The Pack Survives

[14] The Mole

 Celeste's POV

**

        That run was… exhilarating. I can’t believe it! I shifted for the first time and Zasha and Dmitri finally got their much-deserved quality time together to bond, however short lived it was. The shift itself was uncomfortable. One moment I had been standing there, overlooking the group, aka my security detail, and enjoying the scenery. The next I was on the ground feeling as though I was being torn through a rippling vortex of bones breaking, splitting, fusing, fur and claws. Just as quick as it started, it was over. Instead of being planted firmly on two feet, I was on all four. And they were hairy.

        I felt the wind blowing through my fur, and the cold, damp earth beneath my paws. Suddenly a scent invaded my senses, shaking me to my core. It smelled like a forest, after being cleansed by a storm, churned up earth and splintered wood. I turned when I realized that Evan was here, that I had heard Dmitri, coaching me through the shift before the force of light and magic burst through me like a bomb. I whipped around and saw him on the ground, still reeling from the blast that only happened seconds earlier.

        I bounded over to him and looked down upon him, he was beautiful. I saw him wiggling his paws, moving his head yet his eyes were still shut. Eager to see him I did the only thing I could think of, and that Zasha was begging me to do. I licked him. I licked his snout, his face, his eyes, and ears. A low, impatient growl rippled through me when finally, he opened his eyes. They grew wide and his pupils dilated, the way an animal’s do, when they hone in on their pray. I heard a voice in my head comparable to a glass of Whiskey on ice. Deep, smooth and warms you from the outside – in. “Mate”.

        Suddenly he was on his feet and stalking me. Stalking US. I continuously forgot that there was another being within me. Zasha growled. She wasn’t angry with me. She was teasing me. I was quickly learning that she had a wild sense of humor. No pun intended. After some much-needed re-introductions between our wolves, we set off running and playing and truly enjoying ourselves.

        We eventually ended up back at the house when I noticed some tension rolling off my mate, and his Beta looking less than thrilled. I shifted back, not gracefully in the slightest, and was greeted by Nic and her magic. “Girl, if you can make me look this good with a wave of your hand, I might need to drag you around with me everywhere! This is incredible!” I said, spinning around in awe of what she did. I have encountered magic before, but clothes were my weakness. A new outfit in the blink of an eye? Take all my money.

        I was still admiring myself when Evan and Brian’s conversation began spilling out of their mouths instead through their mind link. Brian’s next words snapped me out of my self-centered admiration. Something about someone crossing into the lands and my FATHER going to meet her. And who that her was? Mario’s wife.

        Before I realized it, I was off. I ran as fast and hard as I could. I felt Zasha stirring within me. We were ecstatic that I had shifted and phased, and that the curse was broken. We were proud of who we were becoming. We were proud of what we were. We were unique, special, one of a kind, powerful… and there was someone on my pack lands, my MATE’S pack lands, who was married to those and who had birthed those who would try to exploit me. Exploit us. Harm us. With that notion, Zasha was having none of it and phased immediately. Shifting for the second time in only a few hours, my claws were deep in the earth, ripping it up as we tore through the woods to the pack’s border. I couldn’t tell what direction I was heading; I could only sense my father and head that way. Through the bond I knew Evan was on my heels, and not by accident. He was trying to avoid smothering me and giving me this opportunity to be free. To express my emotions and let them flow through me as I devoured the land beneath me. I glanced to my left and saw Gabe, no surprise there, but when I glanced to my right, I was a little more than shocked to see Nic on Matt’s back and just behind them was Brittany on Brian’s back.

        It was clear which of the mated pairs had done this before, and which of them was new at this. I snorted a laugh out at the sight. More than that, I was oddly comforted that they had come with us. Whether it was because they wanted to, or because of a duty to their pack and the ranks they held, they were with me and allowing me to lead.

        I knew I was nearing the edge of the lands when Evan and Gabe pulled ahead with Brian and Matt veering off right behind me. I was boxed in. The uniformity of the wolves was evident once again, as they chose to protect their mates and ranked females. Brian and Matt probably would have been front and center with their Alpha, had their mates not been on their back. No threat was still a threat, and they wouldn’t risk it. They always made sure their females were protected and out of the direct line of fire.

        We slowed down to a trot and I saw just over Evan’s head was my father. His hands were flying around in the air in great big gestures, but just as soon as he stepped to the side, I was able to make out the frail body of Stella. Beaten and bruised. All the anger that had been boiling inside of me exploded. I surged forward, barely registering someone fabricating mystical clothes on me (thanks witches) and broke through the group that was circling Stella.

        “Mi Amor stop right now. Listen to her.” My father demanded, grabbing my arm, and pulling me back. “Let her talk.”

        “Papa.” I said, my voice never more sinister than in that moment. “I plan to. I plan to keep her right here. Stella!” I barked, whipping around, and pointing my finger right at her. “How long did you know? How long have you known about their plan? About me and who I am? HOW LONG??”

        I was losing myself. Zasha was in complete control. I could tell by the looks on the faces of those around us, and especially by the look on Stella’s face. I am sure I was a sight right out of a horror film. I could feel my fangs on my bottom lip, my white hair whipping in the wind that felt otherworldly, and from what I had heard whispered when we returned from our run, when I was in my wolf form, my eyes were primarily violet. I must have looked terrifying.

        “I- I…. I knew what you were when your mother told me. I had suspected there was something different about you, but thought perhaps, it had something to do with your powers. Maybe you were to become an elemental? Who knows? But then I spoke with my husband about it. I told him what I’d heard, he did not react the way I did. He was not eager, excited, or happy. He was angry. I know he had always competed with your father, but I didn’t know where his hostility came from. Especially towards you, dear.” Stella rang her hands again and again, her small frame shaking with fear. Something told me her story was going to get a lot worse.

        “Mario had confided in Micah, who at the time did not know you were mated, no less to a werewolf. Micah, that stuck up fool, was enraged. He cursed the Goddess that you had chosen another over him, that you were to be his for all time. He fled the house and did not return for hours, and when he did, he brought with him the twins. I knew then something was wrong.” She looked up at me, her eyes digging into my soul. I knew she was telling the truth. She was strong, a solid fighter, but often, she chose not to get her claws dirty. She felt she was above everyone else, and let the rest do the work for her. I knew her to be conniving, sure, but she looked like she just dug her way out from hell.

        I glanced over to Evan who was shaking with rage. His knuckles were white, as he clenched his fists at his side. “Love, what is the matter?” I asked.

        “My wolf and I prefer not to hear of another man’s desire to posses you. No one shall posses you, least of all a man of his inept caliber.” He was heaving breaths in while his eyes glowed. Dmitri was making his presence known and I had to diffuse this situation.

        “Stella, why are you here, and more so, how did you get here? If you are here, he must not be that far behind.” I knew I was right. Mario was possessive. He would not let her out of his sight for long, and he would realize soon enough that she was missing. That, or this was a set up.

        “That is what I was thinking, Celeste.” Evan said, catching up on my thoughts.

        Stella absentmindedly began rubbing her hand on her arm, and it was then that I saw her arms were covered in handprints. For a vampire to have physical remnants of an interaction, is almost unheard of. She would have had to have gone through hell to be left with the battery I was seeing. It hit me like a ton of bricks. In the heat of anger and betrayal, I never stopped to consider that this woman had never shown an ounce of ill will towards me and my family. She had been my mother’s closest friend and confidant for centuries. They were like born again sisters.

        Why would she betray me?

        “Dear, let her speak.” Evan was pushing through my barriers, warmth, and calm flooding my nerves like water to a drought riddled nation. Stella’s eyes met mine and she nodded. I knew what she wanted me to do, but I was afraid of what I might find. Tentatively, I made my way over and knelt before her. I reached out and took her hand in mine.

        Jumbled images hit me like debris in a tornado, and it took some time for me to get my bearings. Finally, the images and sounds started to become one cohesive thought. It was Stella, hanging up from a call with my mother, telling her husband about me and Evan. The image flickered to Micah, who looked evil, more so than I had ever seen him. The two men stood having a hushed conversation, but one thing caught Stella’s attention, ‘We attack tonight father. I have gathered those who are with our cause, at the helm of which is the Twins. They will have to do on such short notice.’

        In the memories, Stella was confused. It only took her a moment to realize they were about to do something incredibly thoughtless. She stood and marched over to them demanding to know what was going on. Mario told her precisely what he was going to do when she began protesting that not only was it morally wrong, that it was a death wish. They would both perish. She begged them not to and when it was clear that they were not listening, she started to reach for her phone to call Isabelle. She had to warn her dear friend. 

        Before her phone could even recognize her face, it was slapped out of her hand, followed by what felt like the force of a thousand-ton truck. The sting of betrayal and humiliation was fierce. She rose to her feet, determined to show her husband just who he was messing with, but she was not quick enough. Micah, that petulant child had her pinned on the ground, where the fight of her life began.

        The memories after that came in pieces.

        She blasted them back with a force she didn’t even know herself capable of and took off. Weaving through furniture and barreling down open hallways, she didn’t quite know where she was going, simply that she just had to get out of here. As she rounded the last corner of their compound, she was tossed back by a blow to the face. The faint taste of metallic filled my senses, from her memories, visions of her coming to and blacking out again. The realization that she was tied to a bed, cold metal against the back of her neck, her arms and legs bound.

      Stella could hear voices as she faded in and out of consciousness, hearing Mario yelling at someone for the injuries she inflicted on Stella. Hearing the sound of a fist making contact with skin and the sound of a body slumping to the floor, caused Stella to begin shaking uncontrollably. She vaguely felt Mario above her, and she was out again.

     What felt like days later, Stella woke up and heard Mario ordering people around, getting ready for the attack. She tried fighting her restraints, but her efforts were futile. She tried conjuring her magic but was suppressed. Mario had used suppressors on her! His supposed mate. His chosen mate. True, they loved each other, and had been with one another for centuries, they were not destined. It was common for Vampires -who lived centuries and even millennia before finding their destined mates – to couple up with someone they chose out of love and respect. That is how Mario and Stella chose to live their lives.

     She felt enraged, but before she could try breaking free again, she felt a prick on her neck. Her vision went blurry and her mouth began to feel numb. Looking up through hazy eyes, she saw one half of the demon twins that Mario took a questionable liking to. “Hello Stella, I hope you don’t mind, but you are a liability to our cause. I already got my ass kicked for you once, your husband wasn’t too fond of the way I took you out. However, I have a feeling he was more upset that I had ruined his statue.” the little b***h began running her finger down Stella’s cheeks, taunting her.

     “You see, if it were up to me, I would have killed you the instant you found out. You are not strong enough for Mario. He deserves better, more, anything but you. You are too soft for this world.” And with that last sentence, Stella’s memory went dark. Blinking away some time later, she heard Mario and Micah screaming, belligerent, they were enraged. She gasped; their plan failed! That was the strength she needed. She hadn’t fed in days, but what she had done is saved up all her energy and she hadn’t used any of her powers. She had one more trick up her sleeve.

        Her sire had warned her of her lineage, over 5 centuries ago, that in the wrong hands it would be used for great evil and something inside of her had warned against sharing that with Mario. She loved him, but whenever the thought of telling him came up, she felt herself getting ill with worry. Call it a gut feeling, but she never did tell him. Since they weren’t destined mates, he did not inherit her gifts. She thanked the Goddess above for that, like a mantra, over and over as she flexed her arms and legs ripping the restraints. She stood up, staggering only slightly, and took one last look down the hallway. Meeting eyes with the man she once loved, and the man she raised as my own, she flashed out of that room and into a field she had never been to before, collapsing to the ground as she was surrounded by wolves. The same ground we knelt on now.

                ---

        I staggered up, sliding my hand away from her brittle one, and rose to my feet. Without breaking eye contact I announced, really to no one in particular, “Get this woman back to the pack house now, get Jeff and Lisa to tend to her wounds and some Omegas to gather warm clothes and food for her. Alert my mother immediately to meet us in Evan’s office.”

        Stella’s head snapped up to meet my gaze and her eyes began welling up with tears. “Thank you, Celeste, thank you.” I helped her to her feet und and started to pull her into an embrace when suddenly my father broke us apart. “Wait! I am so sorry, Stella. I should have believed you. Will you ever find it in your heart to forgive me?” He was a humble man, despite his intimidating presence and pension for violence, and was never above asking for forgiveness.

        I glanced over at her, never considering that she would resent him, but truthfully, I wasn’t sure. They had been close for centuries and never once had anything that closely resembled a fight. Stella looked up at him with tear-stained cheeks. She sucked in a deep brass and said “Edwin, I don’t know how you could forgive me. You to be forgiven, not from me. I could’ve prevented this and I didn’t because I had let him hold me down for so long under the pretense that he was my chosen, the love of my life, the one for me since I was not blessed with a mate. And I settled for that. Because of that, lives were lost, and Celeste was almost killed. It is me who should be begging for forgiveness. Not the other way around. Would you ever find it in your heart to forgive me? “

        My father looked at her with such love it nearly broke my heart. My father, one of the elders of our coven, a man whose strength was incomparable, his anger unmatched, was putty in her hands. “Stella.” he breathed. “Of course. Without question. Let’s get you inside, shall we? My love will have a lot of questions, and a lot of love for you.”

        Stella nodded her head and offered a small smile, but before they could walk away, my mate had questions.

        “Listen, I am absolutely ok with allowing you to stay here and seek refuge as that is our primary purpose here, but we need to keep the pack safe. My mate needs to be kept safe. Do you know what their next move is? Did they say anything or let anything slip about what was going to happen next?”

        She bit her lip, clearly wracking her brain for answers. “I heard Micah talking on the phone with someone, I couldn’t hear the conversation, but I knew they were talking about Celeste. Whatever the person told Micah enraged him. He was told about her first shift.”

        “How is that possible??? That was only a few hours ago!” Evan roared. He was losing his patience and quickly. Brian and Matt surged forward, blocking their mates. It wasn’t an obvious move, but to me it said a lot. They trusted Evan with their lives, and would kill for their Alpha, but their mates came first always. They were going to place themselves between their mates and any potential threat, no matter where the threat came from.

        “It could have been anyone. Someone could have been in the woods spying on us, someone in the pack town. We have nowhere to even start, Alpha.” Brian said. He was right. Where do you even begin with a possible traitor? I am still not sure how packs work, but with Covens, the accused traitor is always sent to someone with the gift of sight, like me, the ability to touch in order to see their truth.

        “I would offer my services, but I do not think I can possibly get through everyone in the pack before another attack happens. We need something else.” I offered, taking Evan’s hand in my own. The touch of one’s mate was enough to calm a raging storm within them, and the move had its desired effect. His stiff posture seemed to relax, his eyes softening, but his wolf was still standing guard.

        “I will not use my mate, our Luna, as the lie detector test. I am sorry love, I know you want to help but I won’t allow this, we will find another way.” he practically bit out. I saw my father nodding his head in agreement, Stella too. I turned around and saw the faces of determination. All these people, my people, wanted to find the mole.

        “Ok, so what’s the plan then? I am not a complacent Luna, I am a fighter, a trained warrior and leader. I will not sit pretty while you face all the danger. So, let’s come up with a plan. And this plan will be made right here, right in this field. If there is a mole here-“ I could see people beginning to protest the idea that any one person in my security detail could be the traitor. I had to hurry before I lost their confidence. “And I am certainly not saying that we do, BUT it will at least confirm that this group right here, can be trusted.”

        For the most part, they seemed satisfied by my answer, but one person was not. Gabe. His eyes rolled over everyone in his outfit with questioning eyes. Those same eyes clouded over and after a few seconds, he too, seemed to relax. It was clear that he was speaking with his mate, and I thanked the Goddess that a man in his position was blessed with a mate as kind as Emily. She was such a wonderful person, heart of gold, and he needed someone that would be able to center him in times of turmoil, such as this.

        Matt, who had been quiet up until this point, stepped forward. “At the risk of sounding immature-“a sharp laugh cut him off, which was quickly muffled by some terrible excuse for ‘coughing’. I looked over to see Nic covering her mouth with her one hand, and waving him on to continue, with her other. Our eyes met and we both smirked. I really liked these girls.

         Matt shot her a look that said she would be punished for that later, and I have no doubt that is why she antagonized him like that. “As I was saying, it may seem trivial to the point of idiotic, but what if we just plant a seed? If I am speaking to a group of people, a group that I will remember, I give them a bullshit story. If that story comes back, then we at least have a group to start with?”

        It wasn’t a half bad idea, and I knew we were running out of time. There were some practicalities we would have to iron out, but it was promising. Nic stepped forward to stand at his side, a action that I admired greatly. “The American’s in WWII used this tactic on before the battle of Midway. They knew the Japanese were planning to attack ‘AF’, but not where ‘AF’ was. They sent out a dummy message from Midway saying they were short on water. Shortly thereafter, code breakers intercepted a message from the Japanese saying that ‘AF was short on water.’ That was all it took to know where the attack would be and throw everything behind the defense of Midway.”

        Silence covered the men while they mulled over her words and Matt wrapped an arm around her shoulder, pride radiating from his body. “It’s a good plan. Men, ladies, start with anyone and everyone you told about the Luna’s shift. Tell them now- about Stella being here, and why. Separately everyone needs to have a different reason why. Tomorrow we will reconvene, hopefully having something come up by then and we can get started on finding this mole. Please, one last word of advice. No one is to reveal the REAL reason Stella is here, if you know, you are bound to it. And second, remember the faces of those you are telling. Understood?” Gabe demanded. Our answers came at once, and in unison. Yes.

        ‘Evan let’s get back. Stella needs to eat, rest and get cleaned up.’ I mind-linked Evan. Stella was looking wearier by the second and here we were just standing in the middle of the field.

        ‘You’re right, and so do you. You may not feel it now, but you used a lot of energy with your first shift. You will need to regain as much strength as you can before you’re totally depleted.’ He responded.

        “Let’s move out. We need some staff to meet us at the pack house, gather up Stella, our welcome ad protected guest, some clothing and food. Please have a room next to your Luna’s parent’s prepared as well.” He put as much power behind the “welcome and protected” part of his demand as needed, while meeting each of their eyes, making it clear that there was to be no questioning her presence here within our home.

         I was comforted by the response he received. It was a unified and profound YES ALPHA, and I saw no indication that these men would harbor any fears or ill feelings towards Stella. By the time we returned to the pack house, my mother was waiting, tears brimming her eyes and shaky legs. The two women were close, Stella being the closest thing my mother probably had to a sister in all her existence, and to find out that not only had she been lied to but abused and used as a pawn in a move against your daughter? Gut wrenching.

        I watched as my mother whisked Stella away, engulfing her friend in her arms, the staff running to catch up with them. I suddenly felt exhaustion take over my body, my muscles feeling like Jello, my bones burning from the inside out. I instantly reached out to Evan through our bond, but he was already there, having felt the exhaustion taking it’s hold on me.

        “Alright, alright, here we go.” His arms enveloped me, strong and gentle at the same time. One arm under my knees, the other behind my head, holding me up bridal style. He whisked me off to our room, laid me on our bed and began to disrobe me. There was nothing s****l about his intentions or his movements, but the fire that was building in my core was telling another story. I was so tired, I could barely keep my eyes open, but my body was wide awake. 

        Every nerve ending in my body was lighting up like the fourth of July. His rough fingertips felt as fine as silk as they slide across my shoulders, sliding off my top. Next, he pulled off my boots and socks and made his way up to my pants. His fingers never once fumbled, gliding effortlessly over my body. Whether he knew I was awake or not, was of little consequence, he was as gentle with me as a newborn. My pants were finally off and the atmosphere in the room shifted.

        The energy in the room was tangible, almost like I could reach out and touch it. I felt like I just drank a 5-Hour Energy. I was becoming increasingly aware of Zasha taking control of my body and I was more than a willing participant in the games we were about to play. Looking over at Evan, I could see Dimitri was in control and ready to play with his mate, too.