Crossing Paths With The White Wolf

Natalia P o V

'Nat, they are opening the door' Eun-Kyung's panicked voice came into my mind, making me stop the push-ups I was doing out of boredom.

'We're still at sea. Moving. Maybe they are checking up on us. Make sure you're all shifted,' I tell her as I shift myself and wait.

We've been sailing for at least 3 weeks but it was hard to keep track inside this box. I've almost run out of water. The food was gone a couple of days ago. I knew we either had to be getting close, or they would have some sort of back-up plan for us to make it. 'They are giving us more food and water, Eun-Kyung's relieved voice came through the mind link. I nodded to myself, forgetting for a moment she couldn't see me.

'Make sure you're still rationing. We don't know where they are taking us!' I told her.

'OK. She said and I could feel the sadness in her voice.

'We're going to be OK. Doesn't matter how far we go, I will find us a way home. I reassured her. I heard my own container door moving and laid down on the hay, the furthest away from the pool and food dish.

After they moved the cloth in front of my cage, two men came in with long capture nooses and a long stun gun while another two waited to open the door. We pretended to struggle as they put it on me, to keep up pretenses of being a captured wild animal. We made sure to growl and snarl just enough to keep them afraid and careful but without giving them a reason to use it. For more free novels, visit One man came in with a hose and refilled my pool. Another cleaned the cage and dropped a fresh deer carcass in the cage, making Hestia and me salivate and wonder if they had brought live deer to slaughter for us. It couldn't be more than a couple of hours dead.

"Hurry up, if she gets free, it's your head," one said as we pretended to struggle to get free.

"It's not that f*****g easy to carry a whole carcass in."

"Yes, well, be thankful we only need to feed it one time. We should be there in a couple of weeks. Did you finish cleaning? This place reeks of piss." Hestia huffed at that, offended at the statement. It's not like they let us out to use the facilities.

The last person got out and locked the cage. They released the capture nooses and I immediately ran towards the carcass. Unfortunately, the trigger-happy a*****e got a little scared and jolted me with the stun gun, making me fall and whimper as the electricity seized my entire body.

"You f*****g i***t. If you kill it, it's coming out of your pay," one said as they closed the door as they slapped him upside the head. It took us a few minutes for our muscles to stop seizing. Hestia walked towards the meat and began having a moderate meal. We still needed to make this last a while and I couldn't stomach the raw meat in human form. Once we were done, we went back to the hay and took a nap, wondering where we were going and how I was going to keep my promise to Eun-Kyung and her parents.

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Helios P o V

"Can you just pick something? I have zero interest in this s**t," I hissed at Theo as we sat at the back of the room for the auction.

"I don't need anything this expensive," he said back.

"Consider it 187 years of anniversary gifts for you and Sebastian," I said a little softer. Theo's eyes lit up at that and nodded.

We were past the half-way point of the auction and we had bought nothing so far. It was mostly antiques, and for someone that had lived through it all, I didn't really care. I have never been sentimental about material items. The money I had accumulated was more than anything a necessary evil. It made the transition to different countries easier. Starting a new life and identity requires money. I didn't want to struggle from scratch every half a century. Unfortunately, the only way to get invited to bigger auctions was to spend money.

Two items later, and Theo was the owner of a $2 million dollar 18th century Chinese blue and red lotus vase.

We were at the end of the auction. Most people had already left when they brought out a covered rectangle that was clearly either a painting or a mirror.

"This next item was discovered 'missing' from the San Antonio Museum of Art," the auctioneer began. That piqued my interest, making me sit up straighter in the chair. It couldn't possibly be what I thought it was. "Through considerable effort, we have tracked and acquired this piece for our most esteemed clientele." He nodded to the assistant who unveiled the painting underneath. My eyebrows shot up. "Shall we start the bidding at 2 million?" The auctioneer began. "Isn't that -" I nodded absentmindedly without letting Theo finish and raised my paddle.

After a few minutes, it was just me and another person bidding against each other. Finally, I managed to purchase the painting I had donated to the San Antonio Museum of Art a couple of decades ago for $4 million dollars. I received quiet applause and intriguing looks from the remaining guests. I made sure to smile politely, but inside I was boiling. Diego Rivera's "El Albañil" belonged in a museum and now I would have to wait until I was ready to switch identities to have it returned to a museum again. My friend's talent deserved to be admired by the world. He had not battled so many personal demons to have this hanging in a home.

"Make sure that goes into the bank box," I told Theo.

We hung around afterwards to transfer the money to be able to take our items home. I was making casual talk with the accountant when the gentleman that bid against me walked up, "I'm Matthew, nice pieces you're taking home today."

"I suppose," I said lazily, making sure the auctioneer could hear me, "I generally prefer more..." I motioned with my hand as if trying to look for the right word, "...adventurous collectibles. The type that makes your heart run a little faster when someone else sees it," I said, purposely vague, "But, I owed my associate here a birthday gift and the painting will be an anniversary gift for a lady friend, so I guess today wasn't a total loss."

He nodded, understanding, and I could see the auctioneer making a quiet phone call. "If your lady friend ever wants to sell, have her give me a call," He gave me a business card that only had his first name and a number.

We paid for our items via wire transfer. Once everything was settled, we received our items along with a black envelope. I waited until we were back at Theo's place before I opened it.

Theo looked at me expectantly. I looked at them seriously for a moment before I grinned at them. "Looks like we managed to get an invitation for the real black-market auction. It's in a month. A few days after our estimated timeline for the new shipment to come in." I showed them the very cryptic invitation. It was a simple numeric web address with instructions to input a code for location the day before the auction.

"It can't be a mistake. I think we're on the right track," Sebastian said, rubbing his hands together.

"I want you to contact Markus' security company. If they traffic people, we're not taking any chances, we will attack that same night. Make sure they know, we will only attack if people are in danger. If it's just goods, we won't make any trouble that night. We will pay their full fee regardless."

"Will do," Sebastian answered.

"I'll need some new camera equipment. We don't know what we're dealing with, so I'd like to remain in the shadows as long as possible," I said.

"What do you need us to do" Gonzalo asked, motioning at himself and Theo.

"Wait. We can't really do much unless we know what we're dealing with. Just watch our people carefully. See if they have communications outside of work. They needed someone on the inside. If we can find that person, it will be easier."

"In that case, did either of you pick up dinner?" Sebastian asked. I looked at my watch. It was close to 7pm.

"s**t. We forgot." Theo said.

"I'll order us some take out," Gonzalo said.

"I'm actually going to head home. I'm tired. I'll pick something up on the way home." I lied. Sebastian looked at me with a knowing look but said nothing. I tucked the envelope back in my jacket. Something inside me was.... uncomfortable. It felt like an itching under the skin. Something was changing and I didn't like not knowing what it was.

I walked towards my vehicle and I felt someone watching me. I looked around but couldn't see anything. I walked to my lambo and began the drive home. I was going to grab dinner, but I still felt like someone was watching me, so once I got on the San Diego Freeway and pushed my foot down on the accelerator. I only ever drove my lambo when I needed to. Cars were something I enjoyed, but the sexier ones were too flashy to use. Driving to the auction was strategic, but now I was even more happy about it as I could be assured they would not be able to keep up with me. I parked the car in the garage, gave it a loving pat on the hood and headed into the house. I have a big kitchen. I could cook something but that would take too long. I went into the freezer and dug out the remaining container of pozole soup and dumped it in a pot. As I let it heat up, I went out onto the deck that overlooked the ocean. Something was coming this way, and it would be here in a couple of weeks. I looked up at the new moon. Is this what you need me to do? I feel like everything is about to change, but I can't tell if that's a good or bad thing.

I went to bed only to wake up to an email from Markus. It said simply:

Helios,

Celeste had the same vision last night and thinks you're tired of hearing about it, but something tells me if the moon goddess sees the need to tell you to keep going on the path you're on, then you probably need to hear it, so here it is. You're still on the right track. Take care and keep going. If you need any help, please reach out.

Markus

I couldn't help the smile that came to my face. "Thanks for the answer, sister." I said out loud as I answered his email:

Thank you. I will keep your offer in mind. Please let Celeste know that hearing I'm on the right path will only ever keep pushing me forward. Any chance you can give me a clue about the vision? Helios

The answer was almost immediate:

No can do. I like having my skin attached to my body. You've seen the power my mate and the moon goddess have first-hand. I thought we were getting along? Markus

I laughed and responded:

It was worth a shot. I wouldn't want to be on their bad side again either. I got lucky they forgave me as it is.

Helios.