Chapter 67 - Nat

Monday 4 January

~*Nat’s POV*~

Everyone in the room froze, except Tyipa, who jumped up onto the top of my head.

Takeshi was the first to recover. “I’m guessing by the look on your face that we’re going to need to be sitting down for this.” He headed over to one of the two seats in the room and sat down, before crossing his legs and clasping his hands professionally.

Auden continued her exam of me. I knew trying to tell her I was fine, just bruised, wouldn’t make a lick of difference to her, so I kept quiet. I did, however, turn to Cody and ask for a t-shirt. Nothing against nudity, but I was getting cold.

Cody grinned cheekily at me and went to the closet and got one of my oversized t-shirts out. She tossed it to me, and I grabbed it from the air easily, putting it on while Auden grumbled at me for getting in the way.

Tyipa also let her displeasure known when I forgot about her sitting on my head. She dug her claws into my scalp as she hung on while the t-shirt went over her.

“Sorry, Tyipa.” It was so easy to forget that she was there sometimes, even after only a couple of days. She whistled at me and nibbled carefully at my fingers when I held them up to her to stroke her chest.

“Where do you want me to start?” I asked Takeshi. Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed Cody settle into the chair that was closest to my bed and grab my arm.

“Just in case I have questions,” Cody said in my head. I nodded at her, but kept my attention on Takeshi.

“Maybe start with the basics. What should we be calling you?” Takeshi asked.

“My name is…” I paused and shook my head. “Was… Audrey Whelan. I turned eighteen on the fifth of November. My Dad was the Beta for the Kinglake pack.”

Takeshi held his hand up to stop me before I went any further. “A couple of questions.”

I nodded once to have him ask what he needed to.

“First, you said ’was Audrey Whelan’. That’s not your name?” He furrowed his brow in confusion.

“My name is Natsu Saito.” I kept my eyes squarely on Takeshi. I needed him to know how much his proffered name meant to me. “Audrey Whelan… It’s not who I am anymore.” I paused. “I honestly don’t know if Audrey was ever really me. This past month… I’ve felt more like myself than I ever did when I was Audrey.”

The corners of his lips tipped up ever so slightly. “Fair enough. Second, you said your father ’was the Beta for the Kinglake pack’?” He looked over my shoulder at Auden. “I wasn’t aware James trusted anyone enough to be a Beta.”

I swallowed before I answered. This was going to hurt me later, but I needed to get through it. I needed to get this out. “Alpha James trusted my father.” I took a deep breath. “But my father died. He died protecting me,” I said quietly. “The night I was run out of Kinglake. The night before Auden and Cody found me.”

A silence filled the room. Even Auden paused in her exam. I felt the cold stethoscope disappear from my back before Auden appeared in front of me. She walked out of the room, grabbed a chair that was just outside, brought it in and placed it in front of the now closed door to the room. I assumed she didn’t want anyone interrupting us for this conversation.

Takeshi waited until Auden was seated before he broke the silence. “Why did he die?”

I frowned. “That’s kind of a long story, but ultimately he was protecting me from Alpha James.”

Takeshi and Auden looked at each other with concern before they looked back at me.

“We can come back to that,” said Takeshi, pinching his nose. “Who was your father?”

“Beta Carey Whelan,” I answered. “My Mum’s name is…” I trailed off, thinking about what happened before I left Kinglake. “Was? I don’t know whether she’s still alive. Surely, she would have come looking for me if she wasn’t dead.” I took a deep breath before letting it out slowly to settle my thoughts. “Her name was Brennan Whelan.”

Takeshi massaged his temple. “I don’t know a Beta of that name. I thought I knew all the leaders in Victoria.”

“You might not know about him,” I conceded. “We moved to Kinglake from Perth about five years ago, and you know what Alpha James is like.”

Takeshi sighed. “True. He’s the most secretive person I’ve ever had the displeasure of knowing.”

I pressed my lips into a tight grimace. “Yeah… There’s a reason for that.”

He raised an eyebrow and eyed me cautiously. “What do you mean?”

For the first time, I turned to look at Cody anxiously. “Are you sure you want to stick around for this, Cody? What they’re doing at Kinglake… It’s not good.” I chewed my bottom lip, not sure how she was going to respond. “It makes what Tatum and Zelda did to me, did to all of us, look like a walk in the park.”

“Tatum and Zelda did this to you?” Auden asked, fury rising in her voice. She gripped the armrests of the chair, making her knuckles turn white.

I looked at Auden briefly, nodded, then returned my eyes to Cody.

“I’ll fucking kill them…” Auden muttered.

“Cody?” I asked tentatively. “I’m serious. It’s disgusting.”

“I’m in this with you, Nat. Until the end.” Cody took a deep breath and readied herself for what I was going to say.

“Okay, but don’t tell me I didn’t warn you,” I said to her, before returning my eyes to Takeshi’s cautiously curious expression. “Alpha James has been selling female Kinglake pack members to overseas pack leaders.” I felt my jaw clench before I continued. “He arranges forced markings. He’s been doing it for years.”

Takeshi sat there for a moment, taking the news in, the colour slowly draining from his face, before he stood up and started pacing the room, his fingers rubbing circles into his temples. “He wouldn’t…”

“He lies to us, Takeshi,” I explained. “It starts in school. We’re told females can feel their fated mate link at eighteen, not nineteen, like the males.”

Auden sat frozen; even Cody had turned pale at the news.

“He hosts what he calls ’business conferences’ every six months,” I continued. “Alpha and Beta males from around the world, as well as wealthy pack members…” I trailed off as I remembered all the times I’d seen the visiting ‘dignitaries’. “They all visit. We’re told that it’s to ’build professional connections for future endeavours’, which I guess isn’t a lie if you look at the wording objectively.” I frowned as I thought. “It’s just that the connections are single sided and not in favour of the girls.”

“How…” Takeshi stumbled over his words as he paced the small room. “How could he do this?”

“I don’t know the exact details,” I said, thinking hard. “Alex noticed it first. After I turned sixteen, he told me he had observed something weird going on, but he couldn’t figure out what it meant. It took me a few months to see what he was talking about, because it only happens two or three times a year.” I started picking at the blanket in my lap.

Takeshi stopped pacing and stood at the foot of the bed, gripping the bed-end tightly.

“Just like you, Alpha James witnesses the first shifts at the pack house, along with the wolf’s parents. He would invite them all to stay the night at the pack house. He called it his ’gift’ to the new wolf, to allow them to ’recover’ from their first shift.” I made a face and shook my head in disgust. “Every now and then, I’d see a female wolf come in for breakfast the next day with Alpha James, all excited about having found her mate. She’d show off her mark proudly.”

“Oh, my Goddess,” muttered Auden, her hand coming to her mouth.

“Alpha James would be all smiles and tell her how incredibly lucky she was. Her fated mate would always be a high-ranking pack member from overseas that had seen her when he had visited the last time he was here but couldn’t say anything to her because she hadn’t turned eighteen yet,” I said. “No-one ever questioned it because we had people visiting all the time. But here’s the thing — no-one could ever find her fated mate until the day after the marking was done.”

Cody’s head hung. Just like me, I was sure she was recalling the conversation we had had with Tatum and Zelda weeks ago about forced markings. My subconscious must have remembered, even though I couldn’t. How else would I have known to ask?

“I didn’t know what it meant, though.” I sighed, my brows furrowing. “It felt off, but I didn’t know why. Neither did Alex. It had been so long since he’d seen the practise that he didn’t put two and two together.”

“How did you finally figure it out?” Takeshi asked hesitantly. His hands were repeatedly gripping and releasing the base of the bed, trying to release his anger.

“How do you think?” I gave him a withering look. “Alex ruined his plans.”

Takeshi hung his head with a long sigh. “Fucking hell…”

“Once I shifted, Alpha James started ranting about how I’d cost him money,” I said bitterly. “’Do you have any idea how much money you’ve just made me lose?’” I used my still battered fingers to indicate the quote.

“I’m so sorry, Nat,” Cody said. “Goddess…”

“You know what the worst part was, though?” I clenched my jaw as I remembered. “Dad knew. My parents knew about what Alpha James was doing.”

I heard Auden gasp.

“When Dad heard what Alpha James was talking about, he said, ’You agreed that she was to be exempt. You swore to us she wouldn’t be a part of this.’ He fucking knew,” I spat the words out as I shook my head. “All that time. All those girls. They both fucking knew, and they did nothing.” I could feel the anger bubble away inside me. How could my parents be a part of something so vile? “Alpha James said something about how, because I was ’Beta stock’, that I was a ’hot commodity’, that I was the ’most valuable piece of meat he’d ever sold’, that my parents should have expected it, anticipated it even.” I could feel my fingers aching as they clenched the blanket in my lap.

I felt Cody’s fingers dig into my skin as the tension got to her as well.

A lone, angry tear slowly made its way across my cheekbone, but I wiped it away quickly. “Alpha James told my father that I had been sold to an Alpha from Europe, but because I’d become ’a freak of nature’, an ’abomination’, the transaction had become null and void.” I took a deep breath. “Alex saved me from being forcibly marked, simply because of who he was.” A wave of gratitude ran through me.

“You’re welcome, kid.” I smiled at Alex’s words.

“Alpha James was beyond furious. He shifted in front of us and went to attack me. Dad shifted so quickly, so very quickly,” I said, shaking my head as more tears started falling. “There was a fight. A huge fight. They destroyed so much…” I paused, letting my eyes wander to the ceiling. “I think Mum assumed Dad would win because she didn’t attempt to get out or shift; she just stood between me and the fight, as it raged on around us.”

I heard the bed base crack as Takeshi’s hands flexed in anger.

“Dad didn’t win,” I said quietly. “There was a crunching sound…” I relived the moment over and over in my mind, my eyes closing tightly as I twisted the blanket in my hands. “I could hear both Dad and Alpha James snarling and tearing at each other, their whimpers when they got injured. Then came the crunch. And then I could only hear Alpha James.” I opened my eyes to meet Takeshi’s. “Alpha James killed my Dad in front of me and Mum.” I tried to swallow the hard lump in my throat. “All because I shifted into Alex.” Guilt crashed through me like waves on a stormy day.

“There’s nothing for you to feel guilty about, kid,” Alex murmured. “You don’t have a say in who your wolf is.”

The memory of Dad’s lifeless body lying in front of Mum and me ran through my mind, the copious amount of blood that lay on the floor around him, the chunks of muscle torn from his limbs. His eyes were already glassy as his last breath left him. I felt my cheeks grow even wetter from unwelcome tears. “Mum screamed at me to run. I didn’t know what else to do, so I ran. She’d crumpled in front of me when Dad was killed. It was like she suddenly gave up.”

The memory of that night started splicing with my memory of Bells dumping me and the subsequent beating from Tatum and Zelda. At the time I was fleeing Kinglake, I couldn’t understand what would make my Mum simply give up like she had.

Now I understood perfectly.

“I ran. I heard Mum scream once more, but then it abruptly cut off.” My head started wobbling of its own accord, tears still falling from my eyes. “I assume Alpha James killed her too, but I don’t know for sure, as I was already running for my life.”

The foot of the bed finally snapped under Takeshi’s grip. He threw the broken pieces across the room in a rage and started pacing again.

“Alex took over. I couldn’t cope with what I’d seen,” I whispered. My fingers rose to my temples to rub at the headache I could feel forming. “I was screaming in my mind. It was all too much. Too brutal. Even Alex said that he couldn’t believe it. We’d always been told to avoid the area between our pack and yours, because you’d kill us on sight; so Alex headed straight for it.”

“The enemy of my enemy…” Takeshi muttered. “Clever move.”

“Alex was running when I lost consciousness…” I paused as I felt my mind pull back from my body.

“I ran until the moon set, then I took control of Nat’s body to get her to the road,” Alex said through my mouth. His voice came through much deeper than mine, a slight gruffness to it that was unequivocally male in nature.

Takeshi stopped his pacing and stared at me in shock. Auden froze and blinked rapidly to come to terms with what she was hearing.

“How…? What?” Takeshi stuttered, before turning to Auden. “You’re hearing this too, right?”

Auden nodded absently.

“This is so cool!” I could hear Cody’s laughter in my head, which only made me grin. “Your eyes are glowing and everything!”

“I can only do this for short periods of time. It’s difficult to do at the moment, but will get easier as we get older.” Alex’s voice dropped off and became my own more feminine one mid-sentence.

I could hear Cody still roaring with laughter, which only got louder when she saw Takeshi and Auden’s shocked faces. Her laughter was contagious and soon I was laughing just as hard as her.

“Stop it, Cody!” I gasped, clutching at my stomach. “It hurts to laugh!”

“But Nat! Look at them!” Cody wheezed in between her laughing fits. “It’s hilarious!”

I had slowed down, but Cody was right. One look at Takeshi and Auden’s nonplussed faces had me in fits again. Finally, I settled enough to apologise to them. “Sorry Takeshi, Auden. I didn’t know Alex was going to do that.”

Auden’s mouth opened and closed like she was a fish out of water struggling to breathe, looking constantly between me, Cody, and Takeshi.

Takeshi had his wits back quicker. “I’m guessing this is one of those Rainbow Serpent type things?”

I chuckled along with Alex. “You could say that, yeah.”

Takeshi scratched his stubbled chin, then grinned at me. “Well, at least I know things will never be boring with you around, Nat.”

I grinned at him, but remained quiet. After the month I’d just been through, I’d take boring any day of the week. I turned to Auden, who was still stunned at what she’d just seen and heard. “Any chance I can get out of here, Doc?”

Auden swallowed nervously. “Uh, sure…” She blinked hard a couple of times, then shook her head, almost like she was trying to clear the cobwebs from her brain. “Sure. Um… Let me get the paperwork…” She rose from her chair.

“Nat?” Takeshi asked, grabbing my attention. “I have no problems with you returning to your apartment, especially if Cody will be joining you, but you might want to get Alex to explain how to control your glow stick tendencies before you start wandering around the pack house.” He gestured at my arms.

I looked down. “Oh…” My arms were still adorned with the bright blue lines. I turned to Cody to see her white lines still glowing.

“Mine only glow when I’m touching you, Nat. Well, you and Alex’s sister.” Cody shrugged, then took her hand off my arm. Her white lines disappeared, but mine still shone brightly, although not quite as brightly as when Cody had been touching me. It looked like a tattoo artist had gone to town with vibrant light blue ink with lines and tribal designs everywhere.

“Alex? A little help?” Not that I had any issues with them, but it might make it easier to not be stared at. At least, initially.

“It’s because Tyipa is touching you. She’s been helping you heal,” Alex explained. “They’ll also show up when Cody, my sister, or any of the Bunyips touches you. Once Bunyips are fully trained, their lines show up whenever they touch anyone. Yours, though… Yours will only appear when you’re actively transferring power. You’re not at that stage yet. But soon.”

Oh, okay. That made sense. I put my hand up to Tyipa, who was still sitting on my head. “Thank you Tyipa. You must be hungry.” She jumped onto my finger and nuzzled it when I brought her down to my eye level. “Do you want to get something to eat? Cody and I will be upstairs when you return. I’ll leave a window open for you.” I stroked her chest softly.

She whistled at me twice and hopped to the window and took flight.

I looked down at my arm when she jumped off me to notice the blue lines fading. It took a few seconds, but soon enough the only things marking my skin were the bruises and cuts from the beating Tatum and Zelda had given me.

“Um, Auden?” I asked as I frowned at my bruises that weren’t as dark as I thought they’d be. “Shouldn’t these be darker?” I pointed at the bruising, pressing one of them gingerly.

Auden tipped her head to the side. “What day do you think it is, Nat?”

“It’s Friday, yeah? The first of January. The fireworks were last night.” I looked at her, then Cody, then Takeshi.

Takeshi shook his head. “It’s Monday night. Monday, the fourth of January. You’ve been unconscious for four days.”

“Seriously?” I asked, blinking as I took that news in. “What have I missed?”

Cody held her hand out to me. I gripped it and as soon as we touched, I noticed both of our skin light up with our respective lines. My head was thrown back as a host of images started flitting through my mind, but they were all from Cody’s point of view.

I saw myself on the hospital bed from the seat that Cody was still sitting in now; the bruises slowly fading, the cuts slowly healing. The shadows shortened and lengthened as the sun moved through the sky, marking each day’s passing. I witnessed Auden, Emery, Takeshi, Murph, Kennedy, Casey, and strangely, Kadin, all visiting me, again and again. I saw how Tyipa and Yamparti took turns nesting on my abdomen, and how Cody eventually woke me up.

It was like I was watching a movie on super fast-forward.

I felt Cody stumble next to me, then let my hand go. My head returned to its normal position. “Whoa.” I looked over to Cody, who had leaned back in her seat and was panting.

Auden had stepped back from me and was watching us both with worry.

Takeshi was still at the foot of the bed, but looked bemused. “Rainbow Serpent stuff?”

“I’m…” I paused, trying to make sense of it myself. “I’m not sure.” Concern filled me as I turned to Cody. “Are you okay, Cody?”

She nodded as her breathing slowly resumed a steady rhythm.

“Did you see what I just saw?”

She nodded again, with a stunned look on her face.

“That was Cody, Nat,” Alex said. “She shouldn’t be able to do that yet. She’s not trained. I think you’re speeding up her learning.” I could almost hear him scratching his chin in deliberation.

“Takeshi, Auden? You and I will need to talk about Cody and Nat’s training,” said Nahi from the bathroom door, Gidja on the top of her head as usual.

We all flinched at the unexpected appearance.

Nahi focused solely on me and smiled warmly. “Welcome back, Nat.”

I tilted my head in her direction in welcome. “I’d say it’s good to be back, but Alex was right. Some things are better left forgotten.”

She inclined her head in acknowledgment. “True. But most of the time, it’s better in the long run to remember the worst of atrocities if those memories will help affect change for the better.”

I grimaced, but I couldn’t argue against her reasoning.

I just wished the world didn’t have to fight for change as much as it did.