Urquia

Chapter 35: The BlackClaw pack part 2

*Andrea POV*

We went to the huge dining area. It looked like an all-you-can-eat buffet. The omegas served everyone in order. The air was a mix of scents: bacon, coffee, wolf musk, and the sharp tang of adrenaline. I noted the faint, cool signature of a rain-soaked forest—the pack's version scent of his.

Some teenagers were in regular clothes, and others were barely wearing sports clothes: sports bras, shorts, sweatpants. Most of the men were shirtless, and a few women were in just T-shirts. They all had something in common, though. They were all quite beaten up. They had black eyes, busted lips, or visible nasty scratches.

Cris and I looked at each other.

-'Nice, they train hard' I think.

-'Yeah, I wanna try them out' she thinks back.

-'Me too' says Patricia. Cristina rolled her eyes on me. -'The nerve on that girl!'

Luna Susanna guided us to a table that had a bit of everything from the buffet. We were about to sit when a tall, handsome man came, turned the Luna on her spot, and gave her a passionate kiss. Cris and I looked the other way. Cris put a hand on Dami's eyes.

The Luna broke apart the kiss and giggled like a shy teenager. I looked at her, and she was blushing!

-"Marty, stop. We have guests here," She said, biting her lips and looking at us embarrassed.

That's when Alpha Marty noticed us. He was exactly like Nathan, with his green hazel eyes, only with gray hair, a beard, and a few more wrinkles around the eyes and forehead. He blinked a few times and obviously talked to his Luna through the mind link.

-"Sorry about that. I forget about everything around me when I see my Luna. It's nice to meet you, umm..." He extended his hand.

-"Andrea, but you can call me Andy. This is Cristina and my son Damian." He shook my hand and theirs, too.

People were looking at us curiously, some whispering, trying to guess why we were here. I recognized the two other guards and some of the warriors from the night we were attacked by rogues. They were whispering about that night, looking at me curiously.

When we were about to sit down, the door suddenly burst open, and through it came panting Nathan and Leo. They both were wearing tank tops and sweatpants, revealing those big, well-defined, mouthwatering arms full of tattoos, which made them look so yummy, I almost threw myself at him.

They looked everywhere for us until our gaze locked. The room fell silent, looking from us to them. His eyes were big with surprise. I winked at him, and he smiled widely. He cleared his throat, nodded to his people, and began to walk fast towards us, Leo at his side. He stood in front of me so I had to tilt my head up to look at his face.

-"What are you doing here?" He said with his sexy, husky voice.

-"I came to check your pack out. I promised you I'd give them a shot, so here I am," I said, grinning at him. He licked his lips with hungry eyes, and I gulped.

-"How did you get in? How come nobody told me you were here? Did you sneak in?" he said, faking a scowl.

-"No, Phil was at the entrance. You know he's my PA, he kept the secret for us so we could surprise you," I said, innocently grinning.

-"They've been here for hours; they even made breakfast for all," Luna Susanna said, smirking. She was enjoying seeing her son look so happy. I turned to her, shaking my head.

-"We barely helped, Luna; the omegas did everything. I'm impressed, especially with Tamara. She led us like a top chef," I smile, and something fell from the buffet area. We all looked, and she was there, red as a tomato, looking at us like a scared cat. I smiled at her, and she turned even redder.

The girls, Tom, and Ramirez came into the dining area; they were in sports clothes, too. The girls hugged us, and I became stiff, with wide eyes and an awkward smile. Nathan looked at me; I know he noticed my reaction, but he didn't say a thing.

-"What are you girls doing here!" Liza said, excited.

Nathan sat at the head of the table. His dad and mom sat on his left. Leo ushered us to Nathan's right side. Dami sat between Cris and I, and Leo sat on her left. The girls sat with their mates.

-"Cris and I came to check this place out. She is going to the company with you guys to secure it. I'll be here with you girls to do it here," I said to the girls while serving Dami some pancakes, eggs, and bacon.

-"Oh, if that's okay with you, Alpha Nathan?" I say, face-palming internally and blushing externally.

-"Of course, I'll guide you," He said excitedly. I swear his eyes twinkled.

-"Well, you can't, Alpha. You have to go with her to your office to fill and sign a few papers, that is, if our security company will be working for you. Also, Cris will need access to a few private matters, so it's better for you to go with her. Luna Susanna, Liza, and Monique can show us around?" I say, sounding hopeful and pleading with my eyes. He chuckles.

-"Okay, if that's what you want. You have total access to all our territory. I'll expect a full report when we get back?" he says, all serious.

-"Of course you'll have it, after you sign, that is," I look at him in the eyes. We have a blinking competition, but he licks his lips, making me shift my gaze to those delicious lips, and I lose. He chuckles, and I narrow my eyes. -'Naughty wolf.'

A brunette teenager, probably fifteen years old, came with a sleepy face, rubbing her eyes. She was wearing a beautiful, flowery peach dress and some white Converse.

-"Morning," she said, still a bit groggy while hugging Nathan. She then went to her parents and gave them each a kiss before sitting on her chair.

She looks at me, then at Dami and Cris, noticing us for the first time.

-"Hi, I'm Lilian. I love your hair! Mom, can I dye my hair like that?" she says, looking at us excited.

-"Nice to meet you, Lilian. I'm Andrea, but you can call me Andy. This is Dami and Cris"

-"Today we will show Dami around, Lili," The Luna said not answering her question.

-"I get to skip school? Cool," she says before biting a bagel.

After breakfast, we all head out to the living room. Luna Susanna and Lilian took Damian to meet the other kids.

-"You really are checking our pack out, or is it just an excuse to come and see my son off guard?" Alpha Marty said with a raised brow.

-"Both?" I say, blushing. -"Nah, I actually came here to play hide and seek tag," I say, smiling at the Alpha.

-"Tag? Really?" Liza said skeptically.

-"Yes. How many warriors do you have, Alpha?"

-"250 total, 100 at the borders. Why? You think you can tag us all?" Alpha Marty said, amused.

-"I can try... How many border towers do you have?" I ask, but then -"You know what, don't tell me. I'll find out myself," I say before heading to the entry.

-"Wait up!" Liza says.

-"Are there any rules?" Monique asks.

I turn. -"I tag you all, I win. You tag or catch me, you win," I smile.

-"You think we can't catch you?" Alpha Marty said with disbelief before laughing out loud with Tom and Ramirez.

-"We have the best trackers of our region," Tom says, slapping Ramirez's back.

-"We'll see about that," I shrug.

-"Hey, I wanna play, too," Nathan says, almost pouting. He looked at me with puppy eyes.

-"Nope. You guys come with me. We have a lot to do, Alpha Nathan, you need to go change. Oh, can Tamara come with us?" Cris said.

-"Why do you need her for?" Leo asked. His eyes have never left Cris.

-"She was the only one who tried to make sure it was okay for us to be here. The rest gave up too quickly. She only stopped when Mary acted like it was okay. If this was a true scenario, she would have been the only one to prevent us from entering the pack house," I say seriously.

-"Yeah, not even Andy's tactics worked on her. We want her on our team," Cris said.

-"What tactics?" Leo asks, looking at me suspiciously.

-"I don't know what she's talking about," I say wickedly, walking backwards to the entrance. I wink at Nathan and say,

-"Let the hunger games begin and may the odds be ever in your favor" as I go slow.

-"Any last advice?!" Liza shouts. I knew she'd get that.

-"Stay alive" Cris says back, and the girls start to squeal. The men look at each other.

I get out of the house, stretching my arms and legs. I start jogging south through one of the streets until I get to the end of it.

People are looking at me weirdly and whispering. They are still not following me so I breathe deeply, consciously lowering my heartbeats. I breathe in the forest and kneel.

With my hand on the ground, I start to feel my surroundings, connecting with it. I feel the small animals and the trees. I stand up and rub myself against a few trees before jumping high like a kangaroo can, quite a few meters, to the first tree branch. I do a bunch of zigzags, end up jumping like a flying squirrel and landing like a cat onto the roof of the last house, soundless.

Gliding as a reptile, using only my hands and toes in a plank position so they wouldn't see me, I got to the next roof. I continue to do that as I go back to where I had parked the jeep.

I quietly take my bag and blow pipe out and remove my shoes and socks, without Phil and the other guard noticing me. I go and climb a few trees far from them but still at my reach. At the highest branch, where I could see the entrance, the main street, and the mansion, I take my knife and cut the tree. I crunch some leaves and collect the sap. I start rubbing it all over my body to mask my scent.

A few people, around 20... 25... gather before the mansion. Alpha Marty is giving orders and dividing the men and women.

The Gammas and Deltas are speaking, too.

Five teams all go in a different direction. I'll go clockwise to take down the towers first and set traps, then I'll go against the clock, so I think I'll take down Tom and Rami's team first.

I wait until I see Cris and Tamara exiting the mansion. Alpha Nathan comes after her, wearing dark jeans, a white button-down shirt, and a black suit jacket. He looked sexy and casual/formal, with his dreadlocks giving him a Viking warrior edge. I get turned on immediately.

-'Would you focus, you horny b***h?' I think to myself.

I see Leo coming out and hurrying to open the door of his SUV for her. She lets Tamara get in first while looking out for me. Our gaze locks when she spots me. That's my girl. I smile, wiggling my brows at her, and she blushes and shakes her head before entering.

I prepare my blow pipe. Ready to shoot.

When their car stopped at the entrance, I shot a paintball with all my force at the guard's back. He curses and tries to touch his back. I already shot another paintball to Leo's window. Nathan comes out of the car, and I was about to shoot him, but he dodged it so fast it landed on Phil's chest. The hurt on his face was epic. Nathan turned. He narrowed his eyes, searching for me until he found me, and he smirked at me, shaking his head. I held my blow pipe to my mouth, and with wide eyes, he got quickly back into the car, barely dodging my shot as it landed on the car's roof. They drove away.

I jumped from one tree to another until I was out of their territory. I went to the ground again and poured some water near a bush. I made enough mud to cover my face, hair, and body. I ran as stealthily and soundlessly as I could to the next tower. I tagged them easily, so after setting a few traps and false clues to lead them to the direction I want, I continue to the next one.

**********************

Fifteen towers were tagged already. I noticed they reinforced them with one or two more wolves, and they were all high alert, so every now and then I'd stop to mask my scent again. I was going up the mountain. The more alert they got, I noticed they sniffed a lot more. Only a few used the rest of their senses. Some were in wolf form, so I had to be really careful not to make a sound or touch anything leaving my scent.

I had tagged 38 people already when I got spotted for the first time, and I had to run with my cheetah speed to lose them, going northeast. They had the numbers, and they knew how to use them, that's for sure. I was impressed at the way they spread along the forest in a U shape to try and circle me out.

Instead of going up a tree, I went into an abandoned bear burrow I'd found earlier. The smell was faint, but it would mask mine. I heard running paws and even heard them say to look for the trees. I dug my fingers on the ground, loosening up the soil underneath me, semi-burying myself like a snake.

The mud felt cold and heavy. Good. I felt right, connected to the earth.

I put my blow pipe on my back and took out the slingshot from my bag. I even used the scent of a possum on myself and my bag, careful so it won't spray me. The possum scent was nasty as hell, but it was just a smell. Part of the job. I'd trapped it a few hours ago, so I was sure they couldn't smell me.