Pack Mentaility chapter 5
#5 of Pack Mentaility
In the months that follow Jezeca travels around doing an odd job for food. She evey crosses a inland sea to get away from the pack. Finally though she is tired of running and wants to settle, she heard there was a town nearby and figure she try here. As she nears the location of the town she here's a comotion nearby and she goes to see what it is. What she finds in a clearing in the woods is a group of rough looking men surronding a man dress who gave her the impression of a trader. "you've been behind on your protection payments Pat. We don't like that."
"I don't have the money to pay your so called 'protection'. I wiss the sheriff would actually do his job and assest you guys."
"Well he doesn't and you'll pay or your job and family will suffer." After hearing this Jezeca and to her surprise her wolf decide to intervene. She leaps out of the woods punches one guy in the head which knocks him out the draws her sword over the trader who was hit to the ground just before her leap.
"I sugest you little kids go away and leave this guy alone or I'll gut you and leave you to your fellow scavangers."
"Looky what we have hear boys. A girl trying to play the hero." The obvious leader of the group says.
"Well in my opinion she's wearing the right gear." Another says laughing.
"Better than being a wanna be villian."
"Get her boys." In a minute all of the men are on the ground, some dead some moaning all with cuts. As the leader flees he yells back. "We'll remember this." Jezeca sheaths her sword an goes to the trader who's just now picking himself up.
"Are you okay?"
"Fine thanks to you stranger." They move away from the battlefield.
"That won't be the last time they'll try to get money from me. I used to be able to pay them but when Jeff left I've had to pay for extra help."
"Jeff?"
"My cousin, he used to help guard my cart as payment to live with me. He went out one day and never came back."
"Sounds like you need a talented guard."
"You offering?"
"I need a place to stay you need someone to guard you I'll even throw in a security deposit." She lifts up her gold of coins.
"Hhhmmm." The trader looks at for a second. "You've got a deal I'm Pat." Pat offers out his hand. Jezeca takes it shakes.
"I'm Jezeca."
"that's an odd name."
"Not from where I'm from which is a long way from here." After 15 minutes they arrive at the edge of town. Jezeca spends a few moments to check out the town. To her eyes it was a mid sized town with apparently with all the good amendites. She catches up to Pat and asks." Shouldn't you be more successful? The town lloks like a place you can easliy gather various stuff to sell to other towns."
"You would be right except I'm not the only trader here.,but I make enough to live happily for the most part."
They stop at a good size house. It could easily have 8 rooms in it. "Honey I'm home."Pat cries out as he closes to door behind them.
"Dad! dad! dad! dad! dad! dad! dad!" A ten year old girl screams as she jumps into her dad's arms.
"Ah! My darling." He lifts her up smiling at her. Jezeca couldn't help but smile form the looks ands scents of love coming from them. A woman comes out of the kitchen to greet them but pauses at the site of Jezeca.
"Honey, Who is this?"
"This is Jezeca, She's gonig to be living her with us in Jeffs old room and help me by guarding the cart. Jezeca my wife Lela."
"Guard you cart ha! More like replace me in your bed."
"Honey it isn't like that you know I have only eyes for you she really is here to guard the cart."
"I still don't believe it." Jezeca notices Lela has an apple in her hand.
"Lela could you toss that apple in the air?"
"Why?"
"Please." Sighing she tosses up the apple and to everyone's minus Jezeca surprise in a blur the apple is sticking to the far wall. Lela goes and removes the dagger it's was attacted to and looks at the nearly sliced through apple before looking at Jezeca. Sighing she hands the dagger back to Jezeca. Then turns to her husband.
"Fine she can stay, but if i find you in her bed your the one I'm throwing out got it?"
"Perfectly darling. Jezeca let me show you around." The house did consist of eight rooms: the living room, a dining room, a kitchen, a storage room with an attacted cellar area for perishables, and four bedrooms. The first bedroom and the biggest was Pat and Lela's room, next to that was the room pat used as an office so no bed there. Next to that was their daughter Veli's room, so the last was her's. After giving Pat 10 gold coins as her deposit she was left alone to unpack. However after the apple demonstration Veli had to meet Jezeca more so when Jezeca was about halfway done she enter and hop on to the bed to chat with her new roomate.
"That apple thing was soooo cool. How did you do that?"
Smiling Jezeca responds "With time training and patience." Not to mention werewolf reflexes but she's not going to mention that little tidbit to this family.
"Could you train me?"
"I could but I don't think your parents would approve."
"Dad wouldn't mind but I think mom would. She wants be to be like her, a wife to a sucessful business man. After today though I don't want that. I want to be like you."
"Great." she says in her mind "Another reason for Lela to hate me." Then Jezeca lowers her face to Veli's and with a very serious look she says.
" you don't want to be exactly like me. I went through some pretty bad stuff that I wouldn't wish on anybody."
"Dinner!" Lela's yell carries throughout the house. Rubbing Veli's hair Jezeca gets up.
"Come on and lets see what your mother cooked." they both stepped out and headed for the dining room. Pat was already sitting at the table when they arrived. Veli took the chair on the left of him and figuring Lela would take the right she took the end chair. Lela had already put out bread, a jub of water, and veggietables when she comes out with a cook lamb. Jezeca's wolf growls in approval of the choice. She quickly covers her discomfort of the wolf's action by saying. "MMMM! That smells wonderful."
"Thank you." Lela responds. they then get to the eating. halfway through dinner Lela decides to break the ice. "So Jezeca where are you from and what made you take the carrer you chose?" Jezeca then tells them about the town where she was born, the murder of her family, and the town she lived in with Debie. She purposely avoids anything to due with the pack, but she isn't let off that easily. Of course Veli's the one who asks.
"Why did you leave?"
" I had a bad run it with certain...people. Not the law." Intercepting Lela's oncoming remark. "but I had to leave for the safety of the town." The dinner was finish with only small talk to interupt in after that. After all the cleaning was done Jezeca finds Pat and Lela makeing out in the storage room. She queitly leaves and intercepts Veli before she can catch her parents in an akward moment."Come on pup. Let's get you to bed." Not her footsteps behind her she turns to she Veli staring at her."What?" She asks.
"You called me pup." With a look of shock an terror on how her wolf has slipped even further into her personality.
"I did?" she aks nevrously.
"Yes but I don't mind .It makes me feel special." Veli finally joins her as they walk to the hallway that leads to the bedrooms. Jezeca visually releases the tension she gathered a few seconds ago. She leta Veli into her bedroom efore going ito hers. She quickly strips and gets under the covers. While not the large bed she was force to give up this bed was comfortable. She then focus on her wolf for an explanation to the pup thing. What she finds surprises her, the wolf's postion hasn't completly changed. It still dislikes being away form the pack but it's more content then it was when she left. She will figure this out but later she needs to sleep.
She wakes to the smell of something cooking, something with meat. She gets up puts her armor back on and heads out into the dining room. There she finds an empty table so she pushes on to the kitchen there she finally finds the food, still bing cooked by Lela. Startled Lela narrows her eyes and asks."What are you doing in here?"
"Smelling that lovely food that woke me up."
"Woke you up? How can you smell it from your room?"
Jezeca shrugs " I have a strong nose."
"Well it won't be ready for another 10 minutes." Noticing what Jezeca is wearing she frowns and asks."Is that all you have?" Looking down at her red and purple dragonscale armor dhe replies.
"Yup, Had to leave in a hurry. I was lucky enough to get my personal momentos." For the first time Lela has sympathy for Jezeca.
"After breakfast I'm taking you shopping." Lela declares.
"But-"
"No butts if your going to live her you'll need more than that." Sigh Jezeca concedes much to the amusement of her wolf. mentaily she responds to the wolf.
"Haha laugh now but wait and see what she will try to make me wear."
"Us, wear." the wolf comented.
"You do NOT want to go there wolf." Breakfast was eggs,bacon,some toast, and some milk from the cow.
Veli was the last to show up for breakfast but the first to finish and asked. "what are we doing today?" Her mother reponds.
"You are going to collect eggs from the hens and milk the cow." A groan sounds from Veli's lips. though her far is a trader her mother was rasied up on a farm so she had a garden for fruits and veggietables, A hen house, and a cow. Pat always fund it amusing but he saw the fact that it was cheaper than constantly buying from the vendors. Seeing an aprotunity to get on Lela's good side Jezeca jumps in.
"No groaning I had to do that to at your age just as your mother did."
"All right." And Veli heads out to do her chores. Lela on the other hand had her eyebrows raised after Jezeca's intrution.
"It usaully takes me longer to get her to do things like that." Jezeca shrugs and says.
"Right now she likes me so might as well use it to help you out."
Later Lela took Jezeca to the tailor shop in the market square for clothes. The first thing Lela picks out is a fairly standard dress for the area. Jezeca rolls her eyes at the suggestion."No way." Even her wolf is apalled by the suggestion."I told you so." She smuggly says to the wolf which grumbles to her delight. Jezeca walks over to another rack and finds some long shorts and a t-shirtist top. "Now hear we go." Smiling at her choice while Lela rolls her eyes. In the end Jezeca buys a couple of pairs of the long shorts and t-shirts along with a pair of more comon boots as an alternative for her dragonscale boots, and some long clothes for winter. The wolf is unhappy with the clothes much prefering the skimpy armor better yet just fur, but the human side is in control and is living in a human den so she will endure. When they get home Jezeca goes to her room to change. After a few minutes she steps out wearing a pair of gray long shorts that reach her knees and a red t-shirt which doesn't cover her belly. this is as much to apease the wolf. She used to wear longer stuff before but the change had change all of that and as much as she initally hated the armor's skimpyness it grew on her or the wolf just had to much influence in the area. Lela apon seeing the outfit now on Jezeca she drops her head into her hand and shakes her head knowing a lost cause when she sees it.When Veli she's the out firt she immediately says. "I want one to." putting a look of shock on her mothers face. Watching the reaction Jezeca just smiles and thinks life her will not be boring.