The Rouge Assassin’s Daughter

Everett: Homecoming

Everett and his brothers settled into their seats on the train. He hadn’t been home in six months. He hoped his parents were managing well without them. He was born the heir to the Blue Springs Pack. It was a sizable pack known for their long history of military service and wealth. He and his brothers had been called to serve out one of their three mandatory contracts.

Military service was not an uncommon thing for werewolves, they were natural warriors. His grandfather had signed a contract with the military that allowed them to call on the males of the Blue Springs Pack a specified number of times. In exchange his pack was given money, land, and a certain degree of goodwill with the government and Lycan royals.

Everett, at 26, was eager for the last contract to be over with. This was his last. He had served his mandatory two and now with this third complete- he could take over as Alpha of his pack. This had been his brothers Erick and Emmetts first and second contracts. His youngest brother, Elijah, had been under the age limit by only a few months. They had finished the thirty year contract and their pack had fulfilled their obligation.

Even though there was almost a decade between them Everett had found it hard to leave his younger brother behind. Fighting for the military with his brothers had bonded them closer than words could say. With this being his last contract he wouldn’t get to do it with Elijah. But leaving him behind did ensure that a male of their father’s line would be able to take the role of Alpha if anything happened to their father or him or his brothers. It had been a long six months. He was worn out and more than exhausted. His wolf was ready to have free reign. His wolf Grey yawned in the back of his head. Grey had gotten use to being in control running around the sand and mountains of their post.

Everett, Erick and Emmett had spent the last six month hunting down terrorist cells in the mountains of the Middle East. Being wolves helped but it didn’t make it any less dangerous. Emmett was a lethal tracker. He had completed the trials to be an assassin at 16. He had almost completed the training of a Shadow assassin at 20. He had been convinced not to join by our father.

An Assassin had to renounce pack ties and become a rogue. Pack ties could be used against them. Renouncing a pack also allows you to register it as a nonnegotiable assignment. You could never be assigned to kill a member of your renounced pack. Everett thought this was a perk because anyone Emmett tracked was always found. He would be a formidable assassin.

Now that my contracts were fulfilled and I was becoming Alpha I could see Emmett exploring that opportunity. I didn’t like it but my father had too many sons and only one Alpha position. I would support my brother even if it meant losing him. Rogue or not he would always be my brother and I would always protect him if the need arose.

Erick had found his mate at 18 and it had been to the only heir to the Cedar-ridge pack, Teresa. She was reared to be a Luna. Everyone had been pleased when they turned out to be mates. I knew mother had hoped she would be mine but this way it worked out better. Ericks’s new territory bordered Blue Springs. He was now an Alpha, ally, and family.

Erick had taken this last contract the hardest. He had two children now. His daughter had been born after his deployment. His son had been a rambunctious toddler when he left and Teresa had been four months pregnant with his daughter. Ericks need to stay in contact with her had almost been the death of all three of us a couple months ago.

Emmett had escaped with minor injuries, he had the uncanny ability to sense danger. Still, his warning to Erick and I came a little too late. I had bore the brunt of the blast, I took burns and shrapnel to my back. Erick had suffered from burns on his arms, legs and shrapnel in one eye. Someone had picked up on his communication and had launched an lethal incendiary bomb on our location.

We had tried to escape but even in our wolf forms we weren’t fast enough. I tried to cover Erick the best I could and Emmett had managed to wedge himself in a rocky outcropping. Emmett hid us during the day and carried us to a cool stream to soak our burns at night. Our bodies naturally tried to push out the foreign shrapnel. It was a painful healing process. I shifted uncomfortably in the train seat as I felt the scarring across my back begin to prick at the memories.

Erick had lost his eye and I had lost more mobility than I cared to admit. The web of scarring across my back would pull tight and pinch. Clothing would scratch it raw. Any type of fragrance in clothes would irritate it. Underneath the nerve endings would shoot little pricks of pain when too hot or too cold. On my best days it was an ever present nuisance of pain. On my worst days it was almost too much to handle.

I secretly worried my injury would make me unfit to be Alpha but as quickly as the thought came I banished it from my mind. There was no reason for such thoughts.

Everett tried to forget the horror and pain, instead he thought back to the girl at the ticket booth. Her hazel green eyes had seemed unique and she had no wolf smell…She was obviously human but he felt a pull towards her. He came from a line of Alphas so he knew his mate would always be a wolf. But after six months away from civilization, after the never ending burning pain of his injuries, from multiple planes and trains, the only part of it that stuck out now was her.

It’s time to find a mate and settle down my wolf Grey murmured in my mind. I silently agreed with him. At 26 I was well past the typical age when one would find a mate. I usually chalked it up to being away in the military. I also had a twin sister and she also hadn’t found her mate. Maybe we are defective? I posed the question to Grey and received a low growl. I smiled. Grey had taken our injuries the hardest because he had been in control during the injuries. My injuries in human form were about half as bad as they were in wolf form.

Everett ran his hand through his dirty blonde hair, it was growing out, and he liked that. He tried to push the girl from his mind. One more stop at Grand Junction and then home to Blue Springs. He closed his eyes and drifted off.