Crossing Paths With The White Wolf

Gonzalo POV

I watched Kassie's face light up with happiness as we listened to song after song, singing every lyric. I owed Adrien big time for this. When we were looking for a play to take her to, I was skeptical when he pointed out this Elvis tribute. Now I am thankful he insisted. She looked like a kid at Christmas. I had stopped watching the show an hour ago. I was fascinated by her smile and the way her eyes sparkled with happiness.

I wanted her to have this night. Something to hang onto. I had a feeling the next two weeks were going to be tough. Something was coming, and I couldn't help but fear that it would separate us again. I hadn't been sleeping well and when I did, I tended to have nightmares about the experiments they did on her. I almost wished I hadn't seen what they had done to her. I've been clingy since the vision but I couldn't help it. I just got her back and I'm afraid it will be short-lived. Neither I nor Dario could bear to be away from her right now.

This felt like the calm before the storm. When the air around you is charged with the undercurrents of electricity. Dario felt it too. He's been wary and alert. Even now, as we watched our beautiful mate shimmy along with the songs, we were watching all of those around us. Anyone who dared look at her with l**t or curiosity was warned to look away. No one was going to ruin her night. Her slim figure was mine to look at.

When the show was over, I walked her over to a guided night tour of the city. It was a cheesy ghost tour, but she appeared to love it, hanging on to my arm and the guide's tales of tragic stories and restless spirits. We finished the night near sunrise and as I expected, she fell right to sleep the moment we made it to the bed. I chuckled at the happy tired look on her face as she kissed me goodnight. I stared at her as she slowly settled into me in her sleep.

I stood in a corner of the room. Kassie was strapped to the bed, trying to undo her restraints. The a*****e in the white coat comes in with a clipboard in his hands and a syringe in the clip.

I try to hit him and I realize this is another dream. I'm stuck in another nightmare. It's been the same thing over and over. I know I am lucid dreaming, but I can't seem to affect anything. I don't know why. I've done it before, and I've always been able to wake myself. These are different, I can't change anything. I can't wake up. I have to see it through. But why? What is my subconscious telling me?

I watch helplessly as Kassie's face turns from one of rage to fear and then pain. I see Selene show up and kiss her forehead. Her eyes flicker up right before she disappears. I don't understand why a kiss from our goddess would cause her pain. Were vampires not her children too? Why and how is a life of seizures and pain supposed to save her? I wonder as I feel myself being pulled out of my dream.

I looked over at Kassie when I woke up. I quietly kissed her forehead and breathed in her scent to calm myself. My breath on her neck elicits a tiny moan and I have to control myself not to wake her to take her then and there. One of us should have the energy for the raid tonight. I had the same nightmare two more times before I was finally able to sleep without the nightmare. Of course, two hours later it was time to get up. I scrambled out of bed as I heard knocking.

"Are you guys not up yet? The sun atset half an hour ago. We leave in 20 minutes." He said as he and Elias strolled in. He handed Kassie a tumbler and Elias had a bagel sandwich for me as we started moving about to change and get ready. When Kassie went into the bathroom to change he asked, "So, did she like it?"

I grinned, “She f*****g loved it. You were right. I owe you big."

"Eh, someone's gotta help dad get laid," He said nonchalantly.

"Who got laid?" Kassie asked as she exited the bathroom.

"I did! Every day this week," Adrien answered happily, making Elias blush from the sofa.

"Good for you. The bathroom's all yours love," she said with a kiss before she picked up her tumbler and sat on the loveseat.

I quickly changed, brushed my teeth, and took a look at myself in the mirror. Some prized mate we are - Dario grumbled at the dark under bags in the mirror. He was a grumpy wolf when we couldn't sleep.

I'm not grumpy, we look like s**t. - he pointed out.Text property © Nôvel(D)ra/ma.Org.

It is not an exclusive thought. You are both grumpy and we look like s**t. - I told him as I washed my face to try to clear some of the cobwebs from my brain before I went back out to the living room.

'The bus is pulling around. Are you guys ready? The rest of us are down at breakfast. Theo asked.

'Yeah. We'll be right down.' I answered as I reached the living room.

"Alright, time to go," I said as I took the last bite of the bagel. The friendly atmosphere turned serious as reality set in during the elevator ride. Even Adrien's usually happy personality was muted. We all knew this could be the place to get answers for Kassie. This could change everything.

It was about an hour's drive to Glasgow. Everyone was quiet, the tension and nerves coming from us permeating through everyone's mood like rain. I held Kassie's hand on the ride while she looked out the window. I could only imagine what was going through her thoughts. This was the place that had hurt her, changed her. Yet this was also the place where she could get answers. Where she could potentially find the reason for her seizures and a solution.

About 20 minutes from the lab, she pulled her phone out to pick her playlist. She kissed my hand before she let it go and she began her meditation.

We pulled to the side to wait for the scout's signal. I couldn't feel Kassie's nerves anymore. Just quiet focus. We were going in last this time, to try to look around to see if she could find the doctor that had tested on her. That was our priority. The problem was we didn't know anything about him other than his face. So we were going to be checking everyone over to see if we could find him and get answers. We got the signal and began walking towards the entrance. This lab only had a barbed wire fence and no turrets, probably because of how long it's been here. There were plenty of guards though, so the four of us decided to help out around the perimeter until so we could grab the change of shift by surprise. This place was different, it didn't have two shifts, it had three. So there was always a fully armed shift on duty.

We were dealing with the last of the guards when we heard the sirens going off. Something had gone wrong. We started running as I added Theo, Seb, Helios, and Nat to a mind link. 'Where's the issue?' I asked.

'It's not the lockers. We're good here. It's almost secure,' Theo answered.

'We're still on the way to the main room,' came Helios' response.

'I haven't heard anything from Isidro's group. They went towards the right,' was Seb's reply.

's**t, OK. We'll head that way. I said before cutting off the mind link.

"We go right," I told the other three. We pushed through the double doors and everything was quiet. There were several bodies knocked out along the hallway, already zip-tied and dealt with. We walked a little way before we found the right door. This place was not like all the ones in the States. We didn't know the layout. We only knew the location of the locker rooms because our scouts had seen them all head to the same place upon arrival.

The hall was the same as the main one, with knocked-out bodies on either side, but the problem was that this hallway split into three ways. One was empty, the other two had about 10 guards fighting at once on each side. I see Isidro and three of our guys down one way and one of our mated bears, Iggy, along with two others were fighting in the second. I sent Adrien and Elias down to help the bear, but my question was, why hadn't he shifted? There was enough space in the hall for him to shift and take control of the situation. And on that note, why hadn't any of them shifted? Kassie began pulling people from Isidro as we arrived into the clusterfuck mess of bodies. I tried to call Dario forward so I could use my claws but nothing happened. In fact, I could barely feel his presence in my head. What was going on? I didn't have too much time to ponder as I reached the two guards on top of Noah. I pulled the guard directly on top of Noah, who was on the floor, his leg was broken, but it should be healing. His head was bleeding where the guard had hit him with the b**t of his baton. I slammed the guard against the wall and punched him in the face, knocking him out.

"Beta! Wolfbane. In his vest." I heard Isidro call out over the throng of guards. I grabbed the vest of the man I had knocked out and found a small aerosol can. Smelling, I instantly understood what had happened. They had created an aerosol spray of wolfsbane and we'd all been inhaling it since we stepped into the hall.

I grabbed Lucas by the scruff of the shirt. He had a busted lip and his eyebrow was open. "Drag Noah around the corner. Go find Helios and warn him of what's happening. Tell him to check on the other groups and that we'll need Nat at the front of the hall when she can. Make sure they don't come down this way if they are hurt. They won't be able to heal. Go!" He moved as I punched another man in the throat. Kassie was helping with the people on top of Isidro, not being affected by the aerosol, she was making quick work of them. She and Adrien were our best bets to get all of us out of this in one piece. We were dealing with the last five on our side when I felt the hairs on the back of my neck stand on end. I turned around to see a gun raised at the crowd on the other side. The gun went off and Kyle dropped to the floor instantly. His eye stared at nothing with the other eye splattered on the wall. The gun went off again and Adrien used his speed to jump in front of Elias. I see blood bloom from his shoulder as he manages to push Elias out of the way just in time. The bullet pushes through and whizzes into Elias' arm, making him scream in pain. The gun goes off a third time and I hear Iggy grunt as the bullet goes into his a*s.

The man looks at me and shoots, but it misses as I begin to run towards him. He turns and begins running down the empty hall. He won't be getting away. I recognize him and I feel Dario stirring in the back of my head in frustration and rage. It's him. The man that tortured Kassie.

"Beta! Silver bullets!" Elias yells after me as Adrien pulls him towards safety.

"Take him to the front of the hall. Nat will meet you there! Help Iggy!" I scream then I turn to Kassie who is fighting against the other two. "Stay here. I'll grab him."

"Wait!" she yells but I keep going. I push past the door and into a bigger lab. I dodge the bullet that he shoots my way as I enter the room and dash behind some machine. That was 5. I saw the revolver. There should only be one more bullet. I needed to draw it out so I could run at him. The door burst open as I was thinking of how to get him to shoot again and I heard the gun go off. I felt a pain burst from my abdomen and rage filled me as I realized the pain came from Kassie. Kassie had been shot.

I push off from behind the machine and ran towards the doctor. He raised the gun again and directs it to me. He doesn't have any more bullets, I think before I hear the blast go off once. My eyes widen as I try to dive away from the speed of the bullet. The gun goes off again and I feel a burning sting along the side of my neck. I land on the floor and my hand goes immediately to my neck. I can feel the blood spilling from the wound. A new worry feels me as I start feeling faint when I try to stand, falling back on the floor as I slip in my own blood. Dario is under the effects of wolfsbane. If this got my artery, he can't heal me. I look over and see Kassie has the doctor up against the wall. Her anger is radiating from her in waves and I feel in it my chest. I try to call her, but no words come out. She's talking to the doctor but I can barely hear her. Suddenly, the doctor's eyes meet mine and he smirks.

"You want answers, princess, I can give them to you. Or you could save your friend, by the amount of blood leaving his body, he's got about a minute before he's gone. Your choice." Kassie snarls and turns around. Her eyes widen as she sees me on the floor and I see several emotions cross her face. She drops the doctor, who begins to run towards a door on the back of the room and she's instantly by my side.

"Why aren't you healing? Why is Dario not healing you?" She asks, the worry evident in her eyes.

"Wolfsbane, silver" I manage to say. By how tired I'm feeling, I know the doctor wasn't lying.

"Mind link Nat." she pleads.

"Wolfsbane." I repeat.

"I'll go get her," she said getting up but I grab her hand. I know if she leaves, I won't be alive before she gets back.

"Stay," I begged her. Tears of frustration filled my eyes. This wasn't fair. I just got her back. Now I was the one leaving her. She already went through my death once, then I came waltzing back into her life just to make her go through it again. "I'm sorry," I tell her. Sorry for not reacting quicker. Sorry that I should have noticed the revolver had an eight mag instead of six. But most of all, I was sorry that I was going to leave her.

Her eyes welled up with tears as she realizes what I'm telling her. "No. Fight. I didn't just get you back to lose you again. You can't leave me, Lalo. You can't. SOMEBODY HELP. NAAAAT" she screams as she finishes. She removes my hand from my neck and takes off her already blood-soaked shirt to put pressure on my neck. I grab one of her hands and bring it to my lips. "It's OK. I love you. I'll find you again." I whisper as I feel my consciousness slowly slipping. I have so much I needed to tell her before I go. So many apologies and so much love to give her.

"s**t! Elias, go get Nat!" Adrien's voice comes from the door before I see him right behind her. I try to smile at him but I'm not sure if I am successful.

I heard Nat and Helios curse as they come into the room. Nat removes Kassie's hand from my neck and tries to heal me.

"The wolfsbane. My power isn't working. We need to get him out of here and into the fresh air so Hestia can come forward." She said and I can hear the panic in her voice.

I shake my head slightly. "It's OK, Nat." I try to comfort her as she starts crying.

I hear Kassie sobbing at my side and I look at Adrien who looks like he's about to lose it. "Adrien, keep your s**t together. Don't let Kassie do anything stu, stupid," I struggle to finish. I close my eyes. It's getting too hard to keep them open.

"-im" I half hear Adrien's far-away voice as I slip into unconsciousness. All I can think of is how I wish I had those 200 years back. I would have done things differently. I wish I had more time. I know I'm a selfish bastard, living for as long as I have, but I didn't want to leave her yet.