Crossing Paths With The White Wolf

Kassia POV

"Will you tell me? Will that overwhelm you and cause a seizure?" He asked, never stopping the motion of his fingers on my back. "Where do you want me to start?" I asked. "Everything."

I sighed and took a moment to gather my thoughts, "The day I got your note from Sabina, my father intercepted it. He had suspected something was different. I had refused his match for me and he found that unacceptable. I didn't realize he had started having people following me. Sabina, thankfully, was loyal to me and she told me he knew what the letter said, so I didn't go. I knew he would have me followed and I didn't want to put you in danger."

I took a deep breath. "I thought I could trust Karissa. She said she would help me see you. I packed a bag. I didn't know if I could go through with it. I didn't know if I could leave my life behind. But I loved you and I didn't want to leave you, so I packed a bag so I could leave if that's what we decided at the end of our conversation. She still helped me get out, but I noticed the tail I had on me when I was near the woods. I agreed to leave with her on the condition that they let you go. When I heard her tell her guards to take care of you, I tried to go back, but her guards knocked me out."

My breath shuddered as I tried to keep myself composed. I hugged him tighter to me, reminding myself that he was alive. I felt his lips on my hair, his fingers still drawing on my skin. "When I came to, I tried to leave, but they wouldn't let me. I argued with my father but when Karissa came in and told me you were dead, I broke. My father called me pathetic. He said I was weak and falling in love with a human had only made me weaker. His daughter would not be a disgrace. He said some other things. I," I took a deep breath as I remembered his cruel words. "I snapped. I had never in my life felt so much rage and sorrow. I attacked Karissa first. I punched her as I pushed past her. His guards tried to stop me and I don't remember what happened next. Dissociative amnesia is what they called it. The next thing I knew, there were 4 dead guards, my father's neck was bleeding and they were trying to heal him. I was covered in blood and being held down by 3 guards. I got sent to the dungeons, then there was a trial."

"You got sentenced to death?" He asked, his voice tense. I nodded. "What made them change their minds?"

"I don't know. My father never talked to me after he stripped me of my title. I didn't see Karissa again until she ascended the throne." "How did you end up an assassin?" He asked.

"Hell's Pocket. For all of its bad rep, it's not that dissimilar to a regular prison other than being coop. It's hard to keep to yourself. Two main things can happen. If you want to survive, you have to associate yourself with the baddest b***h in the group so they can protect you or you get eaten alive."

"Who did you associate yourself with?"

"I didn't," I kissed his chest as I smiled at the memory.

"But you said..?" the confusion in his voice was clear. I turned my head up and kissed his chin next.

"The baddest b***h in there was not a person I wanted to associate with. I was OK with dying at that point. My life was full of guilt and sorrow. I didn't care what happened to me." His arm got tighter around me as I explained. "I got beaten up many times over the first couple of years, but I refused to do anything to retaliate. Everyone knew I was a disgraced princess. They thought it was fun to break me and when they couldn't, they took it as a challenge. The beatings and their intensity increased. I don't know if it was my pride or just my desire to die at that point, but I just took it. I never screamed. I just kept my head down and said nothing. One day, someone stepped in and defended me. A old man. He was a lifer by the name of Miles Lee. I remember it clearly. He told me it didn't matter if the title was taken from me. I was a princess and they should vow to me. That I should make them respect me and fear me. He was the one who began training me. He taught me the one way to survive without aligning myself with anyone was to become a bigger b***h than them." I smiled as I kissed his chest, my memories of training with him were some of the only good memories I have of that place. "He spent months training me and eventually I beat leader after leader. Everyone that thought they could take me on until they learned to just let me be."

There was pride in his voice this time, "You became the baddest b***h in the place."

"Yes. Word of my fighting skills must have gotten back to Karissa. They probably kept tabs on me. When she ascended to the throne, she came to see me. She offered me a deal. I could be released, but I would need to work for her. She had a problem she would eventually need to deal with and she didn't trust anyone to solve it. I was allowed a couple of years to get more training, as long as I did it away from the Estate," I sighed, "At that point, my father still lived there and he made sure to show his displeasure any time he saw me. I was called traitor and everyone was instructed not to call me by my name. After that, I trained as hard as I could. The first job I was sent on, I almost died. I had no resources, no money, no experience. I was paid for my work, but I was closed off of all of my family's resources. I spent some money from that first job bribing a guard to let me in to train with Miles every other day. He died about 80 years ago and that was when I first started training with weapons." "How did you meet Adrien?" He asked, resuming his lazy circles on my back.

"I was working a job in Salerno. Nothing big, but my sister likes to send me out as much as possible. He was human back then," I said. I heard his intake of breath. Turning a human had been deemed illegal over 1500 years ago. They were too volatile and threatened to expose us to the human population. It also could potentially upset the delicate balance of power and truce between species. "There was something about him that I was drawn to. Life seemed...less dark when I would talk to him. He worked in this dingy bar that was frequented by supernaturals. He wasn't aware of what was going on around him. He was just...him. Happy, despite his terrible circumstances."

"What happened?" He asked as his fingers resumed his play on my back.

"I was trying to get some information from a source. There was an altercation with another set of supes and he got caught in the middle. They tore into his stomach and shoulder. I don't know why I did it. I was just not ready to see his light gone from this world. I turned him." I took a deep breath to stop myself from remembering how he looked that night. "The only favor I've asked of Karissa since that night, was to allow him to live. I fought her not to destroy him and became even more of a pariah because of it. But, he deserved a chance. He hadn't gone feral. He was still just him. He accepted what happened and he wasn't mad for the choice I made for him." I looked up at the ceiling, "Eventually, Karissa agreed but with conditions. I was his sire. I was to teach him our ways, and teach him how to be an assassin so he could be of service as well." I sighed, "His association with me and the manner of his vampire birth made him a pariah by association. It's the only part I regret. If someone else had turned him, he might not have had a transition as hard as it was. He has no friends, he's not allowed in the Estate." I smiled, "Despite that, he refuses to let me feel bad about it. He's always made fun of the fact that the only way he was allowed to live was under my care. Add that I am his sire...He likes to tease me that I'm his mom." Gonzalo's hand went still and I looked up at him. "What?" I asked.

He had a silly smile on his face. "Dario has been telling me he's kin and a couple of weeks ago I suggested adopting him so he wouldn't have to leave Guardian Moon."

I grinned back, "He did tell me he always wanted a dad, yesterday." I felt my body shake as he gave out a loud booming laugh. I cuddled closer, inhaling his innately Gonzalo scent. I hadn't been this happy in a long time. It felt like maybe I had a chance to have a home again. We continued talking about some of the jobs I've had and his years with Helios. We fell asleep sometime around 10 am but woke up to a disturbance outside.

Gonzalo got out of bed immediately, putting on a pair of sweatpants. I followed suit and went to open the door when Gonzalo pulled me away as the door began to swing open. I felt the burning heat on my arm and shoulder as I hit the bed. I grabbed the blankets and rolled to the side to hide between the beds.

The door closed and Gonzalo was by my side immediately. "Are you OK?"

"I'm fine. Go check on what's going on," I reassured him. He looked like he wanted to argue, but then he crushed his lips to mine and left.

I went over to the bathroom and inspected my shoulder. It was just a bad sunburn. It should be gone in an hour or two. About 10 minutes later, I was on my phone talking with Adrien when I heard Gonzalo come in.

"I'll see you later. Elias just came in," He told me.

"Yeah sounds good." I hung up.

"Are you OK?" Gonzalo asked as he walked over to the bed. He took my arm to check me over.

"I'm OK. I feel stupid for not checking the time yet. These blackout curtains are really good" I snorted.

"It's only an hour from sunset. Can I get you anything? We've got a couple bags of blood in Helios' room if you need it. Will that speed up your healing?"

"I'm fine Gonzalo, it's just a sunburn. What happened outside?"

"The bear shifter we rescued. He shifted in his room. Made a bit of a mess. We had to sedate him with the emergency tranquilizer Dr. Castle sent us. He'll be sleeping like a baby until we get home."

He sat on the bed and patted the side of the bed. We talked for the next hour. Conversation was always easy with Gonzalo. He told me the story of how they came about becoming werewolves. I told him about some more missions I've been on, occasionally causing his wolf to growl when it came to me getting hurt. We switched to plans for the future. What the raids meant and what the pack wanted to do after this was over. We were in the middle of a good make-out session when we heard the knock on the door. "Bus leaves in 45 minutes. Theo ordered supper on the plane. We'll have your tumbler ready on the bus, Kassie." Sebastian's voice sounded from the other side.

"Thanks!" I screamed, before cuddling back into Gonzalo's arms. "So what's next?"

"We should have the new building for rehabbing the shifters by next week, so there will be a lot of that. I'll start planning for Glasgow, send a couple of scouts ahead. It will be a little more complicated. I will need to find lodgings with local packs willing to deal with their trauma. Helios is asking the council if we can get some help from the European council to connect us to local ones. It will be a busy month."

"What do you need me to help with?"

"I'll give you a list of the places we need to go. Maybe you'll have some contacts or suggestions on how to best approach the places. For the most part, we could really benefit from your fighting skills. Keep training us. I've already noticed a few have improved under the new training regimen you and Sebastian came up with. In a few months, you may need to help Nat with her Luna duties the closer she gets to the end of her pregnancy, so you may be spending a fair amount of time with her."

I pouted at that last portion. "I don't think she likes me much."

"She was just being protective of me. Trust me, she will love you." He murmured in my ear. I shivered and moved to kiss him and then there was another knock on the door.

"Snow white, are you awake? It's time to drink and go." I groaned.

Gonzalo laughed as he opened the door, "One day, you'll have to sit down and tell me how the nickname Snow White came about."

-

"Gonzalo has basically been sleeping in this room with you for the last week and you're now nervous about what you want to wear for a date?" Adrien asked me.

"I haven't been on a date in 200 years, Adrien. Be kind to me." I mumbled.

"I'm just saying. You guys have been spending so much time together. What is there to be nervous about?"

"I don't know. I just am, so help me. You said you would." It was irrational. I could see that, but I couldn't help it. I didn't know what he had planned. He said to wear casual clothing and we were leaving pretty late, and he told me to pack a change of clothes. He left a few hours ago, saying he needed to get some things ready. Adrien was right, he'd been sleeping here almost every night since the raid. I shouldn't be this nervous, but I was. I had already changed three times, which was dumb, because all of my clothes were black. There was a knock on the door and Adrien stood up to open the door. Theo walked in with two bags.

"What's this?" I asked.

"Reinforcements. You have no clothes suitable for a date. Theo did us a solid while he was in San Diego for a meeting and picked up some outfits for you. He knows what Gonzalo likes." Adrien smirks at me.

My mouth dropped. "You went shopping for me?"

He shrugged, "There's a lot of little shops close to the San Diego offices. Have fun tonight." He smiled as he handed me the bags and left. I opened the bags and pulled things out. OK, not so bad. There wasn't any pink. I grabbed a pair of dark washed jeans and a shiny red silk blouse and went into the bathroom to change.

When I came back out, Adrien had a bunch of stuff on the nightstand. "What is that now?" I asked with dread.

"Make up" he said.

"Nope, not happening. The clothes are enough, Adrien. I've never worn anything but Chapstick," I said while trying to escape the room. Adrien grabbed me by the waist and threw me on the bed. "Relax. It's not going to be the whole pomp and circumstance. Trust me. I will give you a more natural look."

"But I am already natural. How more natural can you get than actual natural." I argued back.

Twenty minutes later, and I couldn't argue with his results. I looked like me, but the subtle make-up he added enhanced things in my face I never noticed were there. I got a text from Gonzalo at just before 4 am asking me to meet him downstairs. I felt like that girl from She's All That, walking down to meet my Freddie Prinze Jr. Except this was no romantic movie where someone was trying to make me something I wasn't. I smiled as I saw him at the bottom of the stairs. This was no Freddy Prinze Jr. This was my Lalo. This was the man that loved me when I was naïve and sheltered and was beginning to love me as I was now: broken and a little worse for the wear. He was much better than Freddy Prinze Jr.

He was wearing a guayabera and loose khakis, his hands in his pockets and sandals? Where were we going? The thought left my head as soon as he saw me. The smile on his face grew, making the butterflies in my stomach go crazy. I loved this man. "You're so beautiful," he said as he kissed me.

"I feel overdressed now."

"I can fix that," he purred as he took my overnight bag. We stepped out of the packhouse and down the steps. I got really confused as we started walking.

"Where are we going?" I asked.

"A house just a little way down," he said, he must have read the disappointment and confusion on my face because he stopped and pulled me close. "What's wrong?" I shook my head. "Hey, talk to me. What's wrong, Kassie?"

"I must have misunderstood. I thought we were going out on a date. Outside of the packhouse." I thought he might get upset that I was expecting something else, instead he grinned at me.

"I am and I'm not." At my further confusion he laughs, "Trust me, you're going to like this." He pulled me by the waist and led me down to a small run-down house. I kept my thoughts to myself as he led me up the steps.

He pulled out a silk blindfold and I c****d an eyebrow, "Last time you put blind folds on me, I couldn't walk for two hours."

His eyes darkened at the memory and he grinned. "I can't promise that won't happen again tonight, but not right this second." He put the blindfold on, and I heard the door open before he guided me in. I followed in the dark, our steps echoing as if the house was empty. He led me down a set of stairs and I felt something soft under my feet. I could swear I could smell the ocean as he led me to what I assumed was the middle of the room. He removed the blindfold and I frowned. We were in a basement, in the dark. With my enhanced eyes, I could see a giant pile of cushions on the floor, which was covered in some sort of soft carpet. There was some sort of mist machine on a corner that I assumed was where the ocean smell was originating from. I looked at Gonzalo, who grinned at me when I c****d an eyebrow in question. "I'm not done yet. Sit," he ordered as he led me to the makeshift bed on the floor. I took my shoes off and sat next to him. He pulled closer and kissed me.

I let out a little moan and he groaned before he pulled away. "Not yet," he said huskily. I saw him pull out something from his pocket. It was a small phone that I didn't recognize. "Since I've known you, you've always wanted to see the sun rise. You said it back in Sicily, and you said it again a week ago. I always wanted to find a way to grant you your wish. This was the best I could come up with for now." He pushed some buttons and then some machines I hadn't noticed above us began to come online. The walls and the floor around us were illuminated by projectors. Bright blue at first, then an image of the ocean at night came into focus. "This is a live feed of Prince Edward Island. Sunrise is in about..." he looked down at the phone, "four minutes."

I understood what he'd done now. The fluffy khaki carpet, the smell of the ocean, the projectors. He was letting me experience a sunrise on the beach. I could feel the tears forming in my eyes. He'd given me the sunrise. I stood up and looked all around. The wall behind us had a lighthouse against the shore. The floor was projecting the rocky shore that led to the sand around the bed of pillows. The khaki carpet helped sell the illusion. All around me, I could see nothing but sand and the ocean. A chuckle escaped me as a fan turned on, making my hair sway as if I was there on the shore. He thought of everything, I thought, as I felt a tear fall from my eyes. No one had ever done something like this for me.

He stood up and came up to hold me from behind as the first of the golden rays of the sun began to peak through. The sparks dancing along our bodies enhanced the sight before me. I was hypnotized by the rays dancing in the ocean. The way the clouds seem to be colored gold with light. The entire room became encompassed with beautiful hues of gold, red, orange and light. Light. How to describe the world in the sun. It looked alien and beautiful. It held hope and happiness. The promise of something new. Endless possibilities. In this moment, this moment that Gonzalo had gifted me, everything seemed possible. Leaving Karissa, being a mate, surviving what was broken within me. Is this how everyone else feels when the sun rises each day? Like the world could be conquered and happiness was within your grasp? How is it that they can wage wars when they can wake up to this? I looked down at the arms around my waist. Then again, there were more wonderful things than the sunrise and I would fight to the death to keep them.