The Hidden Dagger

Walking up the stairs to my apartment with ten bags of groceries is always crappy. The elevator has not worked the entire time I have lived here. They haven't fixed it or gotten the elevator part. Whatever seems to be the problem it's annoying. I set a couple of bags on the floor to grab my keys from the pocket of my jacket. Finally finding them, I grab the bags after unlocking the door and pushing it wide open and walk in. Shutting the door closed with my foot and walking into the living room to get to the kitchen, I nearly jump out of my skin.

"Liliana goddess sake!" Liliana has been my best friend for a long time. Her parents took me in after I had found my parents dead in a tree. "It's about time you got home Celia" Liliana chirps. I put the groceries away quickly and go sit on the couch. " What's new? How's your ma and pa!" I ask handing her a can of soda and glass full of ice. " One it's our ma and pa" she lectures me "Two you need to pack everything, so I am here to help! " She smiles and pours the soda into the glass she put on the coffee table. I look at her with a confused look on my face "Why do I need to pack? We have a couple of months left here" I ask not sure if I want the answers. "We have to go back," she says softly, and her face saddens. "It's no longer safe here. Alpha Tomland found rogues heading this way to the city." She says still looking sad. Rogues are wolves who have been banned from the pack, left on their own, or their mates died. I jump off the couch in an almost panic. "Then I should pack right now. And if you can help that would be great. We can leave by nightfall." I say rushing to the closest that I have kept boxes for emergencies like this. We spend at least most of the day packing, and talking about why the rogues are heading to the city. "They are coming for a girl. I guess she has some sort of power?" Liliana explains to me. We get everything of mine into the unmarked moving truck our pack had sent. Liliana got it earlier in the day. We take a break to order some pizza. "Cel do we have to go home?" Chai my wolf says. "Chai we do. There are rogues this way and we have to get home. I love you and we will be okay" I tell her. She whined in my head. "Cel it's time to go, love," Liliana says. I look at her. " what about the pizza?" I ask her. I set my keys on the counter and a note from the landlord saying how he was the best and I am sorry I didn't get a chance to say goodbye. I lock the door and hurriedly get to the truck. We leave our vehicles behind to make it seem like we are still there to throw off the rogues when they come. We start the long trip home and eventually, I fall asleep. "Sweet dreams Cel. I love you" Chai whispers. She retreats to the back of my mind, lays down herself, and falls asleep. A little while later Liliana wakes me up. "Celia we are almost to pack border," she says softly. She gently shakes me to make sure I am awake. "How far are we from the border?" I ask her "Would you like me to take over so that you can get some rest?" I stretch in my seat. " We are about an hour and a half out from the border. If we stop now, we have to be quick just in case there are rogues around" she responds. "Stop the truck and let's quickly switch seats so we don't have to get out." I say. "Alright but let's hurry. Who knows who is out here and what is out here." She speaks. Liliana comes to a stop, and we quickly and successfully switch seats and I get us back on the road. I look in the mirrors to see around us. And I look closely at what looks to be a wolf. " I think we were spotted but I can't be sure," I tell her. I look back and the wolf is gone. "Chai did you see that wolf," I ask. " yes, and he smells of our pack," she says confused. Chia has been with me since I was 17 and, we have discovered some things about her. Like her being able to smell another wolf for a few miles longer than Liliana's wolf Livia can. And I can see far better, and I am stronger as well. Liliana drifts off to sleep and I get us close enough to the border after a little while. "Lil we are coming to the border" I shake her gently and wake her up. She yawns and stretches. "Alright well, I think it's time to switch back seats. They'll be expecting me to drive since nobody knows except Ma and Pa that you drive. Well save that surprise for later" she grins proudly. We switch back seats and Liliana starts driving again, I look in the mirror behind us and spot that wolf from earlier. "Did the alpha send someone to make sure we get home safely?" I blurt out. Lil looks in the mirror and spots the wolf. "That looks like Jackett, Jason's wolf. He excelled in his warrior training and is the head warrior now." She explains. We stop when we get to the border and greet the warriors at the gate. Our pack Silver Falls Lake has multiple traps and techniques to keep out rogues and unwanted visitors. We have a false gate, so it looks like the main border and makes the territory seem bigger. We feel what feels like a rubber band snapping into place, and our connection to the pack is back in place. "Welcome back ladies. That was a quick trip home. I wasn't expecting tomorrow. Go ahead and we'll meet in my office with Malik." Alpha Tomland's mind links us. "Yes sir," I say back. We pull up a few minutes later. ''he's here! He's here!" Chai says. ''who?" I ask her. "Our mate," she says. I roll my eyes. This wolf thinks everyone is her mate that she thinks smells good. " Would you stop rolling your eyes? Damn, girl we just got home, and your already frustrated with it?" Liliana says. I look at her with my mouth open. 'This girl must be out of her mind if she thinks I got an attitude already' I think to myself. " I was rolling my eyes at the bitch in my head." I tell her with a smirk. " Hey! You're not nice. I'll put you in timeout" Chai growls at me. I giggle at her knowing she won't do anything. We walk through the packhouse and up to the Alpha office. We bow our heads and sit down in a chair. We suddenly hear a growl. I glance over at Malik. " Mate! mate! it's our mate" Chai jumps around in my mind. "Malik is our mate?" I ask her. "Yes!! Isn't he dreamy!" She replies excitedly. I roll my eyes at her again. " Sis I am not feeling it with him." I tell her honestly. " What do you mean you can't feel anything for him," she asked me concerned. "Talk to the Alpha later" she continues. "Should I be worried?" I ask "Yes you should be worried. If you can't feel the mate bond, then we need to figure out what is going on with us or you. I can sense he is our mate but I can't feel the mate bond." She explains. "Celia? You okay there hun?" Alpha Tomland asks me. "Umm.. if I can may we speak in private after this?" I glance over at Liliana and Malik nervously. "We can" Tomland replies. Tomland was one of the best alpha's around. He was fierce and didn't back down while in a battle. He was hard on us to train so nothing happened. We start our training as young as five so we can defend ourselves at any moment. But he was also the gentlest person. He was there for his people in need and was always around if you needed an ear just so you could be heard. I've heard stories that he is even the one who is there for every birth. His Mate Tonya is the same way. They take turns with the pack members while the other deals with the paperwork. I glance back over at Malik who looks like he is having a hard time staying put. " Celia I know you know we are mates, why are you sitting there" He mind links me. " Don't be alarmed but I can't sense anything, my wolf can, but we cannot feel the mate bond. That is why I would like to talk to your dad, to see if he has heard of anything like this." I explain over the mind link. I glance his way and he is looking at me with an expression so unexplainable that I wince slightly. "So, the reason I think they are going to the city is because they are looking for a female from this pack. We heard one of them on the deer cams on the false border. Since you two are the only ones to have left home and been gone the longest we needed to get you home as quickly as possible. I know you had a few months left till graduation, but we got you transferred to the online, so you miss anything. We are also going to start training tomorrow. So, I hope you both have been doing something to keep active. We also heard the girl they are looking for is special has some sort of power and might have come into them or is waiting for her mate to come into them. Talked to some of the pack witches and there is a legend about a pure black who will receive her powers at an early age. She probably has a very good nose. Does that fit you, girls?" Explains Tomland. My mouth gaps open in shock. Chai was pure black with black eyes. Very rare for this part of the wolf territories. On certain islands in the west pure black wolves are very popular because they weren't hunted as much in the late 1700s and early 1800s. Here they are rare and there is a legend that says they are to be born every one-hundred years. It's also said that if there is a completely pure wolf with powers and they become an Alpha or a Luna that the pack becomes stronger and every other pack wants to be their ally. " No sir. Livia is white and light brown" she says smiling. Tomland looks at me and I'm still gaping. " Celia, are you okay there dear?" Tomland asked concerned "Um. I... " I stammer not sure what to say. Malik comes to kneel in front of me. " Sweetie, what is it? You can tell me." He says and takes my hands and puts one on his face. I smile at the gesture. I bend down towards him. "I'm that wolf, now I'm scared." I said. He picks me up and sits me on his lap. While I appreciate it and know he's trying to calm me as my mate, I'm not sure. Tomland gives us a weird look but doesn't say anything. " Alpha I am that pure black wolf they are looking for. "Your things are now in my room." Malik whispers in my ear. I gently get off his lap and take the other chair. "Celia, please don't be like that" he mindlinks me. "Malik, you didn't ask me. I just got home. literally. We need to ask your dad about it. There could be a thousand different reasons why." mindlinking him back. "Babe, you are my mate one hundred percent we will get through this all. I will be by your side holding your hand." he slides his hand onto mine and intertwines our fingers. "Micco is so excited to meet Chai. We will get through this. I will be by your side for everything." He continued. " Shut up. Nobody asked you" I mind-linked feeling the rosy color in my cheek burn brighter. Tomland and Liliana both grinned like they knew what was going on. "Liliana you're okay to go and get settled. Celia will let you know anything a little later" he said dismissing Liliana. She got up and kissed me on the cheek. "Good luck babes, and congratulations on your mate. Give me all the Deets later." She whispers and winks at me before she walked away and closes the door behind her. "Alright, so what was that you wanted to talk about? " Tomland asks "Well sir, as you may have already guessed, Malik is my mate. but there is something, I can tell we are mates only by Chai. I cannot feel anything. I wanted to know if you knew anything like this happening, or if we should get pack doctors and witches involved?" I spoke. Tomland looks at me as if he is thinking. "Well, I think that maybe, we should talk to both the doctors and the witches to see if there are explanations for you. If I can't find anything soon for you before I will let you know. I'll see if any of them have heard of anything first of this happening and then we can bring you in and you can explain your point of few." Tomland explains. I stand up. "Finally, we can leave. are you alright Celia" Chai asks me concerned. " I am not sure. what about you? what if we go for a run to get things off our minds?" I respond. "Yes! Yes! yes! A run!" she agrees and runs back and forth in my mind. I laugh at her. Chai is like my best friend that's furry. "Celia, welcome to the family. I am sure you will make an amazing Luna" Tomland says. " Thank you alpha." I reach the door and realize Malik is behind me. I walk outside the door and turn to him as he shuts the door behind him. " I would like to go back to the room if that's okay. you can get your work done if you have some. I just would like to relax from the trip here and process everything. I might even go to Liliana's as well." I say to him hoping he'd be okay with it. "What about our run?" Chai whimpers. "Maybe even let Chai out for a run," I say to him to cheer Chai up. " yeah we can do that. I can take you up to the room first." Malik smirks at me. "I could use a run as well." he continues to say. I smile at him. "thanks that will be great!" I say excited for not only a run but that I won't be alone.