Faust

It's been over two months since Adolphos was sent to find his sister, and still no news. I've been back from my own mission for a couple days now, the leads and trails going cold. The Rogue has either gone to ground or managed to go beyond my reach. Searching for him did bear fruit though, as I was able to uncover a plot from one of the human groups hell bent on wiping us out. Was completely by accident that we crossed paths, and it was due to them being unprepared that I'm probably still alive.

Bad news just keeps compounding. It had taken weeks to finally decide to turn back, then over a week longer to lose the humans to make sure I didn't lead them back here. While I'm sure they know of the place, the exact location isn't known. It doesn't show on any maps and we've been careful about keeping everything covered if possible. The only thing that's commonly recorded to be here is a park ranger's station.

That partially explains the air field and a couple of the towers easily enough, everything else gets camouflaged to hide it better. Solar energy helps as well as the multiple water wells we have access to that keep us self-sustaining. A lot of money goes into these communities for a reason. The humans can try, but we won't just roll over and die because they feel threatened.

Laying on my bed with an arm over my face, I move it to look over at a table holding a stack of files I'd grabbed yesterday before coming in and passing out. I'd dreamt about her again last night. About the time she'd found me by the waterfall in Grotto Falls and joined me in a small hunt. It had been years since I let myself relax enough to do something like that with another.

Even those in Midnight Fang, we may be in a Pack, but we're royalty, there's that rivalry there that causes that mistrust. We guard each other's backs, sure, but there's also competition. Rivalry. Succession. There's a pecking order even among royals and they're just as cutthroat.

But with Wynter, I was able to ease myself. It took some time before I could see that, and I'd injured her, but she just seemed to take it in stride. Frowning, I look at the files. Markus had given me the names I asked for before I'd left and I'd written them down, but I couldn't do anything about them when I got back to the house as Dante had let me know my time was up and I had to go.

I thought about giving them to him to look into, but I wasn't sure just what I wanted done at that time yet. I've had plenty of time to go over the possibilities, none of them good. While attending the school with the others in efforts to get to know them, I'd learned that I didn't care for most of them. Granted, I don't tend to mingle with others much anyway, but Mythine and her crew just really put a bad taste in my mouth.

Aside from those of us who are born with markings proclaiming our place in the world, no one's status is set in stone. Just because Leilan and Markus were born to an Alpha pair, does not mean they will for sure be Alpha material when they're grown. They can try to inherit the position from their parents if they step down or some kind of bargain is made, but otherwise, there will be contenders.

From observing the dynamics of Kristos and how he ran things compared to Fen and Messina, Markus could probably inherit because he has the respect of his Pack. A bargain could be struck between he and his father for the old man to step down in a few years or so if the younger male proves himself ready and able. As long as no contenders fight him and their Betas agree to the succession, then it's a peaceful regime change.

Leilan on the other hand, would have to contend with other males in his Pack. Not just those who're older, but those in his age group. Especially those, from what I saw. While his parents are still in their prime and able to lead, if he were to attempt to push his claim, they could either beat him down or simply state that he's unfit, which he obviously is. He doesn't hold the right attitude to lead, and others have seen that.

If I overheard correctly when getting a rundown of things from Dante when I returned of how things were going, the boy did finally finish his survival training, but just barely. The title of 'Alpha-in-training' has been suspended from him until his times have improved drastically. Pretty sure the blow to the ego upon hearing that was daunting, to say the least. But the slight silver lining to that is at least now he doesn't have to worry about Mythine hounding him.

That was one of the possibilities I'd thought of as to why her group had split; her constant acting as if she were queen bee had finally backfired. If she was spreading around that she was close to the young Alphas and potentially coupling with one of them, then of course others would bend over backwards to win favor with her. To go by what her mother had said when I spoke with them, she'd been under the impression I would call on Mythine, so if that group of males had realized early on that she was full of shit...

I grunt as I roll upwards, cracking my back as I stretch with the movement. Taking a shower to wake myself up and wash away memories that're haunting me, my eyes are closed as I scrub myself, but then have to open them due to all I can see are a pair of dark blue eyes staring at me. My heart races and my body reacts.

The girl was always dressing down, wearing things that didn't quite fit right or weren't very flattering, but she didn't seem to care, more worried about other things. More important stuff like the friends around her or her studies. She never wore makeup, hell, she didn't need it. And I could follow her by her scent alone.

I did follow her. That night of the full moon. When she'd returned to the others, I'd trailed after her at a safe distance to make sure she made it back alright and she didn't get ambushed. I watched as she dove into the water to wash off any lingering traces of my scent. While it annoyed me at the time, she had made a promise. She had kept it.

Water cascades over me as my eyes close once more, my hands moving over my marked skin before trailing down to rub fingertips over the mark I was born with. A runt, yet she stood up to me after learning who I was. She was scared, yet I'd annoyed her so much she came right up to me. I can't help but smile as I recall it. The fire in her eyes.

It also has another part of me taking notice, so I reach to clutch myself, sending a shudder down my spine. The whole time I was near Mythine, she was constantly rubbing on me somewhere. She'd managed to arouse my body with her clearly talented hands, right there in the middle of the school. Probably would have taken it further if I'd let her.

One of her heavy petting sessions, I'd caught Wynter looking over for a brief moment. Don't think she'd meant for our eyes to meet, but they had. She'd hid her expression for the most part, casting out disgust instead, but that wasn't what her eyes read. It intrigued me even more and was enough to kill the heat that Myth was trying to rise.

The shower going cold jogs me out of my memories, causing me to finish up quickly. I'll find her again, even if it takes years to do so. Hopefully it won't, but I have a feeling she'll be worth the wait. I've never wanted to claim someone for my own, and I'm still not sure if that's what this is, and I won't know until I find her again.

~*~

Couple hours later sees me heading towards the training grounds. I'd gone through the files of all the males in the splinter group. Seems to be head by a 'Jay Thornson', who's shown surprising progress in his training. The others are doing well, but he has them beat by quite a bit.

Most of the wolves have figured out their duties while a sporadic count are still in hardcore training. While they live here it will be an everyday thing, but depending on their talents will determine just what their lives will be like. Some have really taken to it, while a few pretty much live on the outlying farms due to their lack of discipline.

Once I get inside I seek out to find if any of the trainers are free and luckily enough find a few. Not like I have to worry about people slacking off when it's not like we're working a slave camp here, no matter what the others think. I talk with them for a while to see how things are going, not just with them but with how things are going as a whole. While I don't have the lofty dreams my brother does of running everything, I still feel responsible for the lives of everyone here.

When the reason I'm actually there gets brought up, I ask after the specific individuals who I'd been researching. I already know their backgrounds, so now it's more current information I'm after. Are they still grouped up and avoiding Mythine? Or have they reconciled? One of the men shakes his head.

"Nah. After word got around that the girl and her family were in hot water, only a few seemed to have stuck around her. None of the Grotto Falls wolves have at all. Most of them had drifted apart from her once they got here anyway. I won't go so far as to say she's a pariah, but something seems to have gone through their ranks to collectively shun her."

My brows furrow. If we were in a normal situation, that might be call for some amusement, but in a place like this, where the two Packs are supposed to be getting along, dissension among them can lead to much worse.

"Does anyone know what happened?"

One of the other men nods, popping chips into his mouth.

"Yeah. Apparently the Grotto Falls' young Alpha had made it known that whoever associated with her could cut all ties with him completely."

The others look over to him with various shocked expressions while I blink at him. So, Markus had made his line in the sand essentially. It also goes to show that all of his Pack stands with him, at least on minor things.

"Are they treating all the Lunar Soul wolves that way or?"

"Nope, just her."

I breathe out a sigh of relief, then have to work at hiding my smirk as I think about it. The girl is essentially getting a taste of her own medicine. She's getting the same treatment that she and her Pack have given to her sibling for years.

"Oh, speaking of that family, that reminds me. Hang on."

Giving the man a look, he leaves the room for a few minutes while the others continue chatting, bringing up my latest mission and how it went. They get briefed by my brother in meetings, so now they're just looking for extra details. I've found the best way to make them happy is to basically word things differently than my brother. They aren't stupid by any means, they get it the first go around, but different words will sometimes make a different impact.

While they stew over what I share, the one who left returns with a clipboard with a file attached to it. Clipboard is one of those that has the atypical clip on the front, but doubles as an enclosed case, able to hold up to some hundred files/papers and a few pens within it, not to mention the odd paperclip assortment. Most of the trainers have at least one that they keep their regular paperwork in. I do as well, probably in my room somewhere.

Walking up to me and around the others who're talking amongst themselves, he opens it to show a picture of a male clipped to the pages within. A strong looking young man, his brown eyes are direct as he stares out of the shot. The images aren't posed for, most get taken without the owner's knowledge specifically so they look as natural as possible. The male in the photo is taller, probably around six foot four, and thickly muscled. Blinking up at the one who brought it to me, he flips to a different page and points at it.

I glance over it quickly, then slow down before taking it from the top again, before finally taking the file from him completely. It's a leave of absence form much like the one that'd been given to Adolphos, Wynter's brother, but this one isn't signed with his name. Signed at the bottom is the name 'Jay Thornson' and dated nearly three weeks ago.

A streak of jealousy goes through me, the likes of which I've never felt before. I have to beat it down when feeling my teeth sharpen against my tongue. It also registers the others have gone quiet and are looking over at me. I don't think I made any outward noises, but when the trainer had started talking, I couldn't hold a slight growl back.

"He'd heard that Adolphos had gotten sent out. He'd already shown promise in his tracking skills, but he stayed longer until acquiring a higher score. Once that was done he'd applied for the request to go on the search as well, saying that if her brother couldn't find her, her boyfriend should."

My head snaps around to face him and he takes a step back, even lowers his eyes, but I can see his hackles rise. Swallowing my anger down with more effort than it should have taken, I breathe deeply. I don't know what I'm filled more with; anger or surprise, but I think overall shock wins out.

"What do you mean boyfriend?"

I manage to keep my voice level and without holding the threat level my body is betraying, the others shifting about and eyeing us nervously. The man swallows and raises his gaze back to mine before he shrugs, looking back down to the papers in the file as he flips through them before finding a specific one. Just seems to be random to me, but it's something for him to focus on, so I let it go.

"It was the reason he gave on wanting to go. Had pictures of her on his phone and everything. Though from the looks of the girl, I wouldn't have pegged her as being into BDSM."

My brain isn't quite wrapping around his words or something as I'm just left blinking at him in confusion. Were we even still talking about the same girl? We couldn't possibly. Though from the guy's expression, even he looks slightly disturbed. When I motion for him to continue, he waffles his hands.

"He had his phone with him one day, was looking through pictures when I'd come up behind him. Hadn't meant to snoop, I'd just happened to glance down before he realized I was there and before he exited out of the program. He's apparently good with a whip, though he did a number on her. Not sure why she stays with him, unless she's one of those who likes pain."

"What did she look like?"

I keep telling myself it wasn't Wynter, that it couldn't be, but dread is steadily filling my gut. The trainer shrugs as he glances up, closing the file in his hands as he thinks it over.

"If it's the same girl from the picture he'd been looking at previously...really pale, light blond, dark eyes..."

"When was it you said he left?"

"About three weeks ago now."

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✰ \(‾▿‾\) 𝔇𝔬𝔫'𝔱 𝔣𝔬𝔯𝔤𝔢𝔱 𝔱𝔬 𝔳𝔬𝔱𝔢 (/‾▿‾)/ ✰