Crossing Paths With The White Wolf

Helios P o V

The Alû was taking its sweet time with Markus. It was a few minutes before it called for the Nahual and we saw as it came through the window. I needed him to get a little closer and step over the ash circle we had made on the floor. He was two steps away. "Come on, take another step you, a*****e," I heard Gonzalo whisper. When he finally took the next step into the ash circle, I breathed a sigh of relief.

"Wake him up via mind link. Then wait for my signal," I told Celeste. I saw her eyes glaze over as we pushed through the doors.

"The incantation Gonzalo," I yelled as I jumped into the circle. Markus wasn't awake just yet. "You're both far from home," I said, as I sprayed them with the tincture Gonzalo had made. Markus woke up and looked around, not seeing anything, while Gonzalo kept chanting in Latin. Markus fell off the bed when the Nahual and Alû became corporeal, both trying to push past the ash circle. I jumped over the bed, aiming my feet right into the Alû's chest. It made a satisfying thump and sizzle as it pushed into the invisible barrier of the ash circle. I grabbed the vial of deer ash, vodka and holy water and dumped it all down its throat.

"Now Celeste," I screamed as I kept its mouth held open with two hands and I saw her coming in with her hands already on fire. Markus scooped fire from her arms and jumped over the bed and shoved it down its throat. The vodka I'd added at the last second turned out to be a good idea. The entire being began smoldering, the smell of burnt flesh hit my nose and I tried not to gag as I held it down until I was sure it would burn.

I turned as I saw that Gillian and Danny had run in and were helping Gonzalo with the Nahual, which seemed to be a lot stronger than it looked. It sent Danny flying backwards and his shoe smudged the ash circle. With a shriek, it plowed through the closed window. "Hold the Alû down!" I instructed Gonzalo as I jumped out the window. I landed right in front of it and dodged a stream of spit it threw my way. Soon after, Markus landed just on the right side of it, with Celeste floating down in her fire shield. She never quite landed, and was still floating a foot above the ground as a wolf landed on the left side. It was trapped, waiting for someone to make a move.

I smelled something acrid behind me and immediately remembered the stream of spit it had thrown my way. I saw Celeste throw two fireballs at Markus, which he caught easily in his hands. It really was quite something, the way he could share her gift. The exchange caused the Nahual to turn towards Markus and spit. I pushed him out of the way as I felt some of the acid spit hit my left arm. I heard growling and a yelp as the wolf got flung by the tail towards a tree. Landing at the base of the tree and immediately shifting back to Gillian. I panicked for a moment, thinking he was dead, but I saw him shift and moan. I struggled upward, summoning my staff, when I noticed the Nahual was feeding off of Celeste's fear when Markus pulled me down again.

"Wait, Celeste says to stay down. Something is happening," he said.

I looked back towards Celeste and the Nahual. It was starting to slow the feed and I thought maybe Celeste was going to pass out but then I noticed she was getting brighter and brighter. The Nahual hadn't noticed. It was sniffing the air and looking at Beta Gillian, finding him a suitable replacement meal. Celeste looked at Markus, a slow smile appearing on her face as she winked at him. An arc of fire, resembling those you see in solar flares, whipped out of her chest going from left to right. I felt the heat of it singe my hair as it whipped over us, slicing the Nahual in half, searing both sides so that there wasn't even any blood oozing. The top half, not yet in shock, tried crawling towards Celeste in a rage, but Celeste raised her hand and a jet of fire streamed out of it and hurled towards the Nahual. Its screams of anguish only made her funnel more fire at it until there was nothing left of it but ash.

"That's my Aztec goddess." I heard Markus mutter behind me.

Celeste ran to Gillian once the Nahual was nothing more than ash and we promptly followed.

"It's just a broken leg, Luna. It will heal," he was saying when we reached them. Markus moved past me to help him up and Celeste turned her eyes on my arm.

"You saved Markus," she told me, with tears in her eyes, then engulfed me in a giant hug.

"Tuli, he needs the arm looked at, you're going to break him," Markus said quietly as he placed a hand on her shoulder.

She pulled back and she was a bit teary but scoffed and said, "He is immortal, I can't break him."

"Actually, I think you did break a rib." I teased as I grabbed the other side of Gillian so we could take him to the Packhouse hospital.

"Oy, we good?" I heard Danny scream from the top floor.

"Yes. Everyone is safe to go back to their rooms. Both of them are dead," Markus yelled back, then mumbled, "I hope we finally get some f*****g sleep tonight."

"Thank f**k. You will need to sleep in one of your guest rooms. This one is toast. See you tomorrow and Luna, you're getting bloody scary." Danny said as he saluted Celeste and disappeared from the broken window.

"f**k. I didn't think about that," Markus grumbled.

"I did, we're already set up in the bedroom next to our office. We have contractors coming tomorrow," Celeste said from in front of us.

"I love you," he said dreamily. I couldn't tell if he was always this sappy or if it was exhaustion. A small part of me was a little envious of the clear love and devotion they shared for each other.

She smiled brightly as she ran inside yelling, "That's why I'm the Luna and you're only the Alpha. I'm going to get the twins. I'll see you inside."

"She'll be passed out by the time we're done," Gillian said and I laughed.

"She ate tons of sugar to stay awake for the fight. It's going to be one epic sugar crash," I told him as I saw Camila running towards us.

"Camila, can you send a quick text letting everyone know it's safe for everyone to come out of their bunkers before you go to sleep tonight? We're just headed for the Hospital now so Dr West can look at his leg to make sure it's setting right," Markus asked. "Yes Alpha," she said as she eyed Gillian's leg with worry.

"I'm OK baby." Gillian said soothingly.

"You better be, because Valeria has informed me that you're going to be a Dad while we waited for you guys and I'm not raising this pup alone," she grinned at him.

Gillian tried to jump out of our hold towards Camila but we held him firmly in place.

"Gillian, as happy as I am for you, you can't hold weight on that leg yet. How about you let us escort you and then you can ravage your woman while you spend your night in a hospital bed." Markus commanded him, but he was grinning from ear to ear at his friend. "Stupid f*****g leg," Gillian grumbled, but there was nothing but happiness in his eyes.

Gonzalo met us at the entrance of the Hospital Pack. He wasn't wearing a shirt and had a patch of gauze and medical tape on the right side of his chest. He looked at my arm and smirked. "Nahual spit got you too?" "Just grazed. How'd you make out?"

He laughed and rubbed the back of his neck in embarrassment, "I rolled on it trying to get to the Alû. It's dead, by the way. Nothing but goo now. If no one's too seriously injured, I'm heading to bed," he said and I nodded. "Remember you promised Celeste you'd teach her to make tamales. She won't shut up about it," Markus yelled after him, and I could hear Gonzalo's groan.

We stayed at the Crescent Moon Pack for a few days after that. We left with the promise to come back for the twin's birthday and Celeste's wedding and two Tupperware containers full of baking. I had promised to share with Theo and Sebastian, but Gonzalo convinced me to just "forget" to share and split the loot with him.

When we got home, we met Sebastian and Theo at their place to go over anything that's happened while we were away. The next shipment was only three weeks away and we needed to be ready.

"Helios. Glad to see you back. We were starting to get worried you wouldn't make it for tomorrow," Theo said.

"What's happening tomorrow?" I asked.

"You have an invitation to an antiques auction. Thank you, thank you, thank you very much," Sebastian said, taking a bow.

"You managed to find the black market?"

"Yes, it took a while and I had to provide an old alias of yours from Veracruz so that they could verify your credentials. If we play our cards right, we should get an invitation to the real black market auction after that," he said.

"Ugh, that was the worst one. I hated being Ramon," I whined.

"Yes well, you're still going by Helios and I don't think you want them tracking your current businesses. Veracruz is the only one you have still officially alive." He explained.

"How's business?" I asked Theo.

"We've moved all the physical files from the old building to the new one. All the employees also came with us, as we haven't made a decision on who we're keeping. I've spoken to a realtor to put it up for sale. They are heading out next week for pictures and appraisals." "Anything I need to take care of?" I asked.

"You have two meetings on Tuesday with potential clients. Outside of that, no. We're OK. You still have to finish going over a bunch of paperwork but nothing that is urgent at this moment."

"Thank you both for taking care of things. I'm heading home," I said, getting up.

"What, we're not even going to get a quick recap of what happened in Arizona?" Sebastian whined.

"Gonzalo has got video from their security cameras for you. I ate so many pastries this morning and I'm having a sugar crash. I will catch you both tomorrow at the office if you have any questions," I said as I left the penthouse.