To Be Remembered

Chapter 3

Upon morning, it seemed the whole pack had gossiped and gabbled the night away about the affairs of the royals, warriors, and alphas and wouldn't dare miss the chance to witness the coming of the high guard at Sistene Lake to 'escort' their new members. Though to Lennon, she felt 'escort' was the wrong word and should perhaps be exchanged for 'take' or 'force'. As she looked over at Senick, who stood with a fake smile plastered to his face as he said his farewells, she could see the dark patches around his eyes and hidden sadness. Despite their insentient arguing and all over bitterness towards one another, they had spent the night running together. No words were shared, of course, instead, there was only a silent sadness as they circled the woods they loved for the very last time. Each tree that brushed past their legs would carry with it another ounce of sadness, one after the other until Lennon's chest was too tight to carry anymore. So she would return to her cabin in an attempt to sleep, and instead find herself trying to remember every intricate detail of the wood on the ceiling, the smell of the fireplace and old rugs, and the warmth of her bed, her chest feeling as if it would collapse.

"Excited?" looking over she saw Calvin making his way toward the two.

Thrilled.

"You could say that," Senick replied, flashing Calvin his uncertain smile. Lennon didn't smile, there was no reason to.

The pair continued to say their goodbyes to the pack members for what seemed like 20 minutes until the High Guard showed up. It would have appeared quite impressive to Lennon under different circumstances, but now was not the time. The only emotion that seemed to appear on her face was a scowl. The horses marched in two by four, two lots of them. In the middle was a large silver carriage, detailed with black swirls and art, which matched the guard's apparel. Each individual guard wore a common silver and black chest plate, matched with medieval armor and a large silver cape that cascaded all the way down to the horse's bum. It was all rather extravagant and unnecessary.

Are they trying to impress us?

"Darn, I don't think there's air conditioning in that thing. I was really hoping for a Lamborghini, but I mean I've never been in a carriage before." Senick whispered to Lennon.

"You've never been in a Lamborghini either," She replied.

"Good point."

Through the crowd emerged a small Lyana, her face portraying both happiness and sadness simultaneously as if to contradict itself. She glanced back to where the first guard had graciously dismounted from his horse and begun talking to Calvin. "You two!" she said pulling them both close to her small body with an unexpected grip. She held the two for just a moment too long before lifting her head lightly to speak.

"Beware the Queen, you were not chosen at random." she discretely glanced back at the guard who spared her a quick smiling look. "Do not trust anyone, especially the royal family. I will visit as soon as it sees fit, stick together, and watch each other's backs. I'll get you out of there as soon as I can," abruptly she lifted her head and a smile plastered her face, her voice getting louder as if to pronounce what she was saying, "and eat healthy, no pigging out on junk food, I don't want to visit and see those tone bodies I've worked so hard to build turn to flab." she laughed before giving the two each a crushing hug. Lennon glanced back at Senick with a worried look on her face, he sternly nodded at her and pointed his head towards the Alpha who was making his way over to them as Lyana began greeting the guard.

The young Alpha kept his strong stance as he nodded at the two, hugging them each. "You will be missed, more than you can know." he chuckled lightly "It's going to be a long time before we find some warriors as well trained and efficient as the two of you." he watched as the children ran loops around the horses.

"We will miss you, Matt," Senick said giving him a sad smile. "But what can you do? It's the royal family."

"Nothing," Matt replied glancing over Lennon's shoulder at the guard. "Nothing yet." he then turned his attention back to the two, looking a tad distracted, happy mood gone.

"I expect you both on your best behavior and do your absolute best in protecting the members of the royal family." His face distorted into a fake smile before he stuck his hand out to someone who had snuck up behind Lennon.

"Lord Beyrock, this is Lennon and Senick, our two best warriors of the Night Wolves." Matt looked rather uncertain while shaking his hand. Beyrock was significantly more tone than of Alpha Matt, although they stood around the same height, Beyrock was merely an inch shorter.

"It's an honor to finally meet you both, as with you Alpha Matt." He said in his deep voice, though his light smile seemed sincere. "I trust you have said your goodbyes," he said nodding at the two. "I have, Lennon just has to say goodbye to Brad," Senick said with a smirk.

"A friend of yours?" Beyrock said with a smile glancing around. A small girl carried over the puff that was Brad and Lennon gave the cat a quick hug, feeling slightly embarrassed that she just hugged a cat in front of the General of the Royal Guard.

"Ah," Beyrock said with a laugh, "We had best be heading off, it's a large trip back to the castle and I'm sure the king and queen wish to meet you as soon as possible." He began walking to the carriage, "I'm sure the carriage will suffice."

The two hesitantly stepped into the silver carriage and took seats on the blood-red leather cushions. They waved out to the sad smiles that littered the clearing as the horses began to pull the carriage. Once their friends were out of sight, Lennon felt her stomach drop as she looked around at the pish-posh carriage.

"Riding in style hey," Senick said from across her. He lifted himself up and took a seat next to her. "Do you think the seats are red so you cant see the blood of the royal family's victims?"

"I think they are red because that's the color that was used."

"God Lennon. No imagination, we are diving into a conspiracy and all you can do is sit back and mope. It's really getting me down." he replied leaning back.

"We just left the only home we have ever known, we are basically orphans all over again. Yet we sit here and you're more concentrated on the red seats?"

"No, I'm concentrated on not being a pessimist. We are about to meet the royal family, and live in a palace. Frankly, we are here to prove ourselves. If we do well, we could be given our own home, start our own lives."

"What? And leave behind the people that cared for us? The people we care about? Lyana and Matt?" she said, she could feel the rage building in her chest at his betrayal.

"I love them just as much as you do," he said, starting to get defensive. "But what are we to do? Sit back and mope, wish it could all go back. I thought you out of all people knew what hardship was. You do what you have to, and this is what we have to do. Not only because we are being forced to, but to bring honor to our pack. So we may as well do a good job and pretend like we want to be here." he sat roughly back against the seat, slightly rocking the carriage. Lennon turned her head to the window. She hated that he was right, she hated that she was being pulled away from the people she viewed as family. Maybe it was weak, but Lennon's whole life she was built to be strong, maybe she needed a moment to sulk before she was tossed into a pit where emotion was as powerful as a knife.

"So we work, start our own lives. Move our separate ways?" she said, her arms crossed. Senick rubbed his hands threw his hair and down his face. "No."

"No?"

"No. As much as I hate to admit it -and I hate it, I really do- we work better together. We were trained to, to fight as a team." he said, continuing to rub his hands on his face.

"So what? We bond? Look I'd rather not." Lennon snipped from beside him.

"And you think I want to? Hunny, your strong but there is plenty of fish in the sea and I don't need to be tied down with a crab." he pretended to puke, "But there are perks that come with the bond, extra strength, being able to sense each other, things that could really come in handy in combat. Don't tell me you don't see that."

"Oh I see it, but I also see the heightened emotions, loss of control, the inevitable pull towards one another?"

"I know it will be hard for you to keep your hands off me but I think I have the strength for the both of us, heck you're trying to jump me right now," he said, pushing his hands out in front of him.

"I'm not even touching you!"

"Love, I can see it in your eyes," he smirked. She threw a tiny, overly embroidered pillow at him.

"I'd rather die than bond with you." she spat.

"We both know that's a lie," he raised his eyebrows at her.

"Even if I did want the extra strength, we can't just bond, that's not how it works. We would actually have to feel a connection and I feel nothing but repulsion." She argued.

"Repulsion is the opposite of what you're feeling El," he said, wiggling his shoulders, "I know you have had a crush on me since we were 10."

Lennon rolled her eyes. She had considered it, maybe once or twice, but never actually put much thought behind it. It almost seemed like an impossible theory that could never come to fruition, so she never really thought about it. But after hearing what Lyana said, she began noticing all the little things the pack did to push them together. She always questioned why they had their own two cabins out from the rest of the pack, and why they didn't have to share with other wolves. At the time she just thought they had proved themselves enough to have earned it, though now she sees that it was really a muse to have them close to one another, alone.

Lennon came back to reality and gazed at Senick, acknowledging all his features. She knew he was handsome, she wasn't blind. There was no amazing revelation there, he didn't suddenly become the man of her dreams. Upon really looking, she noticed that he had a very light dash of freckles across his nose, so light that there were almost unnoticeable. No doubt they came from the countless hours they spent out training the other wolves in the summer. Lennon then considered if she herself had gained any freckled, and was frustrated that she couldn't check.

"Did you ever realize they were pushing us towards one another?" Senick asked, turning to her from the window. He had a very calm, reserved look on his face, one she couldn't quite pinpoint. She realized they had been pondering the same thing.

"Not at the time, although looking back I can see it." She stated, peering through the fogged-up glass. For such a fancy carriage, it sure was cold. "Did you?" She asked.

"Do you remember when we went swimming, and we were racing back and forth across the lake when we were like 16?" He asked, looking like he was recalling a fond memory. "And Lyana made all the other students go back to the training hall, but left us to keep swimming?"

"Yeah, and I won," she stated, then began to really recall that memory. "And they locked us out of all the rooms and left us with the only room with a single bed!" She exclaimed.

Senick nodded his head enthusiastically, "And we had to take most of our wet clothes off and share the single bed."

"I knew they were pretending to be asleep when he knocked. Evil creatures." Lennon exclaimed. She did recall that night, it was her first, and admittedly only, time sleeping in a bed with a guy. They had raced until it was dark, pushing each other until there was a victor. It's how they always were, they wanted to be the best. Somehow she always viewed Senick as her competition and battle partner. Together that had taken down small armies, and she knew their strength as a pair showed no bounds, but in a romantic way? No. She didn't see him like that. Or at least she hadn't until now. She wasn't even sure if it was possible to see him that way. She began to feel uneasy and conflicted.

"Why didn't we ever hook up?" Senick asked, causing Lennon to laugh out loud from the shock.

"Because you're 23 and still refer to it as hooking up?" She retorted. The question took her by surprise, they had very rarely - if ever - spoken about each other's love life, let alone one between the two of them.

"No but come on, really," He said.

"Training was more important, we had to be the best if we wanted to stay and protect the packing," she replied, "nothing was more important than protecting the pack."

Senick's face became almost disappointed at her response. "Always for the pack," he bit out,

"The one that just sold us to the royals."