Chapter 5

Cali

“Cali, we have to go back,” Lyra whined for the one hundredth time since I had run out of the library as fast as I could. “He was our mate,”

I put up a block to shut Lyra up so I could think. When Harlow didn’t meet me this morning, I went to the library, assuming she had lost track of time, and walked into an ambush. Two older women and an older man were already waiting with crystals. I could tell the women were hybrids and they could sense my power. So they knew when to place the crystals to trap me. I wasn’t even sure if I could get out, to be honest, but it looks like they underestimated me. When I took my cloak down and smelled my mate, I panicked and ran. I’m not sure why it just seemed a bit too convenient. I’ve been looking for my family and pack my whole life, then in two minutes I find my parents, brother, pack and my mate all in one room where coincidentally Harlow, the only person in the pack that I know and trust, didn't turn up to the meeting. All I could think of was the coven, and all they had told me about the pack, so I ran and now all I can think about is Brett and my mate. I keep trying to conjure a picture of Brett from when I was little to compare to the man I met today. It could be a trick and I know that, but I know the Alpha was my mate. I felt it and Lyra felt it. All I keep picturing is his face when I stepped back from his touch. He looked hurt and that couldn’t have been faked. I didn’t stop running until I reached the coven. Eighteen minutes, that’s all it took. Is it possible that my family has been alive and only eighteen minutes away from me this whole time? As I stomped up the stairs, I heard Kat and Maggie in the kitchen. I froze when I heard Harlow’s name lowering the mind block. “Lyra, did you hear that?”

“Walk as quietly as you can and see if you can hear more.”

I tiptoed towards the kitchen, holding my breath, but I could sense that they knew I was close as they changed the subject before I entered.

“Who’s Harlow?” I asked as breezily as I could, opening the refrigerator for orange juice.

“What?” Maggie asked, although I didn’t miss the worried glance between her and Kat.

“You were talking about someone called Harlow,”

“We didn’t mention anyone called Harlow and you shouldn’t be eavesdropping.” Kat snapped.

“Werewolf remember,” I smiled sweetly, knowing it would annoy Kat. “I have great hearing,”

“We don’t know what you’re talking about,” Kat snapped again, stomping out of the kitchen, with Maggie quickly trailing after her.

“I don’t like this,” Lyra told me. “Harlow didn’t meet us this morning and now they are talking about her.”

“Me either, Lyra, what should we do?”

“We need to go back to the pack and tell our mate.”

“Lyra,” I hissed. “Now is not the time.”

“He’s the Alpha, which means he’s Harlow’s brother. We have to tell him about Harlow and figure out what to do.”

I couldn’t reply as I knew she was right, but I didn’t want to speak to him yet, not until I spoke to a Harlow at least.

“We have to, though. For Harlow,” Lyra told me. I hated she was right, and I also hated that I could never have a thought that was my own. Lyra rolled her eyes at that and told me to hurry, so I decided for once to listen to her and go speak to my mate. I wasn’t sure what to do if Brett was there or my parents, as I still wasn’t sure if I believed it, but I would deal with all that once I knew Harlow was safe.

This time I didn’t cloak myself as I entered the pack. No one stopped me or even approached me, even though I knew there were guards posted all along the entrance which led me to believe they had been told to let me through so I wasn’t surprised by the welcoming committee waiting for me outside the pack house.

“Karina,” a man stepped forward, one that wasn’t in the library earlier, but by how he’s gripping on to the woman claiming to be my mother, he must be my father. I stared at his face, trying to remember, but I couldn’t. Since Harlow had brought up the theory of my family being alive, I had assumed that if I met my family, I would just know. There would just be some cosmic connection and I would immediately know without a doubt, but standing in front of these strangers, I feel nothing but their sadness.

“Let’s go to my office.” Callan said quietly, and it sounded to me like he was holding himself back. 

No one said a word on the way up the stairs, but each one of them kept glancing back to make sure I was following them. I was careful not to meet their eyes as I tried to sort through my emotions. Instead, I looked around the pack house, seeing nearly everyone was staring at me, some older members with their mouth hanging open.

“What do you expect?” Lyra snapped. “Long-lost daughter returns and is the future Luna. Headline writes itself.”

“Luna.” I gasped. “Lyra, I hadn't even thought of that.”

We stepped into the office, but no one sat down. We all stood around helplessly, staring at each other.

“Karina,” my mother started.

“Cali,” I told her firmly.

“Your name is Karina. Cali was a nickname I gave you.” My brother spoke as he sat down on the couch. “Do you remember anything before you were taken?”

“Bits,” I admitted, staring at the floor, urging the tears not to fall. “I’m not sure what’s a memory and what I made up over the years. I had a dream the other night of my brother.” I stopped and looked at Brett, who nodded for me to continue. So I told them about the dream and when I finished, Brett was still nodding, but I could see the tears falling down his face.

“That was me. The friend that picked you up,” Callan said.

I nodded because I didn’t know what else to say. I could barely look at Callan, as the hurt in his eyes was almost too much to handle. Seeing him upset made me want to reach out and console him but I didn’t know if it was my place, I didn’t really know much about the mate bond as the witches claimed not to know anything, so everything I know is from the limited textbooks I had read at the local library and I’m not sure how much was true and how much was based on fiction. Harlow. I needed to concentrate on Harlow and once she was safe, I could work out my feelings for everything else. “Has anyone seen Harlow today?” I asked, clearing my throat and shaking my head to clear it of any other thoughts. “I’m worried that she didn’t meet me this morning and when I went back to the coven, I heard them mention her name, although they denied it when I asked.”

“She snuck out last night, but I assumed she was going to meet her boyfriend. He’s human.” Callan said. “But no one has seen her today.” His eyes glazed over as he checked with his people that no one has seen her today. He shook his head.

His mom started wailing while his dad held her in his arms.

“Okay, do you know where we can find her boyfriend?” I asked, waiting for either Callan or Brett to nod. “Do you have access to herbs and roots for spells?” I asked my mom. When she nodded, I took a piece of paper from Callan’s desk and wrote down the ingredients I would need before passing it back to my mom. “Get these herbs and meet us in the library.” I turned to face Callan and Brett, who gave the impression that neither one wanted to let me out of their sight. “Let’s go see the boyfriend and if she’s not there, we can try a spell to link our thoughts.”

“You can do that,” my mom whispered, sharing a look with Harlow’s mom, who shook her head slightly.

“Yes,” I replied, walking out the door, not bothering to check if the boys were following. The three of us broke into a run until we hit the next town, then we slowed as we walked to the restaurant where Harlow’s boyfriend worked.

“Do you two have powers?” I blurted out.

“Not active powers.” Callan said. “We can do spells, but active powers are only passed down the female line like you and Harlow.”

“There’s a prophecy.” Brett said quietly, eyeing me.

“The witches told me about the prophecy, but now I don’t know if what they told me is true.” It was obvious now that the witches had kidnapped and lied to me my whole life.

“Do you know much about werewolves and our history?” Brett asked, looking between me and Callan, who I was having a hard time not throwing myself at, made harder by Lyra’s constant encouragement. Callan had his jaw set hard and his fists balled every time I spoke or looked at him.

“That’s him, I think.” Callan pointed out a tall, young, good-looking guy. I recognised him from the first night I met Harlow. “I don’t know his name.”

“It’s Andrew.” I told them as I walked over and grabbed his attention. “Hey Andrew, I’m a friend of Harlow’s. This is my brother and Harlow’s brother. Do you know where she is?” I asked quickly.

He looked at the boys behind me, his eyes widening at the size of the boys compared to him, and he wasn’t exactly small. “I haven’t seen her today. She met me last night for two minutes, said she had to go meet a friend.”

“What friend? Was it Cali?” I asked, though I knew in my heart it would have been me she was coming to see.

“I don’t know. She just said she had good news for her friend and couldn’t wait until the morning. Is she ok?” He bit his lip nervously, and I instinctively put my hand on his shoulder to comfort him when Callan let out a growl that caused Andrew to jump away from me. I gave him a sympathetic smile before glaring at Callan. Lyra says it’s expected of a mate, especially an Alpha, to be so overprotective and jealous. Once we thanked Andrew and assured him Harlow was okay, we walked back to the library.

As luck would have it, my mom and Harlow’s mom, Vanessa I think, had everything ready for me.

As I started mixing the herbs, I could feel everyone’s eyes on me as I tried my best to ignore them. 

“Do you know that’s black magic?” my mom asked.

I stopped what I was doing and looked up at her. “Do you know the difference between good magic and dark magic?” She asked, almost in a whisper.

I shook my head. “Does it matter if it helps us find Harlow?”

“We don’t mess with dark magic Karina,” she said firmly. Venessa was biting her lip as she looked between us, torn between not wanting to use black magic and wanting to use any means necessary to find her daughter.

“Then you can leave,” I snapped, warmth shooting through my body. “Harlow is the one person I actually trust here, and I’m going to do whatever I can to get her back.”

The temperature in the room was unbearably hot and getting hotter. Callan stepped closer to me, close enough that I could feel the heat from his body, but not too close that we were actually touching. Within seconds, I felt calmer, and the temperature went back to normal. It took me a second to realise that the heat had come from me and my anger. My mom spotted my confused expression and studied me with a tilted head. “It’s the mate bond. You feel calm when your mate is near you.” She told me, tipping her head towards Callan. He knew I was getting angry and tried to calm me. Apparently something that his mere presence can bring. “You don’t know much about mates or werewolves, do you?” She continued.

“No, the witches cared little for my werewolf side.”

“You’re home now, so we can teach you.” My mom looked giddy at the thought and I had to bite my tongue because I wasn’t sure where home was anymore.

“Can we focus on Harlow and sort everything else out later?”

“Karina,”

“Cali,” I snapped, not caring what my name used to be. As far as I’m concerned it has always been Cali. I have no memory of being called Karina. “Look, when I woke up this morning I had no family and the only real friend I had in the world was Harlow and in the space of ten minutes I find out I have parents, a brother, and a mate and have lost Harlow. I can’t deal with this until I find Harlow, so I’m going to do this spell here or I can go home and do it, but believe me when I say it will be happening.”

“Please” Vanessa stepped forward and took my hand. “We’ll be quiet,” she looked at my mom and if I had to guess they were mind linking. Vanessa squeezed my hand before leading the parents over to the seating area, leaving me with Callan and Brett.

“Are you ok?” Callan asked.

“I’ll find your sister.” I promised him, looking him directly in the eye. He didn’t answer, just nodded with a big beautiful smile that almost took my breath away before he turned and followed our parents.

Brett stepped forward, chuckling to himself, obviously noticing my reaction to Callan. “Good luck Cali, you can do this,” he encouraged.

Once he had walked away and they were all seated, I sat on the floor cross-legged with the herbs in front of me. I lit the sage and took a deep breath, trying to clear my mind and focus on Harlow. Truth be told, I had only done this spell once and Maggie was in the same room as me when I entered her mind. Obviously this would be harder when I did not know where Harlow was and everyone staring at me like I’m a fish at the aquarium didn’t help but I would not give up, so I tuned them all out and concentrated. I thought it was never going to work and just as I was ready to give up and try something else; I reached her.