The Lost Werewolf King's Mate

Chapter 5: Elizabeth's POV

We finally arrived at Audrey's apartment. It was a huge luxurious apartment in a rich and fancy part of the city.

"How can you afford this?", I said with shock evident in my voice.

"Let's just say being a supernatural creature living amongst humans has its perks", Audrey said while chuckling.

Sebastian, Susan and I sat down in Audrey's magnificent all white sitting room. The couches felt like clouds and the Egyptian rug made me feel like I was gliding around the sitting room.

Audrey brought us some hot beverages as soon as we sat down.

"So, will you guys tell me what's going on now? What are you?", I asked them.

Sebastian gave a deep sigh.

"Susan and I are inklings and Audrey is a seer. She's still new to the craft so she's terrible at it, but she's a seer nonetheless". He laughed a bit, but stopped as soon as he saw Susan glaring at him.

I gulped. "What is a seer and what's an inkling?"

"Humans call inklings 'fairies'. You may have read about us in fairytales. That isn't what we call ourselves though. We are inklings. We are powerful and long ago other creatures even fled to our kingdoms when they sought refuge. But, unfortunately those days have come to an end." Sebastian was notably sad when he said this. Susan started stroking his back and hand when she noticed his mood change.

"Do all inklings have healing powers?", I asked them.

"No, we have different gifts. Some of us, such as myself, don't have any gifts. You're very lucky Sebastian is a healer and that he knows how to use his gift. Otherwise, you could have died tonight", Susan said with a cold tone.

"Thank you, Sebastian", I said to him.

Sebastian gave me a smile.

"Don't mention it", he said. "Think of it as payback for all the times you tried to protect us from Jerry."

I smiled when he said that.

"Audrey, do you mind telling me what a seer is?", I asked her.

"A seer can see the past, present and future. We can even sense someone's true intentions. I don't really know how to use my gift so I can only sense a person's true intentions at the moment. That's how I know we can trust you with our secret. I know you won't hurt us."

"Well, she won't hurt us for NOW", Susan said with a scoff.

"I won't tell anyone your secret. I promise."

"Oh yeah? Even when you're being tortured? Even when the lives of your loved ones are at stake? I don't think so", Susan said with a scowl on her face.

"I promise you I won't tell a soul", I said in my sincerest voice.

There was a long awkward silence in the room until I broke it.

"Will you guys please help me find Mathew?"

"Elizabeth, we can't do that", Audrey said.

"Why not? You guys are supernatural creatures. If anyone can help him, it's you guys! Please, I'm begging you!"

Sebastian stood up and came to sit next to me. "Elizabeth, we sensed the energy that was in the office with you and Mathew. Whatever it is that took him, was not a good entity. If we try to go after it, we will in all likelihood die."

"If you can't help me find him him, then maybe you guys can just point me in the right direction? I will go and find whoever took him and bring him back." I could feel the tears forming in my eyes as I begged them.

"A human girl facing an evil supernatural creature? Don't make me laugh. They'll sniff you out within seconds", Susan said with a scoff.

"Well I can't just sit and do nothing. My best friend is missing and it's all my fault! If you're not going to help me, then I should go." I stood up and started heading towards the door.

"Elizabeth wait!", Audrey said as she grabbed my hand. I stopped and looked at her.

"We may not be able to help you, but perhaps a werewolf pack will be able to", Audrey said.

"I've read a bit about those", I said with hopeful eyes. "Packs protect each other and fight for one another. Can we find werewolves that will help him even if he doesn't belong to their pack?"

"Ahhhhh, we figured Mathew wasn't part of a pack. He's too friendly", Sebastian said with a chuckle. Susan and Audrey chimed in.

"Are most werewolves unfriendly?", I asked him.

"Unfriendly is an understatement", Susan said with a scoff.

"They weren't always like this. A lot has happened in the supernatural world and well, let's just say the wolves got the shorter end of the stick", Audrey said.

"You guys need to learn to keep your mouths shut!", Susan said. "Look, I know we all like the nice human girl from the office, but we can't expose ourselves like this. You're also putting her life in danger. We shouldn't say anything else."

Sebastian nodded his head at what Susan was saying.

"Audrey, Susan is right. The less Elizabeth knows, the safer she'll be."

They all nodded their heads. I wanted to press them for more information, but I could tell they weren't going to say anything else.

"Okay, we won't tell her about our world, but she at least needs to know how to deal with the werewolves. How else will she be able to ask for their help?", Audrey said.

Susan rolled her eyes and said "okay".

Audrey then started telling me about the werewolves.

"The werewolves are a suspicious lot. If they find a rogue wolf or other supernatural creatures on their territory, they will kill it on sight. A human, on the other hand, might get questioned instead. At least that's what we think. Humans rarely pose a threat to supernatural creatures so werewolves tend to be more forgiving when dealing with your kind."

Audrey saw the worried look on my face and scooted closer to me. She knelt right infront of me and took my hand in hers.

"Elizabeth, are you sure you want to do this? This is very dangerous."

I felt a wave of determination rise in my heart and nodded my head."Audrey, I've never been more sure of anything else in my entire life".

"Okay then. We'll drive you to the nearest pack. It's about 4 hours from here. It's called the Black Claw pack. The three of us can only drop you off in the area near the pack's territory. If the three of us step on their territory, they'll scent us and kill us", Audrey said.

I nodded my head.

Audrey continued talking.

"When you get on their land, you need to identify yourself and tell them you're a human who needs their help. You have to do this immediately because they'll catch your scent the moment you step on their land; so don't try and wait to see someone first. Chances are one of their patrol men will see you before you see them."

I exhaled loudly and then said "okay".

"Is there something I can take to protect myself in case they don't believe me?", I asked all three of them.

Susan searched for something in her bag and then took out a knife and small vile containing some kind of liquid.

"Take this. It's a silver knife and wolfsbane. It weakens and sometimes even kills werewolves. I got this right after I met Mathew."

Audrey rolled her eyes after Susan said that last part.

"Sorry to burst your bubble Susan, but silver and wolfsbane don't actually work on werewolves. Do you have anything else?", I asked in a flat tone.

The three of them laughed.

"Elizabeth, all werewolves can be killed with silver or wolfsbane. I've seen the strongest werewolves go down because of these two weapons", Sebastian said.

"I'm telling you they don't work. I've seen Mathew drink wolfsbane and covered head to toe in chains made of silver and it didn't do a thing to him or his wolf."

"You must be confused, Elizabeth", Sebastian said.

I shook my head.

"Well, regardless of what you THINK you've seen Mathew do, I don't think it's a good idea to go see a werewolf pack while you're carrying things that could kill them.

They may see it as a sign of bad faith", Audrey said.

"I guess you're right", I replied.

Susan got up from the couch and reached for Sebastian's hand. "I think we should all get some dinner and then go to sleep. We have a long drive ahead tomorrow."

"Since it may be Elizabeth’s last day alive, I think she should get to choose dinner", Sebastian said while laughing. I couldn't help but also laugh.

We ordered some flame grilled steak, mash potatoes, garlic bread, peas and broccoli. We sat in Audrey's second sitting room while eating and told funny work stories, before heading to bed.

**

We left the city at 5am and started driving to the Black Claw pack. Sebastian was driving, Susan was sitting next to him in the passenger's seat and Audrey was sitting with me in the back. Sebastian was playing some Indie folk music while Susan had her hand on his thigh. Every now and then she would glance back at me and narrow her eyes suspiciously.

Audrey was filling me in on the latest office gossip. Apparently, Brianna, a seemingly shy girl who works in the accounts department had found herself in a love triangle between the guys who covered the newspaper's sports sections, Edward and Tyler.

"Oh my gosh", I exclaimed. "Is that why Edward keeps giving Tyler shitty sports stories to cover?"

"Yes! I can't believe you never knew this!", Audrey said while laughing.

"I just thought Tyler messed up a story or something", I said while shrugging my shoulders.

All three of them were laughing at me at this point.

"So, are you guys the only supernatural creatures working in the office?", I asked them.

"Oh gosh no", Sebastian blurted out.

"Out of the 50 people in the office, only 15 are non-magical", Sebastian said.

I almost choked on my water when Sebastian said this. Audrey started patting my back when she noticed.

"Why would so many magical creatures choose to work at a crappy newspaper company that's run by the world's worst boss?", I asked with shock.

"Who wants to go first?", Sebastian said. "Babe, do you want to tell your story first? Come on, we won't tell her anything else about our world after this. I promise." Susan hesitated for a few seconds, but then started telling her story.

"I come from the Eastern Inkling Kingdom", Susan said. "My father and mother were warriors. Something terrible happened to the kingdom about 5 years ago and I lost both of my parents. The King and Queen wanted us all to seek refuge in the other inkling kingdoms, but I was afraid the same thing would happen to those kingdoms so I opted to go to the human world. I've lived all over the USA. I always made sure not to stay too long in one place and not to stay in a place that had any other magical creatures. That would be too dangerous."

We were all listening to her intently.

"Anyway", Susan continued. "About 3 months ago, I started feeling a pull towards New York City. It felt like a safe haven was calling to me. I haven't felt like that in many years, so naturally I followed that pull. It led me to Jerry's crappy newspaper. When I found Jerry and all the other magical creatures there, I didn't feel scared for some reason. Something inside me told me I was safe there, so I stayed and I'm glad I did." When she said that last part, she looked at Sebastian and gave him a kiss on the cheek.

"Wait, so Jerry is a magical creature too?", I asked Susan. "I thought he was under some spell or something."

Susan laughed. "Jerry is a troll and I mean an actual troll. I just figured he was in the human world because he was also on the run".

"Running from what though?", I asked all three of them. They all kept quiet so I asked something else.

"So you guys met at work?", I asked Susan and Sebastian.

"Well not exactly", Sebastian said. "I come from the Northern Inkling Kingdom. Three years ago, I was sent to investigate the human world. I was placed in Florida up until a few months ago when our kingdom's seer told me to go to New York. When I arrived, I stopped by the coffee place opposite our office building before getting to my apartment. While I was sitting there just minding my business, I smelled the most heavenly scent enter the coffee shop. I looked around to try and find this scent and then I locked eyes with Susan. The instant I saw her, I knew she was my mate and knew I needed to do all I could to stay close to her for as long as I could. When she told me where she worked, I decided to go work there as well."

"Awwwww, you guys are so cute", Audrey and I said while jumping in our seats. Susan's cheeks were getting redder by the second.

"Okay, it's your turn Audrey", I said excitedly while grabbing onto her hand.

"I don't think I can top Sebastian's story", she said while laughing.

"Just tell us", I said as I chucked.

"Okay, okay! I come from a small seer community. When I was 10 years old, our village got attacked and I lost my parents. My grandma has been rasing me ever since. She was afraid that using my gift would attract the people who attacked us so she suppressed my powers. When she passed away two years ago, I could finally use my gift. I've been searching for seers to help me use my ability. A few months ago, I was in New Orleans and the seer who was teaching me saw a vision of people looking for me. She told me to go to New York to Jerry's newspaper company. She said I would be cloacked as long as I stayed close to that office, so I decided I might as well work there."

"That's so strange", I said.

"Well, of course the magical world will seem strange to a human", Susan said while rolling her eyes.

"That's not what I meant, Susan. Audrey, Sebastian, precisely how long ago would you say you guys were told to come to New York?"

They both took a moment to think about it and then said "3 months" in unison.

"Susan, isn't that right around the time when you started feeling a pull towards New York City?", I asked her.

"Yea, it is", she said.

"I know I'm not a part of your world, but something must've happened 3 months ago to make you guys come to New York. My life fell apart 3 months ago, could it all be connected?"

"I think that's a bit of a reach, Elizabeth. No offence, but we're here because our kind have faced an unspeakable danger. You're here because you lost your job", Sebastian said.

I was shocked by his response. I know that my troubles probably pale in comparison to theirs, but I didn't think any of them would just say it so frankly and brutally.

"Sebastian, that's a very rude thing to say", Audrey started shouting. "Elizabeth has always tried to protect us against Jerry. She's taken so many beatings and verbal assaults while trying to protect us. You have no reason to say that, Sebastian."

Sebastian gave a deep sigh. "You're right, Audrey. Elizabeth, I'm sorry for saying that."

"Thanks Sebastian", I said to him.

"So what exactly is your story Elizabeth?", Susan asked.

"Like I said, my life fell apart 3 months ago so I had to start working for Jerry."

"No, why is a human girl hanging out with a werewolf? Also, why doesn't Mathew belong to a pack and if he really doesn't belong to a pack, why doesn't he smell like a rogue wolf?", Susan asked.

"Those are a lot of questions, Susan", I replied. "I actually don't have the answers to all of them."

"Then start with the ones you have answers to", Susan said.

I looked at Audrey and she gave me a small smile. They were all waiting for me to tell my story.