"What the hell did you do?" Raphael blurted out to his best friend.
Phoenix looked like a deer in the headlights.
Suddenly snapping out of whatever bubble he was just in.
"What do you mean? I umm...well..."
Stella looked rather curious herself, but both girls still weren't over what the Sylvie witch had just said.
"We can get to that. First, what was all that crap that woman just blurted out? You apparently have secrets, too. On top of that. They call us the orphans," she pointed at herself and Rhae, "Which I'm assuming includes all the taken wolf pups. That means they know what we refer to ourselves as.
They have spies, or something."
Raphael wanted to calm the girls down, but he didn't know how, really.
"It could be that they put you all in orphanages or something. Maybe that's why they call you that. It doesn't mean they know you call yourself that or they have spies."
Rhae looked at him like maybe he had a point, but that he should probably refrain from talking and interrupting Stella.
The red-haired beauty laid into her friend's bae, again, "I tend to like you, but if you put Rhae into danger of any kind, they will never find you. Do you understand?"
Her emerald eyes were piercing into his caramel eyes, and he knew she meant it.
"Whatever secrets you are keeping, better not have anything to do with us, hurt her, or cause her any pain. Okay."
A smile graced her face as she finished, and she made her way over to Phoenix.
"As far as I'm aware, I don't have any secrets.
The witches are just doing what witches do best, causing chaos. Alright."
If anything, Stella was more than fiercely protective of her Stella.
Not that she needed it, but that was her chosen sister.
Now that she felt she had handled the Sylvie situation, she was ready for the group to move on to the Phoenix issue.
Phoenix, however, was terrified after how she handled his chosen brother.
What was she going to do to him?
"It wasn't my fault. She was a siren. I swear. Voice of a siren and a face to match. She bewitched me while I was under the stupid spell."
Stella took in a deep breath, "Fucking witches. That is still no excuse. I happen to know that once you are on two feet, the spell essentially breaks, by the way. Not to say they don't have glamours. What actually happened? Not that I really want to know."
"There was a siren, like I said. She kept calling out to me. Teasing me to chase her. Toying with me. I was in wolf form for a bit, and it was easier to chase her. Then, I changed, and she looked like you, honest. Then she didn't, and she would switch back and forth; it messed with my head. She was so similar to you, but her voice was so entrancing. I couldn't help myself."
Even as he spoke, his face went back to the dazed look of a man drunk on an island.
The trio couldn't help but feel sorry for him.
"Fucking witches." Rhae echoed Stella's earlier sentiment.
"Can we get out of here now?" Stella asked as she turned to leave the area as quickly as possible, "That doesn't mean we aren't visiting any of these topics later."
Both men looked at each other with despair, because they knew she meant it.
"We can't actually leave, because we have to find Alexander and Ayla."
"Really. This is taking forever. Fucking witches. I swear. Why did we agree to come on this trip?" Rhae blurted without thinking.
"Because we want to check out the Moonlight Shifters pack. You want to officially join, and we might stay!" Stella spat back at her best friend.
"It was rhetorical, but thanks for reminding me," Rhae smirked.
They were all now walking in the right direction, the direction that Alexander had gone, looking for Ayla.
In their wolf forms, and able to fight off the spell, they were running and searching for both the missing parties.
Thankfully, both Alexander and Ayla were headed in the correct direction and going toward the Moonlight Shifters this time.
That was a positive sign.
All they had to do now was catch up to them before any more chaos occurred, but the day was running away from them just as quickly as they were running after their friends.
Tree by tree, they ran until they finally caught the trail of Alexander, and they knew they were on the right path.
"Alexander, where are you? Have you found her?" Raphael called out.
"Let us know what's going on. We are all here to help." Stella added.
"Yeah. We got your back." Phoenix joined in.
With a sound of relief, he finally replied, "Thank you. I picked up on her trail, but it looks like she started running and didn't stop. She isn't like the rest of us. Ayla is used to being on her own. Chaos was her life, and she was used to it. The spell didn't seem to affect her the same way."
Phoenix and Raphael looked at each other and pushed to run a little faster, before looking back to ensure the girls were keeping up.
"Looks like we are in for a long afternoon of running then," Phoenix told the group.
"Yep. Sure, sounds that way to me. Ayla was always on the run without her wolf. From the looks of it, she overpowered her wolf and took charge of the fear still there. That makes her dangerous," Raphael said as they pushed forward.
...
As all that took place, and the pack pushed forward toward Ayla and the Moonlight Shifters pack, Dominic was managing the chaos of his own.
His own inward chaos of taking care of the things that Alexander and Julius normally handled.
The monitors showed the two people Alexander had placed in charge of the main companies, and he kept a close eye on them, obviously, but he also had to watch the smaller companies.
In the process, he kept an eye on the town square and the comings and goings of the people of the town for anyone who stood out or anyone who was out of place.
Monitoring everything from the apartment building was easy, but it made him restless.
Usually, he would be out on the streets, smelling everything, looking at everyone, and allowing his wolf to use his instincts to detect trouble.
He did not like hiding behind the computer screens, and he needed to get out and stretch his legs.
Unfortunately, he made a promise not to leave the building.
So, he thought of a better option, the rooftop.
Alexander did leave his keys to the apartment so that he could check on it, which gave him access to it.
Now that he had a plan, off he went, but he didn't think it all the way through.
As he was up on the rooftop, running in wolf form, stretching his legs, he heard a buzz.
Then he heard it again as he let out a howl.
'Shit. Is it time for Deva to be here already?'
He hadn't realized when he was up on the roof running that the sun was already beginning to set.
Dominic had run the afternoon away.
Shifting as quickly as he could, he made his way back down to the office and checked the monitor to see who it was, but it wasn't Deva.
It was Lucas.
Why was Lucas buzzing the door of the apartment building?
Had he heard Dominic on the rooftop?
He was supposed to be dead, and if he knew that he was alive, it could ruin it all.
At that moment, he had two options: ignore the door or answer him.
Lucas pushed the speaker button, knowing he would be listening.
"I can sense you, Dominic. I know you aren't dead. You might be injured, or not. I know you aren't dead, though. Phoenix and Raphael wouldn't have been able to walk away from me if you were."
When had he seen them?
Dominic had to know when, where, and if they were okay.
What would happen if he let Lucas in, or if he let him know for sure he was alive?
One thing he did know was that he hadn't gone back to the pack yet, and that puzzled him.
'BUZZ'
Lucas raised an eyebrow and entered the building with caution.
Looking down the hallway first, unsure where to go, he began to walk in slowly.
The last time he encountered the elder wolf, he nearly killed him, so he had to be prepared for anything.
That was when Dominic opened the door to the office and stepped out just enough for him to see him.
"So, I was right, you did survive."
Dominic nodded, "You were right. It doesn't seem like you are surprised, though. You didn't go back to the pack. Why?"
Lucas thought about it for a moment.
"I don't feel like they are my pack. I haven't for a long time. You were always my pack. My home. When I felt like you were lying to me, betraying me, it destroyed me. Be honest with me, though. You did lie. The whole time, you had the girl."
"NO, Lucas, I didn't. Everything changed when I found my son, though. I didn't want to leave him. He didn't want to leave this place. My loyalty is with him."
Anger seemed to swell in Lucas's chest.
"So, you found your natural son, and it was just screw all the other sons you raised. He wanted you to protect whoever, and you just agreed blindly?"
Dominic shook his head because Lucas was hurt and he knew it, "No, Lucas, I never wanted to hurt you. If you wanted a place at my table, you were always welcome. You still are. It would be more complicated now, but it can still happen. You will always be my family, Julius or no Julius."
Lucas started walking toward Dominic, "You're right, it isn't as easy now. The witches are mad at you now."
"How do you know that. Are you working with them? Please tell me you're not working with them."
Lucas rolled his eyes, "I needed help to hide after what I did. I'm not working with them, but they think I am. That's how I knew you were alive. They saved me from Raphael and Phoenix."
"So, they saw the group?"
"Yeah. It wasn't that big of a deal. They gave them a bit of a lashing about being cursed wolves, but they gave them a choice about going after me or moving forward. When they were able to run off and not kill me, I knew you weren't dead."
Dominic's heart sank. "So, they knew cursed wolves, and Raphael was traveling through the woods alone?"
"Yeah. I mean, they got all whispery and started their witchy stuff, but I started to head here for you.
"You young wolves will learn one day. Witches cannot be trusted. They love young wolves and hate to be bested."
'BUZZ'
Dominic looked back at the monitor, and that time, he did recognize the person at the door as the bright, bubbly young lady from early that morning.
"She decided to show up now. Wonderful. Get in here and go hide in the bedroom back there or something. Just stay hidden."
He buzzed her in after Lucas made himself scarce and waited for her to brighten the room with her inner sunshine.
She brought it too.
Her speech was just as peppy and quick as her personality.
"Good evening, Nic. I brought the special for you to try. Honestly, I know you don't think you will like it, but I know you will love it. Promise! You just have to try it. Please. For me. Anyway. I had a little time and finished most of the reports before I left for the day, and grabbed some of the shops along the way that they don't think I know about. I'm a doll like that. Also. For tomorrow. What do you think about a coconut day? Like Coconut shrimp, with tropical rice, a coconut-type dessert, and a coconut cocktail."
Dominic was concerned, for a multitude of reasons.
"I think you have a lot of pep and energy. Thank you for going the extra mile, though. It's really appreciated. As for the specials. Why not. Pineapple today, coconut tomorrow. What will it be the next day, watermelon?" he said as he laughed a little.
"Maybe. If I can find a dish, dessert, and drink that go with it, it could be. If not, we have to break the trifecta."
"You just enjoy everything, don't you?" Dominic asked.
"Of course. No reason to let life get you down. It's all in how you look at things. See you in the morning."
With that, she was on her way out the door.
Dominic waited for her to exit the building before he gave the all clear to Lucas.
Lucas rushed out, "Who the hell was that?" he asked as he looked at the screen, "Oh, damn. She looks amazing. That's all kinds of sunshine locked in a tiny bottle. I could be around her all the time."
"You think you can handle that, but that is controlled chaos in a cute package. Before you decide anything, we need to talk more."
Lucas looked at Dominic with curiosity, "About what?"
"Julius, the team, the orphans, and Ayla."