"Why is Mizpah relevant to Kaia's plan?" Kaleb asked, following closely on Cole's heels, "Do you have any idea what it's-"
"Can you be quiet?" Cole snapped. Cole wasn't happy with him for having let Kaia do this. Kaleb wondered if he should have just grabbed her and dragged her back to the Pack Mansion. Maybe he should have just locked her up, done anything to keep her safe. But Kaia would have hated him for it, so there was no way Kaleb could stop her. Even if he had a choice, it had been a simple one in which one option might as well not even have existed. He knew that Kaia needed to be free. Locking her up, even if it were to protect her, would be like taking a brutal swing of an ax to their relationship.
"Cole, it's not his fault Kaia's gone and done this," Lionel said defensively. His tone seemed conflicted even as he spoke the words, though. Lionel instinctively defended Kaleb, his Alpha and friend, but he probably didn't want to push Cole any further. Cole was already keeping it together better than expected. There was no need to risk that.
"I just need to get my sister back," Cole breathed as he turned around a corner. This hall was farther into the house than Kaleb had ever been. The walls were covered in pictures of Kaia and her family, smiling faces in every one. There were surprisingly few photos of the woman Kaleb could only assume was Kaia's mother. She had the same dark eyes that Kaia did, and Kaleb could tell just from the photos that she loved her children more than anything.
"We'll get her back, Cole. We have the entire Pack on our side," Lionel said confidently.
"That's not all we have," Cole said, heading up the stairs. Lionel hesitated at the foot of the stairs, looking at Kaleb like he wanted to say something.
But then Lionel's phone buzzed. "It's Jaeda. She wants to know what's happening, where Kaia is."
Kaleb clenched his jaw, "Tell her we'll be back soon and to find Elias. We need to bring everyone together to figure this out. I'm hoping this little meeting will be informative."
"Ok," Lionel said, "But Jaeda needs to know. She's very worried. And we should probably tell Rosy and Ben, too."
Kaleb nodded, "I know. I just didn't want to see the look in their eyes."
Lionel gave Kaleb an understanding look and started up the stairs. He paused halfway up when he realized Kaleb wasn't following, "You coming?"
But Kaleb just nodded his head towards the stairs. "Go on."
Lionel huffed and turned, "Fine, then." And off he went. Kaleb lingered for a bit, shoving his hands in his pockets and staring at one of the pictures of Kaia. He wondered if he should feel anything, staring at it. But all Kaleb felt was the same emptiness, a sinking deeper into his dark hole. He was stuck, and staring at pictures wasn't going to do any good.
He looked at the image of Kaia's mother again and felt a strange surge of regret. She had been such a beautiful woman. From what Kaia had told him about her, she was also kind and caring.
The world was painfully unjust. What kind of reality allowed monsters to flourish and angels to perish? But he believed Kaia could carry out her plan and succeed, that she was stronger than this monster of a man. Perhaps Kaleb wouldn't completely lose faith in the world if she was able to get justice for the wrongs she'd had to endure.
When he finally found his way upstairs, he discovered Lionel and Cole together in what looked like a study at the top of the stairs. Cole was sitting at the desk in a swivel chair, looking up at Lionel, who was standing over Cole. They were staring pretty intensely at each other, and Lionel was unmistakably blushing.
Kaleb cleared his throat awkwardly. Cole's head whipped toward Kaleb like he hadn't known Kaleb had been standing there.
"Wh-Where were you?" Lionel asked.
"What were you doing?" Kaleb shot back. Neither of them answered the question because Cole turned back to the desk, drawing both of their attention. He picked up the phone and dialed a number. There were a couple of seconds of silence before the call went through, during which Kaleb closely observed Lionel and Lionel did the same to Cole.
"Hey, Tom. It's Cole," he finally said. "No, not today." Lionel looked at Kaleb, frustrated, and then slowly inched his hand toward the receiver. Cole and Lionel met eyes for a moment, and then Cole nodded. Lionel tapped the button for speakerphone.
"-ow the next time you want to head out," a man's voice said. Tom sounded older, middle-aged, and like he smoked.
"Thanks, Tom. I will," Cole replied, "But I've got something urgent for everyone."
Tom suddenly sounded interested, "Yeah? What is it? Did you finally step up and get your lead?"
"No, it's...it's Kaia."
There was a long moment of silence. When Tom spoke again, his voice was grave. "What's happened?"
"Is dad there?" Cole asked. He met Kaleb's gaze for a moment and then looked away.
"Yes, why?"
"He can't know," Cole said immediately, his voice grave. He meant it.
"Can't..." Tom asked, confused and maybe a little annoyed. "What the hell are you-" Another voice sounded in the background. A man's. "Hang on, David."
"Tom, this is serious, and it's a delicate situation," Cole continued, "But we need to do this. So, you can't tell him."
"Just a moment," he said. There were some shifting sounds and a door shut. "Ok, I'm out of earshot. Now tell me why you think I can't tell your father anything."
Cole ran his hand through his hair. "You've realized it, haven't you?"
"Realized what?"
"He's not himself," Cole said. His voice was quieter than before like he still didn't even want to admit it.
Tom didn't say anything for a moment, and then he sighed like he'd endured a thousand lifetimes and was still struggling to keep going. "It's hard to know how much progress he's-"
"He shot the Alpha of Whispers, Tom."
"But what I'm trying to tell you is that sometimes it's hard to understand what's going on in someone's head," Tom practically whispered. He still had faith in his old friend.
Cole glanced at Kaleb and frowned, deadpanning, "The Alpha of Whispers is standing right in front of me, him and his little minion. You're on speaker phone." The word minion sounded like a slight to Kaleb, and he saw Lionel flinch out of the corner of his eye.
Tom cleared his throat, and he spoke in a whisper as if it would make it harder to hear his embarrassment, "Why didn't you say so, boy?"
"There're a lot of things Cole doesn't say," Lionel mumbled. Cole shot Lionel a death glare. Something was going on, but Kaleb didn't have the energy to investigate.
"Alpha, I hope you haven't taken David's offense as a statement. The Hunter's have a fragile peace with the Wolves. David wouldn't have wanted to risk that by attacking a Pack, especially not the Prowlers," Tom said.
Kaleb cleared his throat, "No. I understand that he wasn't in his right mind. I have no desire to spark any conflict."
Tom exhaled, "I can see you have your father's judgment, then."
Kaleb smiled. The thought that he had inherited such a thing was comforting. He'd always respected his father for it, for his ability to lead the Pack. Kaleb knew he'd never be as celebrated as his father, but he'd thought he was doing a horrible job as Alpha as of late, what with the whole assassination attempt. Maybe he'd been wrong. "Thank you," Kaleb said.
"So tell me, Cole. What's happened to Kaia?" Tom asked, getting back on topic.
"Kaia went to find him," Cole said, pressing his palms to his eye sockets, "Her murderer."
"Isobel's?" Tom exclaimed, "What in the world would make her think that was a good idea?"
"We're not sure," Lionel offered, "But we know that's where she's heading."
"Ok," Tom said, his voice distant. He was thinking. "But what can we do? We've been trying to track that Wolf down for years and haven't found any leads."
"We don't need any leads," Cole said. Kaleb watched intently. Cole seemed to know what he was doing, and Kaleb was glad for that. Maybe Kaia's plan had merit. "Kaia's arranged a meeting."
Kaleb's heart lurched. She what?
"A meeting?" Tom asked.
"What are you talking about?" Kaleb demanded before Lionel could.
"We'll be needing a crew out here," Cole said, leaning back in the chair, "A big one. I've got an awful feeling," Cole said, ignoring the questions that kept being sent his way, flicking them away as if they were annoying flies. He didn't seem to be much of a sharer.
"It's going to be hard to do that without your father knowing, but I might be able to contact some guys in Arizona. How soon do you need them by?"
"Yesterday," Cole said curtly, "Preferably."
"I'll call you back later, then. Your dad's probably wondering where I am. I'll talk to you soon, boy."
When silence fell in the room again, Cole finally turned around and met Kaleb's eyes. Kaleb praised himself for the patience he'd managed to display. "What's going on?"
"Can you mobilize your wolves?" Cole asked.
Kaleb growled. Cole was seriously not listening. He needed to do some explaining and Kaleb had already waited long enough. "Answer me."
Cole sighed and stood. He started pacing. "Kaia's plan," Cole finally explained, "Is to find this man. I'm assuming she has some lead on him."
"I think he was talking to her in her dreams," Kaleb said.
Cole froze and then turned to stare at Kaleb like he had two heads, "I'm not even going to ask what you're talking about."
"That'll save us some time," Lionel agreed.
"She must have seen him as a wildcard," Cole continued, "As being unpredictable. That's the only thing that makes sense because if I'm right, she plans to confront him on her terms."
"How?" Kaleb asked. He was still missing the last part he needed to complete the picture. It was like this plan was a giant machine, and without a single, tiny gear, it wouldn't run at all. Cole had that gear. It was time to share it, particularly if he wanted lycanthrope back up.
"Mizpah," Cole answered, crossing his arms, "I think there's a reason why she chose that word, more than just its meaning. The meaning's not the important part. The message was meant for me because I'm the only one who would know what it meant. I don't know why she didn't just tell you straightforwardly."
"She couldn't," Kaleb answered. Thinking back, remembering her eyes...he'd seen it. He'd known. She couldn't tell him the truth without risking something. "But what exactly is Mizpah?"
Cole took a deep breath. "It's a location."
"How...exactly..." Lionel asked, trying to wrap his head around it.
"A few years after our mom died," Cole elaborated, "Kaia and I went to the place where she died as...I don't know, some weird, childish version of closure. That's where she told me about Mizpah, to make me feel better. I was young and didn't understand why mom was gone. But Kaia told me that, no matter where she was, we would always be connected to our mom."
They were quiet for a moment. Kaleb felt his heart soften. Kaia. She was...perfect. Of course, she'd take care of her little brother like that, even when she was hurting, missing their mother. Kaia.
"That's the location. Somehow, Kaia is going to bring him to the place he murdered our mom," Cole said, "Now, are you willing to get your Pack involved in this?"
Kaleb met Cole's eyes. He felt something burn inside him, sparks that would turn to flame and embers and fiery heat. He was going to burn this murderer. "They're already involved. She's their Luna."
Cole nodded, "Then we should go get them."
Unexpectedly, Lionel laughed. Kaleb turned to his friend to see that he was grinning. "What?" Kaleb asked.
"Of course it's her," Lionel said lightly, a little amusement in his voice, "Of course it'd be Kaia that would bring Hunters and lycanthrope together. If this ends the way we want it to, the alliance will be stronger than ever."
Kaleb felt a smile spread across his face. It was marvel he was feeling. Because Kaia, yet again, had been the one to change worlds.
The lycanthrope world. The Hunter world.
And Kaleb's.
I hope you liked it. The next couple chapters will pick up speed. :)
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