赤裸裸的滑稽故事

“I am determined to finish this thing by morning,” Caleb sighed.

“Can you do that? It's already late,” Ashleigh said. “And aren't you waiting on parts?”

“I was, but they arrived about an hour ago. Now we just need to get them all installed and tested,” he said. “Unfortunately, the section of the fence that needs to be changed out is a bit of a trek. I'm likely going to be out of contact until the morning.”

“Don't rush yourself,” she said. “That part of the border has some dangerous falls, especially at night.”

“I know. I'll be careful. We've got plenty of floodlights to see what we are doing and where we are going,” he said. “And I already took a suppressant to avoid any distractions.”

“Are you saying I am a distraction?” Ashleigh asked, pretending to be hurt.

“Yes, one I enjoy very much. But I gotta get this done. Staying much longer is going to be a problem.”

“What's wrong?”

“Mom said the number of attacks is increasing. They aren't getting worse, and still no casualties… but it is concerning all the same.”

“Is it rogues or Autumn?” Ashleigh asked.

“Hard to tell, but the rogues we were tracking before have suddenly up and moved, and Axel mentioned that your dad found a large gathering as well.”

Caleb sighed.

“We need to go home, Ash,” he said. “I can't monitor the situation from here.”

“I know,” she replied. “Get your work done, and we can head home tomorrow afternoon.”

Caleb was quiet for a moment.

“If you need to stay longer, Ash,” he said gently. “I understand.”

Ashleigh smiled.

“I go where you go,” she said. “I can meditate and reflect anywhere, and Summer is my home now.”

Caleb smiled, and Ashleigh felt it through their bond.

“All right!” he said brightly. “Tomorrow it is, then.”

“Tomorrow,” Ashleigh replied.

“I love you,” Caleb said with tenderness.

“I love you, too.”

Ashleigh got off the phone with a giggle. She reached down and grabbed one of the candies her mother left out on the coffee table for guests. Sucking on it as she gave herself a moment to enjoy the renewed closeness she felt with Caleb. Slowly, things were getting better. For the first time in a long while, she was experiencing change that didn't turn her world upside down.

An incessant knocking at the front door drew her mind away from her reflective thoughts.

“Coming!” she called out. But the knocking seemed to get worse with the acknowledgment.

Ashleigh hurried to the door.

“Ok, ok, I said I was coming!” she growled. “What is so important that you need to be rude!”

Ashleigh pulled open the door, ready to yell at whichever wolf decided they were more important than basic manners. But instead, she found herself with furrowed brows and a confused look on her face as she stared back at her always smiling, always energetic, ray of sunshine, Clara.

“Clara?” Ashleigh questioned. “What are you doing here?”

Clara smiled self-consciously and then proceeded to explain, as only Clara can.

“Well… you see, the thing is…. Can I come in? I'm going to come in.”

Clara moved into the house past Ashleigh and continued to talk.

“You asked me to look through Alpha Cain's hard files and see if there was anything interesting, and so I did, and there was. Like did you know that he was researching ways to grow entire limbs back? Like a freaking lizard? It's incredible! I doubt it will go anywhere anytime soon because of the war.

“But then again, that would be a really, really handy tool to have in the utility belt. I mean it would definitely give us the upper hand…”

Clara smiled. “Get it? Like you lose your hand, but it grows back… the upper hand?”

Ashleigh took a deep breath.

“Clara… what are you doing here?!”

“Right!” Clara replied. “Can I sit down? I think I need to sit down; you should sit down. Let's sit down together!”

Clara grabbed Ashleigh's hand and led her to sit on the couch, so they sat close but still faced each other.

“Ok, we're sitting, still waiting on that why,” Ashleigh sighed. She loved Clara, but sometimes she was exhausting.

“Well, you and Caleb were supposed to be back a week ago,” Clara said.

“Something came up, and we needed to stay,” Ashleigh replied.

“Yes,” Clara said, “but then you stayed longer.”

“Yes… because Caleb is still working on the security defenses,” Ashleigh answered. “Clara can you please, please just tell me why you're here?”

Clara took a breath, and pulled the messenger bag she wore over her lap, she opened it and reached inside.

“You asked me to look for anything that might be related to Alpha Cain's death, or the fae, or anything that might shed some light on the reason he was being hunted,” Clara said. “Well, about a week ago, I found this.”

Clara pulled out Cain's journal. She handed it to Ashleigh.

“What is it?” Ashleigh asked, opening it to see sketches of plants, animals, and a few anatomical drawings.

“It's a field journal,” Clara replied.

Ashleigh closed the book and looked up at Clara.

“He kept them for various research trips or projects he was working on,” Clara continued. “From what I can tell, he always stuck to one subject per notebook. Which is great because then you don't mix and match and lose that one specific note you are looking for later.”

“Ok,” Ashleigh said. “I still don't understand why you had to come all the way to Winter to show me a field journal… what am I missing?”

Clara licked her lips.

“Read the journal, Ash… it's a little hard to believe otherwise.”

Ashleigh furrowed her brows.

“That journal is spread over ten years… the early research and experiments are talked about, then he quits, and then almost seven years ago he started back up again.”

“Almost seven years ago?” Ashleigh asked.

Clara nodded.

This could be the project that Tomas demanded his help with in exchange for freeing Bell. Ashleigh licked her lips and opened the book.

The door burst open wide.

“Alpha Axel!” a shout called into the house.

Ashleigh was so surprised by the sound she dropped the journal and got to her feet. She turned to the door, and for the second time that evening, she was shocked by who she saw standing there.

“Penny?”