Love Is Flower Like

Chapter 35

Edited 05/31/21

"Alright," Meadow said nervously. Standing in front of her was the entire pack, including Brady and Collin. They were in Emily's backyard and the sounds of cooking drifted from the open kitchen window. The pack had decided not to change their meet-up place for their sakes and Emily's. They wanted to keep an eye on Emily, too, and try to ease the pain they knew she felt from the absence of Sam.

"The bonfire last night was fun, but there are some things we need to talk about," she said.

"What's up, MeMe?" Quil asked curiously.

"I want to change some of the ways the pack is run," she confessed. Jared groaned and threw his hands in the air.

"I thought the last time I'd have to memorize stuff would be in high school," he complained. Paul laughed at him and clapped him on the back.

"C'mon, Jared. I'm sure there's still room in that small brain of yours," Paul joked. Jared shrugged him off and glared at him. He mumbled and crossed his arms, refusing to look at anyone.

"It's nothing big, I promise," Meadow said to get them back on track. "Just some things I noticed that weren't working."

"Shoot," Embry said.

"Patrol is the first thing. The routes are fine as they are, but the schedule and the way new members are introduced to patrol need to be changed," she said. "I was confused when the routes were explained to me, and that is dangerous, especially with vampires running around. So, I've decided to implement a shadowing program. New wolves will shadow experienced wolves to get a handle on patrol without the pressure of getting it right the first time."

"So, we have to play babysitter?" Paul complained.

"Think of it as bonding. Besides, you won't be helping any of the new members," Jacob said with a smirk.

"Knowing Paul, the new recruit would cry within the first hour," Embry joked.

"Like you're any better," Paul snarled, upset they were picking on him.

"Enough," Meadow said steadily. "I will be picking who shadows who based on who they will benefit best from. Brady will shadow Leah and Collin will shadow Embry. Any complaints?"

When no one said anything, she continued by saying, "I know that some of you are still in school or have other obligations, and I don't want the pack to become your whole life. Those without serious obligations will run patrol more than those who do. I don't want to seem unfair, but I won't allow someone in middle school to run hours of patrol at night."

"I'm fine with that," Jared said with a shrug.

"Doesn't bother me," Leah said. "Just don't run me into the ground."

"Okay," Meadow said, letting out a breath of relief. She thought they would protest more, so she was relieved when they didn't. "Brady and Collin will only be patrolling on the weekends. Seth, Embry, Quil, and Jacob will be patrolling weekends and a handful of hours on weekdays. Everyone else runs patrols daily."

"We're getting breaks on the weekend, right?" Leah asked. "Since we'll be running patrols the most," she said, referring to the wolves who were out of school, "we deserve less time on the weekends."

"Of course," Meadow said. "I also talked to the Elders, and they agreed to increase the allowance pack members to more livable standards."

"Sweet!" Quil cheered. "This just means we get to buy more food," he whispered to Seth. Seth grinned and pumped his fists in excitement whole Quil bumped his fists with Jake and Embry. However, they stopped when Meadow leveled them with a stare and a raised eyebrow.