SHADOW
“Take off your necklace. Take this one.” Zarah had another necklace in her hand.
“Why, what’s wrong with this?” I removed the necklace she gave me.
“This necklace is linked to me.” She put it around my neck. “It will send an alert to me if you are hurt. Don’t worry, I won’t know if you and Califf get kinky.”
“Jeez.” I looked at the pendant. It was almost the same as the first one she gave me. “Thanks.”
“You have five minutes with the priestess. Just tell her your purpose.”
“Zarah-” The portal already appeared before I could protest because I still had in mind to lay to the priestess.
“See you later.” She pushed me into the portal. I ended up in Margaret’s living room.
“I know why you’re here, Shadow.” Margaret, the High Priestess, welcomed me to her minibar. “I assume Alpha Califf has recovered well.”
“Yes. And thank you for meeting me. I’m here because I want to find out who is doing this. Elder Aciano has been missing for two days, and his wife is worried. He was searching for information in the council, and I have a feeling that’s why he is missing.”
“And your suspect?” She put a Martini with three olives before me.
“Too early, don’t you think?” I picked it up and sipped it. “Humans. Hunters.”
“I can change the room to night mode if you like.”
“I was just kidding.” I picked up the olives. “This is exactly what I want.”
“You’re worried about your pack. I get that. And you’re here because we have an oath not to harm humans. I appreciate your coming to me. Unless you have human-based evidence that this is their doings, you won’t do anything, child.” Why is everyone calling me child?
“Califf and Elder Aciano aren’t evidence enough? Califf was poisoned by mercury. Elder Aciano was looking for something that could enlighten us about the hunters, and now he’s missing. His wife is worried sick, and we’re tasked to find him.”
“Anyone could do the mercury poisoning. Aciano may be having a midlife crisis and sipping cocktails with his mistress.”
“You didn’t just say that.” My voice rose, and I instantly noticed the High Priestess shifted her mood from calm to deadly. I just upset her and mind her rank. Her body stiffened, eyes narrowing. “My apology. It’s been rough days.”
“You shouldn’t involve yourself in this matter. This is too personal to you, and you’re emotionally compromised. Leave it to the human authorities to find Aciano, or you can ask your mate to hire a werewolf private investigator.”
“This is exactly what I want to do. And this is personal to me, and yes, because whoever did this just targeted my pack and our Alpha. This threat shouldn’t be taken for granted. I am here because I don’t want to outrank you by taking matters into my own hands. I respect The Coven, and I value the treaty we made. And maybe you know something about human hunters that you want to share.”
“Find evidence. Once you’ve proven this is done by humans, by all means, I won’t stop you.” She swatted her hand. “And my coven is at your disposal. Until you can’t prove anything, don’t jump to conclusions.”
“Fine.” I gulped the Martini empty. I put the glass down and stared at her. “You know, I may not be a witch- a full witch, but I feel it in my guts that you know who are hunting werewolves.”
She looked at me with wary in her eyes. “Maybe that mercury is not intended for your mate, Shadow. Be careful out there. You’re maybe a force to be reckoned with but don’t depend too much on your strength and power. You have no real comprehension of the depths of your vulnerability and what it could do to us if we lost you.”
“Is that a threat?”
“A warning, dear. You are more powerful than you can imagine. You pose a threat to everyone, all species.”
***
“Guys, just be careful. If you feel something is wrong even the slightest, pull back.”
I instantly felt the worry in his voice. “Maybe I should go with them.”
“No, Luna. I need you to stay with him. That way, I can guarantee his safety,” Lyon said, causing a groan from Califf.
“No offense, Alpha, but you’re still recovering.” I nodded at Lyon outside the SUV. Zack, Tor, and Kairo were already walking towards the station.
“Link us if you need us.”
“Good luck.” I watched Lyon cross the street and talked to them through our link, “Don’t get bumped. Watch out for someone’s act suspiciously. Please, take care.”
“The problem with mercury is it has no odor.”
“You’re worried. I can feel you.” I turned my head to Califf on the passenger side. “And lately, you constantly blocked me.”
“I don’t want you to read my thoughts because my brain is chaotic. I have a lot in my mind, Shadow. I suppose that poison is intended for you, but I’m glad I took it. I don’t want you to suffer what I’ve been through. It was excruciating.”
“So as watching you, Alpha.”
He met me in the eye, and I saw the deep sorrow stuck in there. “I wish I could take that pain away.”
“So do I, but we can get through this together. With our pack with us, we’re stronger.”
“Agreed.” He nodded and managed to put a slight smile on his lips. “We’re both in uncharted territory here, but I trust us.”
“Me too. I felt-” I instantly remembered what the High Priestess meant. And my gaze just caught a tall white man in his thirties crossing the street, and he looked so familiar. We were compromised. “Shit.”
“What is it?” He squeezed my hand on his thigh. “Shadow?”
I instantly connected them through our link. “Guys, get out of there now! I said pull back. It’s a trap! Get out of there!” I said it loud. “It’s a trap!”
“Shadow, what’s going on?” I felt the panic in Califf’s voice, but my gaze was glued to that man.
My eyes went wide. My heart stopped dead in my chest as I stared at the guy walking in our direction. Our gazes met through the windshield, his eyes wild.
I fumbled to start the engine, and he just put his hand on his back as if he was about to grab something.
“Hit him!” Califf yelled at me, but I just sat there frozen, my chest heaving while our lives depended on my actions.
Before I could step on the gas, the man was already pointing a gun at us- at me.
I froze. My pulse crashed so loud in my ears.
The next thing I knew, someone already lunged at him, throwing him towards the street. Screeches from the cars’ brakes were so loud it rang in my ears. And I was still frozen until someone nudged me.
“Shadow. Shadow, hey. Hey, hey. Are you okay?”
I reacted so late. I yelped and gulped for air. My emotions must have shown on my face as I met Califf’s eyes. He was already outside the car- he was the one who threw the man into the street.
“Are you okay?” He paused to assess my situation.
Deep in shock, I nodded like a bobblehead and gulped. “Um.” I swallowed hard again and blinked rapidly. “You should take the wheel.”
“Yes. That’s a good idea.”
I never froze like that. Something was wrong with me. And I hadn’t told him what Margaret had told me.
The guys came back and entered the vehicle.
“What happened?” Zack asked, sounding confused.
“Not here,” Califf said as he came to my side to open the door for me.
I got out of the SUV, and he was assisting me. My knees were shaky as I rounded to the passenger’s side. Once seated and buckled up, I shut my eyes and deeply breathed. I was worried about myself, my friends, the pack- everything, and I just froze.
Califf drove off as soon as he got into the driver’s seat. “We’re not safe here. Did you find something?”
“Yes, Alpha,” Kairo said gleefully. “That was awesome!”
“What happened back there?”
“Before Luna could warn us, I already had the package, then the guy wearing a black jacket and baseball cap saw me, and he followed me. So I ran, and he couldn’t match my speed,” Kairo explained.
“You showed off, idiot. If someone saw and recorded what you did. You are in deep trouble.” Lyon groaned. “The next thing you know, you’re in a secret government lab in Area 51.”
“Well, it was a matter of life and death. I’d rather escape than get caught by the guys and get dissected. Don’t you think that’s what I should do? And I’m small and Asian. They would think I trained to be an Olympian or I learned Martial Arts, and besides, not everyone believes what’s on the internet nowadays. Trust me.”
“You thought through what to say, huh?” Tor scoffed.
“He’s like an eel. He could slip through fingers.” Lyon was still pissed off.
Once we reached the main road, Califf touched my hand. “What happened?”
“What happened in the parking lot?” I asked back.
“He was about to shoot you, so I pushed him towards the road. He had a gun with a silencer. He’s a mercenary, probably one of the hunters.”
“Shit! They know where we are. They know about us,” Tor said nervously.
“The question is how?” Zack followed up.
“I think The Council is compromised. The council is the only one who knows the werewolf community because they have the list of packs and members.”
“So you mean to say, Alpha? We’re all screwed,” Lyon said.
“We’re fucked up.”
“Maybe one of them is an elite member of the hunters,” Kairo shared.
“Wow. You watch too much spy movies.”
“He could be right, Tor,” Califf agreed with Kairo.
“Thank you, Alpha,” Kairo proudly said, “but why does a werewolf want to eliminate his own kind?
“Good question.” I finally found my voice back when my heartbeat went back to normal. I could have scared that asshole. Instead, I cowered and froze in my seat.
“Are you okay?” Califf asked.
“I’d never froze before. My wolf should sense dangers. My eyes instantly glow as my defense mechanism rules over, and my hybrid nature threatens to come out, but when I was in the parking lot, I froze.” I looked at Califf.
“It happened so fast, and he knows what he was doing. The man escaped, though. I couldn’t rip him in front of humans.” He frowned. “This can’t be happening again. We’re exposing ourselves.”
“I say we take the battle in the forest,” Tor suggested angrily.
“Maybe the dead guy is a newly recruited hunter. Whoever did that did us a huge favor,” Lyon stated.
“He has no criminal record.”
“According to the Sheriff? Do you trust that guy, Alpha? I mean, I don’t mean to question your conviction.”
Califf stole a glance at the rare view mirror. “Honestly, Zack. I don’t know who to trust anymore.”
“You don’t trust us, Alpha?” Kairo sounded hurt. It was common for the pack members to feel that way towards their leader.
“I don’t mean you and our pack, Kairo. I was talking about the people who suddenly show up in our yard, acting the good guys.”
“What about Calder?” Lyon brought it up.
“I don’t trust him, but I’m willing to give him a chance. but if he’s a snake, I won’t hesitate to cut his head and end his life.” He sighed. I had the feeling the following words that would come out of his mouth were intended for me. “Now, let’s address the elephant in the car. What happened, baby?”
Shit.