The Trials of the Jinx

The threat

Principal Amy has not stopped smiling since Kel walked into her office. She has worked hard to achieve this title and wants to create a different learning environment for students, and with Kel’s help, she is slowly starting to see the results. She stares at the snow-haired woman in complete disbelief.

“How you manage to find time for all the work you do is beyond me.”

Kel just returns a smile.

“The curriculum,” she continues,” the elderly centre, the supernaturals liaison, and what is that dating thing?”

“Mates across borders,” she adds. She has worked closely with Jonas, as well as the lunas of other packs to create a match-making site for wolves. Since packs rarely get together, it can become difficult for wolves to find their mates, which is what this site aims to do, and so far, it has had quite the success rate.

“Have you ever thought about using the site?” she asks Kel.

She tilts her head, a grim look briefly spreading across her face, before she composes to her usual bright self, but Amy catches it.

“I’m sorry, sometimes I forget,” she amends.

“Don’t worry about it, anyway I have a lot on my plate and a mate would definitely get in the way of that.”

She gives Amy a wink but can’t help the sharp pang in her heart. The curse of the jinx. It is such a rare occurrence, and no one has been able to figure out why some wolves are born with it. They usually have some or other odd external feature that gives it away, like purple eyes, a green spot on their skin, or pale white hair. These features have a unique appeal to them, though they do come at a steep price. A jinx does not have the ability to transform, some might have an inner wolf, however, that is it. They are also easily exhausted and have a weak immune system, and one bad bacteria could send them to the hospital for weeks. And probably the worst part would be their short life expectancy. No jinx has ever reached the age of 22. There is a mutual understanding among wolves that no one should interact with a jinx besides family. No one wants to risk being mated to a jinx and having to spend the rest of their short lives in agony as they watch their loved one die.

Kel hated being weak and hated the looks of sympathy even more, so she made a point of it to prove herself a valuable member of the pack, working day in and day out on improving the pack’s relationships with other packs and supernaturals. And by some miracle, she managed to gain looks of pride from her pack members, though it did take its toll on her health from time to time.

She leaves Amy’s office, glad to have the past few month’s hard work pay off, but she will be lying if she says that a small part of her isn’t affected by the conversation about finding a mate. The warm sun is a welcome relief, and she decides to take a walk around the forest to get out some of her frustration. She doesn’t want someone to loom over her every second to ask if she was okay because she is, sometimes. Most of the time. She hates being coddled, so whenever a wave of depression passes over her, she gets away from everyone and everything. It may not be the healthiest choice, but it beats having to see the look on her parents’ faces that somehow they are failing her. Failing her? They have done so much to help her and stand by her, how on earth can they possibly feel responsible for this? So, she takes her low moments and keeps them tucked away within herself and only releases it when she is utterly alone.

***

The men are buzzing with questions, though none are raised. It is a delicate situation and not their business to pry. Sandor can feel their eyes on him and know what they’re thinking, but when it comes to his daughter he will not indulge them.

“Let’s get started on the main reason we are here.”

That is a silent request since an alpha will not order another to do anything. It takes a moment, but they agree and continue. Carlo stands up and takes the lead since he is most affected by the recent problem.

“As you all know, many supernaturals and even humans have gone missing over the past few months. The wolves were left untouched since we tend to keep to our own territories, however, one of my own was taken.”

“Are you sure?” Elias asks.

“He was last seen leaving the office to get lunch and never returned. A note was found against his door explaining he needed some time off and would be back once he had cleared his head. According to his co-workers at the architect firm, he had one project he was working on, and there were no signs of overwhelming pressure there.”

“Just like the others during lunch, and left a vague note. Was he mated or involved with anyone?” asks Asher, the witty and boarish nature gone.

“No. He was single at the time.”

Jona made a note on the presentation, then pulled out some of the statistics that they were able to get from other supernaturals. Thanks to Sandor’s daughter, it was an easy process, and they were able to open a clear line of communication on this matter.

“According to the vampires, four clans have had 9 missing persons’ reports, witches reported 6 missing from their covens, the fae 15 and the humans a staggering 23.”

“Why only one wolf?” Erik asks, brushing his white beard.

“Maybe our security is just better?” chimes in Elias.

“It could be, but what worries me is the radio silence,” Sandor remarks. He walks over to the wall where the images are being projected and nods to Jona to continue. A map of the country appears with each abduction. The dots, each colour coded according to affiliation, are all over the map.

“This has to be the work of a group and a large one at that. To be in so many places with so little resting period is just not possible, even with enhanced abilities. Not even witches or fey can teleport.”

Asher leans back, stretching his arms above his head until he hears a click from some joint popping. “And there has been no sign of any of them since?”

Sandor shakes his head, and so does Carlo.

“We were able to get security footage from each abduction site and have put every patrol of all supernaturals on alert to be on the lookout for anyone that has gone missing, but no reports have come in.”

Carlo walks back to his seat. He rubs the palms of his hands against his eyes. The stress is getting to him; his black hair was dull and fell flat against his scalp, his once dark skin is starting to lose its saturation, and his brows are lined with wrinkles.

“I have walked through my entire pack, every inch, and was not able to pick up any unfamiliar scents. I also looked at the pack’s security footage and have found no one coming onto the terrain leading up to the abduction, nor have I found Michael leaving. He just vanished.”

“What about something else?” Theo asks. The entire group turns to him, even some of the warriors lining the walls had their brows furrowed.

“What if it’s some other supernatural entity?”

“Mermaids are out at sea and would only every approach islands, jinns have only been reported in Southern countries, goblins stick to the woods where they could stay hidden, ogres are rare and quite easy to spot, and familiars are benevolent,” says Erik, folding his arms across his chest.

“I know, but what if it's something new, or worse, something very old.”

The thought is unsettling, and everyone in the room shifted uncomfortably. No one spoke for a while as they contemplated the nature of this revelation.

“We’ve ruled out everything else,” he whispers mostly to himself, but the keen ears in the room didn’t miss it.

***

An exhausted and hungry Kel practically falls into her small apartment after her walk through the woods. She went against her parents' wishes to stay at their house because she needed a space that was just hers, where she could pass out after a typically hard day without everyone making a fuss about what they could do for her. The fact is that all she wants is rest and quiet. Her apartment is just a bachelor flat so she can get anywhere quickly and with ease. She has a few fake plants on her kitchen table, coffee table, bookshelves and window sills since she frequently became too busy to take care of the real thing or felt too sick to be bothered. She does however have large sheets of paper that she would sprawl out over the floor and paint on. This is a good release for her. She loves the feel of the paint on her bare hands as she paints every raw emotion she feels, letting it out into the open.

Now, however, she only needs the comfort of her couch and a random comedy playing on the television. Kel’s focus wandered to the breathtaking forest just beyond her window. She spends all day working with people, so the view of the steady and familiar trees soothes her mind. After a few minutes, a growl reverberates through her stomach, reminding her of her hunger. She isn’t too fond of cooking and decided to call their pack’s restaurant to deliver something for lunch. She places an order, then continues to watch the show, still echoing in the background.

***

"Okay, okay, going on about what this is, is not getting us anywhere," Sandor sighs. "Without any actual evidence pointing to a specific creature, we won't get any closer to determining which one."

"I agree," says Erik. "Continue to work towards getting evidence and report back. What are we going to do in the meantime to protect our packs?"

A few glances go around the room, but the silence drags on. It is an unknown threat, occurring at random, in random places and then disappears without a trace.

“What if we set up a trap?” It isn’t the voice of an alpha, nor the voice of a beta. The idea came from a warrior standing against the wall. He is fairly muscular, unfortunately, due to genes his bone structure still made him a slim man. They stare at him, pondering the idea, and since no one seems to have anything better to contribute, they slowly start to nod.

“Any thoughts on how?” Elias asks his warrior.

After a quick glance around the room, he seems to come to terms that they truly want to listen to him. “He strikes during lunch and usually in a populated area that is crawling with different supernaturals, to not come across as foreign.” He takes a step forward, then another “What if we organize a group outing of sorts and send a group of wolves out to a diner in town. We make sure that one of them is a single wolf that wanders off alone from time to time to draw him out.”

They mull it over, some of them even grin in approval. “How do we know when he’s going to strike?” Sandor questions.

“We don’t,” Erik agrees, but continues; “ So, we organize these trips in each pack at various intervals throughout the month.”

They are all thrilled with the idea, however, their joy is short-lived. The door of the conference room bursts open to reveal a flustered looking warrior from Sandor’s pack. Heads spin towards the man, but his eyes are focused solely on his alpha.

“They’ve taken Kelaya.”