Chapter Five

As mentioned during the meeting, patrols were scheduled and put up weekly. Alison had taken almost every patrol she could. Kallum, Skylar, and Tristan were all three very worried for her. She wasn't really sleeping, but she ensured that all her homework, chores, and Alpha work were handled, she was starting to stress herself out again. None of them had ever seen her overwork herself this much, not even Kallum.

That next week at school, Skylar plopped down beside her during Lunch and saw she was working on Alpha work. None of the food on her tray had even been touched from the looks of things. Skylar sighed and placed a hand over her sister's, forcing her to stop working and snap her head over towards the blonde. "What?" Alison growled, a little angrier than she had intended.

"We're worried about you Ali, you're starting to do nothing to take care of yourself. Your life doesn't revolve around the pack, no matter how much you need or want it to. This new threat is nothing more than that, a threat. We'll deal with it once we know more, but right now we don't know anything at all," Skylar answered in a gentle and calming tone of voice.

"Sky, I wish you were right but you're not. You're right when you say we don't know what we're dealing with, but the sooner we figure it out, the better it'll be for all of us. We need to handle this quickly because it's our job to protect mortals, that's been our main job since the beginning of our time since Jessaminne formed the Elementals," she shot back.

Skylar groaned as she ran her fingers roughly through her hair. She was not in the mood for this today, but she knew that Alison was determined and would do everything in her power to resolve the current threat. Just as she was about to give up, an idea popped into her mind. A brilliant idea at that. "Hey Ali, you have gym next, correct?" she asked, looking back over at her sister, who had gone back to Alpha work.

"Yeah, why?" she asked distractedly.

"No reason," Skylar answered as she shrugged and shook her head. The one thing she knew Alison couldn't resist, was doing physical work. She knew just how much Alison loved a good run, especially if it was a race, and it would be an excellent thing to get the young Alpha's mind off of pack work, even if just for a minute. Satisfied with her idea, she turned towards her own lunch and started eating, waiting for the bell to ring.

When it finally rung, Alison stood up and left the cafeteria, her nose still an inch away from the binder. Skylar jumped to her feet, grabbed her back, and raced after her sister as fast as she could. She had math this block, but that could wait, her sister's health came first. Her sister came first. She rushed down the many hallways until finally, she reached the girl's locker room. Alison had already managed to change into her gym attire when she entered, so she quickly did the same.

"What are you doing in here?" Roze inquired when she spotted the young girl trying to change quickly. Skylar snapped her head over in Alison's direction, before slamming her locker door shut and struggling to get her tennis shoes on. "You're not gonna get her away from Alpha work, she's gone down the rabbit hole," Roze sighed as she too closed her locker.

"That's where you're wrong, she just needs a good race. But no race is complete without the winner getting something from the loser, and that is why I will be racing her," Skylar replied as she quickly tied her hair up and then hurried over towards Alison. She tapped softly on her shoulder and then waited.

"What Roze? I'm busy," Alison replied, not looking up from the binder. Skylar tried reading over her shoulder but didn't understand half of what was written down, most of it was in an old language. That only confused the girl more.

"Alison what the hell, close the binder and pay attention to me, I'm only your sister," she finally snapped as she grabbed the book and tossed it over to Roze, who very quickly slipped it into her own backpack.

Alison jumped up and turned to face her sister. "What the hell is wrong with you! Had anyone else gotten their hands on that book we'd all be in major trouble with Meri and the other Elders! Honestly, Skylar, do you even think?" she exclaimed in a puff of anger.

"As a matter of fact, I do think. I also know that you're going to race me, and if I win then you stop focusing so much on Alpha work and more on taking care of yourself. If you win, then I have to leave you alone on the subject. You're going to say yes, so there's no point in arguing," Skylar remarked, a mischievous glint in her eyes.

Everything inside of Alison was screaming to reject Skylar's offer, but she was far too stubborn. "Arg! Fine, but you're going down Sky," she gave in easily. Skylar merely shrugged her shoulders and turned towards the door that led outside. Alison reluctantly followed behind her. "Come on Roze, we'll need a middle man, to make sure there's no cheating," she called over her shoulder as the door closed. Roze quickly hurried after them.

They got down to the track and Skylar stood in position, looking tauntingly over at Alison. If she didn't make it seem like she knew for a fact she was going to win, then Alison wouldn't have agreed to the race or would've even backed out. Skylar had to make it look like she was confident she'd win. The way she was thinking, was that even if she lost then maybe Alison would finally understand why everyone was so worried about her. She hoped she'd be right, otherwise, they would all be in trouble of losing their Alpha.

"You ready to do this, or what?" Skylar called out, she was trying to rile her sister up. Get her pumped up and ready to run, and it was working. She could tell by the look Alison was giving her.

"Oh, I'm ready. Question is...are you?" Alison retorted as she stepped into position. They both faced forward and looked ahead. Nothing was going to distract them, they were both focused on winning, just to prove a point to the other. Losing would mean a hit to both of their pride, but Skylar was willing to let that happen for her sister. She couldn't lose Alison.

"On your mark!" Roze called out as she climbed up onto the bleachers. Alison hunched forward, waiting for the 'go' so that she could launch forward. Skylar stayed perfectly straight, she knew how fast she was, she didn't need to launch herself from her back leg. "Get Set!" they were almost ready to go, any second now. Both of their breathing had slowed down to a steady pace as they prepared to take off. "Go!"

Alison sprang forward and took off, Skylar just mere inches away from her. The wind was smacking both of them in the face as they ran, neither one of them was really bothered by the feeling. The only sound they could hear was their heart beating rapidly in their chest as they progressively pushed themselves to go faster. It felt freeing to go for a run, especially for Alison. She hadn't had a single moment where her brain was just silent, not a single thought to be had. She didn't have to solve a math or science equation. Or try to rack her brain for a line from a book she'd read six years ago. Didn't have to worry about the new threat that had moved in next door, or when they should start building other things in the area they needed. She was free to just be herself, nothing else mattered when she ran.

Of course, this only pushed her to run faster than Skylar, who was now lagging behind. Much to her own dismay. She hadn't been able to keep up with Alison, which was strange to her. She'd always been able to win races at her old school, before moving back home with Alison. Had she let her ego get the better of her? It was the only thing that made sense for why she wasn't leaving Alison in the dust.

Alison let out a loud laugh as she hurried over the finish line. Skylar joined her a minute later and immediately leaned forward, putting the palms of her hands on either of her knees. "Dammit, how did I...not anticipate you....being faster," she managed to get out through deep breaths of oxygen. Her lungs were burning and her throat was dry.

"Guess I'm just quicker than you. Add that to the list of things I'm better at," Alison teased as she flung an arm over Skylar's shoulder and helped her stand up. "Don't let your losing ruin your confidence, I just haven't felt that good since the new threat. I hear you, and I promise to do better when it comes to maintaining a healthy balance of work, school, and self-care. I don't know where I'd be without you," she added in a quieter tone.

Skylar chuckled dryly and punched Alison lightly in the arm. "About time you started listening, you had me, Kallum, and Tristan all worried about--" but she didn't get to finish her sentence before a certain red-headed boy came charging up to them in a frenzy. Skylar's attempt to make her sister take care of herself was about to go right down the drain. All it took were six little words from Kallum.

"I know what the threat is!"