Stefan’s POV
She’s sitting at the table in the dining room, her eyes set towards the entrance, as if waiting for the moment I show up.
Andreas is sitting on the other end of the table, checking his phone. Knowing him, he’s probably waiting for an update from Levi and Hanna.
She shoots to her feet when she sees me and comes straight to me.
“Can we talk?”
I nod and turn to Andreas, who has shot to his feet too. “Bring her to the briefing room, I’ll be there in five minutes.”
He nods and beckons her to follow.
She goes with him, but not before looking back at me twice, as if deciding whether to trust me or not.
I head up the stairs and down the hallway into my room. Peeling my sweaty clothes off, I step into the shower and clean up as fast as possible. I change into another black shirt, matching pants, and a pair of black sandals. Then I open a drawer beside my bed and retrieve a photo I’ve kept with me for thirteen years.
I go back downstairs and into the briefing room. The briefing room is where I discuss important matters with my aides and have meetings with members of the pack who wish to see me. It has a door leading to my private office. In a way, it’s like a waiting room-cum-conference room.
Mari is pacing in front of the long conference table while Andreas stands near the door, following her movements with his eyes.
“You can leave us,” I dismiss him as I take the seat at the head of the table.
He nods and leaves through the door.
Mari stops pacing and looks at me, wrapping her arms around her stomach. “Who are you? What do you want from me?”
I gesture to the chair on the side of the table nearest to mine. “Care to sit down?”
She shakes her head. “I’m fine.”
She looks like she’s ready to bolt out of here any second. It’s best to be as straightforward as possible.
“Did something happen to you when you were ten? Like an accident, maybe?”
She shrugs. “No.”
“Nothing that would cause you to lose your memories?”
“I remember very well what I was doing and where I was at ten,” she lets me know.
“Do you?” I ask, rising to my feet. She takes a step back when I make a move towards her. I stop my approach, not wanting to spook her any further.
Her throat moves as she swallows. “Yes. I was ten when my mother took me from my father’s house. Hard not to remember that.”
I frown. “Your father’s house… But you were with her all that time.”
“What are you…” she pauses. “Do you know my mother?”
“Angelina.”
She frowns. “Where did you…” she trails off again. Her frown clears as something else comes across her face. Something like realisation. She shakes her head. “I’m not the one you’re looking for.”
“What?” I ask, reaching into my trouser pocket for the photo I got from my room. I hold it out to her. “Is that not you? And your mother?”
She reaches for the photo, only taking the slightest step towards me. I watch as her eyes widen as she looks down at it. Her eyes lift to me for a second before going back to the photo.
“That’s you, right? Mari Angela? That’s you and your mother. You lived with our family for five years. How can you forget?”
She shakes her head again, then mutters, “She looks… She looks just like me.”
“What?”
She points to the photo with her finger. “She… This is—”
The door bursts open and Andreas appears, a tense expression on his face. “We have a situation.”
“Can it—”
I cut my words short when a wolf, a big, grey, grown wolf, limps into the room. Its grey fur is matted with blood, its paws leaving bloody prints on the floor.
Mari screams and rushes to me, jumping into my arms with no warning. I catch her easily. “Don’t worry, he won’t hurt you.”
She draws her head back, looks at me, then back at the wolf. “Really? Is he domesticated?”
Before I can answer, the wolf crumples to the floor. Then he begins shifting. His fur disappears while his limbs elongate and his muzzle disappears.
I shift my gaze back to Mari. She’s watching, eyes wide in shock. She opens her mouth to say something, but nothing comes out. Then she goes limp in my arms.
“Get the healer!” I order Andreas, registering the state of the werewolf who’s now lying on the floor in his human form. He’s badly injured, and it looks like he’s out cold. “I’ll be back in a minute and I want to know what this is about!”
Holding Mari securely in my arms, I leave the room and head for the stairs. She fainted because of shock, so I know she’s going to be alright in a little while. I get the housekeeper to tend to her while I go downstairs to find out why I have an injured werewolf in my house.
“He’s one of the guards patrolling the perimeter,” Andreas provides the moment I walk back into the room. The healer is already there, feeding something to the injured man. “It appears there has been an attack.”
“An attack? Who dares?”
A groan emanates from the man, and I look to find he has regained consciousness. “Moonrise Hill,” he groans, his voice muffled with pain. “A group of them… They…”
I lean down to his position. “Are you saying that wolves from the Moonrise Hill pack are out there, in my forest, right now?”
He gulps. “Yes.”
I get to my feet and head for the door. Andreas is right on my heel, so I turn to him. “I want you to stay here and keep an eye on Mari.”
“I need to go with you!”
“I’ll take Max and the others,” I tell him, reaching for my phone to get ahold of the leader of the compound’s security team. If I didn’t have Levi, Andreas, or Hanna, Max would be my second in command. When it comes to authority in the pack, however, he’s only second to Levi.
“She’s in no danger here,” Andreas reasons. “Besides, you can’t just go alone. One of us has to be there.”
I know what he means by ‘alone’ and ‘one of us’. Only the three of them know of the issues I have with controlling my wolf in certain circumstances. It’s unlikely that anything will happen, especially because I’ve never lost control of him in a battle, but I’ve always taken precaution.
“You’re Alpha now, Stefan. If anything happens and someone notices…”
“I need you to stay with Mari,” I tell him.
I understand his concern.
I have so much more at stake right now. Until I have all the packs I have recently conquered entirely under control—meaning no surprise attacks from delusional mutts who think they stand a chance against me—it’s best to be extra careful.
There couldn’t be a worse time for people to get wind of the fact that my beast likes kicking me aside and doing things on his own. But I need someone I trust watching over Mari. That’s the only way I can leave her behind.
He nods, looking anything but happy about it.
The call to Max goes through, and I find out that he is already gathering warriors.
Before we leave, I instruct Andreas to place another team around the compound to keep watch just in case someone decides to surprise us on this front too. I doubt anyone will be alive long enough to get close to the compound, but I can’t be too careful.
Especially now that Mari is in that house.
I also instruct that she shouldn’t leave the house until I get back.
After what she saw, and her insistence that she doesn’t remember me, I can’t put it past her to get away while I’m away.
“Let’s go get them,” I declare before initiating my shift, my clothes ripping off as my black wolf takes over.
The bright lights of the house disappear as so does my vision.
Fortunately, I don’t need to see to get those motherfuckers.
With a howl, I run into the forest, merging with the wind.
They’ll regret showing up in my backyard.