Chapter 64: Sixty-four.

Eight Weeks Ago

"Mom!" Nora shouted, she was clearly, very upset. "Mom, tell him it's not fair! He can't go without me. I have work to do too! Plus I need to see Tommy!" She declared, with tears running down her face, as her temper exploded.

Elijah almost let his laughter at the absurdity of this slip out, he was struggling to contain his glee at Nora's tantrum, it was all very cute to him, the way she was totally on board with his plans and desperate to do more to help.

While his Mom on the other hand, was throwing a rather annoyed do you see what you have started look, his way. She hadn't been entirely impressed with Elijah's intrusive behaviour lately. In truth she was glad Nora was getting to spend time with him, but she was becoming more, and more on edge about her son's potential wants in their relationship. Elizabeth Lawrence was scared she would lose her daughter to her biological father, and was viewing almost every interaction as a direct threat to her life with Nora.

For the past two weekends, Nora had went with Elijah to work up on the ranch, and to spend time with Tommy. Elijah had been collecting her straight from school on the Friday afternoon, and he had dropped her off on the Monday back at school with her friends - he had even laundered her uniform over the weekend while they worked.

But this weekend, Elijah was going up a day early, leaving on the Thursday evening instead. Nora would have to wait on her Dad to take her after school on Friday. This wasn't ideal to her whatsoever, in fact she was down right furious. Not only had she bonded with Tommy, who would now follow her around, and jump up into her arms for attention. (Her parents were now struggling to find reasons she couldn't have her own kitten, which just irked Elizabeth further). She had also been working hard to help renovate one of the stables in the barn for her horse.

Nora didn't actually have a horse yet, (nor had anyone agreed to buy her one), but she had decided the first step was to have somewhere to keep one, much to her mother's annoyance. She had picked her stall with great thought, choosing the one that she decided would have the best view, while being clear of most drafts, but within an easy walk from the feed room, so her pony (in her mind a palamino gelding, about 14 hands high, who would be around ten years old - so he would be steady but not elderly), wouldn't have to wait too long for his dinner.

With Elijah's help, she had removed all the broken, and rotten wooden panels and replaced them with new - she was proud to say she only hit Elijah's fingers six times with the hammer, before he relented and made her hold the wood while he used the nail gun. - Then they had sanded back all the old stain off the remaining panels, and cleared away all the debris left over, from their work.

Now, it was finally ready to paint, and then polish up the brass work, and Nora was desperate to get started. So much so, for the first time she was refusing to go to school the next day.

"Nora, your brother is the Alpha. I can't stop him in this." Her mother responded, still scowling at Elijah.

"But, your his Mom." Nora sniffled, her eyes welling up more at the realisation she might lose this battle, and indeed have to go to school tomorrow.

"But, he is an adult." Her Mom answered. "Plus, he isn't really doing anything wrong, Sweetheart."

"Nora?" Elijah interjected, his heart breaking a little, he wanted to cave and let her win, but the truth was he needed a day up north without her, the roof on the main house really needed repaired before it rained again, and it just wouldn't be safe to do the work along side an eight year old. "I need to go up, so I can fix main house's roof. I won't be in the barn, and I certainly wont be painting your stable without you." Elijah answered, sensing exactly where the problem lay.

Nora's pinched face relaxed somewhat. "You promise?" She sniffled.

"I do. I'm just doing the roof. So, if I did take you, you would be bored stiff, because you wouldn't be able to help." He added, smiling at his little girl.

"That's not true. I could play with Tommy and make you some lemonade." Nora argued again, making her mother groan.

"Nora, you are not going!" She chided. "And, that is final. Keep arguing with us, and your Father may not take you after school either." Eizabeth threatened, having reached the end of her tether.

Nora whimpered at this, and Elijah stiffened, at his Mom's tone.

"Mom..." He began, but was interrupted.

"No, Elijah. I am her mother, it is my call. Not yours." She said laying down the law like a slap in the face.

Elijah growled at her, unimpressed by her attitude. But, instead of disrespecting his Mom back, he let it slide by turning to Nora and unclenching his jaw. "I'll see you after school tomorrow, Whelp." He stated, ruffling her hair up. Then glaring at his Mom, he walked into his house to pack up his SUV and hit the the road, before he said something they would all suffer from.

-----

It was a few hours later, when Elijah and Zachary pulled up at the ranch, so they would be ready to work the next day. It was already dark when they got there, so they went straight inside the house with the pizzas they'd collected on their way.

"Man, I forgot how big this place was." Zachary commented idly as they walked through to the kitchen. His eyes were on stalks as he looked around. "Definitely needs some TLC though."

Elijah had updated the property somewhat, so far, but his biggest improvement was when he called up, and had professionals install solar panels to provide the electricity, without the need of the old generator his grandfather used. Thus, when they pulled the beers out the fridge they were mercifully chilled.

The shifters went and sat in front of the television to eat, throwing on an action film to keep them amused. But, unbeknownst to Zachary, they had a little bit of company.

Elijah was slouched back in the old arm chair, looking about the room. He had ordered his paint from the hardware store, on his first visit back and it should be there for collection tomorrow. He was at this moment deciding which walls to paint the purple shade he had seen in Colt's lounge months ago. He wanted her to feel at home, and to know that even if unintended, she had had an input on the space as well. The room was an odd shape though, with floor to ceiling alcoves carved out at either side of the fire place, and a large bay window that was begging in his opinion for a box style window seat built into it - well in his opinion of what Colt would like, personally he thought it would be a great spot for a Christmas tree.

He was still mulling all this over, when Zachary let out a loud curse. Mid bite of a slice of pizza, Tommy had decided to jump up and investigate whoever this newcomer was, and why he wasn't sharing his cheese.

Zachary let out a growl of fright, and Tommy hissed straight back at him, adding in an arched back and swiping his paw full of extended claws at the intruder. But, before Zachary could act any further, he noticed Elijah was stifling his laughter.

"Dude!" Zachary said in dismay, realising his friend fully expected this. "A cat? Really?" He looked at he angry feline, realising he hadn't picked up on him because he smelled like a pack member. "How the hell, did you manage to add a kitten into the pack?" He asked, while Elijah watched, sniggering as Zachary sat as far back into his seat away from the animal on his lap as possible. "Will you get this thing off of me." He finally asked, worried he would lose his pizza to the ginger devil.

"Still afraid of cats then." Elijah stated, fully laughing away now. "It was an accident though." He said regaining his composure. "It was a full moon when I found him. He scratched me, and must have ingested my blood cleaning his paws later." Elijah shrugged. "Its an old outdated ritual, but apparently still has some pull. Plus Nora loves him. So, why not?"

"It's a cat, that's why not, and of course she loves it. If it's small and fluffy, or large and saddle-able, is that a word? Nevermind. Your sister is an soft heart for an animal." Zachary stated as he managed to lift up the kitten and put him down on the floor, without looking like shredded beef afterwards.

Tommy walked over to Elijah, with all the swagger of a man who owned the place and started gently butting his head against the Alpha's legs in greeting. Elijah scooped him up and sat him in the crook of his arm as he finished his pizza and very soon Tommy was asleep and purring loudly.

"I never thought I would see the day," Zachary said, swigging at his beer.

"What?" Elijah asked, unsure of what Zachary was getting at, as his fingers gently caressed under Tommy's chin.

"The day, you'd be whipped by not one, but two felines. Well, you know what I mean, One and a half or something." Zachary said shaking his head in laughter.

Elijah barked out his own laughter, "What can I say, I'm maturing. You should try it."

"I'm plenty mature thanks, I don't need to stroke someone else's pussy to prove it." He joked back, at his frowning friend. "So, what's the plan for tomorrow, T.C.?" Zachary quickly changed the subject.

Elijah shook his head and chose to ignore Zachary's new nickname. He already had one cartoon character name, he did not need another. "Get up on the roof, pull off the broken tiles, replace with new, fix any damaged wood underneath. That's about it. Thanks for your help again, Man."

"No worries, Top Cat. No worries." Zachary said with an evil glint in his eye. He had no plans whatsoever of letting that nickname go.

-----

It was lunchtime the following day, Elijah and Zachary had been up on the roof of the house since six in the morning. The old damaged tiles were all off, and there had been only four joist segments that had begun rotting underneath, from the water the broken tiles had allowed in. All of which were in one section of gully. This meant on the rest on the damaged roof they had managed to replace the tiles successfully.

They came down for lunch and Elijah dutifully checked his phone as always, hoping for contact from his mate. However, yet again his phone was blank. Sighing he put it down on the counter and proceeded to help Zachary make the bacon and cheese sandwiches.

"Food of men." Zachary said, as Elijah nodded in acknowledgement before they worked down their food.

After Elijah dutifully fed, and scratched Tommy's ears as he was required to, - meaning he also had to ignore his Beta's jibes about the way the kitten had made him his bitch - they headed up into the attic to repair the small sections of wood that were rotten. It took about three hours to remove and replace the rotten wood with strong healthy hardwood, and then the two friends were back up on the roof to finish the tiling.

By the time they were done, both men felt it had been a good productive sort of day. They had worked hard and felt like they had achieved something, all while laughing along with one another and forgetting their previous troubles. It had been fun.

When they climbed down again and had tidied all the tools and broken parts away, they entered the house and were shocked to find it was after seven. Elijah's Dad should have dropped Nora off by now.

Elijah patted down his pockets only to find his cell was missing. Realising he had left it on the counter at lunch, he made his way through to the kitchen. He was concerned his Dad hadn't arrived with Nora. They were over an hour late, and he hoped his Mom hadn't decided she couldn't come.

Reaching his phone he was shocked to discover, nine voicemail messages, and about forty texts from different people, his Mom, his Dad, his Aunt, his cousins, as well as other messages from other people in the pack. He was desperately needed.

One message stood out more than any other though. It was from his Dad.

There's been an attack on Nora's school.

Instantly he was dialing his Dad's cell as Zachary walked in the room his face pale having just checked his own phone. "Where are the keys for the car?" he asked?

Elijah pointed to the hooks in the hall, while frowning at Zachary's demeanour as his Dad's cell was ringing.

Zachary waited unsure of what to say, he settled with, "We should get going. I'll drive. Come on."

Elijah frowned, but his instincts were telling him Zachary was right. Why wasn't his Dad answering.

He gave up and tried his Mom next. But they were driving off the property when he gave up on her answering as well.

Growing more concerned by the minute, Elijah turned to his best friend. "What the hell is going on?" He asked.

"Try again. It can't come from me, has to be family." Is all he replied.

"What the fuck! Zachary, spit it out." Elijah growled angrily.

"I.. I.." he began, but faltered tears building in his eyes. "I checked the news reports on my phone, there was a terror attack on Nora's school. Two gunmen went in. They are still tallying how many were," he gulped, "killed."

Elijah was frozen. His body rigid. His mind working on overdrive. No one was answering. Nora was in danger. No one was answering. Where is Nora? Why aren't they answering? Is his daughter okay? Why didn't he cave and let her come up last night, like he usually always caves. Where is Nora? Will she be okay? What hospital would they take her to? East View Medical, with the top trauma department or McIntosh Memorial with the superior paediatrics department. She surely wasn't still trapped at the school, what kind of attack was it? Where was Nora? Was she asking for him? Why did he leave his phone in the kitchen? How can he help her? Where is his daughter? Will Nora be okay?

"Nora?" Eventually, he managed to choke out her name, his question full of fear for what the answer might be. His chest was tight, he both needed the answer, yet was utterly afraid of what it might be. His head was pounding just with the uncertainty, to the point he was feeling dizzy, and he understood why Zachary wanted the keys. He felt the need to shift, but felt powerless to do so, like something was broken within him. For the second time in just over a fortnight, Elijah felt powerless to help someone he loved. It was a twisted type of torture.

Zachary sighed. "There haven't been any official names released by the press." He swallowed, knowing he couldn't stall any longer. "But, Marcus called me, and left a message." Zachary began, choking on his next words before he could get them out.

"Zachary, tell me!" Elijah roared, his hands itching to hit something, or do something, anything at all.

"He said, Nora was, was one of the victims." Zachary said, tears running down his face. "Eli, she didn't make it out. She's gone."

Author's Note: Sorry it took longer. I needed it to be right. But, i think it is one I could tweak and add to forever. So, I am presenting it as is. I hope it isn'ttoo upsetting. B. x