The Rouge Assassin’s Daughter

Avery: Training Day

...The buzz and beep of my alarm clock woke me. 5pm and time to get ready for another night of work. I worked six days a week only taking Sundays off. I got a special train ticket discount that gave me the best deals Sunday and Monday of most weeks. I had decided this was when I would plan trips to National and State Parks. These trips allowed all three of us the opportunity to let our wolves have control. I had even taken to trying to train Luke in wolf form. State and National Parks were neutral territory. No pack could claim them and because of the human hikers only rouges made the parks their home. Even then Rouges usually would stick to most remote places, pretending to be hikers if they needed to.

Shifting had been hard for Luke, he had only gained the ability six months ago. It was a little late for a male but we had spent so much time around humans that it was hard to release control and allow the shift to occur. Depending on where we traveled we usually only spent twenty four hours in wolf form. Tonight we were going to Mount Elbert. With the current weather conditions and extreme elevation I was sure it would be incredibly rare for any hikers to be in the area. It was also in a National Forest which would decrease the chances of running into any established packs.

I got out of bed and started getting ready for work going over the travel plans in my head. Most established packs inherited or bought their land and territory. Occasionally, they would challenge and fight for it but that was rare and frowned upon by the Lycan royals. A pack could only challenge another pack if they had evidence of serious crimes occurring with the pack they were challenging.

Initially the Government had forced packs to live in National or State Parks and Forests but rouges were always a problem. Fighting for land was common because there was no space for pack growth. This changed in WWI and WWII. Entire packs sent their youth to train and serve in the wars. They were lethal fighters and had bartered for the right to buy large tracts of land from the government in exchange for serving out military contracts. Now the only wolves that made homes in National and State parks were rouges and natural wolves. Usually, these rouges would fight for dominance and kill off weaker rouges or create a pack successful enough to buy their own territory- leading to the rise of new packs.

Due to my families sensitivity to scent and being undetectable to other wolves we were usually able to either pass as human or evade other wolves in wolf form easily. I threw a bag of clothes and essentials in a small back pack. I found my Mom and Luke in the living room. He was eating a huge plate of food. Wolf metabolisms ran high but with Luke training and coming into his wolf he tended to eat four large meals a day. His calorie intake was that of a pro athlete or professional body builder but it was paying off. His wolf was already bigger than mine by a few inches, and my wolf was considered large by average wolf standards..

Males usually outgrew females but I was a little put out that at almost 18 my little brother had outgrown me. His wolf was the spitting image of my father. It had a glossy blue black coat with glowing greenish yellow eyes. My mom’s wolf was a silvery white with blue eyes. I didn’t take after either parent but my father had said I took after his mother, Ameila Arbosa (whom I was named after). She had been a very deadly wolf of Italian descent. She only moved to the states after finding my grandfather in WWII. She had been a fiery auburn color, with highlights of bronze and gold. She and I also shared our most memorable feature, our eye color. It was a stunning deep green ringed in blue. It was a lighter green in wolf form but very similar.

I put my back pack on the small kitchen bar. I retrieved the two tickets I had printed for them the day before. “I’ll be meeting you on platform 9 at 6:45am.” I handed my Mom the tickets. I rarely told them where we were going until the day of or the night before. She and my brother looked at the destination. Luke let out a whoop of glee. My mom looked unimpressed. “It’s close and he’ll be able to train in the snow.”. My mother was not a fan of frigid altitudes. She had gown up in the desert of Southern California and Arizona. The cold was not her element. “I bought more elixirs, you’ll barely know’.

I knew trying to reassure her probably wouldn’t work. My brother gave me a large smile. He enjoyed playing in the snow in any form. I went to retrieve my back pack. “Avery, your contacts!” My mom reminded me. I was horrible at remembering to wear my contacts they were supposed to be a light brown but with my natural color they turned my eyes muddy hazel. I put several pairs in my back pack. I would go through a couple tonight, they would dissolve before the end of my shift. Wolves naturally rejected any foreign objects in their body. I usually didn’t bother to replace them at the end of my shift but i would need to before traveling. “Thanks Mom.”. I gave her a grin, shrugged into my heavy coat and slung the pack over one shoulder.

“I’ll see you both bright and early”. I gave them both a quick hug, checked the peephole, and quickly left the apartment. I heard my Mom bolt the door and made my way back to the stairs. It smelled heavily of m*******a and booze. Saturday Night. These stairwells were prime party and hookup spots for anyone underage. I quickly brushed past several groups of people, ignoring calls from guys to join them, and left the building as quickly as possible. Friday, Saturday, and Sunday nights during the full moon were the worst. People acted like they had no common sense. I easily avoided people as I made my way down the streets, across the train platform, and to my booth.

An older woman by the name of Missy greeted me. She always had a kind smile and was quick to let me in out of the cold. “Always on time Ms. Avery, I appreciate that.” She said in her southern draw. She had already gathered her things. “Ready to go somewhere?’ I nodded to her packed belongings. “Yass! I’m going home to cuddle my cat and watch the Bachelor. 6 o’clock couldn’t come fast enough.” We both laugh as I punch in and scoot around each other. “Do you mind if I leave hun?” she asked tentatively glancing at her watch it was five minutes to 6pm. “Not at all.” I gave her a big smile and settled into the chair inside the booth. She smiled and headed out. We both made sure the door was shut before she waved bye and headed in the direction of the parking lot. I settled in for my twelve hour shift.

I had been reading on and off in my booth, between trains and customers, when I smelled them. Several wolves were close. I instantly heighten my senses but kept the same reading posture. Giving any reactions would be a rookie mistake that could give me away. Humans can’t smell wolves from a distance, they usually could only smell a slight perfume or cologne like scent when in very close proximity. I tired to calm myself and sort the different scents out. The first one and most potent seemed to be a very green spruce smell. It was pleasant almost soothing. I shook my head to focus, pretending to focus on my book. There were three others but one was very faint, to any other wolf it would be hard to smell. My mind instantly went to my biggest fear: a tracker!

It was 5:30am. Thirty more minutes and I could leave. I thought about the trip. I could cancel but maybe leaving for twenty four hours would be best? I texted my mom. We always made these decisions together. We had three options. I could go home and we would all stay there, I could go on the trip alone and come back by a different route, or we could go as planned. My wolf needed these weekly trips. Repressing her for a week was very hard and with a few weeks to go before turning 18 almost impossible.

At eighteen I would be of age. I would be able to find a mate or in my case my mate would be able to find me. I both dreaded and wanted a mate. I would take on his scent and my little brother, because he was younger than me, would too. My mother and brother would be provided a camouflage. They could live and train normally. At least until Luke turned 18. There would also be the possibility my mate would reject me and expose us. Or they could accept me but reject my mother and brother. I quickly pulled myself from my thoughts trying to concentrate.

They weren’t on the platform or even in the station yet... I texted my mother to come to the station. I would let her and Luke board first. I would board at the last minute. This way she could bring our emergency go bags with some essentials. We could restart our lives somewhere else with those bags. I hoped we wouldn’t have to but would do so to keep us safe. There was no way I was letting Richard and his mediocre assassins threaten my Mom again. He had wanted access to my father’s archives and had even offered to take her as his chosen mate but he was the lowest of low when it came to assassins. He had come from a line of assassin’s as well. Unlike my father who had earned is reputation Richard had relied on his father being and Elder for assignments. I knew there was something in my father’s personal archive that he wanted. He wanted it bad enough to blackmail and stalk us for. My Mom and I refused and agreed on running to keep us all safe and away from him.

My father had been one of the best. An elite assassin who followed a code. No women, children, or personal vendettas. Richard on the other hand accepted all contracts for a price. When my mother had refused him, Richard threatened to expose us by lying about the missions my father had accepted. Her only way of protecting us was to pay. But paying didn’t stop the harassment or the unwanted visits and threats. That was no way to live. It has taken us six months of moving and hiding before we settled here. The last eighteen months had been peaceful. I smelled wolves before and it had always turned out to be nothing. But there was something about the most dominate scent that made me question myself. It was almost a gut reaction.

I looked at the clock 5:55am. My relief should be here any minute, if they were on time. But sometimes they partied hard and getting to work on time seemed to come in second to a massive hangover. I checked the schedule: Will. He was usually on time an never more than 15 minutes late. I messaged my mother to let her know the train was on time and she could board in 15 minutes. I started to gather my things when the scent almost sent me into a panic. They were here. Very close. I slowed my reactions down and controlled my heart rate like my father taught me. Pass as human. React like a human. The morning Sunday bells started to toll the hour. “Hello?”. I heard a deep gravelly voice say behind me at the booth window. I turned in what I hoped was a cheerful human manner.

“Hello, May I help you?” I said turning to look eye-level into someone’s chest. A human would be taken aback so I pretended to stare and look up but upon seeing his face I was no longer pretending. My stare met the most beautiful blue eyes and face I had ever seen. The stranger grinned, as if use to it, and handed me his ticket. I opened the small window and retrieved it and two others. Quickly looking down I registered two things. One all three men were headed in the opposite direction that I was and they had purchased them with a military discount. I quickly processed the tickets and handed them back with a smile, hopefully like any helpful human would do.

I assessed him and his companions quickly before looking back at the owner with the beautiful blue eyes. Everette Kane. That’s what his ticket had said. He looked at me a moment too long and I actually blushed and made a point to look away. It seemed like he was going to say something but- “I’m so sorry!!!” I was saved by Will. Will quickly came in and took over not bothering to clock in. I backed up and let him take the only seat in the booth. “Did you need anything else, Sir?”. I watched through my lashes as the handsome stranger shook his head no, glanced at me one more time and slowly walked away. I felt strange. Slightly dizzy but hyper at the same time. It was and odd sensation that i would process later I told myself.

I glanced at the clock 6:10am. My mom and Luke would be on the platform soon. I knew we wouldn’t try to sit together. Her and Luke would but I would sit wherever I found a spot. Will clocked in after I gathered everything. I left through the staff entrance, stopping in a staff break room to raid our pitiful snack area and kill some time. I texted my mother. She only sent back a thumbs up. I was sure she was relieved. I would tell her everything later this evening. I checked my back pack, used the rest room, replaced my contacts, brushed my teeth, and sprayed on a dash of Versace Dylan Blue perfume. It was a very powerful clean scent for a wolf. I had gotten it as a tester perfume and kept it for just such occasions: wolf deterrent.

It wasn’t the strongest scent out there for humans and even for a wolf it was a nice pleasant scent from a distance but within a few feet the engineered synthetic smell would be off putting. I was used to it. It was bearable and I tried to gauge the right amount around humans. One spray on one wrist and I rubbed it in with my other wrist. It seemed to be just enough to be pleasant to them. So that’s what I did. To me it was nauseating the first few minutes before the scent died down and mixed with my natural earthy scent. I checked the time, 6:30am. I made my way out of the staff corridor and out of the exit onto the needed platform. By 6:35am I was on the train and seated behind my Mom and Luke. She had barely nodded her head as I went by.

Avery? She mind linked me. It’s okay Mom. It looked to be a group of military wolves. All had the same last name. All heading in the opposite direction. I felt her relax in the seat in front of me. I’m glad, get some rest sweetie, I’ll let you know when we arrive. I closed my eyed and tried to get comfortable. It was almost a two hour ride and I needed a nap. I felt myself doze off and into a dream with the blue eyed stranger.

Ava. Wake up we’re pulling in the station. I jerked awake knowing no one had spoken out loud and trying not to draw any attention. For some reason my dream about the blue eyed stranger had left me feeling anxious. I pushed it from my mind and decided to let loose and enjoy the next twenty four hours.