Natalia’s P. O. V

After the door was closed behind me, I ran off before Hailey had a chance to change her mind.

There were no errands to run, but I did think it was a good idea to pop in on the Syrens. Even if their invisible bodyguards would probably pass on the message of my return just fine.

Relaxing at the familiar sensation, I walked into Super Banking.

“Good evening, Natalia.” Melody greeted, “How was your trip? I trust it was productive.”

I smiled, “Yes, it was. Is Mrs. Burton in?”

“Of course. She’s been waiting for you.”

“Thanks.” I waved, then started down the hallway and towards Mrs. Burton’s office.

“Come in!” She called at my knock.

I opened the door, walking into her office.

“Welcome back, Natalia. How was your trip?”

I waved, then moved over to the glass box with the flame, “It was productive, but I’m sure you already have all the details on it.”

“Yes, I do. The guards almost had to intervene on several occasions.” She reprimanded lightly, shaking her head, “I hope these perilous trips of yours don’t become a habit.”

“Oh, they will.”

She looked up sharply, “I beg your pardon?”

I moved over to the next box, fascinated with the mini blizzard trapped inside, “These perilous trips have a purpose. I’ll probably leave the city at least five or six times a year.”

“With all due respect, Your Highness,” She began, and I noted her switch to formality, “till we can fully assess the state of Syrenlina, you are the only sure anchor for our world and we need you to be safe.”

I took a seat, matching her gaze with all the seriousness my incoming request demanded, “I understand that, Mrs. Burton, I really do. And I know how important my life is to our safety. But there are things I have to do before I can settle in one place. If I don’t do this, I may never be at peace to rule.”

I leaned back and gestured to myself, “Besides, we’ve already figured out that I’m a Werewolf, not a Syren. I doubt I’ll be in much danger. The only dangerous things that happened on the journey were the accident and the fight afterwards. I’m sure Hailey knows to drive more carefully now and the guy we fought with returned with us.”

“That was just this time. It’s not even completely safe here. Your mother’s house is within the safe zone but the city is full of humans. And where humans are, there are bound to be vampires. It’s already dangerous enough for you to live here, now you’re saying you’re going to be going on dangerous excursions so far outside our safe zones regularly?”

“When will I be expected to take the throne? Next year?”

She blinked, “That’s actually something I wanted to inform you of today. Initially, you were to assume partial rule after a year of attending the School for Syrens and continue your education while in power. However, most of the High Court agreed that it would be best for you to graduate with the rest of your peers in three years then go through a year of leadership training afterwards. You were raised as a Werewolf, but we need a Syren Queen.”

The change was in my favour, four years was enough, “I just need anonymity and relative freedom of movement for those four years. I’ll be able to accomplish my goal then you’ll never have to worry about me. I’ll learn to be a Syren in everything but biology and take the throne, and all the responsibilities that come with it. I just need to be free to do what I need to do before that.”

She sighed, caressing the plant on her desk as she thought.

“The guards must accompany you for protection.” She stated.

“Naturally.”

Some more silence, till she finally conceded, “I’ll hold the Court off for you as much as I can till you become Queen.”

Relief flooded me and I smiled, grateful I wouldn’t need to run from the Syrens, “Thank you so much, Mrs. Burton. I pinky promise not to die.”

She shook her head, stifling a laugh, “I’ll definitely hold you to that.”

“Of course.” I grinned, “If there’s no more news, I have one more question before I should get going.”

“There’s nothing else, so ask away.”

“This bank, is it legitimate in the human world?”

She nodded, “It is. We provide services for some other Supernaturals but it’s legitimate for even humans to use.”

“Who else do you help?”

She cocked her head, remembering, “Besides our species, we mostly get Psychics, Enchanters, Vampire Hunters, Fae, Sirens, Seers, and the occasional Witch as customers. Others come here too, but the ones I mentioned are the majority.”

“So you could help Werewolves too?”

“They’re rarely in the city, but they won’t be turned away if they come here. The only species we don’t help is Vampires, for obvious reasons.”

I could bring Timothy and any future Pack members here, “I may be coming here with Werewolf customers from time to time, and a few may come on their own but call me Arielle or Avarielle if asked who referred them. I’d really appreciate it if you help them, but nobody here can let on to the fact that I’m related to a Syren, much less that I’m the next in line.”

“Of course, this bank was set up by the Syrens, so it’s basically yours. We’ll attend to anyone you bring to us and I’ll get Melody and Gaiana to be discreet.”

I smiled, getting up from the seat, “Thank you, Mrs Burton. You can call if you need me to come by.”

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She moved to stand but I gestured for her to remain seated, “Have a good evening, Natalia. And please stay safe.”

I waved, “Always. Bye, Mrs Burton.”

Once I left the comfort of the building, it wasn’t long till I was turning a corner and walking towards my house.

I found Hailey putting her shoes on by the door.

“Hey, Ari!” She greeted, almost too cheerful, “Since you’re home, I’m gonna return the car and watch Lance lose his mind in front of his boss. You said to get Tim settled, so he’s set up in the room opposite yours. Call me if you need me to pick anything up on my way, but you just ran some errands so I guess you don’t need me to do anything. In that case, I’ll be going now, see ya!”

“Okay…” I said to the closed door after she’d breezed through it.

‘Someone’s in a hurry.’ Candy mused.

I took my shoes off and locked the door, deciding to head to my shower, ‘Yeah… it’s none of my business, but I wanted to give them the opportunity to talk or something without anyone around. I’d hoped it wouldn’t end with something like this.’

‘Well, there’s nothing more you can do but be there if she wants to talk.’

‘Yeah, I know.’

At that, she switched topics, ‘You seemed a lot more comfortable with your title back with Mrs. Burton.’

I shrugged, closing my room door behind me, ‘Timothy was right. Whether as a Werewolf or as a Syren, I’m gonna be a leader and I need to start learning how to deal with that incoming reality. I can’t let my pack or the Syrens down.’

‘That’s a lot to take on alone, Nat.’

She wasn’t wrong, ‘If I can cater to a building of over two hundred hateful bastards for years, I can learn how handle this. Plus, we’re learning to trust, remember? Hailey, Kaesha and Timothy can help out with the pack, and Mrs. Burton has my back with the Syrens.’

She paused, seeming to think over her next words, ‘I know you feel like you need to do this, but… are you sure you have to go through with your revenge? Kirstin could snitch on you, Timothy could sell you out for mercy, or something could just go horribly wrong with the plan. The Lightwood Pack will have zero issues with killing you if they find out that you’re not only alive, but trying to take them down. You heard Mrs Burton, you’re their last sure anchor. Is your revenge really worth risking the safety of every Syren in Syrenlina?’

‘Don’t make me question this, Candy. Do you really think I could blissfully live my life, knowing they’re out there? That they’re living and breeding and squashing anything even remotely good that they touch? No matter what goes wrong, I’ll never let them have the satisfaction of killing me. I’ll even promise to retreat if things go south, but I will not sit back and do nothing after everything they’ve done.’

She sighed, ‘So, you just promise not to die?’

I nodded, ‘I promise.’

‘Then what about a mate?’

I paused, hand on the shower knob, ‘What about a mate?’

‘You promise not to die, but with all that’s gonna be going on in your life, when will you find time to get a mate? No matter what you think, you know we need one.’ She insisted softly.

I took a breath, forcing myself to ease my grip on the knob and turn it. I suppressed a gasp as the cold water hit me like pellets, before quickly warming up to a more comfortable temperature.

‘We have four years, Candy. Four years to wipe the Lightwood Pack out. An unmated, rejected werewolf lives a bit over five years. That gives us a year. I’ll get us a mate in that time, we’re not going to die. But I need to deal with them first.’

I’d always found that particular trait unreasonable. Of all things, why death to the rejected? I had enough to deal with and the thought of needing some guy just for me to live made me want to kick something. Nobody’s sex was worth such importance.

And, even if I found someone who didn’t make me want to dump them in the ocean, I couldn’t force a heart with this much hatred to love anyone. And I refused to mate with anyone I didn’t love.

‘A year is plenty of time.’ She conceded, ‘I know how you are, Nat. I know you hate the idea of it all, but it needs to be done and I need to hear you say you’ll do it.’

‘I won’t let us die from the rejection.’

‘Thank you.’

The rest of my shower was completed in silence. Once I was done and dressed, I made my way to the library.

For the next few hours, I immersed myself in plotting. I set dates for pack visits, marking the trajectory on a map with a string of yarn and colour coordinated pins. I combed the WolfNet for other packs and details for creating my own.

I was typing up a report from what I remembered of my conversation with Kirstin when Timothy walked in.

He raised a brow at the map, “So this is where the mad genius happens.”

“I’m just preparing.” I shrugged, “There’s still so much to do and I just want to see what we have before us.”

He skimmed over the hastily half-filled copy of the pack creation application on the desk then picked up the paper that held my scribbled pack name ideas, “I can see that.”

“That isn’t really important yet, I was just brainstorming names. Creating our pack is in Phase Two.”

“Phase Two? So what’s in Phase One?”

I pointed at the map, “Visiting the remaining twenty packs from the Lightwood’s previous target list. Seventeen from the original list don’t exist anymore and we’ve already been to one. And we need to acquire the property and other requirements for our future pack.”

From what I’d read, a pack couldn’t be created without proof of funds, a certain number of werewolves’ signatures willing to join, an Alpha or Beta born wolf, and evidence of owning wooded land or land situated near a nationally protected forest. The specifics of packs’ leadership were protected to prevent Rogues from using the information if they ever got their hands on it, so no one would know I was the Alpha till we wanted them to.

Timothy regarded me for a while and glanced over the papers.

“Something’s changed.” He stated.

I shrugged, “We have four years to get all this done. It’s best to have a timeline we can follow.”

“Where did this deadline come from?”

“College. I don’t want to drag Hailey and Kaesha along for this ride into the world after they graduate. Besides, do you really want to leave those assholes running around, wreaking havoc, for any longer than absolutely necessary.”

He frowned at the thought, “Fine. But where do I fit into your scheming?”

“You’re already playing the role of our spokesperson-” I started

“Figurehead.” He quipped

“Same difference.” I shot back, “You’re the face they’ll take more seriously so you’re the face they’ll see. But, besides that, I know you won’t want to stay here forever, so we’ll need to set you up in the city once you’ve acclimated. If you don’t want to go to college, that’ll mean you getting a job.”

“I can handle that myself.”

“I know. But I’m offering to help if you need anything, at least till you get on your feet here. I found a bank you’ll be able to open an account in without all the human documents required, so it’s a good start.”

He scoffed, “I’m pretty sure I don’t need you to hold my hand and take me anywhere.”

“Fine, I won’t hold your hand.” I scribbled the address on a free paper and handed it to him, “The place is called Super Banking. Just tell them Avarielle sent you and they’ll help. You can go whenever you want and I’m sure you can find your way there all by yourself. No map, no directions, and no phone. Speaking of which, I’m sure you can get one by yourself too.”

He scowled at me and I returned his gaze.

Eventually, he groaned, “Fine! I’ll ask someone to take me to get phone tomorrow, then you can direct me to this Super Banking place. Happy?”

I grinned, “A little.”

He shook his head and retreated, “I’m turning in for the night, I’ve had more than enough socialising for today.”

“Good night!” I called.

I laughed at his responding grunt.

Once he was gone, I returned to my planning.