Her two weeks ultimatum was soon coming to an end and they still hadn't found her mother. Catori sat on the swing, dejected. This was like the fifth pack that they were visiting yet there were no clues as to how to find her mother. From what she could tell, something must have happened to Liam's party, because Fenris was constantly on the phone with them but refused to let her in on what was wrong. She had not heard from Kasa and Kurt for days. Catori gripped the swing tight and cried.
For days, she had been holding in the tears for fear of looking and feeling weak. Finally, she let them flow.
"You know, you shouldn't be out here alone," she heard Amar say from behind her. She didn't bother turning around, the other woman sat beside her on the ground.
"Tell me, what's the problem?" the other woman asked. "Something must have made you cry." She offered some of her snacks to Catori, who declined. When she noticed that Catori was no
Fenris was pacing the entire area of the room briskly. "You'll get dizzy if you go on like this," Zayna said with worry. "If you want to think so badly, why don't you do that while sitting?""This whole situation is frustrating, Zayna!" he yelled. "We're already having problems with finding Catori's mother. Not one group has been able to accomplish the job. Each time it feels like we're actually getting somewhere, we just end up at a dead end and now, we have a potential kidnapper, or worse, a hunter." He sat down by the side of the bed, dejected and worn out. Upon the older lady's nudging, Catori shifted towards him and nervously held his hand, then speedily shifted to his shoulder."Um, it's alright Fenris," she started. "I know that you guys are doing your best.""It's not just the job, Catori," he said gently. "This occurrence is disturbing. It could be a regular person trying to cause trouble but you don't just kidn
Liam sighed when Mrs Maxwell finished her explanation of the recent happenings. From the look of things, the situation was worse than they predicted. Cassarina's forehead creased. "Do you think Kurt or Kasa know about this?" she asked him.He shook his head. "I can't say for Kasa, but I don't think that Kurt is aware of this," he replied."And Kasa is a sweet girl. She won't be party to such a thing," Mrs Maxwell vouched. "Moreover, their father is all for male superiority so he will never consider giving his daughter the position.""I see," the young man said. He looked at her in a somber manner. "Sorry that you had to quit from the council ma'am."She smiled brightly. "It's alright dear, I should have left those dogs a long time ago," she said.Cassarina glanced at the wall clock and realized that it was almost one in the morning. She panicked. "You need to get going," she said
The redhead was stunned. "Why?" she asked. "And if that was the case from the beginning, why didn't you tell me that and just let me stay there this morning?" She frowned at him, obviously irritated but as usual, Fenris showed that he couldn't care less."You and Amar needed to get new clothes," he said coolly. "That's why it was important you came out with him.""Um yeah, about that," Zayna said nervously. "Catori, from now on, I'm a guy. Just use those pronouns on me, even if you think your voice is low enough.""Okay," the other girl said."Anyway, for now, our movement is uncertain because we have absolutely no clue on where to start from," Fenris said and sighed.What kind of job is this? he said in thought, totally frustrated.I agree, this is not normal at all, his wolf concurred. How can this girl's mother just disappear off the face of the earth?
"Catori will be joining our new campaign guys," Mr Dalton said with so much enthusiasm, the redhead had to wonder if he was just a teenager in the body of an adult. "The color campaign?" the Kasa lookalike asked. "Yes dear," he replied. He then turned to Catori. "Why don't you all get to know her? I need to attend to some things now." At this suggestion, Catori's eyes went wide. They almost popped out of their sockets. Her insides shivered. The blonde girl looked at her like she had better things than spend a second with an animal like her. "Okay," one of the boys said. To Catori's absolute horror, the old man left these people with her. The boys were about Fenris' height and even the girls were taller than her. The blonde girl girl scowled at her and left. The others followed behind her. Not knowing what to do, Catori followed behind them. Soon, she fell in step with one of the boys, he was the only who managed to
Zayna stuffed her hands into her deep pockets. She and Fenris walked in silence, but she could not but worry about Catori, whom they left in the hands of a complete stranger. "Are you sure your girl will be alright?" she asked him with worry evident on her face."Catori will be fine," he grunted. "What you should focus on is the job ahead. And in case you have not noticed, there is nothing between the girl and me.""What a story," Zayna sniggered.Catori was marveled at the beauty of the fashion house. It was a storey building just at a bend on that street. When they entered the lobby, there were so many people moving around at once, it almost made her dizzy. "This is where you will be working from now on, miss," Mr Dalton said enthusiastically. They got to the nearest elevator. "I am very excited that you will be joining our campaign. I think you will get along just fine with the others."
Kelvin and Erica watched Catori wolf down her second hamburger. They were seated at the far corner of a random restaurant they found a few blocks from the agency. "I'm scared that she might explode any time soon," Erica whispered.Kelvin chuckled. He addressed Catori. "You really have an appetite, don't you," he said. He played with his piece of chicken.Erica took a spoon of her salad. "No offense but do you always eat like this?" she asked Catori."How do you mean?" the other girl asked from the other ride of the round table.Erica nervously cleared her throat. "I know that this is none of my business and I should not judge the way you eat or anything, but I just haven't really seen anyone eat more than one hamburger before," she said. "And you finished it in a matter of like two minutes!""Oh," Catori said, understanding where the other girl was going. "Well, I eat to fi
"You really came here to show off?" Max said as he cleaned his hands with a towel."No we didn't," Kelvin countered. "We just came to see if the girls are done.""Which translates into showing off," Max said and laughed."Cassie is not here?" Alex asked."Nope. I don't know what is wrong with that girl. This is becoming a habit for her," Max complained."Maybe she got caught up with something urgent?" Catori said. Everyone turned to her like she was the newest mad woman in town. She was even surprised at herself for defending the same person who seemed to be a promising bully."It's surprising that you are making excuses for her," Alex said, giving her a strange look. Catori shrugged her shoulders."Your photoshoot is in like forty five minutes I think. Please try to get me when Miss Indispensable gets here," Max said as he turned to leav
Catori stared at the ripped extension of her gown and Cassie's shoe that was stepping on it. "Oops," the other girl said with a mischievous smile. "I must have stepped on you." Max rushed to the scene and put his hands on his head in despair."What is the meaning of this, Cassie?" Alex said in anger."Why would you do that?" Kelvin fired.The blonde girl put her hands up in mock surrender. "Eish it was an accident. I did not mean it," she said."Whether or not you meant to do it doesn't matter," Max said bitterly. "What is she going to wear now?""Just get her something regular or better still, don't let her come with us," Cassie said. "She obviously carries bad luck with her."Catori's jaw ticked. She turned to Max. "Is the tear very visible?" she asked."I don't know what to say about it," he replied quietly."Let m
Catori surveyed nothing in particular from the edge of the hill. She could hear the birds chirping. They sounded so sweet. The air was so refreshing to breathe in.After the war, all the members of the council were either sacked or decided to resign on their own. Mrs Maxwell was appointed a high member of the council. At first, she was the only member. She singlehandedly conducted the Alpha's test on Catori and her brother. It had been decided that since another child of Luna Dakota was found, then it would only be fair to give him a chance at being alpha as well. Naturally, Liam failed. Kurt had become the new zeta of their pack. Cassarina became the beta.For the first time in a while, North Lotus was in perfect peace. She turned in the direction she came from.As she entered the busy town, she spotted a family honey skinned man with black hair. He was with a little boy who was about a year old on his neck. He pecked h
A blonde lady suddenly jumped in front of her enemy to shield him. She looked exactly like him and Kurt.'She must be the sister that Kurt talked about,' she said in thought."Get out of my way," she growled but Kasa wasn't ready to budge. Beta Calian saw this as a golden opportunity. He was up and away in a matter of seconds away from them. She wanted to go after him but on second thoughts, she decided to let him be for the time being and check out what was wrong with the blonde girl in front of her. She looked disheveled."Who are you?" Kasa asked in a shaking voice.Catori stepped back and closed her eyes tight. She felt the fur on her body grow out to the ground. She felt her red hair fall on her shoulders and her bones clicked back and she was no longer standing on all fours."Catori?" Kasa called in a confused tone."So I was right. You do k
Catori's knees made forced contact with the floor. Kurt landed on her right side and her father was thrown to her left. There were sniggers from among those vipers. There was clapping and mock praise at the round table."Well, well, well, Catori Dolphus is finally home. It seems like you came at the right time," Zeta Ahmik Black said and laughed.Catori stared at him, trying to fix his face but to no avail."Don't let them know that you can't remember them," Arthur whispered as quietly as he could.Beta Calian raised a palm and there was silence. He stood up from his seat at the round table and went to stand before the prisoners. He glared at Kurt, who glared back."So you even had the face to show up here," he said to his sun. His expression depicted anger and disappointment. Kurt didn't reply, to which Arthur gave a sigh of relief."So to the re
"So it's best for us to enter through this South border, actually. This is the less guarded area," Kurt explained to them. "If we go in successfully and stay put for a little while, we can gather some information first and know how to plan our moves."The others listened to him with interest. As a member of the elite warrior scouts, it made sense to have him give them the directions. Arthur listened to him as his mind slowly mapped out a method of attack. He nodded in agreement with the Hemming boy. Kurt trained well."That's good. I like your logic. Just as he said, we shouldn't barge in there. It has been a while since we were here. As much as Cassarina and Mrs Maxwell left just a few days ago, anything could have happened within that time," Arthur said. "We should steal into the pack. The problem now is when we can do that and where we will stay while we gather this info we need.""We also have to consider how we will
The two women walked silently on the bushy path. Zayna carried their medium sized luggage while Catori walked beside her empty-handed. "Are you sure that you don't want my help?" Catori asked after a while. She didn't feel comfortable letting Zayna carry all the luggage though they were in a duffel bag. The other woman, clad in black jeans and a black tee shirt, just like Tori, replied with a "No," for the upteenth time since they set out. "I don't know why you keep fussing over a baby that isn't even well developed yet. Just let me help you," Catori said. "Tori, all the help I need from you right now is for you to walk with me and keep quiet. We don't want to draw any unwanted attention to ourselves," Zayna replied. "And please, save your energy because I can bet you on anything that we might soon get attacked." Choosing to heed the Ghost Reaper's words, Catori kept her mou
Catori paced around in the room while Zayna watched her, to understand where the extra agitation was coming from.Tori stopped suddenly. "Hey Amar, I've got a question for you," she said."Shoot.""Are you a male or a female?" she asked.Her question was rather amusing to Zayna. "Why do you ask?""Well, you sound like a female at times and although you look like a male and actually sound like one most of the time, I can't help but think that you're a female," she said."Impressive," Zayna drawled. "Well, you got me then. I'm a woman.""How come you like to disguise yourself then?" Catori asked her as she dragged the chair in the room and sat down."Sorry but your friends think I'm a man. I just need to be on the safe side," Zayna replied in her real voice."Tell me about my
Catori stood at the window in silence. It had been over week since she had come to stay with Kelvin's family. They had been so welcoming right from the start, especially when his mother heard that she was pregnant. Catori desperately wanted to remember what her boyfriend looked like but come what may, she just could not. Amar had come to see her every single day since the day that she was discharged from the hospital.'I wonder why my boyfriend hasn't come to see me. What if we broke up before I found out about our baby?' she continued to ask herself. No matter how many times she asked Amar, there was never any concrete answer.There was a knock on the door and Erica let herself in before Catori could give her the permission to. "Hey. How are you feeling today?" Erica asked her."I think I'm getting better. I vaguely remember who you are now," Catori said. She was unsure of what she just said but all the same, ther
Kasa stumbled on a stone as she ran for her life. The rumbling of the earth showed that the guards were closing in on her. She was nearing the beginning of the hill. Left with no option, she climbed and it seemed like the moon goddess chose to smile on her, as she came across a small cave which she hid in. She heard the guards getting closer and went further into the cave, hoping with all her might that they would not catch her scent. If they did, then she was done for. She tried to catch her breath and stop the panting of her lungs.So your dad actually decided to do away with you, her wolf said.‘Please, this is not the time to tell me how you predicted this,’ Kasa said.No, I'm not trying to make you feel guilty. Even I am shocked that he would decide to go that far, said her wolf.Kasa's tears touched the floor of the cave, making tiny splattering sounds in the process. She snif
Beta Calian paced around his office in circular motions. "I should not have let that old woman go. There was definitely something off about her being alright with leaving. I should have known that she would escape with that girl," he kept on muttering."So what makes you think that realizing your mistake and going after them will change anything?" Zeta Ahmik while he took a sip out of his cup of tea."Why are you so less concerned? You should be the one to be fuming about this, not me!" the Beta screamed."Tell me, why should I kill myself over the fact that your plan did not work when I'm not even the one who made the plan?" Zeta Ahmik asked him calmly.Beta Calian was stunned. "Are you serious right now? Black, you were solidly behind me this whole time and all of a sudden, just the operation isn't going according to plan, you think it is a great idea to pin the blame on me?" Beta Calian asked.