Gamma's Energy Attracts

Part 7

Caly’s POV

“Do you really need to leave so early?” My Mate whines as he pulls me in for a kiss. He tries to slip me the tongue, to distract me from packing. I should have done it last night but a certain Alpha thought we should spend some quality time last night. I think he may have knocked my hip out of place, I woke up with a slight limp, but it was worth it. 

“When did you become so clingy? I will see you Friday, it’s just two days. I have work to do there and you have work to do here.” 

“The second I decided to let you into my life.” Smooth-talking Alpha, that will earn you one more kiss. 

I have to squirm out of his grip, I hear the kids trying to get ready. Carissa is looking for a matching outfit she wants to wear while Atlas is playing while he waits for me to pick clothes for him. I help them dress and send them to their Father to help them get into their boots and zip their coats. I toss a few toys into the toy box, trying to tidy up.

Colin and Stav are by the door each helping one of the pups. Carissa tells her Dad, “You gotta fix Attly’s mom-lick.”

“His what?” Stav is so cute when he’s confused.

“His cow-lick,” I tell him. I lick my palm and flatten the piece of hair on Atlas’s head before I pull up his hood. By the time it dries, it should be lying flat.

“Cow’s don’t lick him, Momma does,” she says so seriously. Colin looks like he’s about to gag.

“Stop that, Colin, wolves groom each other with their tongues all the damn time! Don’t you know Mom spit is magical? It cleans, sterilizes stuff that has fallen on the floor, fixes boo-boos and hair emergencies. Totally magical!”

“I doubt Caroline will back that with any medical science. Especially the sterilizing nonsense.” He purses his lips together. He’s probably still thinking about all the times when the kids were little and I would pick the baby soothers up off the floor and popped them in my mouth to clean them off. He freaked out about all the germs one time, so I dipped the nub in my coffee cup, so the heat would kill off any residual germs. I rationalized the warmed-up sookie would feel soothing on their gums. “You just gave your 10 month-old baby caffeine!” I answered it was barely even flavouring the damn thing. I’m sure he questions my parenting. It’s going to be interesting watching him become a hovering helicopter parent if Doc ever gets pregnant.

The doorbell rings and I go over the childcare plan with Conner, he’ll need to take them to the Den Mother’s every morning, and coordinate with Stav about who will pick them up at the end of the day. This is the first big test for me and my pups, how we handle the separation. It will help me determine if I can go to Italy for a few days without them. I’m nervous but I’m sure Colin will be here most evenings, they’ll be fine. I kiss my pups goodbye. I hug Colin and give my husband another kiss while Terri grabs my bag. 

Julia has arrived with her bag slung over her shoulder. “Did you tell Misty or Kevin you were leaving early?” If she wants us to treat her like an adult, she needs to act like one, including standing up to Misty about what she wants to do.

“Yes, and Terri already checked,” she gives Terri an annoyed look. They still aren’t over their tiff from the mall yesterday, I see.

We head downstairs and walk through the Packhouse to the front door. That way I can check up on everyone on my way out. It seems people just want to say goodbye, and Terri prevents anyone from getting too chatty. The kitchen has packed a cooler bag with emergency snacks. It’s less than a four hour trip mostly on a highway with service stations every 15 miles, we probably couldn’t even create an emergency in that amount of time. It’s humorous, I smile and thank them. 

In the parking garage, a woman with blue hair and a backpack, is sitting on the hood of Stav’s favourite car, his Black Beauty. Aggie looks up from her phone. I’m not surprised. “Yo, Luna! Mind if I hitch a ride?”

“The more the merrier,” I say as Terri pops the trunk open and starts loading up the bags. 

“I told her she could at least help us with the paperwork while Beta Tree is working,” Terri informs me. Aggie normally works as a beautician, but we will find her something to do. Normally, I would ask Tabitha since she helps with office work all the time, but she is preggers and her leaving for a few days would stress her Mate out.

“Let’s get this show on the road!” Terri hoots as she slams the trunk down. 

*****

“Luna Caly, it’s lovely to see you again,” I am greeted on the porch of Blue Moon’s Bite, by Elder Darryl.

“Thank you, Elder Darryl.”

“If you are trying to show me up by being formal, Father, you should at least use the highest of her titles. It’s lovely to see you again, Alpha Caly,” Alpha Tucker snickers as he leans over to give me a hug. Tucker and I have come a long long way since our adversarial school days.

“I want to remind you that your Mother will be helping you greet our guests on Friday. She has no problem slapping you upside the head in private if you fall out of line when you are in public. Could you actually try to find your Luna this year? I want to resume travelling with your Mother, except she has a hard time leaving her baby boy Alpha.” Tucker rolls his eyes, and I have to repress a laugh at their antics.

“I’m glad to be here. Shall we head up to look through those files?” 

“Of course, Caly,” Elder Darryl lets us in and directs an Omega to grab our bags. “With all the guests we are receiving this weekend the Packhouse will be overflowing. We had to offer some of the higher ranks rooms at our nearby hotel, the Hills. I hope it’s alright with you, we have made arrangements for your group to stay with Anne and I. Darrius and Kat will be with us as well. The Lunas have ulterior motives, that way we can see those pups of yours as much as we want.” That doesn’t surprise me in the least. “We have another spare room, we were thinking Alpha Lincoln might like to join us, to see his niece and nephew?”

“We are honoured to stay in your home Elder. I will let Lincoln know.”

“Good, and my name is still Darryl.” He chuckles at his own joke, it’s a quirk Tucker has picked up from his Dad.  “We put most of the file boxes in your office.” They still call it my office, even though I was barely here a few weeks and it’s been more than two years. It was Luna Anne’s office for over twenty years. It will likely be considered my office until Tucker finds his own Luna.

The door is open and I am gobsmacked by all the boxes, they are stacked 10 high and 3 rows deep. Terry lets out a low whistle. This is a nightmare. I grab an unmarked box and move it, it lands on the desk with an ominous thud.

“Do you think we should transcribe the files? I have looked through dozens of them, there seems to be plenty of unnecessary information we can weed out.” Elder Darryl looks to me for my input.

“Are these are just the missing persons' files? Are there more files like this at the Elder’s Council Chambers?”

“Yes, and yes,” Darryl says solemnly. 

I look at the top file. It seems to document every single check-in call, every interview, private information, medical info, school info and a lifetime of paranoid scribbles made by pricks like that pig, Giles. These files represent a travesty.

“No. We can’t condense the files, how would we know if something small is really important? These represent people's lives.” I suddenly feel overwhelmed by the task. “How many scanners do you have, Tucker? We need to build their files into a database, and scan all these documents.”

“Not nearly enough,” Tucker rakes a hand through his hair. “What about Blackheart Media? It has all the office equipment we could need and trained office workers, we need all the help we can get. You’ll need some space to work, and the Packhouse is just too chaotic with prep for the Mating Ball. We can set up in a boardroom.” 

“Good idea, son. We will get these files done first, then I will send the office the rest at a later date.” Darryl states calmly.

“For right now, everyone grab a box. We will take what we can carry and head to the Media tower.” I replace the file and carry my box back down to the car.

Tucker and Darryl came to the Media building to help instruct the staff there, and possibly to get away from Luna Anne who was having a mini-meltdown over some of the decorations for the party. I didn’t ask what the problem was, I didn’t want to get involved, even with some of the Omegas looking at me with pleading eyes to save them.

I take my box directly into the largest boardroom. Julia sits as far away from the work as possible and buries her head to play a colourful game on her phone. I didn’t expect her to help with this part anyway. Maybe just being here with us is enough to trigger her wolf into speaking. There’s no forcing things with her, we just have to wait and hope. I slap a file in front of Terri and Aggie, and one each for Tucker and Darryl when they join us. I made sure to check that they were all less than 20 years old and handled by the same Elder, in this case it’s Giles. 

“Let’s each take a look at a file and write down anything that stands out about the case. Even if you get a sense of something, I want to hear it.”

I quickly read through my file. I notice some interesting marks on the back of the file. It appears to be shorthand of some sort. A.MR, X T- 10/07 see File 110. “Look at the backs of all the pages and the files themselves. Anything written in full capital letters, file numbers, dates anything that seems like it may be a code.” I announce as Tucker and Darryl join us in the boardroom. Darryl sits beside me and I show him the code on my file. “Do you know what this means? Does the Council have a special system for coding these files?”

“Not that I am familiar with. That looks to be Giles’s handwriting. It’s possible he invented his own shorthand to make writing easier.” 

“I think it might be a way to make notes without worrying someone else would catch on if they happened to look through the files. Tell everyone scanning to check the backs of pages and on the file folders themselves.” 

We can’t exactly ask the source, Giles is dead. Werewolves live in a dangerous secret society, but I would never have imagined that I would personally ever kill someone, but if ever a wolf deserved death, it was Giles. It might seem horrible to admit, but I don’t feel sorry for it.

‘I will not feel bad for turning that squirrel into bar-b-que pork,’  Athena quips. ‘Speaking of food, what happened to my lunch?’

“Caly? Is your wolf okay? I think I have some chocolate-covered espresso beans in my office,” Tucker looks over me with concern.

“Athena wants her lunch,” I say offhandedly.

‘I want the chocolate now.’

‘No, I will order a proper lunch.’ I roll my eyes at her diva behaviour.

‘Diva? Excuse you, you don’t get to say No to me! Never mind, I’ll do it myself!’ she snarls in my head, causing it to ache. I feel my wolf push forward, “Lunch and chocolates are required, Alpha.” 

Tucker nods and his eyes take on a faraway look, he’s mind-linking someone. “I’ve got my secretary on the way with your chocolates, I don’t need your wolf getting hangry while we wait for something to be delivered.”

‘Alpha understands how important it is to keep me happy,’ she huffs. I don’t bother to argue with my spoilt wolf.

“I’ve got file 110 as well,” Aggie says and I go over to look.

“Where have I seen that before?” I wonder aloud.

“Resumes?” Tucker says with a chuckle. It dawns on me that he’s absolutely correct. In the werewolf world, jobs are often just assigned. In the human world, they insist on resumes and references. 

“I don’t get it, explain it for me?” Darryl asks.

“If you need to go over a bunch of resumes, you might write a few quick notes to help you narrow down the prospects. 110 easy becomes a NO with one line.” Tucker takes a pen and draws a diagonal line between the ones to illustrate this for his father.

“The last few notes Giles wrote on that file were rather disparaging remarks about her ‘Gift’. Perhaps he wanted to boot her from the program. Let’s keep track of anything like this we find. It will help us figure out Giles’s gibberish.”

‘Elder Pig created his own language? Is it in Elder Pig Latin?’ my wolf chortles and waggles her tail at her own joke. 

‘Haha. You’re a bl*ody LUNA-tic.’ Maybe she does need those chocolates, she’s delirious.

‘Boooo! Babe’s a party pooper.’

I was in my own head, I didn’t realize Tucker was waving a small packet of coffee-chocos in my face. I feel other eyes on me, Terri’s is concerned, but Julia is practically salivating. I snatch the packet and walk over to her, “Hold out your hand.” I pour half into her cupped palms.

‘What are you doing? Those are mine!’

‘Learn to share.’  I scold her.

“Thanks, Mrs. Alpha! I could really use these,” Julia cracks her first smile of the day. She’s been in a sullen mood since the incident yesterday.

“The code on mine says T, arrow to the right,  A. BB 12/12.” Terri says as she finishes looking over her file. “The T and arrow might mean ‘Transfer’. 12/12 might be a date, this juvenile female was reported missing December 22, 2012 after she failed to show up for duty the day after a Winter Solstice celebration. Month and year would match.”

I go back to my file. “This female was reported missing on November 11th, 2007.  It’s not an exact match, but close enough to still be considered. The letters must mean something. A for Alpha? Maybe a name?”

“Um. Caly? Does she normally do that?” I look at Tucker when he speaks, he’s solely focused at the other end of the room. Julia is sitting rigidly in her seat and vacantly looking out the window. Her eyes are once again glowing. Tucker is aware that Julia is gifted, but he has never seen her do anything like this. “Is that because of the caffeine and sugar? Did I trigger her?”

“It’s not your fault, Tucker. She does sometimes need a fix, just like I do. Julia can help people find things. She is a Seeker, and that happens when her wolf is going to speak. She wanted to come with us, we hoped she could help us find these missing wolves.” I whisper as we all watch mesmerized.

“Has she ever sought for werewolf before? Does she speak in tongues? That would be pretty cool,” Tucker’s warped sense of humour surfaces.

“She helped guide Terri and Stav to find me. She’s not possessed, you goofball. It is going to be a riddle we have to figure it out.”

“Dance close with your files,” the velvety rich voice of her wolf fills the room, she is captivating. “To find the answers you seek.” 

“I never thought I would meet a wolf that was freakier than yours,” Tucker murmurs into my ear and I give him a not so gentle nudge with my elbow.

‘How dare he! I demand more chocolates. Insolent squirrel.’

“I hope you have more treats hidden at your desk.” Tucker nods and I finally notice the box on the counter off to the side. He reaches in and tosses me another pack, he also slides a pack down the table. Julia shakes her head and her eyes return to normal. She tears open the packet and pours half a pack into her mouth all at once, her cheeks so puffed out she can barely chew.

“She’s going to choke, do you know how to do the Heimlick?” Tucker says, and I give him a more intentional jab with my elbow, he “Ooohffs! Any idea what any of that means?"

"Not a damn clue."

The secretary from Tucker’s office, Kelly I think her name is, the one I helped find a less stressful job for, suddenly appears with her arms loaded and paper bags full of delicious smelling food. I stand to offer her a hand before she drops something. After the food is on the table I notice she has a stack of files in her arms.

We end up doing that little dance people do when you go to pass one another and you both step in the same direction then shuffle to the opposite side. Why people don’t stick to the right side, the same way you go with vehicle traffic is beyond me.  A few years ago she may have burst into tears but today she looks less frazzled, so that’s a good thing. She even lets out a small laugh.

“Alpha Tucker, I brought down all the files that need your attention ASAP,” Kelly hands them to Tucker before excusing herself.

Dance close with your files.

Your files.

“What if we are looking too far ahead? We need files we are familiar with.  It would be easier to make connections to the codes with examples from our own lives! We need to use mine, Julia’s and Tabitha’s!”