Hers (#1)

20| first your blood will spill

She nods in acceptance and takes the file from my hands. "And that's the only mistake?"

"Yep. Everything is pretty much solid."

"Good. I just need to change that with a certain stamp--it'll take about ten minutes. You can take a seat, if you'd like."

I comply to her demands and sit in the armchair at the dusty corner. As Flame carefully searches for the key to open a safe, I stare absentmindedly at her symmetrical face. Lana once told me that she was an outgoing, carefree person. I muse, gazing at her aloof expression. She's probably the only one of high enough rank to be informal with her. I wonder what their relationship is like?

"If you don't mind me asking, how did you and Lana meet?" I blurt suddenly.

She immediately freezes and stares at me, an unreadable expression on her face. After a considerable and very awkward pause, she replies: "I do actually mind, Jaci Marcus."

Shit. I was about to open my mouth to reply when she spoke again. "However, you are of higher rank-- therefore I am obliged to answer."

Her tone grows softer, reminiscent. "We met in 1925 in New Orleans. My parents were one of the later settlers from Ayiti." I'm not at all surprised at her age at this point. I was surprised at the fact that she was from Haiti, given her strong French accent. "Unfortunately, my parents were killed in a racial attack by The White League in 1868."

Sensing my confusion, she elaborated further. "They were an insurgent paramilitary group that supported the Democratic Party and violently opposed the black vote. My parents unfortunately were avid supporters of P.B.S Pinchback, the first governor of African descent.

"Anyways, without any family or background, I sold myself into prostitution and worked for 20 years at the Vieux Carré. Being an immortal wolf with a very slow aging process didn't hurt business and I earned enough to buy myself a small little apartment in Franse Sezon. I lived peacefully up until the early 1900's. It was actually how Sam--"

She stops herself. "How the ex Beta and I met. She was a French aristocrat visiting New Orleans. I found her after she shifted--she was just 16 when we met. Her family ended up leaving her out on the street because they thought she had some sort of mental illness.The Kraken organization had stretched its dealings to Louisiana and there was a newly formed Whammy House accepting patients."

"Whammy's House?" I queried. "Andrea mentioned it once. What is that?"

"It's where the Trails are located. During that time, newly shifted wolves in human families were sent there because they were usually disguised as mental hospitals. The one the Beta was sent to was known as Millbrook's Mental Institute."

"I took her to the institute myself. There were a few other people there--I could tell from their scents that they were wolves. Unbeknownst to us, a test had been prepared to see if we were shifters. I was one of the first wolves attacked. I wasn't mated so one of the agents forced themselves on me. To protect myself, I shifted."

"I was stabilized immediately and when I woke up, I was in chains."

Her fingers work the lock on the safe as I listen intently. "I was put through the Trail, as you know, and trained as Galdoni for decades. Till Lana transitioned back with the help of someone else. She and that man helped transition Samantha and I. " The whirring noises of the lock fill the room.

"In turn, we helped some more wolves who have become Alphas. We started a small band to help save wolves from Kraken agents. We stayed in secluded areas, Lana stating that it was better for us to keep to ourselves and attract no attention."