She looked around at their former pack house and saw lots of adults packing up their pups and everything around them. Eliza had a mental list started in her head and she was ready to move.
The crews both groups commanded worked in opposite shifts. The projected work time was cut by about half and it was expected that everyone could move into their new homes in the next two weeks. The pack mates living the pack house would finally get their own homes and have the opportunity to open their own businesses.
Eliza opened her suitcase on her bed and starting packing away the clothes she knew were hers. She wanted to get everything packed up and set aside so when the final day frenzy came her stuff was safe. Victoria and the twins tended to ransack when they cleaned and packed and anything not already claimed was at risk if becoming theirs.
Once all her clothes were safely tucked away in her single suitcase, Eliza walked through the quiet house. The marvelous silence was shocking as the usually rambunctious families were all out of the house. Even her office felt strange. She had a.s.sisted vampire movers in packing up the boxes that were moved to a new office in the Central building. At the meeting, it had been decided that all leadership would operate out of the same building to avoid confusion and help the transition to fuel leadership easier.
Eliza heard a honk outside and opened a window to see what the commotion was about. Victoria was sitting in the front seat of a luxury car. The driver was the vampire the leader had a.s.signed to work on policies and he had a hand on the wheel and sungla.s.ses on his head.
Victoria smiled at Eliza and waved some more, "Come on. We're going out to see the new training fields and Mr. Vasta sent us to get you. He wants you to see the plan implemented."
Eliza nodded and grabbed her purse off of the desk. She took one last look at the empty closet before she closed the office door behind her.
The ride in the car was short as Victoria's new friend drove like a maniac. Eliza got tossed around in the back, barely managed to avoid getting tossed out. When she had to climb out of the car, her skirt had ridden up almost indecently. This, of course, did not go unnoticed by Mr. Vasta who was sitting in a chair overlooking the new fields. Eliza tugged the skirt back down to where it was supposed to be at her knees. All three got out of the car laughing, despite the crazy ride, it has been a fun one.
The new fields were a dull brown already covered in mud from the many bodies wrestling and training on them. On one side, there was a wall of weapons that created a border. Pushed nearly right up beside them were five wrestling rings. No one had actually dared to step inside them after a young wolf had touched the stairs with a muddy hand and had been instantly commanded to do four sets of a hundred push-ups.
The impressive scene Mr. Vasta wanted her to see was the two instructors standing at the front of the crowd. A vampire and a werewolf. Both had been rough and rude to each other before they had realized they needed to work together. The instructors had stopped bickering with each other in favor is snapping at the new warriors standing in front of them. After three hours of working out, they were starting to work cohesively. The once wild band of warriors was becoming a trained cohort.
As Mr. Vasta explained all of this, Eliza took in the solid unit that had replaced a team of wild beings. The new plan to have smooth over the transition was two have the two groups train separately and then begin to slowly train together.
Her packmates were already improving under the careful watchful eye of the combined leadership and Eliza was optimistic about the future.
"Amazing, isn't?" came a gravelly voice next to her.
Eliza turned to see Mr. Vasta had gotten up and was leaning against the railing next to her. The temporary platform they were standing on a view of the new fields as well as the construction that was going up ahead of them.
"I'm sorry?"
"How fast things changed for the better. Already we have a new stronghold and the warriors on both sides are improving."
Eliza nodded, "Yes. I am glad you and your team agreed to do this. Who knows how both sides would have ended up if we didn't combine our forces?"
Mr. Vasta just hummed and they stood in silence for a few more moments.
Eliza was the first to break the silence. "I need to get to the office and start setting things up."
Mr. Vasta pushed off the railing, "Allow me to accompany you? I need to confirm that everything is proceeding smoothly."
Eliza's cheeks heated for some unknown reason and she said, "Sure. Lead the way."
The two walked to a brick building behind them casually talking about their hopes for the new future. They parted ways in the hallway that separated their offices and Mr. Vasta brushed a hair off of Eliza's face. "Sorry," he said before turning away. "That has been bothering me for a while."
Eliza's cheeks flared this time as she walked into her own office, touching the spot where his fingers had just been.
She sat behind her desk and booted up her laptop. As the screen flickered through its security checks, Eliza opened to a new page in her notebook and started writing down everything she wanted to get done by dinner.
As she worked through her list and answered different calls from her council, Eliza occasionally looked up to glance at Mr. Vasta through the gla.s.s walls that separated them. Randomly, she would catch him staring at her and would quickly look away. Every time she looked away, she missed the edges of his red eyes tilting up in a small smile.
