The Monster Within Me

Chapter 18

Quinn

After Maya left the session, I decided that I needed to talk to Fen about what she was planning on doing tonight. There was no way any of us are prepared for what we are sure to face tonight on this mission. Matters like this need to be handled diligently and in her haste, I think Maya has lost sight of the lives this will impact if we jump into this without proper preparation. These wolves are gonna have been through hell, and they don't need issues like a failed rescue on their conscience. I really hoped Nelle could work a miracle in the time they had before dinner.

I decided to grab lunch and a shower before I went to the office, and with the time to truly think about it, I knew that I had to let Fen know how I felt about the 

As I walked into the packhouse, I heard Ylva talking to Fen in his office. I knocked when I got to the door so I wasn't suspected of eavesdropping and entered.

"Quinn, how can I help you?" Fen said relaxing back into his seat. Ylva was sitting forward in one of the chairs across from Fen, a cup of tea in her hands.

"Yea actually, I don't know if you've been informed yet, but Maya wants to have an extraction team ready to go tonight. I would send no more than six men with her, even though the beast is quite large and dangerous, we don't need to lose any more wolves to this thing." I said taking a seat in the chair adjacent to the one that Ylva was occupying.

"Do you not believe that the mission will be a success? You seem to be preparing yourself for failure." Ylva said sipping her tea.

"It's not so much that I'm sure we'll fail, I'm just concerned that there hasn't been enough planning or training to perform this mission without incident. Maya is still training her powers, and that's if Nelle was able to help her figure out what they even are to being with." I said running my hands over my face in frustration. 

"I understand where your worry lies, and it's not wrong to feel the way you do. Preparation can make or break a mission. However, this is time-sensitive and the most important thing for Maya is to be confident. If she still feels like after her training today she is able to defeat the beast and bring the wolves home, then I will have enforcers ready to support her, whether it be tonight or tomorrow night." Fen said with a shrug of his shoulders.

"We know that you care for her and are more worried about her safety than you are about anything else, we don't fault you for that either, but do not let how you feel about her let you see her as anything other than who she truly is. A strong woman who has been training her ass off in order to be ready for an event just such as this. You yourself have been training her for this, do you doubt your training abilities?" Ylva asked with a mischievous glint in her eyes.

"Of course not! I'm just saying that anything can happen and I'm sure we'd all feel better with more time." I said leaning back in my chair.

"We know, but you cannot spend all your time preparing and never testing your preparations. Maya is strong and I'm sure you'll be pleasantly surprised with all the progress that she has made today." Ylva said smiling and standing up, "I'm going back into the library in the room they've been using to study and work, would you like to come with me?"

"Yes, of course. I'd love to see the progress that they've been able to make so far. It's hasn't even been two hours." I said as I followed Ylva out of the room.

When we entered the library nothing looked different. It didn't look like anybody had been training powers or studying up on powers or anything like that. It just looked like the library on any other day. 

"Are you sure they're still in here?" I asked Ylva as she led me back towards the small office that she used as extra storage instead of a space for herself.

"Absolutely. There's nowhere on pack grounds more secure to train Maya to use her powers." Ylva said as she stopped in front of a stack of boxes set in front of a file cabinet.

"So where are they? Are we in here looking for something to bring to help them?" I asked turning around and observing the room for some clue as to why we were stopped.

Without answering, Ylva stepped forward and opened the file cabinet, revealing a stack of papers with a calculator on top. She looked to be putting in a complex equation when the file cabinet and all the papers in front of them slid off the wall on a hinge and opened just enough to allow a single person to squeeze through at a time. 

"Well come on, you said you wanted to see the progress that had been made," Ylva said and without waiting to see if I followed, walked through the small opening.

As I stepped through, there was a faint smell in the air that I couldn't quite place. It seemed ancient and yet new all at once.

"The smell that you're about to ask about is what magic smells like. We decided that everyone would be safer once she was training away from where she could immediately harm someone unprepared." Ylva said leading the way down the long winding passageway. There were tunnels on either side of us as well, leading off to Goddess knows where.

"So how do we know that we won't walk in and come to harm's way?" I asked.

"Because nobody outside the cabinet can hear what goes on inside, but once inside you can hear everything. Considering Maya's hearing is far better than either of ours, I would say that she already knows that we're on our way in and is being cautious to keep her attacks away from the doorway." Ylva said without so much as slowing her pace as we came upon the door.

As she opened it, it seemed like we had stepped into a makeshift arena. Tall ceilings, no windows, and chairs and equipment everywhere, and right in the middle of the room, Nelle was standing there glowing in a magical aura that she was able to manipulate and somehow send shots at Maya, who was either dodging them or deflecting them? With lightning?! What the hell was going on here?

The girls continued training for a couple more moments before coming over to where Ylva and I were standing. 

"Well, I can see that you've had a more than productive day," I said crossing my arms over my chest with a smile.

"I told you, I want to get them out tonight. This power that Nelle helped me not only manifest but is helping me train so that I'm at least able to use it will be a big help." Maya said, bouncing from side to side with her excitement. "It's also cool as s**t! Did you see what I just did?" She asked now full-on jumping up and down.

"Yea, that was amazing! You can use lightning, which is very greek god-like," I said laughing.

"It's not just lightning, she can basically make and manipulate the weather indoors or outdoors." Nelle said as an explanation, "We think her power, once properly trained, will be infinitely more powerful outside, where she can use the natural weather patterns to boost her own creations." 

"That is most impressive Maya, and you seem to be handling the training that Nelle is putting you through very well. She's a more powerful witch than I originally thought, which is a very welcome surprise. I'm happy she's on our side." Ylva said with a kind smile.

"Fen has agreed to a team of six including myself, and then you and Nelle for the mission tonight. We don't know exactly where the beast is, I'm guessing once we leave he'll sense something and we'll walk into a trap of some sort of its making, but we don't have any other option. We're getting those wolves back tonight and we're gonna do it without casualties. Everyone comes back tonight." I said looking both Nelle and Maya in the eyes. They needed to understand that there was no margin for error in this.

"We were about to go and grab something to eat and rest for a bit before calling those on the mission into the boardroom to brief them of the mission. I'm entrusting you to choose the team Quinn, you've trained with the enforcers so you know them the best and who would have the best chemistry for this mission. Nelle and I were gonna go and grab supplies for the team on our way to the meeting. I've already spoken to the kitchens and they'll serve us dinner during the briefing so that we aren't running on empty. Everyone will have an hour afterward to prepare and be at the vans to go." Maya said with a determined look. 

My face must've revealed a bit of my shock because she smiled at me and said, "I've been thinking about this since yesterday Quinn. I know that I may still need time to prepare, but those wolves don't have that time. They need us, and we're going to get them." She said simply.

"I'm with you all the way Maya, you can do this. That determination that you have now will help us get them out and back home where they belong. Go have your lunch and I'll see you in the boardroom with your team at six-thirty." I said with a nod before taking my leave. I had a team to assemble.