Crossing Paths With The White Wolf

Helios

P O V

I have been pretty miserable since Natalia's outburst yesterday. I thought maybe that was why Markus decided to distract me today when he asked for my help. He said he wanted to make sense of something he and Celeste had found last year when they found her

mother's things. I was therefore surprised when I saw what he was holding in his hands.

"We've tried everything to figure out what it is. I've had other people hold it. Men, women, children, boys, girls. It only lights up when I grab it. It doesn't even do that for Celeste. Celeste seems to think it chose me as its next owner." He explained as he handed me the amulet. "I was hoping you knew what it was."

I couldn't help the snort that came out of my mouth and sat on the couch in his bedroom. "I don't just know what this is, Markus, I made it." "Oh. What is it?"Text property © Nôvel(D)ra/ma.Org.

"It is a charm. It's a fancy Ojo de dios or eye of God. It protects the wearer from harm. Some people believed it to be a protection from ill intent, but the truth is, it is an actual shield. It protects you from magic, curses, elemental magic and allows you to see magical beings and spells. The wearers of these charms were warriors under my command. I made these for them to protect them against my sibling's powers. Most of them have some sort of elemental power. I dug the obsidian and fire opal stones myself out of the 1375 volcanic eruption in El Chichon. It was one of my first major spells and probably one of the strongest I've ever cast. You see, I am immortal, but I found out the hard way that my warriors are not. They never age, but they aren't immortal. They could be killed in battle. I lost about 20 of them in one brutal fight and I wanted to do better for them. I managed to make 10 of these, and gave them to the warriors that were most loyal to me. I made more, but they were not as strong. They eventually broke apart or just stopped working. Over the years, we lost 3 of them as my warriors fell. Gonzalo, Sebastian and Theo still have theirs, as do a few of the warriors that left after the battle at the pyramids."

"Why does the fire opal light up for me? It's not even lighting up for you." He asked.

"I'm not sure. It is ancient wild magic. The intent when I made them was to protect my allies from evil. It is unpredictable and temperamental. I would trust Celeste's statement that it chose you. This would have come in handy during the Nahual." I chuckled. I handed it back to him and smiled as the fire opal glowed in his hands. "I'm glad it's found its way to you. It was a pain in the a*s to dig." He smirked at me and put it back in his drawer.

"Does it stop bullets?" He asked.

"Unless they are made of magic, I doubt it." I shrugged.

"Well, no offense, but I hope I never need it," he comments. He sits down on the love seat across from me. "How are you feeling?"

"Honestly, I have had nightmares ever since that night at the pyramids. My sister and Celeste have this unwavering faith that I'm going to succeed in whatever this redemption journey is, but I'm just petrified to let them down. In so many ways, Celeste is my sister to me. Natalia... she just pushes all of my buttons. Everything I say, she fights. I have tried being nice. I have tried not being nice. I...I shouldn't have snapped like I did last night but I..." I looked down at my hands, unsure if I should be telling him any of this. "You've fallen for her." Markus finished for me.

I nodded. "I don't know why. It's stupid. I know she will just leave once we get the girl free. She hates me and I couldn't help but fall in love with her. Everything about her calls to me. When she's yelling at me, it's like I feel her pushing me away and that hurts more than anything she says. I don't even know why. She didn't know about what I did before last night and she still treated me like a villain. I feel like maybe my sister sent her to punish me, not to redeem myself."

"Well, I can't tell you what she feels. I'm bad at picking up queues from women. Ask Celeste why we never go to Italian restaurants anymore if you need some proof," he laughed, "but I have seen the looks she sneaks your way when you're playing with the pups or talking to the two girls that you brought with you. I see the smile she tries to hide when you laugh. Maybe she doesn't hate you as much as you think and her reactions to you are more a reflection of something she's struggling with internally."

"I'm not going to get my hopes up. I learned long ago that love isn't something in the cards for me. I envy a werewolf's connection to its mate. That guarantee that there's someone that will love you until your dying breath. There is no such thing for me. I have no dying breath."

"You're romanticizing it too much. The connection is there, but you still have to work on it. Celeste and I don't have a perfect relationship. We fight and disagree. Hell, I thought I would lose her more than once even before you came into the picture. It takes hard work. Everyone has their own demons to deal with and you have to learn to understand the other person's as well as yours. I know you feel like it's personal every time Natalia fights you, but perhaps consider she's not fighting you, but a shadow of something in her past."

"There's no point, Markus. She is out of my life in a few days. Let's just stay on task." I could tell Markus wanted to keep talking, but decided against it.

"Well, I hope you like assembling because I recruited the guys to help me build a tree house bedroom and, since we have nothing to do until dinner, I printed out some schematics to get started."

I laughed, "Why the f**k not?"

I found out why the f**k not. Five different people trying to work in one room was a recipe for trouble. After Gillian basically concussed Sebastian, we decided to call it a day and went down to hang out in the living room. I saw Natalia come through the living room a few times but decided the best thing to do was to minimize my interactions with her. She clearly didn't trust me and it hurt too much to see it over and over. I just needed to get through this and I could deal with the unresolved feelings after she left.

-

It was almost 5 am. We were all in the bush about 400 yards away from the compound. Everyone was twitchy. The adrenaline was high. We left Evergreen with the moving truck so that he could work his magic while we loaded the animals.

"It's coming." Sebastian said as he looked away from the binoculars.

"The moment it leaves the compound, we run in," Markus said.

I looked over at Natalia. She looked so nervous. I couldn't help myself. "Have you tried to mind link her?"

"It's too far. I don't connect." She shook her head.

"When we reach the fence, hang back for a second. Let her know to be ready." I said. We really should have warned her ahead of time. Natalia and I could have gone up to one of our hiding spots for her to reach out. For once, though, she didn't argue. She nodded at me and went back to look at the gates. I couldn't see much, but werewolf eyesight was better than mine.

"It's time," Markus and Sebastian both said at once. We ran towards the gate, keeping to the fading shadows for as long as we could. Markus and I jumped over the locked fence and knocked the two men before they could alert anyone. We flipped the switch and our friends ran in behind us. I jumped up into the tower. The guard jumped back before it got to the automatic weapon installed on a swivel on the guard rail of the tower. I knocked him out and let him fall to the ground. It was only about two floors. I was confident he would survive.

Markus, Celeste, Danny, Theo, Gonzalo and some warriors ran into the security building while Natalia, Sebastian and Gillian and the remaining warriors ran into the warehouse. I ran into the security building just in time to hear some shots go off and Markus roaring. I ran around the corner where everyone was fighting with everyone. Celeste was against the wall, holding her shoulder. Her side was also bleeding while Markus was fighting against three guards. I ran over and took two of the guards from him. He knocked out the one he had and went to Celeste.

"I'm fine Markus. I don't think it got any organs. I just need some time."

"Let's get you to Natalia. She can help speed it up." He said, pulling her close.

"Let's get you to Natalia. She can help speed it up." He said, pulling her close.

"What happened?" I asked after I knocked my other guard out and clipped their hands together with the nylon lock strips we'd brought with us. I grabbed his guy and did the same. I heard an automatic weapon going off from a set of double doors. "We found most of the guards still in the locker rooms. Celeste melted the locks but they started shooting through the door and clipped her."

"I'm fine." She huffed. We got the remaining guards knocked unconscious and into one of the rooms. Celeste melted the locks off that room but I noticed that the blood stain on her side got larger when she did.

"Don't use your powers, Celeste. Not until Natalia heals you. You're bleeding more," I said as we exited. Evergreen was backing up the moving truck. He hopped out and headed towards the main security rooms. We walked into the building and saw a few guards on the side of the warehouse. They were knocked out and tied up. I saw Natalia trying to get the lock open to Eun-Kyung's cage. I summoned my staff.

"Stand back from the bars sweetie," I told the little cat gently. I zapped the electronic lock and opened the door. Natalia rushed in and hugged the little cat and surrounded her with a towel. The cat shifted into a girl who looked underweight and dehydrated. She slipped a dress over her and gave her some drinks.

"Who are we taking with us?" Sebastian asked.

"Just grab whoever you can. We just need to make it look like we grabbed them at random."

"Hey guys." I heard Theo from the other side. "I think you want to take this one," he said, and we walked over to his side.

He was standing next to a bear. Black and big. I squinted my eyes at him as he remained at the end of the cage, growling lowly.

"I think it's a were bear. I've never seen an animal this big before."

"Are you a shifter?" I asked it. It looked at me and stopped growling. "I think that's our answer," I mumbled. "You can shift. We won't hurt you. We can set you free." I told him.

He just stood there. "Are we sure he's a shifter?" Sebastian asked, as I noticed Natalia walking out of the cage from the corner of my eye with Eun-Kyung.

"Maybe it just doesn't understand English?" Celeste asked, still holding her side and shoulder.

"SHIFT" Markus commanded in his Alpha voice. The bear started growling and whimpering. We began hearing his bones snap and crack back into a man. "I don't think he knew how to change back. I wonder how long he's been here? Can you talk?" He asked the man. He was light skinned with brown eyes and light brown hair.

"Maybe he doesn't remember how to either?" Celeste said. She started looking around. "Maybe we should start looking around to see they are the only ones."

I looked behind me. There were about 60-70 cages in total. "Let's split up? Two to a row? Celeste, you should go see Natalia. She can heal you," I said.

"I have a better idea. Tuli go get healed. I've got this," he said. Celeste walked out the doors as Markus walked to the middle of the warehouse. "Every shifter, SHIFT TO HUMAN FORM NOW" he said loudly, releasing his Alpha aura and command. I heard a few whimpers and that unmistakeable cracking of bones. I looked around us. There were 9 other shifters in here. "That's more than I expected," he whispered uncomfortably. "Yeah me too. I don't like this." I looked at Markus, whose eyes were glazed over.

"The bus turned around, where are the girls?" He said with panic in his voice. We ran towards the doors as I heard men yelling.

I heard an automatic weapon started going off. Markus jumped in front of Celeste and I jumped in front of Natalia, who was shielding Eun-Kyung, a couple of red spots already appearing on her back. I summon my staff again as I feel the bullets hit my body, but only one thing is on my mind. Protect Natalia. I send a jolt of lightning at the weapon, which causes it to back fire and the man's hands explode. The others are already subdued by the others and then everything went dark.