Crossing Paths With The White Wolf

Natalia

POV

After we got word from Evergreen that we had an address, we all filed onto the airplane within the hour. Celeste was sitting on Markus, and a few of the warriors were sitting on the floor. There were 30 of us on a plane meant to sit 20. Markus had to bribe the pilot into flying all of us at once. It took us an hour to get to San Diego. I grabbed Helios' Lambo and easily caught up with the bus on the way to Sheephole Valley Wilderness. It took us 4 hours from there and then another hour to get to the massive research facility. I had Zack in the car with me and he was mind linking with Markus as we approached the gates. They decided to just rush it, since the bus had a bullet-proof exterior.

We did not expect the two machine guns after we ran in. Thankfully, the parking lot had enough parked cars to provide us with cover, but we couldn't push into the building without taking them out. I mind linked Celeste my plan and she said she would give me cover when I made a run for it.

On a chance that I had not f****d up too royally with Helios, I decided to try to mind link him. If he was closed off to me. My gift was useful, but required an open connection on both sides for it to work. I was relieved when he finally answered me, only for him to make me blurt out that I loved him before I crashed his baby through the garage door. I took great pleasure in irritating him. I could always make it up to him later.

Now I was sitting here, trying to breathe through the pain. That guy got me good. I should really have a conversation with Helios about flirting while fighting. I had the shotgun at the ready in case someone else came through the door. It took a few minutes, but I finally felt my back close. I walked out of the broken garage, shotgun in hand. I saw Helios coming towards me. His mouth was beginning to smile when something caught his eye.

He turned and yelled as he began running towards Celeste. I raised my shotgun to get the other one coming around the car they hadn't seen yet. I let the shot go and then froze as I saw Helios' upper body explode in fur. His body contorted so quickly that if I hadn't already been looking that way, I would have missed it. A giant black fur wolf with blonde fur markings landed on top of the guard and tore it's head off. Then he looked towards the guard I had just shot. Celeste ran and hugged him and if I didn't know that they loved each other like family, I would have growled. Helios' wolf had a slightly shocked look on his face, as if his own shifting caught him by surprise, which I think mirrored my own face at what I had just witnessed. Hestia was purring in the back of my head to see her mate. I was as shocked as I was turned on. His wolf carefully lifted its head and started sniffing, his tail wagging. I looked up at the full moon. It was at its peak. I looked back down to look at Helios. He was approaching me carefully, like a predator hunting its prey. There was a beautiful lightning bolt mark on his head in blond fur.

'Mate' the word flittered into my head from Helios, a deeper voice combined with his. I couldn't help the smile that formed on my face or the tears that threatened to fall. 'I know.' I said.

'How?' He asked.

'It's a long-'

'Story. So, you keep saying. He finished for me and I could feel his hurt through the bond.

I took a step towards him, when I saw three wolves stumble out of the bus, followed by a bewildered Danny and Gillian.

Helios turned from me and walked towards the wolves without another word. Hestia whimpered and my stomach dropped. He'd called me his love three weeks ago. Now he felt the bond, and he had walked away from us.

Is he rejecting us? - I asked Hestia, pain shooting through my heart at the thought.

I don't know Nat. He sounded upset. - She whimpered.

I was tempted to ask him, but I was afraid of the answer. He reached the other three wolves and changed back. I was once again surprised at how fast he changed back into his human form. How was this happening anyways. I didn't even get a chance to ask him how he was suddenly a wolf. I felt a bullet fly by my head and raised my shotgun. I channeled all the hurt, confusion and anger at my target. Once he was down, I went inside to help the warriors. I healed the few on the ground and used my claws to kill anyone dumb enough to not understand they were outmatched. Some time later, there was no one left.

We ended up in a large central room. There were offices all around and a few cubicles. The lights were still off but Evergreen had giant flood lights attached to a generator.

"Grab every desktop. We don't have time to try to download everything. We don't know if they managed to get any messages out before we cut off the lights." Evergreen took charge. When it came to technology, he was the boss. "They need to be immobilized somehow, so if you see a large cabinet that you can use as a trunk, grab it. The less they move the better."

"You heard the tech genius." Markus said, "Evergreen, link me if you need anything. I need to check on Celeste and call Zack to bring the other bus in so we can start getting the shifters out of their cages."

He walked past me then paused. "We could probably use you. They looked in rough shape in the feeds." I nodded and fell in step behind him. We went through the door that led into the garage. A couple of warriors were already working on getting it open all the way. I grabbed the universal key from Helios' empty cage and my heart clenched when the garage door finally opened, and I could see the dry and fresh blood that covered the floor of the small metal cage.

I'm going to tear apart every one of these bastards that hurt our mate. You will not deny me. - Hestia growled.

We may not even have a mate by the time the night is over. - I said. Hestia howled in my head. My anger had subsided as we killed all the guards in this place and now all that was left was fear, pain and shame. As much as I wanted to defend all of my actions, I knew that there wasn't a good excuse for them. I kept the fact that we were mates for a month. I pushed him away even though I knew deep down that he might feel the pull to some extent. I hurt him. I was planning to reject him. All of this information went through my head as I healed shifter after shifter as they let them out and guided them towards the bus. I could see from here that Helios was still talking to everyone. Theo, Sebastian and Gonzalo were wearing shorts. They looked calm.

I think they are shifters now too. - Hestia said - Whatever happened to our mate happened to them as well.

Helios looked over my way. His eyes made contact with mine. I couldn't read his face from this far away, but I could still feel his hurt through the bond. I am not sure he was even aware of it or knew if he could feel my pain the same way I felt his, his bond being newer than mine. He looked away as Gonzalo said something and I went over to the next shifter. I was exhausted by the time I got to the last one. Markus had asked if I needed a break or wanted to stop but I had declined. We got to one of the last cages that was covered with a cloth and Markus cursed. This one was a vampire.

"Stop, Natalia," I heard his deep voice rumble behind me as I focused my healing on the man's leg. It was devoid of any emotion and I felt the coldness from his voice like an ice shard to the heart. I refused to give in to that pain though. I had a job to do. This is what white wolves do. This man's left arm had been broken in three places.

"I'm almost done," I said, my voice coming out in a whisper. I felt so tired. There was only half a bone left to heal.

"That's enough. I can feel your exhaustion," he said as he put his hand on my shoulder. I felt the sparks explode and he took his hand off like it had burnt him. I swallowed back the tears and continued my work.

I finished healing the man and I nodded to the warrior to help him away. I got up but the world swayed and my knees buckled. Helios was still standing behind me and caught me before I could fall. I felt the sparks explode everywhere my body touched his bare chest. They felt stronger now that he was aware of the bond.

"Stubborn woman," he muttered as he picked me up, cradling me to his chest. I tried to protest but I was too tired to fire off a sarcastic response. I gave up and decided to just lean into his body and enjoy the feeling of being held while I could.

We filed back onto the bus. I briefly heard that, despite my best efforts, the lambo was in good enough shape to limp back to the city. We were heading to Los Angeles instead of San Diego since it was closer and the plane was already refueled and waiting for us. I didn't pay much attention after that. I fell into a much-needed deep sleep.

His rejection could wait until morning.