Secrets of the Unity

Chapter 11: "Found you."

Sage

As Olivia finished her ‘jackass smackdown’, my guilt started to eat me alive. I couldn’t stomach that I was one half of the whole that caused my best friends to attempt suicide or hurt themselves. Knowing that I caused so much misery between the three of them didn’t sit right with me. I was so ashamed. I felt like a failure.

My father has always said that the Alpha’s job is to be the caregiver and protector of the pack. To be the man or woman that makes sure everyone is safe, happy, and comfortable. Providing security and comfort to my pack were the main things that I looked forward to when I take over as Alpha, and seeing what my actions of the past have done, I feel like I’ve failed, and I haven’t even been crowned yet.

Just hearing that Kyson and Trevor tried to kill themselves instilled a grand feeling of regret in my heart. Not just mine either; Axel whimpered continuously in my mind as I mulled over Liv’s words. And to make it worse, I caused her depression too. She was the one that had to take care of Trevor and Kyson when they were injured, and at such a young age too. Seeing that so young wreaked havoc on her mind and her heart.

Goddess, what have I done?! I asked myself in shameful disbelief.

Axel couldn’t answer, he was just as ashamed as I was. Like me, his mind wandered off to dark places, thinking of what our brothers could have tried to do to end their lives. Axel’s grief was crippling compared to mine, the combination of the two was so powerful that I couldn’t hold back the tears that filled my eyes.

A heavy tear escaped my eye as I asked my best friends; “Did the two of you really try to kill yourselves because of us?”

I don’t know why I asked. Maybe something in me hoped that it wasn’t true—for the sake of my sanity—but Trevor and Kyson couldn’t award me that peace of mind… Not this time. They nodded ‘yes’ and my heart sank once more as more tears fell from my eyes.

Axel couldn’t stomach staying present right now, he needed to lick his wounds; he retreated to the back of my mind and put up his wall. He’ll be back when he feels better; I’m sure of it.

Take your time buddy. I spoke to him. I know he heard me, but he didn’t answer. I was going to have to be okay with that until he felt better.

“I am so sorry,” Tyler spoke, looking ashamed. He is ashamed, I can see it in his eyes.

Believe it or not, Tyler and I envied Kyson and Trevor. Not because of their academics, but because Broady and Isaac didn’t try to force them to take over the Gamma and Delta rank positions when they didn’t want to. All they had to worry about was graduating and getting into college after high school. Broady and Isaac didn't want to force their sons, so they told my dad to let me find my own ranking wolves for the Gamma and Delta positions. They were carefree, at least that was what Tyler and I thought. They hid their problems well. I guess you really can’t judge a book by its cover.

“Guys, I am so sorry about the way I treated you. You’re my best friends and I don’t know what I would do without your friendship. Please forgive me! Neither of you deserved any of that. I am so, so sorry! You don’t have to forgive me bu-” Kyson and Trevor chuckled, cutting off Tyler’s rant.

“If we hadn’t forgiven you already, then we wouldn’t be sitting here right now. Nor would we be friends, or had agreed to take the Gamma and Delta titles,” Kyson spoke while Trevor nodded in agreement. “We’ve forgiven you, now it’s time for you both to forgive yourselves,” he continued.

“Agreed. We never held a grudge against you. We knew what you were going through back then with your dads. They sat us down and talked to us about it after graduation. It took a while for us to forgive and get over it, but eventually, we did. We guessed that with all the stuff you were going through you just needed to let your anger out. I don’t condone the fact that my face was used for it, but everyone has their own way of doing things. Besides, we got our revenge.” Trevor evilly smirked and fist-bumped Ky, who was chuckling away with his signature devious smirk plastered on his face.

My brows furrowed in confusion. “What do you mean?”

Kyson laughed. “Bro, who do you think put dye in your shampoos and body washes when we were at SunFae? Or who was taking your towels when you were in the showers and making you run around on scavenger hunts to find them? Or taping you to your mattresses at night? Besides, the first few months we were kicking your asses in hand-to-hand combat. You let your anger out on us, so we let it out on you, but our methods were fun instead of life-threatening, and we beat your asses with skill, not anger.”

My eyes widened in realization. “You were the ones that turned me into a blueberry?!” The guys burst into laughter.

“That’s not funny!! I was blue for five months!! Everybody from SunFae still calls me ‘The Mystical Blue-dini’!!” I playfully growled, wiping the tears off my cheeks.

Trevor laughed. “I know! I was surprised the color even took! Do you know how much dye we had to put in those bottles for the color to take?! Black hair is really hard to color with electric blue hair dye. We put eight bottles of dye in your soaps, shampoos, and conditioners for weeks before it started to show!! Thank Goddess Tyler's hair is brown, or the red wouldn't have shown!” He and Kyson giggled.

"Not cool! I looked like a f*****g strawberry! And at least Sage got a good name! Mine wasn’t even clever! Like seriously, 'The walking zit'?! I got pinched every time I walked into class!" Tyler scowled. Kyson and Trevor laughed harder, and we couldn’t help but join in. After a while, the laughter died down and we turned to Todd.

“So… You tease my little sister, Toddrick?” Kyson's eyes narrowed at my little brother.

Todd cleared his throat. “Yeah, but I just enjoy bothering her for the hell of it. I’ve been trying to apologize, but she either slams a door in my face or tells me to ‘f**k off’.”

Kyson nodded and chuckled. “That just sounds like OJ being OJ…” He informed. “If you want her to forgive you, then stay out of her face. She’ll eventually forgive you and try to clear the air, it just takes a bit of time. A faster option is to just be sincere with her. Find a way to get her alone and sit her down to talk.”

“And what if she won’t talk to me?”

“She will…” Trevor cut in. “Olivia may seem like she won’t listen to reason, but she has a heart, and whether you believe it or not, she does care for all of you. Her being angry just proves that. If she didn’t care, then she wouldn’t be angry.” He explained, while Kyson nodded in agreement.

“Yeah, just sit her down and speak to her sincerely, tell her you're sorry, and mean it. Then give her time to process and come back to tell you how she feels. Then come up with something that you can do as friends to form a relationship. That’s how Trevor did it. They used to hate each other when they were younger, now look at them. They’re closer than he and I are.” Kyson said, pointing between him and Trevor.

Toddrick nodded, the excited gleam in his eye shining brightly. “Okay. I’ll try that!”

“Quick question though,” Ky spoke. Todd raised his brows in question, waiting for him to continue. “Why do you care so much if she likes you or not? You usually don’t care what anyone thinks about you. So why do you care about what OJ thinks?” Kyson asked.

Toddrick froze, his face paled with anxiety as he quickly thought of the perfect lie. “I…uhh. I-I just want to make amends… June is your sister and I consider you family, so I want to have some type of relationship with her. With the exception of teasing her, it’s really fun,” he smirked.

He was telling a half-truth. He told me that part of his plan for getting me and Olivia back together had to do with him and her becoming the best of friends, and for that to happen, he had to earn her forgiveness. Clearly, earning Liv’s forgiveness hasn’t been an easy process, but he was trying and that was good for something. Hopefully, his plan works.

Hopefully. Axel solemnly sighed, bringing down his walls. I miss my Angel, he whimpered, resting his head on his front paws.

I miss her too, buddy. But don’t worry, we’ll get her back…soon. I reassured. Axel didn’t reply, he just closed his eyes and rested, still trying to recuperate from his earlier grief.

“Alright, let’s get back to these speeches. We need to have them ready ASAP, and with the four of you combined, they’re bound to suck. I mean, I know all of you graduated top of your classes, but your grammar is terrible! Sometimes I find it hard to believe that all of you graduated high school...and college.” Todd joked.

Kyson sarcastically gasped, “Excuse you! We were ahead of our grade by a year, and graduated as valedictorian and salutatorian of our class!! That counts for something!” He said, pointing between him and Trevor.

“And what about us?! We were achievers, too!” I said, feigning offense.

Trevor winced. “Yeah, not so much in academics, but more so in combat and sports,” he sang.

“Shut up!” I growled and threw a pillow at him, which he blocked and caught, laughing at my frustration. I joined in with his laughter and soon we were all laughing. When we settled down, we got back to our speeches—with Todd’s input, of course— and finished in record time before getting ready for dinner.

******

Nova

Raymond walked into the throne room with a fearful yet hopeful look in his eyes. His usually pale blue skin was paler than usual, which told me more than I needed to know about his search, but the hope in his eyes was what stopped me from ripping him to shreds on the spot. I decided to wait and see what he had to say before reacting recklessly.

“Ray… I hope you are here with information on the Northern Dragon Tribe’s whereabouts,” I said in a warning and authoritative tone.

He looked up with hesitation and fear. “N-no, Madam Nova.” Ray flinched when my eyes turned black, the scent of his fear was like heaven to me. But I waited patiently for him to continue speaking. “B-but I-I have s-s-som-so-something even better, Ma’am.” He stuttered, scurrying up the steps to hand me a royal blue folder. I rested my elbow on the armrest of my stone throne and opened the folder, scanning over the contents inside.

Inside the folder was a series of photos of a girl with light brown skin, light green eyes, and long ginger curls with a tattoo of a dragon wrapped around her right forearm, its head resting on the back of her hand. The girl was dressed in a simple white t-shirt that had the logo ‘The Green Phoenix’ with a green Phoenix bird perched on top of the words on the front pocket and back of the shirt, serving drinks at a bar in a booming nightclub that I assume is called ‘The Green Phoenix’. A warm smile rests on her lips, showcasing her pearly whites and sharp canines as she serves or mixes drinks for her patrons or laughs with the other bartenders.

The girl is beautiful, no doubt, and she does look quite familiar, but the lack of clarification on who she is, frustrates me. My frustration and curiosity peaked as Raymond said nothing when I looked up, waiting for clarification. “How is this better, Raymond?!” I growled impatiently.

Ray jumps in fear. “H-her name is Sc-Scarlet M-Mayfield, Ma’am. Sh-she’s an assassin, and she lives h-here i-in A-Alaska. She goes by the code name ‘White Dragon’, how ironic!” He shakingly chuckled, fidgeting with his fingers.

Scarlet Mayfield? Where have I heard that name before? I asked myself, the name ringing a few bells in my head.

I arched my brow in curiosity as my eyes turned back to their usual pale white. “Why does that name sound familiar?” I mumbled to my henchman.

“She is the Elemental Dragon that we have been looking for, Ma’am... The one that escaped the laboratory five years ago. Gerald and Kelsey’s eldest.” Ray hesitantly smiled.

I smiled at the revelation. “Well, this is better news. Good job, Raymond.” Ray sighed in relief as I looked back down at the photos with an evil smirk.

"Found you."