Narcia sighed before knocking on the door. She hated coming here, and that woman always scared her. She knocked again, almost regreting it instantly. The door opened to a dirty looking, dread haired woman. She had light chocolate skin with scars covering every corner of it. One of her eyes was even white with a huge gash across it.
"Ah, Garcia! How have you been, my child?" The woman asked, making Narcia grimace a bit.
"It's Narcia, Daugthela. I am doing as well as I can." Narcia said with a nervous chuckle, Tammy gently waving to the woman.
"Ah, there's my pretty niece! I missed you so much, Tamtam. Why don't you ever visit your aunty? Hmmm??" She said, rushing over to Tammy and squeezing her cheeks.
"I don't come because you do freeky life reads on me!" Tammy said before her aunt rolled her eyes.
"I just want you to find your mate soon. Oh sweetie, you have no idea how wonderful it is to have one..." Her aunt trailed off, tears threatening to escape her eyes. Tammy's father had passed only a year ago, and the cause of his death was still unknown. Tammy sighed because she knew her mate had passed along her father, both had been found severely mutilated by some animal, they just didn't know what shifter had done it.
"Daugth, we came here because there's been a disappearance at school. It was one of Silviano's pack members." Narcia said before hearing the click of the older woman's tongue.
"That prick probably got into something he shouldn't have." Daugthela said with a huff, knowing the abuse this alpha had put Narcia through.
"As much as I would like to believe some guy got back at him... It would seem it's far worse. He started putting up missing posters..." Narcia said before Daugthela sighed and walked inside with the girls, sitting them both down. She walked over to her computer and typed through what seemed to be some sort of site.
"Mmh, yes. It would seem he isn't the only one missing a member. There's a jaguar pack in Kingsville that has posted 2 missing members. That town is only 40 minutes from your university, is it not?" Daugthela said, seeing her slowly pale. Narcia couldn't help but fear for her mate's safety.
"This can't be a coincidence. Is there any corolation with the missing people?" Tammy asked her aunt, making her type a little more before inspecting the documents that showed on her screen.
"Seems like all 3 missing shifters are boys, all are in the 6ft range. But aside from that, I do not see a corolation with anything else. I do see that on their social profiles, they were all single, but that'snot uncommonwith boys this age." She said before Narcia bit her lip, Liam fitted the description too well if not for the part about him being human.
"So, the person taking these shifters like tall men in their early years of adulthood and single? This sounds too broad still... Anything else about them, Aunty?" Tammy asked as her aunt started to dig deeper into the files. Narcia jumped when her phone started ringing, frowning as she saw the number being private. She picked it up and sighed when she heard the voice on the other side.
"Alpha... How is the investigation going?" Matheo asked a bit slurred as music blasted in the background.
"Please tell me you are not at Silviano's party."
"Ehh... I am..?" He said as Narcia sighed before her eyes widened.
"Is Liam with you!?"
"Nah, he didn't want drama." Matheo said in an annoyed tone, causing Narcia to sigh in relief and smile.
"Clearly, he knew better than you. Anyway, the investigation is going okay, but we don't have much info yet." She said as she heard a sigh before some voices echoed, and Matheo responded.
"I'll be right there! I gotta go, but don't worry. Liam stayed at the dorm to watch some old movies. I'll let you know when I'm back by text... I'm too drunk to use the link." He said before closing the call, making her roll her eyes as she hung up too. She was glad Liam was safe.
"Oh dear, I think I know what they all have in common." Daugthela suddenly exclaimed, making the two wolves worry.
"What is it, Aunty?"
"They all lost their shifting animals. Some from witches, while others just sustained a blow that disabled them. But all 3 became weak and powerless." She said in a sad tone. It was rare for a shifter to lose their animal. Only a witch could extract them. Of course, you could lose it if you were severely disabled physically like complete paralysis.
"That's good to know. Based on this information, we should make sure to let it known to keep the disabled members of packs in that range to be careful. I will go notify the alpha of this." Tammy said before she jumped up and rushed out of the house, leaving Narcia alone with Daugthela.
"So... How is he?" Daugthela asked, making Narcia frown.
"Who?"
"The boy you used to cry to me about, you would always come beg me to read your future with him." She said, making Narcia chuckle at the memory. It was true that she feared the future with him. Half of her wanted him away while deep down her other half wanted him closer.
"We are making progress towards being friends. I suppose you were right not to give up. Turns out, he's my mate." She said with a soft chuckle, receiving a muffled laugh.
"I knew that already, the stars told me as much. I just wished you had apologized sooner and realized your wrongdoings."
"I tried, but it's like after a while, my actions had created a ripple effect. I didn't bully him anymore once we passed the age of 10, I realized it was wrong and that it was hurting him just as much as it was hurting me. But the others, they never stopped. I tried to tell them to drop the bullying, but they would look at me angrily, saying I started it." Narcia said with tears in her eyes as her shoulders trembled.
"Sometimes, actions have consequences for everyone. That is why it's important to take everyone into account when making a decision. You were rather young at the time, so it was unfortunately unavoidable. Now that you are more mature, the Goddess has given you a second chance to make it right with the boy you love." Daugthela said as she gently rubbed Narcia's shoulders, a soft sigh leaving the girl's lips.
"Thank you, I don't know why the Goddess gave me a second chance, I know he deserves better than me. But I won't let it go to waste, I will never reject him. That decision will be up to him." She said with a smile as Daugthela sighed.
"It IS up to you, Narcy. Only YOU can make it right. If you do, he will not reject you. The stars told me as much, so make it count." The woman said before standing up, signaling her to the door.
"Thank you for your help. We will keep in touch regarding the subject, okay?" Narcia said as she walked out of the house, receiving an almost evil grin from Daugthela.
"Come back with pups!" She waved away, Narcia's cheeks turning crimson in an instant before running towards her house. She now remembered how much she hated that woman.
-
Liam zipped his coat as they walked along the sidewalk, darkness surrounded them. Liam felt chills down his back like nothing before. It was frightening in a way.
"I appreciate you taking me home, I wished I was as strong as you physically... I mean, look at these." She said in amazement as she gently squeezed Liam's biceps. He let out a small nervous chuckle, watching her slowly wrap her arms around his left bicep.
"You're telling me that a cute girl like you doesn't get close to men like me often?"
"What are you insinuating?" She said a bit bitter, clearly not liking the tone he had used.
"You got me all wrong, I meant that you are so pretty that it's hard to believe guys aren't always trying to get your attention." He corrected himself, making her cover her mouth and giggle.
"I see. You're funny, but yes, that is slightly true. I just like to be selective." She said with a smirk as she rubbed her fingers along his arm. Liam felt a shiver course through him, his breath hitched when she stuck closer to him, looking into the woods.
"What's wrong..?" Liam asked in worry, seeing her face go from the innocent looks she was giving him, to a dead cold stare towards the woods.
"We're not alone. Liam, on my signal. You run, don't look back, I mean it. I will sprint home it's just across the street. You run back to campus. Don't stop Liam. Don't stop!" She said before they both split up, not looking back. Something in him said that she would be fine, but what if she wasn't? He slowed down his pace and turned around to see that she had gotten home. He let out a large breath when he saw her close the door behind herself.
"Thank god..." He whispered to himself before he turned to run back to his dorm, but froze in his steps when he was faced with the large figure before him.
"At long last! Hello Liam." The man said before he caught at the corner of his eyes, a blunt object being swung towards himself. Liam quickly caught it, pulling it towards himself before throwing a left swing towards the figures face. The man quickly caught it, chuckling to himself.
"As strong and feisty as I remember. Good, but I need you to come with me, Liam." The man said before Liam squinted at him, unable to remember who this guy was.
"Who are you? What makes you think I'll come along!?" Liam said furiously, quickly reaching into his pocket. 3 clicks on his phone's power button quickly sent his location to Matheo. He had no other option.
"We've never met, but you did meet my son. What matters is I need you to come with me. You will be very useful to me against a little wolf I have had issues with." The man said, making Liam frown even more. Things were starting to add up in his mind. Packs, mates, wolves. These terms had been brought up way too often for him not to take notice. Either these people were part of some crazy cult or gang... Or he had been unfortunate enough to stubble upon werewolves. He chose to believe the former.
"Listen, I don't mean to disrespect, but I am not interested in this crazy cult or gang thing you guys seem to be in. I just want to be a normal student in university. If you want to talk packs and whatever bullshit you believe in with Silviano, go ahead. I ain't got nothing to do with him." Liam said with a bit of agression, the guy was so much bigger than him muscle wise. He needed to show no fear and instead inflict some dominance on this individual.
"You're cute, but I am not interested in speaking to that low grade. That wolf is not pure, I need a pure bred wolf for my son. You know what woman I am speaking of." He said with a smirk as he took a step closer, his face entering the light and causing horror to show on Liam's face.
"Oh god, no. It's you!" Liam said before attempting to pivot away from the guy whose face was half rotten, skin peeling off with black blood dripping from his open cheek. Liam desperately sprinted as he heard the ungodly screetch the man made as his bones broke, Liam's eyes filled with tears of terror as his heart throbbed in his chest.
He knew he couldn't outrun it.
He couldn't flee from it.
He couldn't escape death that sprinted at him.
He was going to die.
And there was nothing he could do about it.