After seeing Roslyn off at the airport, I return to the pack house where I find Lance, Steve and Albert with grave expressions on their faces.
I’m taken aback when I lay my eyes on my mate. I wasn’t expecting him to be here. I look at Lance. He must’ve called Albert here. Lance must’ve told him about my conversation with Roslyn.
“What’s going on?” I ask as I close the door behind him.
“You should tell us,” Albert looks up to me, patiently waiting for a response.
I approach him cautiously, “Nothing’s going on.” I’m speaking the truth. Yes, Roslyn told me about her plan but it’s not like we’re executing it now. We’re waiting for the right opportunity. And the right opportunity will only come after Roslyn and I have trained women of our respective packs.
Albert stands up and gently holds my arms, “Elizabeth, we are mates. We aren’t supposed to hide things from each other.”
“I’m not hiding anything from you,” I lie. I would like to look at it as a white lie; a harmless or trivial lie, especially one told to avoid hurting someone’s feelings.3
“What is Roslyn’s plan?” Lance interrupts.
“I would’ve told you if I knew.” I tell another white lie. If Lance and Albert come to know about Roslyn’s plan then they’ll probably chain me up in the pack house.24
“If she didn’t tell you the plan then that means that she’s planning something big,” Lance speaks as if trying to solve a conspiracy theory.
I roll my eyes. “I don’t know anything more than what you guys know. You heard our conversation. So now, can we stop talking about Roslyn and come to my point?”
“Which is?” Lance prods.
“I want all the women of our pack to be trained.”
“Just like what we are doing in my pack!” Albert says.
“Exactly.” I reply.
“But why?” Steve asks.
“Because I don’t want them to ever suffer like Katherine did. Are you guys with me?”
“Of course we are,” Steve says immediately while Lance nods.
I clap my hands. “That’s great! Let’s announce to the pack about what we’ve decided.”
“So, women will train alongside men?” Steve confirms.1
“No, they will train separately,” Lance says. “Tomorrow, you will train the men while Elise and I will train the women. Is everyone fine with this?”
We all agree. Albert taps my shoulder. I turn to him.
“It’s really a good idea to train women in all packs,” he says. His eyes tell me that if his mother would’ve been trained then his mother wouldn’t have suffered.1
“It wasn’t my idea, it was Roslyn’s.”
“I know,” he says. He kisses my cheek and takes his leave. I watch his retreating figure.
“We should start planning for tomorrow,” Lance says. I look at him and nod.
1
As soon as Jolene and I enter her house, she collapses on the couch in the living room. “I think I’m going to die,” she says dramatically.
I roll my eyes at her. A month has passed since the women training started. And everything is going greater than the expectations. Most of the pack members think that training women is a good initiative while the remaining members are Caleb’s followers. All the female members between ages ten to forty are being trained.16
Jolene and I have just returned from the training session. While my friend is relaxing her exhausted body on the couch, I go to the kitchen to get myself a glass of water. After quenching my thirst, I return to the living room.1
“You guys should be easy on us,” Jolene says referring to the vigorous training conducted by me and Lance.
“Our enemies won’t be easy on you just because you happen to be a woman,” I tell her. Lance and I are training women just like we train the men. There is no discrimination. We want women to be equally trained as men and we will leave no stone unturned in doing so.2
Jolene sits up to make space for me on the couch. “So, how long will the training last?” She asks.1
“It’s going to last forever,” I say. She sighs.
“You said that this was all Roslyn’s idea,” she starts. I nod. “Then, how come Lance agreed to her idea? I know how much he hates her.”3
“Jolene, it doesn’t matter who the idea belongs to. What matters is the relevance of the idea. It’s high time that women be trained. This will bring us one step closer to walking shoulder-to-shoulder with men. It’s all about women empowerment and you know how much Lance believes in it.”4
“I know that,” Jolene interrupts. “But don’t you find it a little strange that he agreed to Roslyn’s idea without any arguments?”6
I roll my eyes at her conspiracy theories. “Lance has finally got a chance to work towards uplifting women then why won’t he not take it? He’s a feminist and you’re doubting him for no reason.”1
“I was just wondering.”
“Well, I’ll leave you in your wonderland. I’m going back to the pack house,” I tell her. After exiting Jolene’s house, I start walking towards the pack house. On the way, I come across someone whom I’ve been avoiding since the women training started. And that person is none other than my cousin, Caleb.