A/N: Sorry it's been a while since I posted, thanks for being so patient!!
Zoe Brown played by Zendaya Coleman
Kylee Brown played by Kylee Russell
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I walked through the halls of what Ariel called the Common Room, tracing my fingers on the white walls.
There were long hallways filled with nicely sized rooms, each had a bathroom inside.
It was built like a pack house, but looked like somewhere you'd stay on a vacation.
I walked into the actual common room and among the pool tables, running my fingers along the soft velvet.
"Dad's gonna be so mad at us- oh, hi." A tall, teenage girl came to a sudden stop by the couches, a younger version of her trailing behind her.
"Hi." I waved awkwardly.
"Um, I'm Zoe, this is Kylee." The girl gestured at herself and the other one.
"I'm Taylor."
"Evan's mate? The vibrational Gifted?" Kylee asked curiously, approaching me.
"Um, yes, how do you know...?"
Kylee tapped her forehead. "My sister and I have ancestral spirits in our heads. They tell us stuff sometimes, stuff about the Gifted."
"What?" I glanced between them, shocked.
Ancestral spirits? Since when did things get that weird?
"Yeah, it's weird." Zoe said with a nod and a shrug. She sat down on one of the couches and pulled out her phone, typing on it.
"Do you know how to play? Cuz I don't." Kylee gestured to the pool table.
"I could teach you. Although I'm not much of a pro," I admitted. Kylee smiled.
"Anything is better than nothing."
"I'm gonna go check out the training room." Zoe stood up.
"There's a training room?" I asked, interested.
"Can we go see it?" Pool was forgotten as Kylee hurried after her older sister.
"Come on, doofus." Zoe said, rolling her eyes in annoyance, but with love.
My heart cracked, and I swallowed deeply, my steps faltering.
Thomas called me doofus.
I blinked multiple times to avoid crying, and hurried after the two girls, who were headed down the stairs.
I turned around and went down the hall to the right of the grand staircase, passing an open doorway that led into a bar.
Zoe opened a door in the wall under the staircase, and it revealed steps leading down into the basement.
I followed them, and was surprised when I came upon a red walled, large, matted training room with benches to sit on, and various punching bags, along with a small ring in the back corner.
The basement was an entire fourth floor.
To my right on the other side of a short chainlink fence was a metal automatic door.
I walked up to it and peered at it. An electronic touchscreen keypad was in the wall by the door, and I touched it.
The door wouldn't open.
"I think that's the armory," Zoe said, and I turned to see her positioning herself in front of one of the punching bags.
"Play with me?" Kylee gestured to a chessboard on one of the benches and I sat across from her, my legs on either side.
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"Come on!" Zoe gestured for me to come at her again.
I punched her and ahe punched me, but I blocked her punch. I spun around when she blocked me again and we circled each other.
We traded blocked punches and I reached up and kicked her in the neck, barely tapping her.
I spun around and she hit me in the stomach. I punched her in the chest and she pushed me back.
I spun around again and ducked down as I slid past her, kicking her leg out from underneath her.
She flipped in the air headfirst and landed on her back, letting out a groan.
"You've got nice form. Good blocks, too." I complimented.
"I sense a but," Zoe said, arching an eyebrow.
"But," I said, and she nodded. "You need to focus more on your offense. You're so focused on blocking your opponent that your moves aren't fast enough- a trained fighter can see them coming before you've even moved."
"Okay. So how to I get better?" Zoe asked me.
"I'm not a trained professional," I said, putting my hands up. "I fight dirty."
""But you can fight," Zoe pointed out. "What do you do?"
"What do I do?" I repeated, and she nodded. "Well, I circle my opponent, study their movements, which leg they favor. I avoid their punches instead of blocking them, find which fist they favor. Use that to my advantage. Incapacitate their favored arm, sweep out their favored leg."
"Is that like, your move?" Zoe asked.
"It's my default, yes." I nodded. "I try not to use it on the same person twice, but if I'm fighting without thinking, I got straight to that."
"What should be my move?" Zoe asked, cocking her head to the side.
"That's not for me to decide, that's for you to find." I told her. "We can help you find thst, though, by showing you some patterns you can use, but also showing you how to improvise in a situation."
"Then let's go again." Zoe said, her eyes filled with determination.
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"Hi guys," I walked into the bar and sat down next to Ivy.
"How are you?" Ivy asked me. I shrugged.
"I'm getting there."
"It's a process," Ivy nodded. "Taylor, this is Rafael, my mate."
I shook hands with the brunette on Ivy's other side.
"Hi."
"Hey."
"Isabella's brain works at a level I can't keep up with," Sarah complained, walking into the bar.
"You two are like our regular FitzSimmons, you always keep up with her." Ivy said.
"I'm a doctor, not a computer geek," Sarah exclaimed. "I speak fluent in biology, not technology!"
"So Isa's not closer," Rafael said, and Sarah shook her head, groaning and putting her head in her hands.
"Sarah?" I asked softly. She looked up at me. "Do you think I made a mistake? What if he doesn't want me to come back? Where will I go?"
"What happened?" Ivy asked, concerned.
I found myself telling Ivy and Rafael everything.
"Wow." Ivy said, and Rafael took a large swig out of his beer.
"I'm sure everything will turn out all right," Sarah said.
"You can always stay here, there's plenty of rooms," Ivy said.
"I just don't understand why Evan was hurting Orion. They seemed to be friends." I said with a heavy sigh.
"There's a reason Evan is mad at Orion. It still doesn't justify all of that, but he's not doing it just because." Rafael said.
"Why?"
"It's not really my place to say..." Rafael said hesitantly.
"Rafael, please," I begged him. Rafael sighed heavily, and Ivy placed her hand on his, sending him a pleading look.
"Evan has a younger brother, Charlie." Rafael started. "Charlie didn't get out much, he wasn't a great fighter, but he wanted to be. Orion agreed to let him on a patrol, with two others."
Oh no.
"They were attacked. The others died, and Orion passed out from blood loss. When Orion woke up, Charlie was gone. He's still missing. Every time they get a lead, Axel goes out looking. None have panned out yet." Rafael said.
"So Evan blames Orion?" I asked. Rafael nodded, then shook his head.
"Yes and no. Every time Axel comes back empty handed, Evan and Orion fight. Orion stopped fighting back a long time ago."
"Physical every time?"
"It wasn't for the first four years," Rafael shook his head. "But the past year, it's gotten there."
"Charlie's been gone five years?" Sarah asked.
"Do you think he's dead?" I asked.
"I honestly don't know. I bet he tucked tail and ran at the first sight of danger- like I said, he wasn't a great fighter, or brave, and not a shred of selflessness in that kid."
"Rafe," Ivy looked at him. Rafael shrugged.
"It's the truth. Harsh, but true."
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"Guys!" Rafael yelled down the stairs from the third floor.
"I think they found something." Sarah said, and I got up and hurried upstairs.
I came into Isabella's pristine lab and found the others already in there.
"What do you got, Isa?" The others were hot on my heels.
"Zoom in on that last one," Ariel was saying, pointing to the last news clip on the large screen in front of us.
Isabella zoomed in on the photo, and I could make out a dark chocolate colored wolf standing in the middle of the street. He looked beaten up. The other wolf was running in the opposite direction, a lighter shade of brown.
"That's gotta be Oliver. The other one is definitely Dante," Ariel said confidently.
"How can you be sure?" Rafael asked, and Ariel sent him a dark look.
"Ariel would know that wolf form from anywhere," Ivy said, and Sarah nodded in agreement.
"It's imprinted in my brain," Ariel agreed slowly, and I noticed Tristan's jaw clench from the corner.
The computer started beeping, and I turned to see Isabella typing, her eyebrows furrowed. "Traffic cam got an image of Oliver, I have a general location." she announced.
"Five hours of hard work finally pays off," Tessa commented.
"Where?" Ariel asked, leaning on the desk opposite of her.
"Crescent pack territory, south border," she pointed to a map on her screen.
"Should we call Hudson?" Sarah asked. Ariel shook her head.
"No, not yet," Ariel said thoughtfully. "Wait until we have an exact location." She straightened up. "Kylee, Zoe, you should head back home to your Dad. I'll have a guard drive you."
"What? No!" they protested.
"Yes. I'm gonna be here all night, you two need to go back home before your Dad never trusts me with you guys again. And you," Ariel pointed at Tristan, Rafael and the blonde woman. "You have an important meeting with the Italian Alpha. Come back tomorrow, we won't be going anywhere."
"I'm not leaving," Tristan said stoutly, and the blonde rolled her eyes at him.
"She knows this meeting is crucial, brother." Tristan shot her a glare.
"You can't get out of this one," Rafael agreed. Tristan sighed in defeat, and Ariel looked at us.
"Once you get a general location, let me know. Keep trying to crack those files- but do get some rest, all of you." she added with a smile.
Tristan pulled her out of the room, and I walked over to Isa, who was staring at the computer.
"I can't believe he's alive." I said.
"It must've been hard, on his own." Ivy said, sypmathetic.
"How'd you guys get split up?" Sarah asked me.
"Rogues in the park. Thomas and I got slowed down, we told them to run." I said.
"We became killers before our brains were grown enough to understand the complexity of our situations." Isabella said, sounding remorseful.
"I think our brains grew before us." I disagreed.
"How else did we survive?" Ivy asked.
"That's biologically impossible," Sarah disagreed, and the three of us deadpanned her.
"We're werewolves," Ivy said in a 'duh' tone.
"I can bend metal with my mind," Isabella added in the same tone.
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"Do you ever stop and wonder where we'd be if you hadn't left to protect us, and found Tristan?" Isabella asked, setting her fork down on her half empty plate and looking around the table.
We were sitting at the dinner table eating some macaroni Ariel found in the panty.
"I wouldn't have met my mate," Ivy said.
"Neither would I," Ariel agreed.
"I wouldn't have, either." I added. "I might be dead, too." I added, staring down at my plate sadly.
I missed my brother.
"We wouldn't have discovered the others," Sarah added.
"I wouldn't have the toys I have now." Isabella piped up. "We wouldn't have the amazing place to call home. We'd be nowhere close to where we are now- hell, we might even be dead too."
We fell into a thoughtful silence.
"What's it like? Having a mate?" Sarah asked curiously.
"Frustrating," Ariel said.
"Amazing," Ivy said at the same time. They shared a glance and a wry smile.
"Complicated," I helped. "And what they said. It's everything. I have no doubt you two will find your mates."
"It's just a matter of time," Ariel agreed.
"You really think so?" Isabella asked shyly.
"Oh yeah. I mean, if Ariel got a mate, why not you two?" Ivy teased, and Ariel balled up her napkin and threw it at her.
"Screw off!" she said while we all laughed.
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"Guys," Isabella poked her head in the door, and woke me up. "Get up."
"Ugh," I grumbled, getting to my feet and following her downstairs.
"What's going on?" I asked Ivy.
"I think Isa's got a location."
"Who's that?" I gestured to an Asian American woman standing by Ariel.
"That's Alpha Rebecca."
"Alright, listen up." Ariel said, and we shut up.
I looked around. We were in some sort of mission room out of a movie.
The walls were a dark grey, and there was a long table in the middle of the room, with a plasma screen on the ends of the rectangular wall.
"Isabella has cracked a new file," Ariel announced, and gestured to her to take over.
"I found a location on two other Gifted," Isabella announced, and the photos of two women appeared on the screen. "Jess Toliver and Willow Jackson, the other two from our orphanage. Alpha Hudson and Alpha James will be meeting Ivy and Taylor to pick them up."
"Sarah will be running quarterback on both missions from here," Ariel said, and Sarah nodded, the earpiece in her ear, tablet in her hand. "Alpha Rebecca will accompany Isa and I to pick up Oliver."
"We'll need tactical teams, and everyone needs to keep their eyes open," Alpha Rebecca announced, authority ringing in her tone. "Hunters have been spotted in the town Willow and Jess are staying in."
"Now you should arrive at their exact location by dawn, since it's at the edge of no man's territory." Isabella added. "And we should be at Oliver's in no more than an hour."
"Keep your weapons hot, and your eyes open," Ariel told us, and we all nodded. "And let's bring our people home," she added firmly.
Everyone nodded and split up, some heading to the lab, us to the weaponry.
"Woah," I said, looking around. So this was what's behind the metal door.
"This is yours." Ivy pointed at the section with drawers underneath the cubby.
"This looks badass," I said with a grin.
It was a pair of black pants, a black tank top, and black combat boots.
I tied my raven hair up in a braid and changed into the mission suit. I buckled the belt around my waist. The belt was connected to two buckles that went around my mid thigh.
On the right thigh strap was a sling for a SIG, and on the left was a sheath for a knife.
On the belt were grenades in their pocket, another knife sheath behind my back, and a gun sling on my right hip.
I slipped on some biker gloves that were in the drawer and went into the armory, picking out an automatic and another SIG.
"You look ready for a fight," Icy commented.
"I'm itching for one." I replied. I looked down at the gloves. "I like this look."
"They're temproary," she replied. I looked at her, raising an eyebrow. She smirked and walked away.
I slipped on a black leather jacket and walked past my section, going to close it.
I noticed something else in there, and pulled it out.
It was a thin, silver cylinder. I spun it around in my hands, and noticed a small button on it.
I pressed the button, and out of the ends of the cylinder shot two ends of a staff.
"I like it," I said. I looked down and pulled out a sheath for the compacted size, strapping that onto the buckle around my left thigh, underneath the knife sheath.
Call our mate. Tell him. Get him to come to us. My wolf urged me.
I sighed and pulled out my phone, staring at him.
Did I really want to call him?
Oh, what the hell.
I pressed the green button and held the phone to my ear, staring at the wall as it rang.
"You've reached Evan, leave a detailed message."
"Hey, Evan." I said, sighing in disappointment. "It's me, Taylor. Listen, I... about earlier, I'm- I don't know how to do this." I said with a nervous laugh.
I felt so stupid.
"I'm sorry I compared you to the people who hurt me, I know you're not like them. But you can't... you can't hurt people because you're angry, or in pain. Especially not the people who try their hardest to help you," I said.
"Orion is your Beta, Evan, his loyalty to you has no end. Anyway, I called to say that I'm going on a mission. An extraction. There might be hunters, but Alpha James and Alpha Hudson will be with me, and Ivy, so I'll be perfectly fine. I can take care of myself anyways but... in case something goes wrong and I don't come back I..." I trailed off, biting my lip.
"I wanted you to know that I'm sorry. Goodbye, Evan."
I hung up and I inhaled shakily, my eyes burning with unshed tears.