Chen, Beta of Howl Pack

Julius POV

I always know the situation is serious when Natasha doesn't do the meeting on the porch but demands for all of us to sit in the packhouse library, not in the Alpha's study, which we don't have. I think in an original project of the packhouse the study was supposed to happen but didn't. I think Natasha made there her private gym. She likes her porch, she always deals with everything from her porch, unless the situation is serious, or more likely demands discretion.

That's why we are all here in the library, we mean my uncle, Chen, Natasha and Alyssa, the pack doctor, and me along with the Head Tracker, and Chen is the one speaking:

"All the dead rogues come from the direction of the west, trackers and I checked and it looks like they were following someone but then they were lured into the trap. They tracked their target to the clearing when the shooter was already waiting. He knew what he was doing and was good in it, two of the rogues died during the run so..." he lets his words sink in us "Based on the traces they were chasing two werewolves but no more bodies were found, and we lost the trace, but Head Tracker is sure that one of them is an omega. And two cars. It happened not so close to our territory. We only manage to find them because Julius likes walking such big distances in his wolf form."

"They all but two died from bullets, silver bullets no less no more." Alyssa starts "One was shot but killed because of a knife in his throat, and one only because of the knife, but by the state of his teeth I'm sure he at least got a bite of their killer or killers. A clean kill, all of them, the shooter was very accurate."

"Alright," Natasha says "Have you checked the bullets?"

My uncle nods and says:

"We have them in our records, Nightingale clan"

I gulp, Nightingales were wiped out 10 years ago, they were the most vicious hunter clan that has ever existed. The blood they spilled could fill a lake I am sure of it. And now this!

"I think we can safely presume that it's the same person with our guards, especially that once again an omega is involved," Chen says and Natasha stands up from her place obviously irked.

"What in this story actually makes sense? Omegas are rarely rogues, or more likely never. Why would a hunter from the Nightingale clan appear so suddenly, and why would he kill the rogues but not our guards? And for Goddess's sake, what possibly can a hunter and omega be doing together? What the fuck makes any sense here!"

For a long moment, there is silence because our Alpha is right, nothing in this story makes any sense.

"For now we will maintain additional patrols, but strengthen each unit. Better safe than sorry, pack members are forbidden for leaving Howl's territory alone, always at least two," Natasha says sternly, and we all nods.

The meeting is over.

I move my wheelchair into the dining room where Danny is working on his wall painting. For now, he is only sketching, after all, he has worked on it since yesterday, but he looks so happy and calm during his work. So beautiful... Fuck, I should stop, he is happily mated to my cousin and I don't have any feelings and I will never have, that part of me is dead since so long ago.

"Hey Julius, have you finished your important talking?" he asks noticing me.

"Yes, but without any good conclusion."

"Are there any problems in a pack?" He asks looking at me with these beautiful eyes.

"Not yet but recently some strange things are happening, don't worry you are safe," I blink at him and he smiles.

I look around at all his sketches spread around, I know that they are just unfinished pieces but still, they are good. Danny is very talented, nobody can deny it. Then I spot something, it's a half-finished drawing of the women in his opened sketchbook. She is not very pretty, but there is a sensation of calmness that comes from it, a strange feeling of longing maybe? I reach to take it into my hand and Danny is watching me.

"Who is it?" I ask, I just know that that person is real or was real.

"That's my mother, my biological mother, her name was Nina," Danny says sadly but also with a hint of longing. I'm sure he missed her very much." She died when I was 12, she had cancer."

"I'm sorry to hear it," I say because honestly, I don't know what else to say, I'm not good at things like that, I suck when it comes to cheering anybody up. Danny smiles sadly still focusing on the picture.

"She was the one who taught me how to draw, she was really good at it."

"Maybe you inherited your gift from her unless your father was also into drawing," I say trying to make it sound funny but Danny's face becomes darker.

"My father wasn't much into anything. He was a cruel brute and nothing more. He used to beat the shit out of me for two years after mum's death, being almost always drunk."

"How did he die?" I ask clenching my fist, the thought that someone touched Danny infuriates me.

"There was a fire and he was too drunk to run fast enough. I don't regret it and I don't care about him, although my shrink used to say that my emotions weren't that easy," Danny spits, clearly unhappy "I hate him, I hate him for what he did and for what he allowed to be done."

I feel the weight of this conversation, it's actually the first time Danny talks with me about something not good. He talks a lot about Black Moon and his adoptive family, and what is clear is that he was very loved and happy there. Actually, I already classified him as one of this lucky guy who had a normal, not very tough experience in life. But this makes it clear that he too had his demons. I move the page in his sketchbook taking the look at different drawings, Danny doesn't protest he seems focused one more time on the dining room's wall.

Suddenly there is a picture that catches my attention, and not because it is a nice picture, but because it gives the vibes of terror. It's a man without eyes, a big one and covered in scars, but I spot the picture of the same man also on other pieces of paper in this sketchbook. And all of them make me feel uneasy.

"Danny, is it your father?" I ask him gently, I don't feel like prying into his life, I'm just concerned.

"No," he glances at the paper and instantly turns his eyes to another way. "That is Jordan, but I don't want to talk about him. Can we not?"

I move a little closer and put my hand on his arm squeezing it a little.

"Of course, Danny. Would you like to go out tomorrow? Chen and I are going to the bar, maybe you would like to come with us?"

Danny POV

I try not to stare too much at Julius during our ride into the city, he and Chen are talking about a recent attack and it's another reason for me to worry, I guess the odds are not in my favor, but the fact that someone from Nightingale clan is so near freaks me out. I really thought everybody is gone, the past is the past. Even though I wasn't from the main family, I still...

"You okay Danny?" Julius asks and I nod trying to smile.

Julius is another problem, or more likely his wolf is another problem. 

I keep being the witness to the situation when Drake is wandering around the house or the territory without Julius knowing. Just a week after I noticed it for the first time, I woke in the middle of the night because of my nightmares and went to take some fresh air. Drake suddenly emerged from Julius' room and start scenting me like crazy, at first I was petrified but it was so good, so relaxing I didn't want him to ever stop. I had interaction with wolves from my family but nothing felt so calming not even Brandon's wolf. I later spent half an hour in the shower, somehow I didn't want Brandon to know about this, no matter what.

Barely a couple of days later I ended up with Drake in the woods. I was once again on the house's porch during the night when the wolf just left the house and start walking in the direction of the forest, and I got curious and followed him. He was not only walking very slowly but also kept checking if I was all the time after him. He didn't take me far, yet far enough for me not to know a way back, and yet not even for a moment a felt unsafe.

Drake suddenly stepped out of the forest to the clearing with the cliff and waterfall, where he just laid down and started whimpering. I didn't hesitate for even a moment but just wrapped my arms around him and he shifted, and he shifted into Julius who was still sleeping. I let him lie on my lap and I was gently moving my fingers in his hair. I didn't try to wake him up, I was scared of what could happen. After some time he shifted again and Drake lead me back home. No one at home noticed anything including Julius.

And yesterday I woke up in my bedroom with Drake sitting on the floor as if he was watching me. Brandon was sleeping next to me totally unaware of what was happening. And Drake was only watching, I was scared as hell about what could happen if Brandon woke up, thank Goddess he didn't.

And I'm scared to tell anybody about it because I'm scared of putting Julius in any trouble, he hasn't had any connection with his wolf for years, and now it turned out that they function in one body as some kind of dual personality not being aware of each other. I have never met with a situation like that, my previous Alpha once explained to me the process of going feral, which ultimately happens to rogues.

According to him being exiled breaks the connection with the pack which is essential for a wolf to feel relaxed and safe. Additionally to that rogues live in constant danger, moving around, day by day fighting to stay alive. The level of stress is constantly high which depending on how mentally strong is the particular rogue, leads to becoming feral, which means a served connection between a man and a wolf. The feral werewolf will always stay in their wolf form, their instincts will always push them to attack and kill and very quickly they will die because of exhaustion.

But that's not what I observe with Julius, Drake isn't feral or getting feral that's for sure. But I have no idea what else can be the reason and I'm scared to say anything to Natasha because I don't know her well enough to be sure what she would do with this information. And Julius and Trist are now my family and I mean to keep them safe, apparently by keeping silent. It seems it's the best I can do no matter what.

I kept silent about my father, I kept silent about Jordan, and now I'm keeping silent about Brandon.

Maybe I like interactions with Drake so much because I rarely have an occasion to interact with Bruce. I miss Bruce, I felt safe with him, but recently don't feel him that often not only because Brandon is rarely home, but even when he is IBurce seems distant, not like before. 

Honestly, I sometimes wonder if before ever existed, if ever was a time when I wasn't scared of my own mate. I know there was, back in my pack when we had met for the first time when everything was supposed to be different. I instinctively touch my bruised thigh, yesterday during the dinner with Alpha my mate was squeezing it so hard during the whole meal I wonder how the hell I managed not to hiss in pain. I am probably good at enduring, after all, what can't be cured must be endured.

The car stops and I notice that Julius is looking at me, I wonder for how long?

We step in front of the bar, which I would say is quite nice looking. From what I was told the person who owns it is called Mae and she was mated to one of the wolves from Howl Pack. But Julius was definitely trying to give as few details as possible when he told me about her. So I presume that it's not nice history, I've already noticed that Julius has a tendency to sugarcoat me and I wonder why, since he doesn't sugarcoat anybody in general.

The cold wind engulfs us as we enter, it's already May but still, it's quite cold this year.

Chen pushes Julius inside screaming:

"Here comes the party!!!"

"Party my ass, I don't intend to clean after you!" the over-fifty years old woman says to us.

Her face is full of wrinkles and her hair is almost grey and yet her eyes are still young, although right now they look more like slits. She seems to try to intimidate us and my companions play her game pretending to be scared for life. Which makes me smile, there is some kind of warmth coming from her, like from a good grandma who will always help you but won't hesitate to smack your ass if you deserve it.

"And this is?" she asks looking at me.

"Hello my name is Danny, I moved here a couple of weeks ago," I say coming closer, we shake hands and Chen says:

"His Brandon's other half."

She offers us drinks and we gladly accept and indulge ourselves in friendly chit-chat. Julius jokes a lot, he seems very relaxed and I'm happy with that. We are in human lands, close to the pack but still human lands. Even if Mae knows about werewolves we can openly talk about it, so we talk about football, Chen's wife destroying another coffee machine, and what Trist and Chen's children have recently on their consciousness. I start feeling little dropsy when someone comes from upstairs saying hello to everyone and being greeted by everyone.

"Hey Terry, I haven't seen you in ages," Julius says "Come and meet Danny he has recently moved in with my cousin."

I raise my eyes and I have to blink a couple of times to make sure I'm not hallucinating. In front of me is standing the man I haven't seen in 10 years, Terry Nightingale one of the leaders of the Nightingale clan, my clan, one of the most merciless but effective hunters that have ever walked on this earth.