Tainted Love

5 - Unexpected mates

“How do you know that?!” Claus shouts, as confused as the rest of us.

“I just know!” Celine says. “If you met your mate, you would just know too”

“It’s impossible!” Claus shouts. “He’s not a werewolf!”

“He doesn’t have to be” Celine says, but all of us know that is not true.

This has never happened before. A werewolf can only mate with another werewolf or a human if they can be turned. But ever since vampires were no more, werewolves no longer had the ability to turn humans into their species.

“Of course he does!” Claus shouts. “What sense does it make to have a mate that isn’t even your species?!”

“Are you absolutely certain he is your mate, Cece?” Yara asks, visibly trying to remain calm in all this, but I know she is hiding an extremely upset look underneath it all.

“Yes, I can feel it” Celine says. “I don’t know how to explain it”

“If it is as it is for mom and dad, then she is right” Caleb says. “She can help”

“You’re all crazy!” Claus shouts.

“You really believe he is going to come to you and calm down once he sees you?” Yara asks Celine.

“I think so” Celine says, not looking very certain. “I can give it a try”

“I am not letting you take my sister outside to face a lunatic we don’t even know what is capable of!” Claus shouts at Yara but she stands her ground, her face completely blank from all emotion, but everyone knows how pissed she is.

“Do you have any better idea?” Yara says, as calmly as it is possible.

“Yes!” Claus says. “Let the grownups deal with the problem!”

“Clearly the grownups don’t have this information yet” Yara continues, and I fear she might explode at any time. “Otherwise, they might be a bit more reasonable and consider letting Cece calm him down”

“I AM being reasonable!” Claus shouts, raising his hands in the air. “I can’t believe you of all people could be considering this!”

“What is that supposed to mean?” Yara asks, crossing her arms in front of her chest, giving Claus a look that clearly is provoking him to continue.

Claus swallows his next words, and it is surprising how quickly he shuts down after Yara’s remark. I look between him and Yara and wonder if there’s anything going on that I don’t know about.

As the awkward silence continues, Felix taps my shoulder repeatedly.

“I think Cece made a decision on her own” She says and we all notice how Celine is suddenly gone.

Realizing what she is going to do, Claus immediately dashes for the exit door. We follow him shortly after but once we get there, the door is already open, and Celine is nowhere in sight. She must have slipped off the moment Yara and Claus started arguing.

Owen usually has all doors on lockdown to prevent any rogue student from going outside when they please but being the troublemakers we are, we always manage to get the code to open the doors whenever he changes them, keeping it a secret within our group.

Claus growls and turns into a wolf, dashing outside. It doesn’t take long for Caleb to follow him. It’s at times like these I wish I was a werewolf myself to communicate through the mind link.

“Are we just going to let them go?” Felix asks, looking at me and Yara.

“What else can we do?” Yara says, obviously still upset. “We’re not wolves, we can’t just chase after them”

“I know, but...” Felix continues. “What if they get hurt? Or worse, what if the new student hurts them?”

“Felix is kinda right, Yara” I admit.

“That still leaves the point that there’s nothing else we can do” Yara insists.

“We could track them” I suggest. “Even if we’re a bit far behind, we can catch up to them”

“And what?” Yara says. “Face off a beast not even HPS was able to capture easily and try to convince Cece to return to safety?”

“That doesn’t seem like a bad plan” I say, smiling at Yara.

“You know that’s not what I meant” Yara says, exasperated by my response.

“I’m going” I say, stepping outside.

It’s fortunate it is still Spring and the first snow is yet to come or it would be a whole lot colder out here and very much unbearable. It’s the downside of living in the mountains. You can only go out safely when it’s minimally warm or you’re bound to get caught in a snowstorm.

“Are you coming with me or what?” I ask, turning to look at them.

Yara groans, eventually shrugging and following me outside.

“I... I’ll stay behind. Keep my dad busy so he won’t know you’re gone” Felix says.

“It was your idea to follow them, Felix” Yara points out.

“Yes, yes!” Felix says. “But you’re way better at tracking than I am, and you know me, I’m very clumsy! It'll only get in your way”

It is obvious she is scared of the prospect of facing the creature again and I can’t blame her for that.

“Alright, Felix” I say. “We’ll meet at the dorm once we get everyone back”

Felix nods ecstatically and waves as she closes the door behind us, leaving us outside in the mountain soil.

“You’re way too soft on her” Yara says.

“She’s just a kid” I say. “She’ll get there”

I know what Yara means by her remark, of course. From an early age, we are told we have to learn to fend for ourselves and depend on no one else to protect us. It is true these mountains and their secret location keep us safe but all that can vanish from one moment to the other if the humans find us.

Keeping those thoughts out of my head for now, I focus on tracking the guys and Celine. Of course, we are at a disadvantage against the brothers; they can smell Celine from a mile away, we can’t.

We do, however, have tracking skills that we learned in Nature Science class. Coincidentally, that discipline is taught by my mom Anastacia so I’m one of the best trackers.

We follow the tracks of the wolves which lead us to a valley down the mountain. It doesn’t take us long to discover the wolves. Celine is now also in wolf form and is bickering with her older brothers as they are probably trying to get her to return through the mind link.

As we are about to go down there to join them, a roar makes us stop in our steps.

The leviathan creature comes soaring from the sky, avoiding a net that was meant to capture him.

The net falls limp on the floor while the creature continues flying away. We can hear the shouts of our parents and the HPS group in the distance and soon realize we have walked right into the trap they have set out for him.

The HPS group members are scattered out around the valley and there are special nets prepared to be launched the moment the creature gets where they want him to go.

Yara also points out they are armed with tranquility darts, ready to shoot.

Knowing this will go very wrong with the guys and Celine in the middle, I try to call their attention by moving my arms up high. Yara soon follows my lead.

Unfortunately, the wolves are too concerned about the creature flying over their heads to notice us, but it seems Celine is still not budging despite her brothers’ insistence.

Some of the HPS members have noticed their presence and seem unsure of what to do. I know they have communication devices, but they won’t be fast enough to get to a plausible solution before things go wrong.

At this pace, the guys and Celine will end up trapped in a net along with the Leviathan.

“We have to go down there” I say and Yara looks at me as if I’m crazy.

“To get ourselves killed?” She says. “I don’t think so”

“Maybe if we draw his attention, the others will have enough time to leave and HPS will be able to shoot their nets freely” I say.

“But then we’ll be the ones in their way” Yara says.

“We have to try” I say and take off running down to the valley.

I have to focus on not tripping on my own feet as I run down this steep descent. I can tell Yara has decided to indulge me in my madness and is following right behind me. We both start shouting to draw the creature’s attention.

It works way too well.

The creature doesn’t even notice the wolves bickering but the moment we start shouting, he immediately notices us.

“Maybe this wasn’t such a good idea” I say as we continue running through the valley.

My plan is to get to the wolves and manage to get everyone to safety, so HPS has a chance to capture the creature, but I completely underestimated how fast he is.

We are f*rced to fall to the floor in order to allow the creature to fly over us and toward the wolves. It seems he has noticed them now.

“Oh no!” I shout. “Guys!”

I stand up in a flash and get off running towards them as fast as I can.

We are still running when we see Celine fiercely stand in front of her brothers to face the creature. However, the Leviathan isn’t slowing down. It is going to crash into her.

The twins desperately try to bite her legs to force her to leave but she doesn’t budge. She is quite stubborn, that girl.

“Cece!!” I shout as I see the creature getting closer and closer to her.

I gasp as the Leviathan is going to collapse with Celine but to everyone’s surprise, it suddenly halts. Due to its speed, the sudden halt causes a cloud of dust to fly everywhere; hindering our vision and making me and Yara cough as we are too close to them.

When the dust clears, we see the Leviathan in all its glory, staring intently into Celine’s blue eyes. She is still in wolf form and she takes a step forward, her snout coming very close to the leviathan’s.

When her snout finally touches him, he lets out a purr-like growl. Then, he lands before her and lowers his head at her.

I am mesmerized by the image and so are the twins, so, it is only natural we don’t manage to react quickly enough to the dart flying towards the leviathan.

When we do see it, it is too late. We hear Celine’s whimper just before the dart hits and when it does, the creature lets out an abysmal roar, capable of shaking the very earth we’re standing on.

Knowing how HPS operates in these situations, I know that dart was the first of many, so I rush to get Celine out of the way.

As more and more darts land on the leviathan’s thick skin, I grow closer to Celine, but the creature’s roars are something fierce.

Unexpectedly, the creature lashes out and pushes me aside with brute force. When I finally land a few feet away, I know a few of my ribs are broken and my nose is bleeding from hitting my head. The darts don’t seem to be working all that well. In fact, they seem to be making him even madder.

I work hard to heal my wounds so I can gather my friends and get out of the way of the angry beast, and I do see the guys have finally managed to get Celine away from him. But where is Yara?

I know she was right next to me when I tried to reach Celine. She didn’t get hit too, did she?

Managing to get back up, I look around the valley to try to find her as the HPS members come out of their hiding place and actively try to approach the angry creature whilst continuing to shoot their darts. I know the objective is to capture him alive but how many of those sedatives have they used?

Looking closely, I understand why they aren’t working. Most of the darts bounce off the leviathan’s thick scales. Some do hit, but it seems the creature has a resistance to such things.

Finally, I manage to spot Yara and my heart drops when I do. She is right next to the leviathan, and he is just about to thrash against her in his anger.

I am about to shout at her to duck, but she acts before I can.

Mustering all of her power, she summons the largest, strongest lightning bolt I have ever seen and hits the creature with it. He roars in pain and in a split second, we think it didn’t work, but he finally succumbs and passes out, his large body hitting the ground like a thousand bricks.

Yara has always been good at controlling lightning and electricity but even I didn’t know she could be so powerful at it. It is quite a surprise as well, because she is not very good at any other spells, just like me.

Now that the leviathan has passed out, HPS takes over and proceeds to secure him by placing a fortified net over him. As I watch them, I do see how they used to be a capture and secure supernaturals type of organization. They are good at it.

I can see Raphael and Renee joined them in taking the creature to a secure location.

Yara spots me and rushes to me.

“Are you alright?” She asks.

“Yeah, just a few broken ribs but I think I managed to heal them” I tell her.

“You took quite the hit” Yara says, observing me to make sure I’m not lying about being ok.

“I’m alright, seriously” I say and look at the unconscious Leviathan being carried away by HPS. “Is he going to be ok?”

“I don’t know” She says. “I’ve never mustered such powerful lightning before, but I thought it was necessary”

“I didn’t know you had it in you either” I tease her. “You might just be the most powerful witch ever”

“As if” She says, managing a smile. I have learned to cherish these short smiles as my dear friend never smiles much.

“Oh my Gosh!” I hear my mom Cyla’s voice. “Are you alright?”

She runs towards me and pulls me into her arms, making me realize perhaps I didn’t heal my ribs quite so well.

She suddenly pulls back when she hears me complain.

“You’re hurt” She says with a look of pure horror.

“I’ll be alright” I say. “It was just broken ribs. I have healed them, but they still hurt a little”

“Alana!” My mom Anastacia’s voice reaches us, and I am once again embraced by a worried mom. “You’re bleeding! We have to get you to the Infirmary”

“I’m alright” I assure them. “I can go to the Infirmary afterwards”

“Oh, we were so worried” Mom Anastacia says. “When we saw that you were out here in the Valley, it was too late to call off the attack. Why were you here? You could have gotten seriously hurt. You DID get hurt”

“We wanted to help” I say. “Cece just took off on her own and the guys followed her. We just wanted to make sure they would be ok”

“That was still a very dangerous thing to do” Mom Cyla says. “Don’t ever do such a thing again”

“I know, mom” I say. “I’m sorry”

My moms embrace me again while Yara awkwardly stands next to us. She wraps her arms around herself trying to pass on a look of indifference, but I know her too well. Whenever my moms and I have these moments, it always makes her think how her own family isn’t that close anymore.

“What were you thinking?!” Alpha Soren’s thunderous voice calls our attention, and we see him next to his Luna while he is lecturing his kids.

“We told you to stay put!” Their mother Naiya adds. “Have you any idea how dangerous that was? You could have died!”

Both Claus and Caleb know better than to talk back to their parents, not only because they are the definite leaders of their pack but also because they respect them too much. Celine, though, is way too concentrated on the unconscious Leviathan to care about what they are saying.

“Is he alright?” She says, worriedly looking at HPS carrying the creature back inside.

She tries to follow the HPS members, but her father is quick to block her.

“Celine” He starts with his stern tone. “He is dangerous. You have to stay away from him”

“But he is hurt!” Celine says. “He needs me. He’s so scared”

“That only makes him even more dangerous” Alpha Soren insists. “I should have never let Raph and Renee bring him here. It was a terrible idea”

“Please, dad, I need to go see him” Celine says and desperately tries to go through her dad, who once again blocks her path and looks confusingly at her.

“What’s gotten into you?” Alpha Soren says. “I’ve told you. He is dangerous”

“He won’t hurt me” Celine says, pleading with her father.

“You don’t know that” Lady Naiya says, stepping up. “He could have seriously hurt you back there. I don’t know what you were thinking but it is too dangerous for anyone to get near that creature again”

“She has the delusion that she is his mate” Claus suddenly says.

Both Lady Naiya and Alpha Soren look at Claus and then at Celine in astonishment.

“But he isn’t a werewolf” Lady Naiya comments in disbelief.

“That’s what I said, but she insists” Claus says. “We tried to stop her from coming out here, but she wouldn’t listen”

Alpha Soren looks closely at his daughter, but she is too focused on the disappearing image of the leviathan being taken inside through yet another entrance to the Academy.

He places both arms on Celine’s shoulders and makes her look him in the eye. Her pleading expression is enough to melt anyone’s heart.

“Are you sure?” He asks her and she just nods.

“I know it’s weird, but I’m not lying” Celine says.

“I know you’re not” Alpha Soren admits and looks at his Luna. “We need to let her see him”

“Are you out of your mind?!” Lady Naiya explodes.

Used to his Luna’s temper, Alpha Soren barely blinks. “I believe her and if she is truly his mate, then he will calm down when he sees her. Just like he did before HPS started shooting the darts”

“Absolutely not!” Lady Naiya shouts.

“We’ll be right there next to her” Alpha Soren tries to reason with her, but Lady Naiya still doesn’t look convinced.

“Please, mama” Celine begs, using the same pleading expression she used on her dad. “I need to go see him”

“No” Lady Naiya says while avoiding looking at her daughter. She knows that if she does, she could never resist her pleading eyes.

Celine still tries to persuade her mother but to no avail.

“Go back to your rooms” Lady Naiya states, leaving no room for any more discussion.

Celine looks extremely disappointed but knows better than to continue trying. She knows how her mother can be.

Looking defeated, she leaves back inside the Academy without another word, followed by Lady Naiya. Claus and Caleb try to follow but their father stops them.

“You should have known better than to put yourselves in danger like that” He tells them.

“She’s the one who ran off and we were just trying to get her back!” Claus protests but one look from his dad and Alpha and he calms down, looking at the floor.

“Your sister is young and still naïve” Alpha Soren says. “You should have managed to stop her before anything terrible happened. Thankfully, none of you got hurt but things could have gone very differently”

I can see Claus clenching his fists. I know he wants to respond but his respect for his Alpha stops him from doing so.

Alpha Soren looks at both his sons for a while, his red eyes looking for signs of offense. With a sigh, he allows them to go. “Go to your room” He says.

“Yes, dad” Caleb answers on behalf of his brother and almost drags Claus back inside.

After the guys leave, I, my moms and Yara go back to the Academy too. I notice they are leading me into the Infirmary. They must have already informed Doctor Anette.

“Where are you going to take the Leviathan?” I ask my mom Cyla.

“To the old sector until we decide what is the best course of action” She answers.

I quietly nod, my head already trying to find a way to help my friend. I can’t even imagine what it must feel like to have found her mate and not be able to be with him.