Crossing Paths with the White Wolf

Chapter 3 - Unknown

Unknown P o V

**Flashback**

I paused my TV show as I heard rapid knocking on my door. Who the f**k could be here at this hour? It was almost midnight and I had little friends. I opened the door with my knife behind my back. Hae-Won pushed in with her husband draping over her. I waited for Eun-Kyung to come in behind them but when there was nothing, I assumed that they had left her home with a neighbor.

“What happened?” I said as I closed the door and helped her put Hwan on the couch. There was blood dripping down from his side. I lifted his shirt to see the large gash. I instantly put my hands on the wound, channeling my energy towards it, helping it heal. It was slow work.

“What happened?” I asked Hae-Won again. She was crying uncontrollably next to her husband.

“She got taken, Natalia,” she cried.

“But we told her not to go to the woods! Not until we stopped the poachers!” I moved my hands a little more to the left along the wound, a jagged red line left where I had healed it.

“She is a teenager, Nat. Her friends decided to have a bonfire in the woods and she snuck out. We found her empty bed and went looking for her. When we found them, her and her friends were already in cages. We tried to fight but they knocked me out and stabbed Hwan. By the time I woke up, Hwan was bleeding out and Eun-Kyung was gone.”

“f**k! They are early. I didn’t think they would be active again for another week. Grab the control. Go to input 4 and rewind the feeds to when she left your house,” I said as I moved my hands to the final spot on his abdomen. He was regaining a bit of color now and was stirring a bit.

I was sweating once I finished healing Hwan. He had been near death and it had taken a lot of energy from me. I grabbed a jar of peanut butter and a spoon and sat on the other end of the couch. We watched as three leopard cats and two mongolian wolves dashed into the woods with bags of snacks in their muzzles. I followed them through the camera feeds I had set up in the forests 2 months ago after we realized there were poachers taking shifters thinking them endangered animals to sell on the black market. Eun-Kyung, being a recent shifter, was clearly the smallest feline trailing behind the group. I saw as they ran into the traps easily. The two wolves had been able to break free and ran while the three shifter cats remained trapped. I sped up the feed a little until I saw the poachers enter the woods, followed by the Hwan and Hae-Won a few minutes behind. I turned up the audio of the conversation but I couldn’t hear well enough. I got near the speaker as I replayed their conversation.

“f**k, we needed those wolves. That’s what the boss wants. We’ll have to come again next week. These will fetch a prett-” They got cut off trying to wrangle the cats as Hwan and Hae-Won came into view. I stopped the feed and sat back, a plan already forming in my head. Hae-Won could not stop crying for her baby as I looked around my apartment. This was the longest I’d stayed in one place in a while. I had grown attached to little Eun-Kyung so fast, I hadn’t been able to leave. Her high energy and curiosity had captured my heart.

Hwan woke up then and I had to help Hae-Won hold him down. He may not be in danger of dying anymore, but I wasn’t a miracle worker, I couldn’t replace the blood he’d lost. When I saw him get so agitated, I feared he would get a heart attack, so I clocked him in the jaw and he was out.

“I’m going to need your help, Hae-Won,” I told her. “I am going to get Eun-Kyung back, but I need you to help me pack up my apartment. I don’t know how long I’ll be gone. I am rather fond of some of my stuff.”

“Anything. Tell me what you need. I want my baby back Nat,” she cried.

I gave her a long hug. “I’ll get her back, I promise,” I said, chastising myself for making a promise I didn’t know if I could keep but unable to stop my mouth from making it. My heart was breaking for her. “I am going to print out a few pictures of the poachers. I need you to find out who they are. They want a wolf, I will give them one. They will take my right to her,” I said.

**End of Flashback.**

I woke up with a groan. Those motherfuckers had injected me with a tranquilizer before loading us into the shipping containers. Hestia was still in the driver’s seat, so they must not know we were a werewolf. The last thing I saw was Eun-Kyung getting put into the container besides mine.

Hestia? – I asked. We didn’t talk to each other much anymore and, even then, we didn’t really need to use many words.

We’ve been at sea for a couple of hours only. I don’t know where we’re going. You can’t hear anything from inside here. – She said. I looked through her eyes and noticed we were surrounded by cloth.

Eun-Kyung?

Still asleep. They gave her the same thing they gave us. I can feel her near though. She is fine. – She assured me.

I sighed with relief. How long do you think we’ll be in here?

Days at least. They left enough food and water in the cage for a few days. -She turned so I could see the carcass of a deer and a child's pool full of water.

They could have given us a bed and a laptop at least – I said, and she laughed.

There’s no camera in here. Do you want to take over until we reach wherever we’re going? – She asked.

Maybe later. Let’s just sleep for now. – I answered her and she nodded and headed towards the stacked hay on one side of the cage. She circled it twice and laid down to sleep.

Natalia? Do you feel like things are about to change too? – She asked.

Yes, but I don’t know why? – I said honestly. Ever since I’d found the poachers, there was a feeling in my chest I couldn’t explain. I couldn’t figure out if it was a good change or a bad change. It was like an itch under the skin. A weird pressure in my chest. When I packed up my apartment, I somehow felt like it was useless, like I wouldn’t be coming back for it. We’ll worry about it when we need to. For now, we just need to save Eun-Kyung and get her back home to her parents. – I told her as we fell into a deep sleep.

‘Eun-Kyung, can you hear me?’ I called out, goddess knows how long after our nap.

‘Nat? Nat?! Where are you? I’m scared!’ She cried out through the mind link.

‘I’m in the container next to yours, sweetie. Is everyone OK?’ I asked her.

‘Yes, but we’re scared. Where are they taking us?’

‘I don’t know sweetie, but I’m right here.’

‘How are you linking me? Did you join our pack?’ she asked.

‘No, it’s a gift I have. I can link anyone I share an emotional connection with. You know how much I love you,’ I explained.

‘I love you too, Nat. Is dad OK? I s-saw them hit him.’

‘He is fine. He and your mom are just worried about you. Have any of you shifted back?’

‘We shifted in here. They think we’re just normal cats.’

‘Good girls. It’s better they don’t know until we escape, OK? Tell your friends. Do you have food and water?’

‘Yes.’

‘Good, just relax for now. There’s nothing we can do until we get to where they are taking us. Are there any other shifters in there?’

‘No, the rest are just animals.’

‘OK. Ration your water and food. We don’t know how long this trip will be. Make sure you and your friends sleep in your cat form. We don’t want to get caught in human form.’

‘OK’ she said meekly.

‘It will be OK. I won’t let anything happen to you.’ I reassured her.

‘I’m sorry I went into the woods. I didn’t think-’ she cried.

‘It’s OK. Everything will be OK.’ I soothed her. I sang her some lullabies her mom used to sing to her when she was smaller until I felt her fall asleep.

Please don’t make me a liar, Selene. I prayed to the moon goddess before I let Hestia come forward and we also went to sleep.