Crossing Paths With The White Wolf

Helios P o V

I felt the static shock hit my arms as she pushed past me and it felt like it went straight through me. It was like I'd been sapped by my own lightning. With a sigh, I went back down the stairs. Gonzalo, Theo and Sebastian were still in the kitchen, cleaning up all the "You think she will stay?" Theo asked me.

mess.

"I hope so. She doesn't strike me as dumb," I said, looking back towards the stairs as if waiting for her to bolt down the stairs and out the door.

"Yeah, but the girl clearly means a lot to her if she let herself get caught," Theo reminded me. I turned to look at him and noticed he was back at the table on the computer.

"So, we should probably have a plan by morning?" Sebastian suggested, doubt evident in his eyes. I looked up at the crescent moon, wondering what it was that she wanted me to do. Help the girl now or bring down the traffickers. "We should get the girl. She will be the key," Gonzalo said.

"How could you possibly know that?" Theo asked.

"Because Celeste told me," he answered, as if it was the most normal thing in the world to him.

"Excuse me?" I asked.

"She told me before we left, but just said 'save the cat, saving her will be the key' but said she couldn't tell me more and I'd know what it meant when the moment came," he said calmly.

"Why wouldn't you tell me this before and why would she tell you and not me??" I asked incredulously.

"She said your destiny wasn't the only one in the balance, all of ours were. We're tied to each other. As to why she didn't tell you, I dunno. Did you piss her off lately?" He shrugged.

I racked my brain, wondering if I had done something to piss her off, and came up empty. "I don't think so. She wouldn't have given us all those baked goods when we left if I had."

"You got baked goods and you didn't share?" Sebastian accused us, "You literally spoke about her baking like it was the most amazing thing on this earth, and the whole time you had some you could have shared and you kept it to yourselves?"

"Shh" I motioned with my hand. He got louder as he talked. I looked back at the stairs to try to hear if they'd woken up, when there was nothing but silence. I pointed at Gonzalo and said, "It was his idea. He said if we didn't tell you, we could each get more." Gonzalo's eyes narrowed as he looked at me, a blush on his face appearing. "It's not like you argued all that much. It took like 2 sentences for you to agree."

"We should get back on point. If Celeste said the girl was key, then we have to plan how to save her. Especially if it means not just your path, but ours depends on it, Helios. Remember what Sebastian said? We all feel it. The she-wolf is important," Theo said as he typed away on the computer. My phone suddenly beeped. I took it out of my pocket and my eyes widened.

"YOU TOLD ON ME??" I asked, flabbergasted at the text I'd just gotten from Celeste asking if it was true that we didn't share any of the baking she made for us.

Theo smirked, "Of course. She just answered that she'd give us some next time we see her." He high fived Sebastian before losing the smirk. "Alright, let's listen to this recording? Seb, can you brew some coffee? We're in for a long night."

We went over to the living room where he connected the laptop to the TV. I grabbed some notepads I kept in a junk drawer and passed them out and began to listen, taking note of anything that might be important.

We listened to three hours of rubbish before we found anything useful. Both trackers were still active but had not moved in an hour. We assumed that it was because they had finally reached their destination for the night. Mr Drieker was in an expensive neighborhood in Malibu.

Theo decided to try to find him but he didn't seem to exist. The address where Eun-Kyung's tracker had stopped was in restricted air space and we couldn't find anything on the web. After a few more hours, we decided to send Evergreen an email asking to look into him for us. He responded immediately, which was surprising until he explained Valeria was on night shifts this week. He provided us with information on Martin Drieker within minutes. He was some sort of retired Silicon Valley app creator that made a ton of money from the game. Evergreen's notes mentioned something about it being one of the first to use the pay to win platform. He had sold his app about 10 years ago and nothing had really been heard since. The property was also his, but Evergreen wasn't able to find me any kind of layout for the property.

We still had nothing around 3 am when we gave up. There was not enough time to plan anything and everyone was falling asleep on the couch. They settled in the other guest bedrooms before I went to bed myself.

I had a dream, but this one was different. I could see Selene on a platform far away. She was looking down towards a platform in front of both of us. It looked empty but for a field of wildflowers. Or so I thought at first. We both stared at the platform for a few minutes before I caught sight of a white wolf. She is staring up at Selene and lets out a howl not unlike the one from the dock. It was full of sorrow and despair. She takes a few steps forward and a number of shifters start walking up behind her. There were several wolves, cats, and even a bear. There was a loud howl coming from behind them. It was followed by the white wolf and other shifters howling back. Selene turns back to me then and her voice flitters through my mind, "They are your path to redemption, Brother." I woke up panting. I felt like I'd run a marathon. Was it a dream, or something else? I'd been having nightmares for months, but this didn't feel like a nightmare. It felt like a message. I looked at my phone and groaned. It was only 5am. I had been asleep for only two hours. Knowing I wouldn't be getting back to bed, I left my bedroom and went down to the gym. It was on the other side of the living room, through a door. I enjoyed having it here because of the floor to ceiling windows. I put on my headphones and began my workout.

About an hour later, I felt a bunched towel whiz past my head on the vertical climber. Startled, I turned towards the door, where I saw Natalia. She's still wearing my shirt and sweatpants. Her arms crossed over her chest. I made sure to keep my eyes on her face, because even in the seconds I looked at her chest, I could see the indentation of her n*****s through it. I was intensely aware I was only wearing boxer briefs under the shorts and I didn't need to get a semi right now. But staring at her face wasn't that much better. I got lost in those amber eyes before I noticed that she was speaking. I took off my headphones.

"Sorry, what did you say?" I asked. She gave me an annoyed look.

"I was hoping you would allow me to cook breakfast. I saw pancake ingredients in the pantry and fridge." She said.

"Go right ahead but I have to warn you that the other three stayed the night and the smell is going to have them swarming the kitchen." I said as I grabbed the towel she had thrown my way. I cleaned the sweat off my chest and was about to go shower when I looked up and she was still in the doorway. "Do you need me to show you where everything is?" I asked her. She cleaned her hands on the sweatpants and shook her head before turning and leaving the door frame. Confused, I went to take a shower and prepared for the day. I was putting on a shirt when I heard a blaring sound going off the entire house.

I saw all the doors opening as I ran down the stairs two steps at a time. I arrived in the kitchen to see Natalia waving a towel at the smoke detector. The oversized shirt rode up enough to reveal the loose waistband of the sweatpants revealing the beginning of a tattoo on her right hip. I felt my c**k twitch once as I tried to make out what the tattoo was, before I heard the commotion coming from the stairs and snapped out of my trance.

I saw all the doors opening as I ran down the stairs two steps at a time. I arrived in the kitchen to see Natalia waving a towel at the smoke detector. The oversized shirt rode up enough to reveal the loose waistband of the sweatpants revealing the beginning of a tattoo on her right hip. I felt my c**k twitch once as I tried to make out what the tattoo was, before I heard the commotion coming from the stairs and snapped out of my trance.

I walked forward and opened the sliding doors to the outside patio, letting all the smoke out. After a minute, the smoke alarm quieted down and the smoke cleared.

"That's one way to get everyone out of bed." Sebastian mused, wiping the sleep off his face. Dan-Bi giggled and translated for Si-Woo, who smirked at Natalia. I couldn't help the smile that came to my face when I saw how adorably embarrassed Natalia looked. I walked over to the pan in the sink and dumped all the contents into the trashcan and pulled out another one. She already had the batter mixed and the bacon out. I turned the stove back on and I heard her huff behind me. I turned to see her with her arms crossed again.

"I can cook. I was just looking for the damn syrup and got distracted," she said.

I shrugged. "I don't doubt you can, but you're my guest and you already did all the prep work. I can finish. Have some coffee." I told her. Her eyes softened a little and her arms uncrossed. She went over to the cupboards for a cup. I turned back to the stove as I set some bacon on the already hot pan. Theo went to the fridge and came out with some fruit and juice and the syrup as I began cooking the pancakes and bacon.

We ate in silence for a while. The girls seemed to be enjoying the food. I wondered if this was their first time having American pancakes. I saw Natalia look at me while she ate several times. I think she wanted to ask something. She opened her mouth as if to speak when my phone rang.

"Alpha Markus, what can I do for you?" I said as I stood from the table and walked outside the patio. The door was still open.Nôvel(D)ra/ma.Org exclusive © material.

"It's just Markus, Helios. You watched me sleep for 5 hrs, I think we're past the formalities," the laugh in his voice made me smile. We have come far from where we were a year ago. "Celeste said she's getting the guest suites ready for you and your friends. She's expecting you in 3 days. She said to make sure you bring all your friends," I didn't miss his emphasis on the word 'all' and smirked. Of course she would know; she's got a better 'in' with my sister than I ever will. I have a feeling Kara is one of her favorite wolves. "You know, she could make this a lot easier if she just told me, instead of giving hints." I grumbled.

"Hey, we don't make the rules. Kara is told what we're allowed to tell you by the moon goddess, but uh...I guess it doesn't hurt to mention that Celeste and I have kicked up our training. Hint Hint," he laughed.

"I see," I laughed, "Thank you Markus, I doubt I'd be able to figure this out on my own. My sister didn't exactly leave me with instructions."

"Tell me about it. I could use some parenting instructions myself. I can't get Cory to stop biting everything in sight, including people. I swear he's going to shift before he turns one." He laughed. "Oh, that reminds me. I'll send you a video. See you in three days," he said. "See you then." I said.