Crossing Paths With The White Wolf

Helios P o V

I woke up shortly before 9pm. I knocked on Gonzalo's door and he opened it after the first knock. I eyed him warily, "Did you get any sleep?"

"I caught a nap." He shrugged, then smirked at me, "It's been a while since I've had a good fight. Can you blame me for being wired?"

I sighed, "I can't, but we need to be on the ball tonight. Make sure you drink lots of coffee. It might be a long night."

"You know I've got you," he said as we walked towards the kitchen. We slowed down as we both smelled something amazing and heard arguing.

I pushed through the door and was met with Celeste mixing something in a deep bowl and Markus standing against a chair at the other end of the counter. Both looking equally frustrated. Celeste looked up when she saw me push through the door. "Helios, tell Markus I have to sleep with him tonight. Otherwise, the Nahual will find it odd and our plan will fail."

"No Tuli, you're not going to be in the middle of the f*cking fight. I won't let you." Markus crossed his arms.

"You won't let me? I'm not your kid Markus. I thought I made that clear many times before this," she argued. I took pity on Markus. I could see his need to protect his loved ones.

"The plan we have is for Markus to sleep in bed alone. Once they become corporeal, it will be too volatile for so many of us to be in there. We need room to maneuver." I said and Celeste narrowed her eyes at me and growled before pointing at me. "You're taking his side? Or are you saying that because I'm a woman? You can't deny that I am useful. I have pyro ability and a shield. Plus, you said yourself that I can see them. I'm useful."

"I didn't say you should be out of the fight. I said you shouldn't be in the room right off the bat," I said, lifting my hands up.

"What did you have in mind then?" She said.

"I think you should be in the room across from the master bedroom. We will be monitoring through the baby monitors. Once we have them trapped, you can come help. The Shield will be useful. I couldn't even get through it. Plus, if I remember correctly, Markus can share your fire? Which will also prove useful."

She tapped the spatula on her cheek as she thought about my explanation, not noticing she was adding flour to her face. I saw Markus trying not to laugh, throwing me a grateful look. "Fine, I guess that makes sense. I'm making snacks for tonight," she said more brightly. Markus slid a container of brownies towards us.

A little while later, we were in the common room talking about random things, playing with the pups after Celeste kicked us out of the kitchen so she could finish her baking. Both kids were on a giant play mat crawling around on the floor playing with toys when I heard a commotion coming from the kitchen. I saw Markus flinch and put his hand to the side of his torso. "Watch the kids," he said and bolted out. I heard a roar coming from him from the kitchen and looked at Gonzalo.

"Go help," I told him as I left the couch and grabbed both pups and set them down on a corner with the toys. I was on the floor, sitting on my haunches in front of the pups, ready to protect them, when I saw Celeste come into the common area. I could still hear Markus yelling in the kitchen. Celeste was holding a tea towel to her nose. She looked annoyed, but not afraid. "What happened?" I asked, as I sat back on the seat and let the pups crawl back out the corner.

"Two idiots fighting over the last brownie. Everyone is so grumpy around here because of the lack of sleep. He clocked him a good one and the other one stumbled backwards into me, hit me in the ribs with his elbow and his head gave me a bloody nose," she blotted at her nose a bit more before she was satisfied it wasn't bleeding anymore. Markus poked through with one of the guys, Gonzalo following with the other. He stopped them in front of the couch. "Sorry Luna," they said in unison before Markus kept pushing them through.

"What's going to happen to them?" I asked her as I grabbed the toy Bellarose was giving me to squeeze so it would light up again.

"Just a night in the dungeons so they cool off. He knows it was an accident," she assured me, then smiled. "You're good with kids. You ever have any in your long life?" She asked and I blushed.

"No, I've never exactly made time to date, what with revenge and all that..." Her eyes went wide and I'm sure I went as red as a tomato.

"So in almost two thousand years you've never...." I shook my head and looked away, choosing instead to play with little Cory as he put some rings into a cone. "Your secret is safe with me," she giggled before Markus came back to check on his mate. He grabbed Bellarose. "We should drop them off with Maya. We should get this over with. You need to change your shirt love," he told her. I picked up little Cory.

"I'll help him. You can go change," I said.

"OK. Here. They won't sleep without these," she said as she handed me two of the stuffed alebrijes I had given her for the pups when they were born. I smiled, pleased the pups liked my gifts as I gave the little dragon alebrije to Cory while Markus took the cat. When we got to the room that they had set up for everyone, a young teenager was on a seat next to the door with a sketchpad. She gave me a dirty look before anyone could notice and then returned to her sketch. I took a quick peek. It was good.

-

"How long do you think it will be before we see them?" Gonzalo asked later as we waited in the room across from Markus.

"He needs to enter REM sleep. The Alû won't act until it can influence his dreams," I told him.

"It was like 4am when I woke up and saw them," Celeste said as she munched on a lemon square. She looked tired and I could tell she was keeping herself awake through sheer will and sugar. It was only 2am. "Why don't you take a nap, Celeste? We can wake you when we see something," I offered.

"No, thank you," she simply said, never taking her eyes off her mate.

Gonzalo snickered. "What's funny?" I asked him.

"I don't think she trusts you to wake her. You took her mate's side earlier after all," Gonzalo said. I looked back at Celeste and she only smiled sweetly at me before putting her eyes back on the baby monitor.

I rolled my eyes. "You were more trusting when you were a kidnap victim," I said.

"Ahhh Helios, you've forgotten how she jumped in front of her mate at the pyramids? That's just a woman in love." Gonzalo said as we kept watching the small monitor.

Less than a half hour later, I saw movement coming from the window. I watched as the Alû made its way inside, looking around for a moment before standing right in front of Markus. It placed a finger on his forehead and I saw Markus start tossing in his sleep. Celeste stood up towards the door but I grabbed her. "We can't yet. We need the Nahual in the room," I whispered. She bit her lip before looking back down at the monitor.