In the next few days, while still in the freedom fighters’ pack, Nani had a regular routine. Every day she woke up at six with two pack guards to pick up herbs for the pack and Lucas. Then she comes back and eats her morning meal; she also helps in an emergency if she is needed.
After gathering the herbs, Nani turns them into incense, so Lucas can inhale.
She takes a book with the herbs, incense and food and then goes to Lucas in the healing pool.
She lights the incense for Lucas before reading the book to him. She once treated a patient who was almost in the afterlife; the patient said he only came back because he heard his wife talking to him and sobbing. So he followed the direction of the voice and came back.
Nani believes that Lucas will do the same for Ava and their pack members because only Lucas De’ Clan, the protector of the realms, knows how to save them.
She breaks out in sobs almost every day, telling him how much they needed him and how much they missed him. Nani begs him to wake up already.
One day, while holding his hand and crying, she was sure she felt him squeeze her hand a bit, but there was no way of finding out since he was still unconscious after that.
After her time with him, in the evening, she goes to the makeshift infirmary to help out. She goes around the pack and treats the sick unless Eli has something for her.
Eli serves as the pack’s Alpha for now. He presides over them justly; he always says the truth and tries to be impartial in his verdicts.
He sometimes seeks her advice as the former caretaker of the Dawn pack so the pack’s activities run smoothly.
If she is hungry, she goes over to the pack kitchen to get food, but sometimes a visit to Lucas leaves her without much of an appetite.
Today, Eli sent a boy to tell Nani to come over. After cleaning her eyes from her visit to Lucas, she headed to Eli’s hut.
On her way, someone ran into her leg; she stopped abruptly and looked down. It was Amelia, the daughter of one of the pack healers.
The girl had liked Nani since the day she met her.
Nani picked her up and tugged at her chubby cheeks, making her laugh.
“Nani, where are you going?” Amelia asked.
“To Eli’s hut, beautiful. Where is your mom?”
“In the infirmary, she left me with Selina’s mom.” She pointed at the house, a little distance from where they were standing.
“Then why are you here?”
“I saw you and decided to follow you,” Amelia said, pouting.
Nani laughed and started towards the house she pointed at.
“Does Seline’s mom know?”
Amelia shook her head and covered both of her eyes.
“Don’t you know that leaving without telling anybody is so bad? You might get taken by bad people before anybody realizes to search for you. Then something bad may happen.”
The little girl’s lips started to tremble, and Nani smiled and kissed her cheeks.
“Not to you, sweetie; maybe to bad kids; now promise not to sneak out again.”
“I promise, Nani. Does that mean it could happen to bad kids?”
Nani nodded. She took out a candy from her bag that she had saved for occasions like this and gave it to her.
“Thank you, Nani,” she beamed.
“Nani, if I am bad, does that mean it can happen to me?” Amelia asked.
“Of course, it is bad for you to sneak out like that without telling anyone, including Seline’s mother. Now run into Seline’s house.” Nani put her down, and she ran inside.
Seline’s mom was surprised to see her running towards her; her facial expression showed she didn’t know Amelia had gone out.
She carried Amelia on her arm and used the other free hand to wave at Nani. Nani smiled back at her before following the path to Eli’s hut.
He might be there or at the makeshift pack hall, which was beside his house.
****
When she arrived, she called for Eli, but she was informed by the boy that he was in the pack hall.
When Nani got there, two pack members were standing on one side, and Eli and another pack member were on the other side.
She then knew he had called her to help him settle a dispute.
She smiled and walked over to him.
“Seth said you called for me,” Nani asked.
“Yes, I was hoping you would help me with this case since it involves the kitchen.”
Nani smiled, “Of course, what is wrong?”
“These two pack members, Ina and Lizzie, brought a problem to me. Ina’s daughter destroyed their kitchen with fire. “She forgot to put out the fire before going to sleep.”
Nani turned to the two women.
“Which one is Ina?”
“I am the one.” A slim woman came forward; she was still young, maybe in her thirties, with red hair.
“What do you have to say for yourself, Ina?”
“My daughter mistakenly left the fire on, and it destroyed the kitchen, but it wasn’t on purpose, ma.”
“Where were you?” Nani asked.
“I work in the infirmary, so I am always very tired when I get home; besides, my husband is dead, so my daughter, Kelly, has no choice but to make her meals.”
“Oh, please, enough with the pity story,” Lizzie cut in.
Nani turned to the woman, who was very much older than Ina.
“You are not to speak until you are asked to,” Nani chastised. “So, Lizzie, what do you have to say about the incident?” Nani asked.
“She works hard, alright, but this is not the first time they have done this. The things we kept in our kitchen always got burned by the fire they left on. I am always the one to put it off, but since I around wasn’t this time, the kitchen was burned down entirely.”
Nani turned to Ina, “Is what she said the truth?”
“Not all, Nani; the fire only destroyed things a couple of times.”
“So it did destroy something at all?”
“Yes, Nani.”
“Then it is the truth; repair the kitchen; I believe that should be the end of it,” Nani said, waving her hand to show she was done with the case.
But Ina fell forward and held Nani’s leg.
“I don’t have enough manpower to do that; it is only my daughter and me.” Please command Lizzie to let her three sons help me. I have begged them, but they have refused to help me.”
Nani pulled her hand away from her leg. “I can’t command them to help you, but you can convince her. You can nicely ask her to help you.”
She turned and began to plead with Lizzie, who frowned her face until Nani called her name.
“Fine, I will help her, but if anything else happens to the kitchen, she is on her own.”
“Ok. When you are done building Ina, make sure to thank Lizzie’s children. Now your case is dismissed.”
Nani remembered going around, settling small disputes amongst the women. She knew they were having problems because they all came from different packs. Upon remembering Lucas, she felt so sad again that she fought to hold back her tears.
Someone tapped her and jolted her from her daydreaming.
“Thank you, Nani. Women and their troubles; I couldn’t have settled the case so smoothly,” Eli said.
“You’re welcome, but I think you would have. Please excuse me.”
“Of course, Nani, you may go.”
****
Nani managed to go back to her hut before she started crying. This was one of the days when she didn’t feel like going to the kitchen for food. All she wanted was for Lucas to wake up. She wanted him to get up and save Ava and the Dawn pack.