The Missing Guardian

Episode 6 - A distaste for beauty (North)

Kiron (North)

I can feel the anxiety amongst the pack deep within my bones, even without the bond I share with all of them. I can see it plainly written on their downcast faces, as we walk our way through the pack, the way they expose their necks in submission while we make our way towards the descending path that leads to the forest further down the mountain. I can sense it in their constant hesitancy.

I understand and empathize with them, I’m anxious myself, even if I don't want to admit it out loud, and with the lack of evidence, my nerves are only heightened with each member that has vanished.

Their instincts are screaming at them to give my wolf and I a wide berth, with the dominance we must be exuding from my pores, an Alpha’s pheromones make others uncomfortable, their own wolves submitting immediately as the scent is picked up...

My wolf constantly on edge, driving my inner self to a point of irritability, obviously I haven't done a splendid job at hiding this as I thought I had. I am in full alert mode and Khoda is looking for anything that could be out of the ordinary. My wolf ready for anything.

Now I am so desperate for any scrap of an indication as to what we are dealing with that I’m chasing something found by a witch.

But at the same time, I trust my Beta and I trust his instincts, they’ve gotten us out of tougher situations before. It doesn’t wash the bitter taste of the past away though.

The first four members that went missing, disappeared along the Western border, the border between our pack and the Tenebris Family lands, somewhere along the Little Rock falls, a deep crevice that splits the mountain in two. I was convinced it was them that had been responsible. All the evidence led me directly in their direction, mingled with our past dealings I had finally been able to point a finger at my mortal enemies. I was preparing for war...

Then the next three vanished on the far Eastern side, near the Gibraltar Sisters coven, throwing speculation into my case, my war plans halted as I tried to figure out how they could have been taken by the Tenebris without any indication that they passed through our lands.

That is the only way they could have done it, unless they had used the sea. Though it all seemed implausible and for what cause?

I want my vengeance for the crimes that they committed, but I must ensure that everything that I do in retaliation is above board, or the Council would get involved.

As I was wrapping my mind around all of that, another three were taken further East North, near the Snow Fae, it had to be connected but I was missing vital puzzle pieces in order to see how.

Now it looks as though Asher is directing me South towards Wintervein. These attacks have come from every side, which in truth is almost impossible. Unless the entire territory was filled with traitors, the thought made my wolf’s hackles bristle slightly. I can't imagine my pack betraying me, or each other unless absolutely necessary.

My mind now trying to work it out, but without anything to go on, I am at a loss. Desperately searching for the missing pieces but arriving five minutes late each time.

We stop at the edge of the forest, the freshly layered snow from this morning’s fall littering the bare branches, I take a deep inhale of the crisp air, allowing the frozen temperature to realign my thoughts as we strip from our clothing as quickly as possible, stashing them away for later.

Shifting into our beasts, allowing our other selves their freedom. Running between the tight spaces of the trees ahead of us, I watch as my paws sink into the newly covered white ground, camouflaging my white fur as I dash through the tree’s following Asher’s light grey wolf ahead of me.

The run distracting me from my already overloaded thoughts slightly as I enjoy the feeling of the wind through my fur and the release of tension from pushing my muscles.

We blend naturally into the background and the bare trees around us in the forest, the freezing wind cooling my raging beast just enough to focus.

The journey takes longer than expected due to the rain the night before, causing patches of the snow to melt, becoming a sleety mess. By the time we reach the outskirts of the human village the forest begins to thin out a bit and opens out onto a white field, the snow undisturbed as if no one had ever been here, except for the wind whistling passed.

A silence that makes my skin crawl dawns on me as I slow down next to Asher. I can’t hear birds or animals that should be around. I look over to my Beta, who is now on his haunches on the edge of the field, looking towards the village in front of us, he doesn’t look over to me and his lack of acknowledgement of the silence is making Khoda itch for free reign.

I need to push him back before he runs head long into Goddess only knows what without rational thought.

“Don’t degrade me like I have no forethought, I just have little patience for trifle human politics when our pack is at stake.”

Khoda reverberates through my mind at my thoughts. And although I can understand his frustrations, I need to keep my wolf from pushing forward and sending us head long into a war that we could lose.

It’s imperative that I keep my composure.

Especially when dealing with humans, they can be powerful as a unit, and no matter how peaceful you may think they are, they will turn on you in a heartbeat.

Diplomacy is key if we need information from the village ahead. Being on the border of their lands could become dangerous, as if meeting a witch wasn't thrilling enough for one day…

Asher shifts back next to me, throwing on a pair of shorts and a shirt before flinging me the sack that he carried on his hind leg with extra clothes. I shift myself, despite Khoda’s resistance and quickly climb into the shorts and shirt before facing my Beta with slight irritation at being left to wait.

My patience is barely hanging on by a thread. I expected them to be awaiting my arrival, my dominance almost insists upon it.

“Well…”

I prompt him to begin explaining, hoping that this isn’t just another wild goose chase, that will lead nowhere and simply waste our time.

I have always been a realist and try as I might, hope seems to always disappoint.

“She will be here shortly, she wanted to search the area further in case she can find something else.”

I nod toward him, trying not to let my irritability leak out. I am barely holding onto my control, the anger at having to involve witches is increasing the longer I wait.

I cannot help but think back on my younger self, when I thought witches were easily handled, my naivety created an arrogance that bit me with elongated fangs harder than I would have thought possible.

I can taste the bile that rises in my throat as I dip further into the memories, reminding myself what we are up against if they decide to turn on us.

*Silver chains wound round my body as the Metal burnt into my flesh, darkness consumed any light as I tried not to listen to the screams that echoed towards me from the distance, a constant reminder of what was going to happen once those screams stopped and they came for me, repeatedly. *

Asher pulls me from my thoughts when he puts his hand on my shoulder, obviously sensing my downward spiral.

“I get why you’re hesitant, if you recall I was the one who was with you, but these are not the same kind of witches and they have knowledge that we currently need, so please, keep Khoda under lock and key for now.”

His steel grey eyes search deep into my own, he holds the witch we are about to meet with high regard, and I can respect that, but my only dealings with these beings was worse than my wolf would ever admit, so when I hear Khoda growl low in the back of my mind at Asher’s comment I know that my Beta is right.

I am an Alpha, and one of the hardest challenges all Alpha’s face, is keeping a level head when confronted with a threat. I must keep my dominance and pride aside for a moment to do what is best for my pack and my people. I force my uncomfortable feelings about the witches down, into storage for later, when I need them again.

“You will not block me from this.”

Khoda’s stoic voice echoes inside me, he wants vengeance, and I can understand that, but I cannot allow him to rage, when I need to focus on what is happening now, not then. This is most certainly not a situation I need him to assert our authority.

“I will not block you, as long as you behave and don’t push for control, just trust me for now.”

I’m going to have a headache by the time this is all over, I’m sure of it. I nod my agreement to Asher beside me and try to push any lingering traces of my distaste down.

I need to be calm and collected for this meeting. Combing my fingers through my hair and shaking out any stress from my limbs, I prepare myself for the worst.

That's when I hear a faint giggle behind us and snap my head around instinctively to find the source, being taken by surprise only sets my instincts to attack.

Luckily, before I lose all sense of rationality, I see the possible threat in front of me is a woman standing behind us.

I notice her bright fire red hair first, like tangled flames of curls that burst out the top of her head in a messy bun. I then take in her young features and pale skin adorned with flecks of freckles along her little nose and up her cheeks.

Her appearance seems to appease Khoda, or she has stunned him into silence, and this helps calm me before I do something I will regret.

She is adorable, not at all what I remember of the witches that held me captive, they were dirty, almost disfigured people with malice written in their beings.

My jaw falls automatically as I desperately try to contain my shock. Her blue eyes catching my eyes before they could travel further down her body.

She laughs at my reaction to her; she is most certainly not what I thought I would be seeing today.

I hear Asher burst into laughter next to me, and Khoda returns to his matter-of-fact demeanor. There are very few moments where I have been speechless let alone Khoda, but I will give it to him, today he got me good…

“Morning Alpha, pleasure to finally meet you, Asher has spoken fondly of you in the past.”

Her voice pulls me from my stumbling thoughts, and I smile politely while taking in her words.

Asher walks over to her and hugs her, which causes her chest to heave in her already too tight corset, this begins to make me slightly uncomfortable, especially since she looks no older than sixteen, so I turn around, as if to look over the field again, but giving them some privacy in truth.

"I have found two pieces of evidence for you, Alpha, Oh and by the way, my name is Jasmine, Asher doesn’t seem to have remembered his manners today."

Her voice reaches me from behind and I cannot stop myself from whipping around as the excitement of the prospect overrides my rational thinking.

I come face to face with the wide cocky grin of Asher standing next to a much shorter red head happy with her findings.

But instead of showing my gratitude, my hesitancy bubbles over, my filter is left defenseless, and I blurt out…

“What sort of evidence are we talking about young lady.”

My answer catching even me off guard, especially when I sound like my father when he’s being derogatory.

I quickly save my behind from being savagely handed to me by the cute woman with a quick…

“I mean can we have a look; I mean no disrespect, it’s a pleasure to finally meet you.”

To my surprise she merely rolls her eyes at me and turns around and begins walking back into the forest from which we arrived, Asher follows behind her while I trail behind him, trying to wrap my head around the woman who in truth, saved Asher and yet seems far too young to be able to have been able to do so.

Witch magic... I shake off the uneasy feeling that begins to rise inside of me, forcing my thoughts to stay in the present.

We follow her a short distance to the water’s edge, the great Blue Creek Lake before us, it’s where she stops and kneels looking out to the water.

Asher and I stop behind her, waiting for her to reveal her findings. After a few moments, she gets back up onto her feet, a circle of water swirling in her left palm.

“This gentleman, is the first clue that I found.”

Both Asher and I lean in, expecting the swirling water to suddenly reveal everything we had been missing. But when nothing happens, and the water just continues to swirl in a bubble I hear Jasmine begin to giggle again.

I look up at her, half expecting her to suddenly lunge the water at us for some reason.

“I have to separate it from the water particles first.”

She has the biggest smile on her face as she looks at us, amused at our reaction, before starting to mutter quietly to the ball of water hovering in her palm. I can understand why Asher trusts her; she seems so innocent.

But could it all be a front, does something darker linger underneath the cuteness?

I don’t concentrate on the incantation or spell she is busy doing, it wouldn’t matter if I did, it’s spoken in a language I have no knowledge of.

Instead, I listen to her to ensure she is safe while scanning the surroundings to ensure we aren’t ambushed, taking note of escape routes should s**t hit the fan. Khoda is on edge for some reason, and I always trust his instincts, there is something off about where we are.

I take note that the incantation has ended and set my attention back on the tiny witch in front of me, who now is holding a small glass medicine bottle and the water is no longer floating above her hand.

I should have paid more attention to see where she found a glass bottle, because I cannot wrap my head around where it came from. The longer I stare at it, the more confused I become…

I can’t hide my confusion; it’s written all over my face I can be certain. Asher bursts out laughing next to me. I must be pulling the old man look that he constantly says I pull when I am baffled by something.

“My apologies Alpha, I should have explained what I was doing before, I may have gotten a bit too excited and rushed ahead without doing so.”

Jasmine’s cheeks turn a slight pink as she says this, and I begin to laugh at the utter absurdity that has become my life. I hear Asher begin to laugh at my expense again next to me, but then I notice Jasmine’s face has plummeted, she looks so disheartened, and it stops my laughter immediately, a sudden surge of guilt drenches me.

Asher looks up at me at the abrupt silence, then follows my eye line to Jasmine, the moment he sees her he rushes over and wraps his arms around her shoulders.

“We weren’t laughing at you, I was laughing at Kiron’s ‘old man’ face he pulled, you know the one where he contorts his face so hard from the strain of thinking that his face wrinkles into a shriveled old man.”

He is desperately trying to reassure her; I find the encounter touching almost. Does he have feelings for this young witch?

But I can’t dwell on this thought for long as I quickly collect my thoughts and be as diplomatic as I can, seen as I’ve just offended the poor woman who not only saved my best friend from himself but is our only source that has found even a slither of evidence in our investigation.

“And I was sent to the corner and told to behave.”

Khoda’s irritation at my impulsive reaction is loud and clear as he slumps down in the back of my mind.

“My sincere apologies, I was in no way trying to offend you, this investigation has made me slightly high-strung, I was laughing at the current absurdity of the situation, not at what you were saying.”

I smile creeps its way up her face as she looks at me, she wraps her arms around Asher in a brief hug, before pulling away and tucking a strand of her hair behind her ear.

Her petite frame slightly tucking itself into Asher beside her. I have an insatiable need to protect her, Khoda feels it too, an unexplainable urge that is growing the more time I spend with her.

“I feel we can trust her, something about this young one is calling to us.”

Khoda puts my feelings into words for me, I must agree, as much as I want to doubt her, the less I am.

“Your case is rather interesting, from what Asher has told me, there doesn’t seem to be any reasonable explanation as to why these pack members have gone missing, and with what I have heard coming from the South, it seems you are not alone.”

I can see her curiosity has now won over any resentment towards my outburst. She seems just as puzzled by this as I am. I decide to let her finish and ask my questions once she is done, mostly in fear of offending her again. But boy did I have questions to ask.

“I pulled the water particles apart slightly in this area, just a fraction so that I could find anything left trapped in those particles, especially in the snow. The waters edge is also a good point to start, because it could trap other particles under the current as it laps the shore.”

“So that’s why you brought us here?”

Asher interjects.

“Yes, exactly, when I split the water I found a scent, I then encapsulated it in a protective water bubble to show you.”

She raises the glass bottle up to us and smiles widely.

“But where did the bottle come from?”

I can’t hold back, it is the most trivial of all the questions, but my brain refuses to drop it, this must be answered. I can feel Khoda rolling his eyes at me as I ask.

To my delight, Jasmine finds my question charming and giggles.

“I keep them in a pouch strapped to my thigh.”

She then begins to lift her skirt to mid-thigh and reveals a satchel strapped across her leg, I faintly hear Asher growl as she does this and I am once again curious about their relationship.

I nod and look away, backing out of any situation that could arise from what Asher perceives that exchange as.

Jasmine smooths out her black skirt back down and then looks up at us.

“Why do the surroundings feel wrong, my wolf has been on edge since arriving, or is that just me?”

Asher asks, taking the question right out of my mouth. Jasmine smiles at him and I can see the compassion she is trying to contain when she looks at him. My curiosity about the chemistry that hangs thickly in the air between these two intrigues me, I’ve never seen my Beta respond to another female the way he does to this one. Not even...

“That’s because your instincts are telling you that magic was at work here, when I shifted the particles, I expelled a fair amount of energy, instinctively your animal can sense that, and so do the other animals, it will dissipate after time as if nothing had happened.”

I can see a glint of her power as she turns to me, a shimmer of raw energy vibrating just behind her eyes.

“Would you like the scent?”

She says while reaching out to hand me the glass bottle, I reach out and take it tentatively, ensuring not to smash the tiny, fragile bottle in my brute hands. I look up to her, gauging whether it is safe for me to open this. Khoda doesn’t seem to sense any ill intent and his normal resistance hasn’t made an appearance.

Asher must notice my slight hesitancy and approaches, taking the bottle from me and pulling the cork, inhaling deeply. His head snaps to me, eyes wide as he registers the scent. He thrusts the bottle in my hands, and I look down before taking a full sniff, letting my wolf sense take over.

Human… Hunter…

I look to Asher as I process the information, I can see his own brain spinning in circles, when it dawns on me, he didn’t verify this, he couldn’t have.

Khoda growls in my mind at his deceit, but at the same time, I understand why he did it, though I will have to have a word with him when we get back about this.

Hunters, so close to my pack… Was Wintervien harboring them? The humans could be difficult but to allow Hunters in…

“That’s not all.”

Jasmine’s words bring me from my thoughts. Lassoing my attention back to her, while Khoda processes the revelation that Hunters have infiltrated.

She pulls a second bottle from under her skirt and walks between Asher and I, heading back to the edge of the barren field where we first met.

We follow behind her, keeping our thoughts to ourselves, we both know better than to talk out in the open, ears could be lurking anywhere.

The constant question now burning a hole inside me was, when did the Hunters come back? They have been gone for years; we all knew they would re-emerge but when did they make an appearance.

I contemplate the implications of the involvement of Hunters and the reasons behind the missing pack members. How are they connected?

“Asher, what evidence besides this new one, do we have, a full status report, now.”

I bark out, I need to go over everything and figure out where to slot this new information. Asher sighs beside me as we follow the young witch closer to our starting point.

“I’ve told you everything.”

He sounds disheartened, the news weighing heavy in his mind.

“Tell me again.”

I don’t have time to hold his hand during this, I have a pack to protect and need to go over everything a hundred times. I hear him take a deep breathe in and suddenly he is my Beta, business first, his personal feelings put to the side.

“The victim, a young woman in her twenties, named Carrie, came out here yesterday afternoon to do business with the butcher in Wintervien, as her father is the sheep farmer in the pack.”

I nod accepting his words, pinpointing important pieces to build my puzzle.

“She never returned, her father came looking for her early last night, the butcher told him, he had met with Carrie as arranged and she had left shortly after, her scent ends at the border of the field, no other traces except for what Jasmine found.”

We found ourselves at the edge of the field again, Asher now standing to my side as we watch Jasmine do her incantation again a few paces away from us. Letting us formulate while she works.

“Any traces of blood or a struggle?”

I start going over the questions I have already asked but need to ask again. The debriefing this morning after breakfast clouded with hope, lacking evidence.

“No sign of either, it’s as if she simply vanished from the spot.”

“Have the trackers found anything?”

“The trackers found nothing but her scent, which ends where Jasmine is currently.”

I need to work out how this all fits together, but I cannot understand why a Hunter would leave anyone alive, unless they moved her to kill her. But for what purpose? Are they picking us off slowly, one by one while we aren’t looking, leaving nothing behind except unanswered questions?

“Did the butcher pay her before she left, did she have any coins on her person?”

Maybe this was a robbery that went wrong, but the lack of scents doesn’t make sense in that scenario, but I must ask all the same.

“No, it was merely a discussion about the delivery of the next order, there was no hostility from the human either, he has complied and is just as confused as the rest of us according to Carrie’s father, who interrogated him.”

None of it seems to make any sense, and the new evidence only adds to my confusion instead of answering my uncertainty.

Jasmine clears her throat quietly, pulling us back, looking at her, she has an uncomfortable expression, though I can see her steady herself. What could she have found that would make her uncomfortable?

She doesn’t say anything, instead chooses to simply hand me the glass bottle. I pull the cork, ready for another piece, and hopefully this one has answers that I desperately crave.

The scent catches me off guard, a putrid stench emanates from the bottle, Rogue, but something else, something more, a ripple of anger runs down my spine and I growl instinctively, Asher steps forward, probably afraid I may attack the woman who gave me the bottle.

I can see the man and the wolf at odds with one another as he battles himself about who to defend.

I brush it off, I have enough anger at this revelation, I can’t dwell on his instincts, but there is something going on between them.

I simply push the bottle toward him, watch as he raises it to his nose before pulling it away as quickly as possible. His face twisting in disgust as he shoves it back to me.

“How are Rogues involved? Was that even a Rogue? What was that, and if it was a Rogue, why in Goddess name does it smell like that?”

The questions come spilling forth in a rush, his brain trying to catch up. But I don’t think it’s that simple, this is something bigger, something we cannot understand.

“I don’t have any answers, as far I knew, Hunters hated all supernaturals, and the thought that now they could possibly be working with Rogues, something doesn’t sit well, something is up.”

Asher ponders this a few moments, I look to the witch, she too has her face in a focused face, trying to work out the pieces. Suddenly I watch as a light bulb explodes inside her brain, and she looks up with her blue eyes on me, like a cloudless sky.

“What if they are creating something? There must be something they are looking for, whatever that scent is, its not natural, that was created, you can pick it up by how strong the smell of rotting flesh is.”

The gears turning in my head, and then the realization that they could be changing us to bend to their will made my stomach flip and it took every inch of my willpower not to retch at the thought.

“Come, we must get indoors, and we can discuss this further, would you be interested in joining our investigation, the Elders will arrive shortly, and I have a feeling this concerns us all.”

The need to get back to the pack was pulling at Khoda and I, we felt restless, like the calm before the storm.