Chapter 9

“You fool!” I hissed. “What if you got hurt! Huh? What are you going to do then?”

“Look, I didn’t.” Ray raised up his hand in defense.

“You’re my Beta! I can’t just have you go dying on me!”

“Calm down, Tila. Nothing happened. We should hurry up and get our package. You can scold me later.”

“He’s right you know.” Jaz voice cut through, snapping me out of my angry rant.

“Fine.” I got on my knees and rummaged through the downed guards. My hands found the stack of keys inside his inner pocket. “Watch my back.”

Ray nodded. He turned his back against me and looked outwards, keeping eye for any trouble.

I quickly unlocked the door and entered into the room. It was a dimly lit room with crates of variety of boxes stack up on top of each other. Heavy smell of piss and moldy moss could be smell throughout the room. I gagged in a short breath.From that short breath, I smelt something strange. It wasn’t the smell of a human, a wolf, or vampire, but completely different. It was a bit hard to explain. Not only that, I could feel Seline stirring up in my mind.

Tila? Seline softly spoke. She sounded a lot better than she was the last time I heard from her. It has been over six years since she last spoke, since the time when both of us turned into a True Alpha. The amount of power that came with being an Alpha had caused Seline to go into shock, making her go unconscious. It took her a lot longer time to heal and strengthen herself up, before she could deal with the power that I had. For her to wake up now, meant that the process was over.

You’re awake. Welcome back Seline. I missed your snappy attitude.

Seline chuckled. I know you did.

I couldn’t help but hold back a emerging smile. You know there were a lot of things that I needed your help in, but you weren’t there.

I know. I’m sorry. I wasn’t strong enough to stay awake.

It’s alright. I’m just glad that you’re still there.

It seems you missed me a lot more than I thought. I should do this more often. Compared to you when I first met you, you seem to have grown.

I rolled my eyes. I have always had a mature state of mind. You on the other hand didn’t.

Seline chuckled. If you say so. Then she suddenly stopped and turned serious. I smell something strange.

Same. Do you know what it is?

No, but I believe you should be careful.

I know. I will.

I knew what she exactly meant. Creeping up towards the smell, I came upon a little girl looking completely feral. Her blond hair was a mess, her clothes dirty, and she smelled like piss. Her eyes were flickering between a snake eye and a human. There was some kind of glimmer around her that seem to hide her true self. The change was very faint, but I could tell that there was something powerful about her making me very nervous.

The girl hissed at me and glared. I couldn’t help but frown at how poorly they were treating her. My hands quickly pulled out the keys, and fumbled with the lock for a moment, before I unlocked it.

“Samantha.” I cooed, hoping to calm her. “I’m here to take you out of here and take you home.”

Samantha didn’t seem to believe me completely at what I have just said. Instead, she scooted back into the cage even deeper.

“We’re taking you to Yellowstone National Park Samantha.”When I stated those words, Samantha eyes brighten. .

“You need to go now!” Jaz spoke quickly through the comm. “There a twenty werewolves coming in hot!”

I cursed. “Hold them back as long as you can.”

“Roger.”

With worried expression, Samantha could tell that something was wrong. Her body stiffen, and she seem to hunch into a ball, trying to get smaller. Hurriedly I reached in and grabbed her. Startled, she let out a yelp and struggled. I know I was being a little too rough, but there weren’t much time to wait for her to become acquainted to me. My hands wrapped around her body, I picked her up into my and throw her over my shoulder.

“Calm down. We need to leave now. The bad guys are coming.”

Samantha froze and turned her head towards me in surprise.

“I told you, I’ll get you out of this mess and I mean it.”

With a slow nod, Samantha stopped struggling against me and instead wrapped her hands around my neck. The smell of piss was excruciatingly strong. I staggered a little before I could get my barrings. Finally, I bolted out the door with her in tow.

Ray followed behind me quickly, we turned sharply to the right and sped towards the nearest exit.Till we ran into the werewolves that Jaz spoke of through the comm.

Gunshots fired towards us. We both scampered out of harm’s way and dodged into the nearest room. Bullets whizzed past my shoulder, grazing my skin. A thin red line formed where the bullet passed by, a shock of pain course through my body as angry welts and large burns started to spread.

“Their using Silver!” I shouted towards Ray that was hidden behind a door frame. The worst bane to werewolves kind were Silver and wolf’s bane. It left behind ugly welts, scars, and even can kill us if we’re not careful. Not only that, it seems that the Black Wolf Pack somehow knew that we would be here for them to use such expensive bullets.

“I got this! I’ll follow you from behind and get her out of here!” A loud static could be heard before Jaz voice became clear through the comm.

Suddenly I heard the window break and saw three of the werewolves fall down dead. I knew exactly then who sniped through the window. A smile erupted on my face at how amazing Jaz was at sniping. She was our best in our whole pack, making her a deadly force to be reckon with.

I ran and jumped through the window, breaking it all in one go. Ray followed behind, covering our back. Gunshots went off at each other, each of his shot hit his mark perfectly. He as well was an expert gunman. Even though he wasn’t amazing as sniping like Jaz, but for close quarter, he always got either a perfect headshot or body shot.

You got yourself into quite a trouble. Seline spoke.

I know. It’s something I wish I hadn’t taken up.

Why didn’t you then?

Stolen story; please report.

I couldn’t. Our pack lives would be in danger.

Ah, I see.

I recommend you to flash through my memories, while you catch up. I don’t have time to chat with you.

Alright.

My past six memories spilled over towards Seline. I quickly focused back to what was at hand. We snaked through the back alley, jumping over fences while dodging bullets. Jaz took care of any that got to close to us till we were to far away for her to cover our back.

I slipped through the building in our designated location for a quick change of clothes. We barged into the run down building, pulled out the duffle bag hidden away in the corner of a broken hole, and wrestled out clothes that I had stashed away inside the bag. I even made sure to have a couple of kids clothes to change for Samantha. Staying in the same clothes were more of a liability towards us right this moment. The chance of them looking for us through the clothes description could get us found out a lot more quicker. Plus the stink on her clothes were making my eyes water and my nose hurt.

Ray slinked through and closed the door behind me and noticed me changing. Partially naked with only a bra and a silky black panty, I threw him his clothes for him to change. He took a quick sweep, and gave me a devious smirk.

“As always you have quite a stunning body.”

“No time for compliments.” I pulled up a blue jeans and put on a black tank top.

Samantha was silently wrestling with her clothes as well, when I finished with mine I came over to help her. Quickly pulling out a can of hairspray, I started to change the color of  hair into black as best as I could. They were still some speckled gold that shone through the black paint. I went over it one last time, till I was satisfied.

Ray was ready to go, he had on a gray zip up hoodie and a black pants with sneakers. His hands quickly reloaded the remaining empty mags with more bullets. He slipped them into his pocket, on the inside his clothes, and any other areas that he could carry.

I on the other hand wrapped a large dagger around my left leg and on the other a small compact gun unloaded. With that finished, I slipped on a high concealed boots that covered up to my legs. Then my hand grabbed a shoulder holster out from the duffle bag, and quickly put it on. A black Glock was put into left, while two fully loaded mags were positioned on my left. Finally I took the leather jacket and put it on over all my gears, covering the hidden weapon.

Ray scooped up the tousled up clothes, and placed them all into a plastic bag. He slowly opened the door, and peeked out. I was on high alert, waiting for any new gun shots to ring throughout the city floor. He motioned me forward, I scooped up Samantha once again and carefully followed Ray.

Our steps were hurried and with a purpose. We needed to get out of here without causing up more trouble. Ray took a sharp right, where we slunk into the dark alleyway and into tight spaces. I could smell the horrid smell of trash and sewage smacking into my nose. For a couple of moments, I gagged. There is one thing that I hate about city and it was the sewage and trash smell that seems to overwhelm my senses at times, especially in places where it haven’t been moved for a very long time. .

“Alpha. We got trouble.” Jaz spoke through the comm worriedly.

“What is it?”

Ray threw the bag of clothes into the garbage dump.

“There to many of the Black Wolf Pack crawling around where we are situated. We have to change our locations to plan B.”

“Roger that. I’ll see you near the docks.”

“Yes mamn.” Jaz cut off leaving us alone.

“Plan B? Are you sure this is a good idea? That’s a couple mile walk from here. Every second could possibly get us caught.”

“Look Ray. We been through worse, plus this is our city. We know our way around.”

“I know, but still. I don’t like this at all. The city is crawling with Black Wolf Pack and we just made an enemy with the number one strongest pack in the world!”

I snorted. “Are you that afraid? Did you forget we have made quite a few powerful allies, especially Velvet Rose Clan? This is his mission that he gave us, meaning that Adam will not forsake us that easily.”

“How are you so sure? Vampires are fickle.” Ray grumbled. We power walked across the street past high number of people that came out during the night. “You can’t trust a blood sucker, Tila.”

“I’ll trust this one Ray. He owes me a favor.”

“I thought you owe him?”

Chuckling, I gave him a sly smile. “That’s what he thinks and he knows it.”

Ray shook his head and gave up speaking any more about the mission. Instead he turned towards me, motioning me to hand over Samantha. “Here let me hold her, you’re going to tire out faster than me.”

I nodded. Even though I was an Alpha of my pack, my endurance wasn’t endless. Male werewolves usually had a higher endurance rate than females, though compared to speed and power. I top all the other wolves effortlessly without putting much effort.

Samantha was handed towards Ray, she immediately attached herself on him like glue. I noticed then that compared to when she’s with me, she seem a bit more at eased with him. I felt a tinge of jealously, but it was quickly squandered in seconds. There were no time for me to worry about such trivial thoughts and our escape was essential.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw a yellow taxi cab heading towards us. I ran up to the curb, flagging it down. With a loud squeal the car stopped in front of me, and I hurriedly opened the door.

“Navy Piers, please.”

Ray and Samantha followed in after. Samantha sat in-between us, while Ray sat on her other side. The car jerked forward, leaving behind a trail of smoke. Luckily for us, they weren’t much traffic going this late at night. We breezed through the road without much trouble, till we finally arrived to Navy Pier’s.

Bright lights decorated the Navy Pier’s dock. The ferris wheel blinked with multiple colors, lights danced with vigor, welcoming all new people into is carnival like buildings. From the left were a large malls interwoven with with merry-go-rounds and other different attractions. Children and adults were out, enjoying the nightlife.

We didn’t have time to enjoy the beautiful setting and instead hurried through the densely packed groups of people. Steadying my breathe, I snaked my arms around Ray’s arm. This was one reason why I liked having Ray around, he was a great cover up for being either a boyfriend or a married couple. Right now I was going for a married couple.

“Snug in a little closer,” said Ray. He then snickered. “I like the feeling of your chest on my arms.”

My hands raised up and smacked him on his head.

“Hey, it’s a man thing.” He whined. Samantha giggled cutely, causing Ray to smirk.

“Smile and be happy.” My lips were giving him a fake smile as my eyes bore through him like knives. “Any more and I’m going to make sure your don’t feel anything on your arm ever again.”

“Come on babe. You know you like it.”

I rolled my eyes. He really have a knack of pushing my buttons, especially whenever he willingly joke around using the word babe, love, or baby.

“No thanks. Stay sharp Ray. Today is not the night.”

“I know. I know. I just wanted to see you smile during this dangerous mission. You’re always serious. No time to laugh, play, or even joke around. You need to find your mate Jaz and I really mean it.”

I choked up. What the heck is he talking about? Seriously? When we’re being chased, he suddenly bring out the mate topic? My face contorted and gave him the most oddest look I can ever give him in my life.

“What?! It’s true. Your whole life changes when you find your mate. You become a little less serious, you enjoy life, and you have a place where you really belong. Plus you won’t throw yourself into this dangerous mission that we’re in right now. You’ll finally value your life for once.”

For a moment, I felt stung by his words.

“I’ll be fine.”

“No, you need a mate.” He strongly encouraged.

Ray was a hopeless romantic. I know he’ll be the type to commit hundred percent to his mate if he found his. It was a given, the way he sang about it like an annoying bird whenever he got the chance with me. Yes, he would go around searching, sleeping around, and having fun, but that doesn’t make him a horrible person.

He’s the type that needs a lot of physical contact. Every chance he get, he would literally place his hands on my shoulder, give me a hug, or even snuggle next to me like a lost dog. I didn’t mind at all, honestly it was welcoming to feel loved in a family way.

Did I ever think about dating him? Absolutely not. He’s too close to feeling as family than any other things that it made it very difficult to see him as anything else. Ray was my right hand man, a Beta, that guided me and helped me lead the pack. He loves the pack just as much as I do and I knew he could get the job done.

“I don’t need a Mate, Ray. It sounds like a comical pull of emotions that make you look like a fool. Not only that it’s against one’s will and I’m not about letting a mate pull to rule me.”

Ray snorted at my words and shook his head. His hair spilled over to his die, covering a bit of his eyes. “You don’t understand Tila. It’s a completion of one’s soul. Something you won’t understand until you go through with it.”

I sighed. There was no point in arguing with him when he gets thick headed with the thought of love. “Fine. I don’t know anything much about mates, but did you find yours? If you didn’t how would you know?”

“I just do.”

“Okay, let’s say you do know what’s it’s like. Just don’t ever reject your mate.”

“Why would I ever do that?” Ray was flabbergasted in what I had just stated.

“Because there are some werewolves out there that would.”

Ray breath in a sharp intake. “There mad. I tell you. Anyone who wants to forsake their love ones need to get there brain check. I wouldn’t dare do something that crazy.”

My arms unconsciously tugged him tighter. “There are others out there who would think so otherwise.” With a whisper, my voice disappeared into the wind.

Just thinking about that idiot of an Alpha made me frown deeper. Kimberly Li might have disappeared or worse died, because of shattered heart. Thinking about it made me hate that stupid Alpha all over again.

“Like I said there stupid.” Ray nodded and he turned towards me. His eyes gazed worriedly at me, trying to figure out why I had said that.