Chapter 17: A Task

Lucinda

The girls threw me a nice birthday party, or rather birthday slumber party, where Lexi and Trisha joined us in our room and we ate pizza and drank soda until way past midnight. They congratulated me upon making eighteen outside the orphanage, which we didn't speak much about. I told them that I was trying to forget about it, and honestly, they have been a great help.

So now I am two days eighteen.

Descending the stairs, I received a message from Luna.

Luna: Lucinda, your presence is required in Alpha's office currently.

Uh oh. This was definitely a problem. Firstly, Luna never calls me Lucinda unless she is extremely serious. Second, my presence was required, not requested. Third, it was required currently: in other words, RIGHT NOW!

I pivoted. I sped back up the stairs and directly to Lexi's dad's office. When I got there, I found everyone: Alpha, Luna, Beta male and female, their sons Keith and Drew William, Lexi, and Jayden. Every single one of them had on that unreadable expression. I could tell that they had been talking about me.

Something in my stomach tightened into a knot.

"Lucinda, how good of you to arrive so quickly," drawled Alpha.

Alpha calls everyone by their full name (which I think is rather tedious) so this wasn't much of a surprise.

I blinked in uncertainty.

"Alexandra is taking a trip," he announced. "And since, as I gather, you have a very... limited knowledge of supernatural beings, I deem it necessary to educate you. Therefore, you will accompany her."

My eyes widened.

He resumed speaking. "You will go with her to the Shadow Pack, remain there for two days, then return. And on this trip you will cross the territories of the Moonbeam and Dark Night packs."

I shifted uncomfortably. "Sir?"

"Yes, Lucinda?"

"Um, will the other packs be fine with that? I mean, when I got here you asked why I was on your land. And those other wolves might get us too. And from experience, I think they might not believe us if we tell them."

Luna and Jayden's jaws ticked, and I read the expression; it was the "Oh no, she's picking fights again?" look. Lexi had on an almost smug expression. The others remained carefully blank.

Alpha answered smoothly, "Yes, but I have already made arrangements. I have obtained permission for you to cross their lands."

I nodded slowly, still skeptical.

"But," he continued, leaning back in his chair; "I must say I do not trust them— not fully anyway. Which is, truly, another reason you are going. You are to be a subtle bodyguard for my daughter."

I nearly choked. "We are going alone?" I gasped.

A slight smile graced his lips. "No, of course not. You go with William and Matthews, one of my most trusted warriors."

I breathed relief.

"However," Alpha recommenced in chilling tones, "it is you who are responsible for her. I am trusting my daughter to you, and you must ensure she returns to me without a scratch."

I blinked. Why does this sound off? I wondered.

Sounds like a threat to me, growled my other voice.

I nodded.

"Dismissed," Alpha said calmly. "You leave tomorrow."

***

Lexi

Outrageous. Preposterous. Leaky. Variable.

Those were the words that ran through my mind at my dad's plan.

"Why was I not forewarned about this?" I hissed as soon as Cindy and the Beta family stepped out.

"It does not matter. You know now."

I ground my teeth. "This is never going to work. What is even the object of this? Why am I being sent to the Shadow Pack for no particular reason, with so few wolves? Why, when you said yourself that there are tensions between us and the Dark Night Pack?"

"We need someone to go to the Shadow Pack to discuss this issue of disappearing children. The Shadow Pack know best about supernatural beings, so they might give us information about the shifters, maybe help us learn how to communicate with them. As to your other question, this is essentially a trap. I am putting you in a vulnerable position so that if my hunch is correct, and Lucinda is working for the Dark Night Pack, she will think this is the perfect moment to strike. She will think that she has gained some trust, since I made her responsible for you, and make her move on this trip."

I shook my head. "And what would this move be, you think?"

My father cracked his knuckles. "I also don't know. But I suppose she will make communications, and the Dark Night Pack will be more active while you are gone."

"More active?" I scoffed. "And had it occurred to you that we might be waylaid? Or is that part of the plan, you know, putting me in a vulnerable position?"

"Precisely, Alexandra."

"Whaaat?" said Lattis.

"In other words, Father," I said quietly, tears blurring my vision.

"Alpha," he corrected me.

"Father," I spat back stubbornly. "You are sending me on a trip which is likely to result in death, when you have a choice?"

His cold blue eyes, so much like mine, stared back at me. There was nothing there but steely, rock hard determination. I peered into them, silently praying, pleading, for him to show some sign of relent. But no.

"You don't care," I whispered, finally believing what he had always shown. "You don't... care." My shoulders dropped and tears flowed fast from my eyes, which I knew were not light blue anymore.

"Stop, Lexi, calm down!" Mom yelled.

Mom moved with speed towards me as the papers began flapping. Dad— no, Alpha— began to rise from his seat, alarm written on his features.

Books, papers, pens, and even a light chair rose, swept up by the fury of the whirlwind. Whirlwind— an apt description of my current emotional turmoil. Mum's eyes glowed electric blue as soon as she touched me. The swirling winds died instantly, while Da— Alpha— tried to save his office.

I screamed.