shoplifting college student with no major skills to fit in in a society that had run perfectly well forever without her presence.
She was currently trying to help out in the garden, hoping the combined physical labor and mindlessness of harvesting with others would calm her frustrations for a while.
It was working, too, right up until Ziva showed up.
Emma was pulling ears of corn out of the tall corn fields and filling baskets with them when she heard Ziva berating someone nearby.
"Camphor. I said Camphor, not whatever the hell this is. What's wrong with you? Thomas is having trouble breathing and you give me..."
"I'm sorry Ziva. You said... Nevermind. Hang on, I'll be right back. I'll get the Camphor."
Emma watched on tip toe, peering through a few tall corn rows at the end of the corn field as the young, brow beaten girl disappeared into a greenhouse, trying to appease an obviously angry and frustrated Ziva.
Emma started to say something, thought better of it, and turned back to what she had been doing, but Ziva's voice pulled her up short.
"You. This is all your doing, Emma. Ever since Reine's upset things have been going sideways. Everything has been back on track on for years and then you show up. You show up and everything goes off the damn rails again."
"Reine was upset? What are you talking about? Do you know why she left?"
Emma put her basket down, all pretense of ignoring Ziva and carrying on with the harvest abandoned as she weaved through the corn to face Ziva near the greenhouses.
Ziva faltered at the direct questioning, but recovered.
"No. How would I know why she did the things she did? I didn't say she was upset, I said ever since her upset at the challenge, ever since she changed the natural order of things and a female was named Alpha..."
Emma tried to follow Ziva's angry rant, but not knowing much yet about how a pack was supposed to be structured, she couldn't understand what Ziva was so angry about.
"First a female Alpha coming to power just as my old pack was being wiped out by humans, and now a damn shapeshifter. When I left my own pack and mated into this one, it was to keep the peace. To cement the two packs and grow, then this pack was the only pack, and now..."
"Your old pack? I thought you were human. Ziva, I'm sorry, I don't know the history of this place yet. A lot has been happening and teaching me about my lineage, about mom's life here, hasn't been high on anyone's priority list, plus..."
"It doesn't matter. Whether you know anything or not, you are still in play. You carry your mother's blood in you. Everything changed with your mother and that damn challenge. Nothing has been right since. I've done everything I could to put things back on the right path. Then you show up. Now I have to deal with it. But don't worry, deal with it I will. This ends with you. One way or another, this ends with you."
Before Emma could respond the other girl was back with the Camphor. Without a word of thanks, Ziva yanked the leaves from the girl's hand and turned, storming off back toward the cabin she shared with Thomas.
"What the hell was that about?" Emma asked the girl, completely confused.
The girl just looked at Emma, wide eyed and blinking, and then shrugged her shoulders.
With an angry, frustrated and confused snort, Emma walked away. She wasn't sure where she was going to go, but she felt the need to move, to get away from here.
She aimed her feet toward the closest forest edge, slid between the trees, and started walking.
Chapter 2
Emma had been hiking for about an hour when she found the cave-like tunnel.
Her first thoughts were of bats, snakes and spiders, but her curiosity got the better of her. She grabbed a large, thick, dead branch off of the wooded ground, and started smacking it against the opening of the cave, hoping her noises would drive anything currently inside of it out, while at the same time, scared to death that something would run or fly out at her from all the
She was currently trying to help out in the garden, hoping the combined physical labor and mindlessness of harvesting with others would calm her frustrations for a while.
It was working, too, right up until Ziva showed up.
Emma was pulling ears of corn out of the tall corn fields and filling baskets with them when she heard Ziva berating someone nearby.
"Camphor. I said Camphor, not whatever the hell this is. What's wrong with you? Thomas is having trouble breathing and you give me..."
"I'm sorry Ziva. You said... Nevermind. Hang on, I'll be right back. I'll get the Camphor."
Emma watched on tip toe, peering through a few tall corn rows at the end of the corn field as the young, brow beaten girl disappeared into a greenhouse, trying to appease an obviously angry and frustrated Ziva.
Emma started to say something, thought better of it, and turned back to what she had been doing, but Ziva's voice pulled her up short.
"You. This is all your doing, Emma. Ever since Reine's upset things have been going sideways. Everything has been back on track on for years and then you show up. You show up and everything goes off the damn rails again."
"Reine was upset? What are you talking about? Do you know why she left?"
Emma put her basket down, all pretense of ignoring Ziva and carrying on with the harvest abandoned as she weaved through the corn to face Ziva near the greenhouses.
Ziva faltered at the direct questioning, but recovered.
"No. How would I know why she did the things she did? I didn't say she was upset, I said ever since her upset at the challenge, ever since she changed the natural order of things and a female was named Alpha..."
Emma tried to follow Ziva's angry rant, but not knowing much yet about how a pack was supposed to be structured, she couldn't understand what Ziva was so angry about.
"First a female Alpha coming to power just as my old pack was being wiped out by humans, and now a damn shapeshifter. When I left my own pack and mated into this one, it was to keep the peace. To cement the two packs and grow, then this pack was the only pack, and now..."
"Your old pack? I thought you were human. Ziva, I'm sorry, I don't know the history of this place yet. A lot has been happening and teaching me about my lineage, about mom's life here, hasn't been high on anyone's priority list, plus..."
"It doesn't matter. Whether you know anything or not, you are still in play. You carry your mother's blood in you. Everything changed with your mother and that damn challenge. Nothing has been right since. I've done everything I could to put things back on the right path. Then you show up. Now I have to deal with it. But don't worry, deal with it I will. This ends with you. One way or another, this ends with you."
Before Emma could respond the other girl was back with the Camphor. Without a word of thanks, Ziva yanked the leaves from the girl's hand and turned, storming off back toward the cabin she shared with Thomas.
"What the hell was that about?" Emma asked the girl, completely confused.
The girl just looked at Emma, wide eyed and blinking, and then shrugged her shoulders.
With an angry, frustrated and confused snort, Emma walked away. She wasn't sure where she was going to go, but she felt the need to move, to get away from here.
She aimed her feet toward the closest forest edge, slid between the trees, and started walking.
Chapter 2
Emma had been hiking for about an hour when she found the cave-like tunnel.
Her first thoughts were of bats, snakes and spiders, but her curiosity got the better of her. She grabbed a large, thick, dead branch off of the wooded ground, and started smacking it against the opening of the cave, hoping her noises would drive anything currently inside of it out, while at the same time, scared to death that something would run or fly out at her from all the
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