Phoenix
I frowned down at my desk, dozens of once smiling faces staring back at me, as the sound of missing person report after report printed behind me.
"You're telling me that over sixty missing persons reports have been filed but only one person has been identified?" Kassian questioned, a familiar analytical look on his face as he looked through all the files "Were we able to ID the first creature?"
"We couldn't" Nìco shook his head, his arms crossed "The Royal Guards burned the body as soon as Alpha Lobo was secured."
"You think that the first creature was also another missing person?" I asked
"Yes," Kassian nodded his head "That's exactly what I'm thinking."
"Uh..." Téo glanced at every file on my desk with worry "Like you said, there's over sixty missing shifters here. If one of them was able to take down an Alpha Heir, one of the strongest heirs of this generation, what kind of damage could sixty plus creatures do to our community?"
"It'll be a massacre" Níco said "And we're definitely not prepared for more of them to come through our borders. We got lucky that the last creature died like it did."
"Watch your tongue" I growled sharply "That creature was an innocent child that was stolen from his family and people."
Níco bowed his head in apology.
"When was Jakob reported missing?" Kass asked
"The night Heir Lupine was brought to the Academy" Téo told him "Why?"
"Because that means he was the last person that was taken" he said, grabbing the files and rearranged them in a way that had me raising an eyebrow "And based on when each person went missing according to their missing persons report, then that means it's possible that the first creature was probably someone that disappeared early on."
I looked at Níco "Is it possible to run a DNA test agains the remains of the first creature?"
"It'll be hard but it's not impossible" he said "I'll get one of my contacts on that."
"Use discretion" I growled at him "I don't want anyone outside of this room, besides Rune and the other Heirs, to know about any of this."
"Not even the Penta?" Téo asked and I shook my head.
"Especially the Penta" I warned "I don't want them digging too much into this."
"Why not?"
I pursed my lips, my eyes sliding to Kassian who shook his head imperceptibly.
"Just make sure that your contact is discreet" I threatened "Because if I find out that they weren't, I won't hesitate to make them disappear."
"He'll keep quiet" Níco shrugged, his phone to his ear "He knows the repercussions if he doesn't."
He stepped out of the room and I turned towards his brother "Can you do me a favor?"
He nodded.
"I need you to investigate whether or not there has been a substantial amount of missing people from the Lobo Pack" I asked him "Kassian and I are doing the same. We need to know how far this dilemma goes."
"Why me?" he asked "And why not our Beta?"
"Your Beta's busy as it is" I told him, not mentioning that he's untrustworthy as hell, but I didn't let that little tidbit of information slip no matter how much I was starting to trust them "With Atlas being out of commission as it is."
He nodded as he walked towards the door, accepting my answer at face value without asking further questions, hesitantly pausing when he was halfway there.
I raised a brow "Was there something else you needed?"
He nodded slowly, turning to face both Kassian and I.
I looked towards my friend, who looked back at me with an indecipherable look in his eyes, as he lowered the files in his hands to my desk.
"I don't want this to be a surprise to any of you when Alpha Lobo wakes up" he started slowly "But my brother and I have decided to reconnect with Heir Lupine's Pack."
My eyes widened "What?"
I glanced over at Kassian and found that even he was taken aback by Máteo's words.
For so long the Butcher Brothers vehemently denounced their father's pack, vowing that they would never, ever step foot on their former Pack Land again no matter their downfall.
So to hear that they wanted to willingly rejoin the Lupine Pack, a Pack that treated them like they were worse than shit at the bottom of their shoes, was startling.
"Why the change of heart?" Kassian asked carefully "We were under the impression that you were happy in the Lobo Pack?"
"The Lobo Pack has been good to us" he stated "They took us in when we were at our lowest and not only allowed my mother to reconnect with her family but also gave her a purpose after our father's death."
"So then why would you willingly want to leave your home?"
"Because sometimes homes are meant to be temporary" Níco said as he strode back into the room, confidence radiating from his smug face as he stopped beside his brother and nudged his shoulder in such a sibling type of way that it made miss my own sister at this moment "And we were always supposed to end up by Nova's side."
~~~~~~
The Past...
Níco
I frowned at my brother, pinching his side as he continued to wring his hands together as we stood in front of Uncle Wolfe's door.
When our Father told us that Uncle Wolfe wanted to talk to us, I thought nothing of it.
When he clarified that Uncle Wolfe wanted to talk to us, alone without the presence of our parents, even I had to admit that I was a little nervous.
Probably just as nervous, or even more so, than Téo was at this moment
The only difference between the two of us was that I was better at hiding my nerves than he was.
Obviously we knew that we weren't in danger, because this was Uncle Wolfe we were talking about, but I couldn't help but wonder what we must have done this week to have him summon us like this.
"Stop that" I hissed at my brother slapping at his hands before knocking on the door "It makes you look guilty."
"I am guilty" he gulped "I stole Uncle Wolfe's last apple fritter from the donut box yesterday without telling anyone. I bet he found out and that's why he's calling us up here. He wants a confession."
I stared at my brother, wondering how in the Hell we're related, let alone how we're twins.
"Why would he call us to his office over a donut?" I asked "If anything, he's calling us about the fight you started two days ago."
Téo winced "I forgot about that."
I raised a brow "You forgot about the fight that caused you to put four middle schoolers in the hospital?"
"They jumped me" His eyes darkened as he thought about the fight "It's not my fault that they overestimated their abilities."
"And remind me again why they jumped you?"
"They were teasing some kid in a wheelchair" he shook his head "The poor kid looked helpless and scared. I couldn't let them treat him like that so I gave them a taste of their own medicine."
"By putting them in wheelchairs?" I snorted "Yeah. That's definitely why Uncle Wolfe is calling us up here."
He shrugged, his nerves gone "I don't regret a single thing."
Before I could say anything else, Uncle Wolfe's door swung open and he grinned down at us, his grey eyes twinkling.
Téo and I both froze.
Why you ask?
Because this is the first time we've seen this particular expression on Uncle Wolfe's face.
He looked...ecstatic.
Happier than I've ever seen him before, joy practically radiating from every pore in his body.
"You're not in trouble because of the fight boys" he ushered us inside his office, ruffling out hair "I quite agree that those boys deserved everything that happened to them. I don't tolerate that kind of shit in my Pack, no matter who initiates it."
I grinned at his words, glad that we weren't in trouble.
Téo frowned "If you're not mad at us for the fight, then why are we here?"
I jabbed his side, shooting him a 'what the heck' look?
He beamed at us, leaning against his desk as he motioned for us to take a seat.
"Boys, I think it's finally time that you were given your own assignment within the Pack."
"What?" Téo choked out a gasp, turning to me with wide eyes that I'm pretty sure were mirrored on my own face "But...but...we're only nine and a half?"
"You know, your father was around that age when I asked him to be my Beta."
"Really?" I beamed at him "Dad never told us that."
Uncle Wolfe winced "I think he probably wanted to wait until you were older before he explained that particular story to you two."
"Why?" I asked
"Uh...it's a long story kiddo" he smirked "But a funny one once you're old enough to understand."
I raised a brow "So we're old enough for a Pack assignment but not old enough to hear about how our dad became a Beta at such a young age?"
"Nope" he grinned at me "And since I'm the Alpha, I don't have to explain diddly shit. I'll leave that up to your da."
I laughed while my brother murmured something about Uncle Wolfe owing a few hundred bucks to the new swear jar Mom just implemented for us.
I rolled my eyes.
Goody two shoes.
"Back to what I was saying" Uncle Wolfe opened up his desk drawer and pulled out a medium sized frame, looking down at it with an unknown emotion in his eyes, before handing it over to us "This is the assignment."
I looked at my brother in confusion before focusing on the weird little black and white photo framed in my hands.
A little alien bean sat in the middle of it and no matter which way I turned it, I couldn't understand what the hell I was looking at.
"Uh...Uncle Wolfe I think you forgot to take the weird photo that comes with the frame out" I said "Because I have no idea what I'm looking at."
He chuckled and readjusted the frame in my hands until I was once again looking at the little alien thing.
"Boys" He beamed "I want you to officially meet your cousin."
Our heads snapped up so fast I'm surprised we didn't break them.
"What?" I barked at the same time my brother breathed "Your Heir."
Uncle Wolfe nodded, taking the frame from our hands and lovingly running his index finger across the little alien's tiny head.
"A baby?" I said, in shock "You're having a baby?"
He beamed "Yeah."
"How?" I asked and he blanched slightly.
"Uh...I think that's a question for your parents kiddo" his said, his cheeks turning red as he looked away "I don't think..."
Téo cleared his throat before Uncle Wolfe could say anything else.
"I think Níc means how are you having a Baby if we don't even have a Luna yet?"
"You have a Luna."
"If that's true then why didn't we know about it?" I asked with a frown "Why hasn't she been introduced to the Pack yet?"
He pursed his lips, the light slightly fading from his eyes.
"The most important people have met her" he said softly "And I was going to introduce her to the Pack next month, during the Solstice, when we found out we were expecting. For their health and safety, I've decided to wait until after our baby is born to officially introduce them to our Pack."
I looked away, hurt by his answer.
Hurt that my brother and I weren't considered 'Important' enough to meet our Luna.
Judging by the expression on his face too, Téo was just as hurt by our Uncle's words as I was.
"Boys" Uncle Wolfe said softly, kneeling next to us and gently gripping our shoulders "You two were one of the first ones I wanted her to meet but your father thought it was in everyone's best interest if you waited to meet her along with the rest of the Pack."
"Why?"
He smiled tightly "Since when do you question your Pa, Níco?"
I crossed my arms over my chest "Since he decided to start lying to us."
"He didn't lie to you little warrior" Uncle Wolfe ruffled our hair "He just kept his promise to me."
"I don't understand" Téo spoke up softly "Is this why we're really here Uncle? Do we even have an assignment or did you just want to surprise us with this news?"
"Both" Uncle Wolfe smiled at him "You really do have an assignment. Your father and I talked about it in lengthy conversations and we felt like you two were ready."
When he didn't elaborate further, I sighed.
"Care to share what the assignment is?"
"Protection duty."
I looked at him in surprise "Protection duty?"
"We're nine and a half" Téo gave him an incredulous look "Who could we possibly protect?"
"My Heir."
"Why would your son, the Lupine Heir, need protection?" I reared my head back in shock "And from who?"
"She."
"What?" My face scrunched in confusion "She? She Who?"
"My daughter" he said softly, an unknown but protective look entering his eyes "Your next Lupine Heir. The first girl born to the Lupine family since the beginning of our creation... She'll need the protection of both of you in order to survive those who'll come for her...Because they will come for her...They'll all eventually come for her."