Crossing Paths With The White Wolf

Natalia P o V

It's been almost three weeks since Helios was taken. My body was a constant ache that I couldn't even heal because the pain wasn't mine. Celeste had forbidden Evergreen from letting me watch the feed after I'd shifted in anger at a particularly bad t*****e session. I agreed to her terms when I realized Hestia and I were only mildly in control. I kept trying to function, helping heal and try to get the rescued shifters to communicate. It was hard, some of them barely knew how to speak and the few words they would speak, we needed to figure out what language they spoke. I only spoke about 5 languages and two of them were the same as what Theo, Sebastian and Gonzalo spoke. They were much more helpful. The little they'd managed to get out of them was grim. The oldest had been forced to remain in animal form for over 9 years.

It was then that I learned that Crescent Moon already had a system in place to help people with trauma. Celeste told me the full story of how they had rescued her friends from Blood Moon and all the work they had done to get them to overcome their trauma and live full lives. I discovered Gamma Maya was one and I even met a few others that worked or lived at the Packhouse.

Things were pretty grim at Crescent Moon. Many of the girls that had gotten help, were helping the ones that we had rescued. Something about having help from someone who had received help, seemed to resonate with the rescued shifters, but there were also a lot of security measures being taken after a few of them had lost control and hurt one of the girls by accident during their outbursts. There was thankfully no permanent damage and I was able to heal them. Markus wouldn't let any of the pregnant girls down to the basement anymore. He and Celeste had a huge argument about it and they somehow compromised with Celeste cooking copious amounts of food every day. There were 10 shifters total. 3 Wolves, 2 bears, 3 tiger shifters and 2 pumas. One of them had only been taken a year ago, and so was not in as bad a shape as the rest. He was helping the others acclimate and teaching them to communicate in English and was allowed to sleep in his own room on the second floor.

I was taking some food down to the basement when I felt a sharp pain in my gut and dropped the food and fell down the stairs. 3 of the shifters went nuts at the sudden noise and shifted. Zack and Matteo were trying to calm them down after one swiped at me, causing a gash in my shoulder. I heard a commotion from upstairs and Celeste ran down to me, followed by Gabriel. "It's not safe, Celeste," I said, "go back upstairs." I grunted.

"ENOUGH" Celeste said, and it was the first time I felt her full aura. It was more powerful than other Alpha's I'd ever felt and somehow gentle. An Alpha Luna? I wondered. It was rare, but it also just felt more powerful than that. The three shifters submitted to her and whimpered as they felt they had disappointed her. She assured them they were fine and they should take a few calming breaths. I felt a hand on my shoulder and Celeste helped me up. "Let's go make more food," she said, and helped me up the stairs. As we got to the top, Markus was walking fast towards the door. He sighed with relief when he saw Celeste was safe. "We had a deal, Celeste," he said.Ccontent © exclusive by Nô/vel(D)ra/ma.Org.

"Markus, I was behind three guards and a white wolf. I was perfectly safe. I was just getting some scared shifters back under control. All I did was use my Luna voice. Let me breathe, my love." She coo'd as she walked to him after helping me sit. One of my ankles was swelling. I looked with envy at the love they shared. I was so close to it and I let it slip through my fingers over worrying about the future.

I remembered the pain I felt when I fell. "Markus?" I said as I watched him pick up little Cory from the bouncer.

He sighed as he seemed to know what I was going to say. "They used a stun gun on him. The stomach, right?" He asked and I nodded as I felt tears falling from my face.

"I need to find him. There's so much I need to tell him," I cried.

"He may need a little time to recover, but with you next to him, he will overcome any trauma. Trust me on that," Celeste said, sitting across from me with little Bellarose on her lap. She reached over and squeezed my hand.

"I was so worried that he would be like the rest that I didn't even think that he would be my salvation." I swallowed the lump in my throat.

"What do you mean?" Markus asked.

I looked up and took a deep breath. "I have been given 10 mates. Helios is my 10th." I said and Celeste's jaw dropped.

"What happened?" She asked.

"I should start at the beginning. I was born in what is now the Dominican Republic in 1378." I said and Markus sat on the seat next to Celeste with a 'Whoa! "I was born Taino to a small pack. When I shifted for the first time and it was discovered that I was a white wolf, I was forced into an arranged marriage with my Alpha, told that I would serve my pack by making my Alpha strong. I found my mate a week before the marking ceremony. I ran away with him and we completed the mating process, hoping that it was enough to allow us to live our life. Two years later, the Alpha tracked us down and killed my mate in an attempt to mark me once he was dead. I tried to heal him but the damage was too extensive. My parents dragged me off his body because the drain to heal him would kill me. I was mad. I had been ready to accept the trade of my life for his. I was the reason he'd been hurt after all. Hestia and I lost control and we went feral for a few years. We killed the Alpha and all of his warriors, then we spent the next 5 years as a wolf. We ran away, only shifting long enough for me to find a new place to go," I said, and I could feel Hestia's sadness at remembering what happened.

I took a deep breath to steady myself. It had been a long time since I'd told the story. "I encountered a Djinn in my travels. It was injured and weak. We struck a deal. I would allow him to feed on my blood for two years so that he would get strong and, in exchange, he would grant me a wish. I wished to be able to heal anyone without the risk of dying," I laughed at their faces of horror. "Yeah, I didn't know the rules of wish making at the time. The Djinn made me immortal. Anytime I heal a person from the brink of death, I do die, for a few heartbeats. I see myself going up to these platforms in a void. I see Selene up above but then my platform disappears and I drop back into my body."

"I told you I heard her heart stop, Tuli!" Markus said smugly. Celeste slapped his shoulder and I continued my story.

"I didn't realize this had happened until I met my second mate. We lived together for about 20 years before I realized that while he and our son were growing older, I was still this. Still stuck looking like I was in my 30s. I watched them live and die. The bond snap I felt when my second mate passed away was excruciating. We almost lost control again. I moved when my son died without a family, and some years later, I found my third mate. I thought I could handle it, but when that bond snapped 50 years later, I slept for almost 10 years. I wanted to die. I refused food and water. It was excruciating, being alive even though your body should be dead. After my third mate died, I rejected the following 4 bonds. Then Selene upped her game. She bonded me to this beautiful soul I had watched grow from the age of 15 when I came to visit his parents 10 years later. I tried to reject him, but I couldn't. I already had a connection with him. He died to a rogue attack 5 years later while I was away visiting a friend. That was when I started traveling. Staying anywhere that didn't have a wolf pack near by. I rejected bond number 9 and lived 15 years in the forest in North Korea. Some years ago, I found myself in South Korea. I met Eun-Kyung's parents and stayed." I took a deep breath and a sip of water. "When I met Helios...I was determined to reject him, but I needed his help. I knew he wasn't a shifter and wouldn't feel the bond, but I found it harder and harder to fight it. I tried pushing him away, subconsciously and consciously, and still, I couldn't. I realized I was getting too attached. When you told me what happened to him that day I lost my s**t when I found out what he did. I think that's the night I realized that I was falling in love with him. When I thought he would die from the gun shot wounds, I realized I was wrong. I already loved him. When I told you he was mine, that was the first time I acknowledged to myself that I didn't want to lose him."

I looked down at my hands, "After we made love that day he was taken." I did my best not to blush, "I told him relationships don't work for me. I knew it hurt him and I regretted my words the moment they came out of my mouth, but I never got the chance to tell him I was his mate or how I felt for him. I never got to tell him that I was willing to break again, for a chance to love him. I know you say he's immortal, and I believe you, but every time I feel him get tortured I wonder if I'll ever get the chance." I looked up at both of them. Celeste was crying and Markus was holding her closer, visibly upset for me. "Selene has given me a mate that I won't watch grow old and die without me. This is my chance to finally have someone I belong with that won't leave me. I need to find him and beg him to forgive me."

"We will find him. I promise. We will make them pay for what they are doing to my brother," Celeste said. Her voice was tinged with authority and fire. Her eyes were black and there was a haze around her. "Thank you, Kara," I said.

"Loves, deep breath please. You're going to set the table on fire." Markus held her closer and I saw as she took deep breaths from her mate's scent and the haze disappeared. "Sorry," I said apologetically.

"Don't be. What happened to you wasn't fair, but I'm glad you are who you are. "You're perfect for each other," she said, and I laughed.