Chapter 39
Chapter 39
Chapter 39: Waiting
After the oath ceremony, they noticed everyone in that room had grown another inch. Their senses grew keener. They were all stronger. The men could feel Thea’’s emotions, sense where she was.
There was no doubt in any of their minds or hearts that Thea was goddess gifted and that they had made the best decision they could to pledge their lives to her.
They didn’t know what was in store, but they were certain they would follow Thea to the ends of the Earth. Even Thea knew it was somehow important to the moon goddess that it be this way. She didn’t know why, but it was undeniable that the moon goddess was in that room with them.
The new Delta team members rotated into the schedule for guard detail. When they weren’t on guard duty, they followed up leads, trying to figure out who was after Thea.
They continued joining in on early morning training sessions.
Thea requested all the school’s curriculum on the matebond and went through it, scratching out the harmful, outdated, and untrue ideas. She organized her own stacks of Xeroxes about the matebond and mates, combined it into a coherent curriculum, and shared it with Alpha Ulric and Luna Ada.
They agreed with the changes that needed to be made and set up the meeting with the school. Since Thea couldn’t leave the pack lands, Alpha Ulric invited the school officials to the pack house. Some of the officials pushed back, but once the information was laid out in front of them, they couldn’t deny it made sense.
“The curriculum has already been prepared for you,” Luna Ada said.
“You don’t have to do a thing but get rid of the old curriculum.”
“I’ve thought for along while that something was missing,” the matebond teacher said.
“This clears up so much. It fills in the gaps the old curriculum left. Thank you for seeing the need for this and doing something about it. I didn’t think anyone would listen to me if I said it needed to change. I apologize for that.”
“You should thank Thea,” Alpha Ulric said.
“She’s the one who came to me about it. She did all] the research and put the new curriculum together.”
Everyone in the room looked at Thea.
“You’re sorely missed at the school, Thea, but I can’t deny you’ve been spending your time away very well,” the headmaster said.
“Thank you, sir,” Thea said.
“We will implement the new curriculum right away and get rid of all the old texts,” the headmaster said.
Lizzy had gone to most of the bars within a three-hour drive, video chatting with Thea so she could see them. Thea finally knew how she wanted the bar to feel. It was time to pick a location and meet with an interior designer. She contacted Davie, and he came to the pack house at lunchtime. Thea met him at the front doors, and they walked to the dining hall together.
“I hope you don’t mind. I have an entourage now,” Thea said.
“Not at all. Delta team is always a welcome presence,” Davie said.
“You were responsible for this, I assume?” He motioned to the wall honoring the returning soldiers.
“There were lots of people involved.”
Davie nodded, used to her trademark humility. They got their food and sat down at a table to talk shop.
“I’ve been keeping an eye out for potential locations for your bar,” Davie said.
“I have a list of places for you to peruse. Some vacant buildings, some empty real estate if you want to build from the ground up.” Nôvel(D)rama.Org's content.
“That sounds like it will take a lot longer to get up and running.”
“Yes. Hopefully, there’s something in here that could work.” He opened his laptop and showed her the places he earmarked for her as they ate.
“I’m interested in these three the most,” Thea said, pointing them out.
“I’d like to see them in person, but I’ll have to see if I can leave the pack lands. Maybe next week it won’t be such an issue.”
“Ah, is your shift happening soon?” Davie said.
“Yeah. My birthday is Friday.”
“Many happy returns, and congratulations.”
“Thank you.”
“Okay, I’ve favorited these three. I’ll look into getting tours set up, and I’ll wait to hear from you about when you can go.”
“Worst case scenario, I’ll have to send my assistant.”
“Okay. I already sent you the contact info for Jane, the interior designer.”
“Yes, I have that. Thank you.”
“Until next time,” he said.
Thea walked straight to the Alpha’s office and knocked.
“Come in,” the Alpha called out.
She walked into his office.
“What is it, Thea?” Alpha Ulric said.
“Sir, is it possible for me to leave pack lands and visit a few potential locations for the bar?”
He leaned back in his chair.
“Let’s revisit this next week. You’re so close to shifting, let’s wait until you do, and we’ll go from there.”
“Okay.”
“How are you doing since the oath ceremony?”
“Good.”
“Did that help you get your mind around things?”
“Yeah.”
“It was special.”
Thea nodded. “Yeah. Kind of difficult to deny.”
“Indeed. Anything else?”
“No, sir.”
The rest of the week went by slowly.
Misty and Thea had been texting regularly, and she had come to New Dawn a few times to visit. She tried to be positive for her, raise her spirits. Misty was keeping her up to date on anything going on at school. Xavier had come back. She said he was acting subdued. He didn’t mention Thea or gossip about anyone. It felt like he was trying to be on good behavior.
Misty sent Thea a countdown text each day the week of her birthday. Thursday night at midnight, she sent a text.
“Happy Birthday! Happy shifting day!! It’s here!!”
The triplets and Thea couldn’t sleep. At midnight, the triplets got out of bed.
“What are you doing?” Thea said.
“We’re going outside,” Kai said.
“Don’t worry. We got permission. The whole Delta team is going to be surrounding us, watching out,” Alaric said. They packed up blankets, extra clothes, food, and water and headed outside.
All of Delta Team was waiting for them outside. The triplets took Thea to a small secluded meadow. They set up the blankets on the ground then laid down on their backs, facing the stars.
“Now we wait,” Alaric said.