide for the village, we have started to bring in some animals to graze on the surrounding lands to fill our meat, egg, and dairy needs, although occasionally vampires kill a few. We have managed to get them within the boundary for nightfall most of the time, but animals like to wander.
In the evening the school is used to run arts and crafts workshops, drama, and other small hobby interests to keep the people occupied. They know they can’t leave the boundaries if they want to stay safe and many have adapted to small town living pretty smoothly. I would say that despite the constant threat from our fanged neighbors, we have somehow created an almost peaceful existence and the rune boundary enables us to sleep well without fear of invasion. We’re in a safety bubble where nothing can penetrate and we’re so much luckier than surrounding packs for it.
At the mountain we had free reign of not only the vast space, the valley but also the surrounding human towns and all beyond, there was never need for this kind of prison like existence. So it’s been an adjustment for many, especially those Santos who did have a life, work, and school, in the human world and now are confined to our peaceful bubble. I have to say there hasn’t been many complaints and they all just try to get on without fuss. Most are just grateful to Colton for bringing them somewhere safe and happy to live out the days.
We try to keep this is as safe a haven as we can and keep disruption to a minimal so the young ones and the elders can have a trauma free existence. In the fight at the mountain, we maybe gained several of the fiercest sub packs, but we also gained the land loving peaceful families, lots of femmes and children. So the majority of our numbers are those who want to spend their days in quiet living and never face vampires. Those ones wouldn’t know how to fight unless their lives depended on it and even then, I don’t rate their odds highly. Much like my family, they are farmers, not warriors.
Our sentinels are all sub packs with battle experience and Juan lost some of his best who followed and respect Colton. He made a mistake dismissing Colton’s right as alpha that day, as those governed by our laws and pride in the pack, the strongest, were those who followed him. They provide our security and without them I don’t think we would be half as capable at dealing with our enemies swiftly.
I cross the open gravel drive towards the tree line when I come back from the village rounds to oversee the details. I do this sometimes to see if I can feel anything out there, sometimes to flex my gifts a little and blow off some steam from days of not using my abilities. I feel like since becoming Luna, I have better control of them, yet sometimes, less need of them. I’m so bubble wrapped by Colton sometimes that having gifts seems a waste as he’s Mr protective, and over pampering, and I get little chance to use them.
I’ve fought the vampires with Colton by my side multiple times in six months and I have to say that not using my gifts is also a little down to me. We’ve killed many of their kind and each time it felt awful. I can’t explain, like even though I know it was us or them, and they are the enemy, somehow it was wrong deep down inside of me. Maybe it’s that part of me is Vampire and I somehow connect with them on a weird psychic level, but every death has weighed on me heavily since we took them down and I can still recall the many faces and smells of these creatures that died by my hand.
As opponents they are not equally matched to Lychens. On their side they have speed, some strength, and can be vicious. I was shocked to find most vamps possess very little in the way of unique gifts like we do, in fact barely any at all. Only their purest, oldest, seem to possess abilities like mine and with their own hierarchy they never come out to use them. Or show face. That means every Vamp we have come up against has been easy to take down with little effort. I always thought they would pose a bigger threat but maybe they have vast numbers and in a battle between two species, in all our glory, maybe they would be deadlier. Outnumbering us. Once they realized we had counteracted their weapon with our own frequency and stayed within our border to ensure it, they have been less eager to try and invade. It sort of hints at the fact that they know they are the weaker of our two kinds. It makes no sense to me why they still pursue a war.
It’s no wonder they have come to the witches then to try and get a level playing field. Wolf on Vamp sways to our side more than theirs in every scenario, and even with our lesser population, we have been slaying them anytime they try to come at us. No match at all. Now they have witches in their midst though I have no idea what that will do or even means. I know very little about witches and magic, in fact, only what I have seen from Sierra and Colton and neither are purebreds. They lean heavily to wolf in daily life and only have their gifts as add ons rather than their sole being. I haven’t ever met any real pure witch before.
I stand on the edge of the gravel, facing the dark succulent tree line of our natural wall and spread my hands out, watching the sway of the trees as I move them from right to left softly, and then gently back as I push them out. My gifts are like breathing nowadays and I’m still discovering my limits every day. The absorption side of me is something I never really need to tap into, not when my telekinesis is strong enough to disable most things, push out of my path, or create a short-lived protection bubble around me if needs be. This however is almost therapeutic, manipulating my environment which somehow frees my mind and helps me relax. Watching the waving of the trees under my command helps ease the tension form my shoulders as I make them dance for me in the afternoon breeze. The rustle so subtle and yet calming as it surrounds me and drums out the noises of the village in the near distance.
Colton devised a way to first combat the noise weapon when we first started getting invasions of Vamps and they disabled us when we chased them out. He would cover my ears and block out the sound so I could use my gifts to build an eternal ball of energy. Then much like a sonic boom I would let rip, exploding outwards and it knocked out every device in a 5-mile radius, thus rendering their weapon useless as long as I was with my pack or until they got it running again and we had to repeat. Since the Doc came up with the alter frequency though, even that is used less. The Vampires abandoned their weapon as t was pretty much useless against us and I know Juan has something similar at the Mountain to deter them there.
I watch as the ripples through the trees and foliage move in satisfying patterns with every turn and twist of my hand, sighing loudly that it’s become this easy, so second nature, and doesn’t thrill me like it did in the beginning of honing my gifts. The downside to having them is the ability to feel other’s emotions, beyond Colton. Whether I want to or not and that too is heightened in the past few months so that I constantly have to dampen it down. I hate feeling what anyone near me feels, just form being within ten feet. Unlike when Colton and I share moods, and emotions, it feels more invasive somehow, but it helps me deal with my people. Feeling when they are hurt or sad, or afraid, and I am able to put them at ease or help in some small way. It’s like being psychic in a way.
