Another Half

January 2012

Once Blade noticed that the two women were walking toward her, she stood up. At 5’10, Blade didn’t think she was short next to the young woman with hazel eyes that approached her. She was several inches shorter than Blade and she didn’t seem to have much muscle to her build. To Blade’s amusement, the she-wolf seemed to be sizing her up, too.

We can take her down before anyone blinks if we need to, Talon said nonchalantly.

Down, Girl. We’re at a children’s daycare center in the middle of a private university. We're not attacking anyone.

Nancy approached them with a broad smile.

“Blade! I want to introduce you to—-Crystal, is it, dear? Such a pretty name.”

Crystal smiled. “Thank you. Please call me Crys. Hi!” She held out her hand to Blade. “And your name is Blade? How cool is that?”

Blade shook her small, delicate hand and managed a polite smile.

“It’s nice to meet you,” she said.

Nancy excused herself and Blade stepped back when Crys looked around and quickly stepped closer to her.

“Are you a rogue?” Crys whispered as soon as Nancy was earshot. “I mean, like, a real-life, right-before-your-very-eyes lone wolf?”

“What? No! I mean, I guess.” Blade frowned. “I haven’t thought about that.”

Smooth. Real smooth, Talon said. C’mon, Blade. This girl is harmless.

Crys held up her hands. “I mean, I’m not judging! I think it’s the coolest thing ever to not have to deal with a pack. All that pack politics, pettiness, and crap gets old real quick, y’know? Plus that’s what Robbie and I are going have to be for now,” she said, sighing sadly. She hugged her baby.

“You don’t have a mate?” Blade looked at her with interest.

Lone wolves—or rogues, as they were sometimes called—were not an anomaly in the big cities. Some wolves preferred to live the relatively non-violent existence that most humans led. They married humans and learned to cohabitate with and live as humans. But this girl Crystal smelled like a pack. Blade picked up that her pack’s scent was as fresh as if she had left it this morning.

She must be running away from them, Talon suggested.

Well, she hasn’t run away far enough.

When Crystal didn’t respond, Blade whispered, “Why did you leave your pack? Who are you hiding from?”

Crystal’s hazel eyes widened. “It’s not like that!” She looked around nervously before lowering her voice. “We can’t talk here. Please.”

Blade shrugged, understanding. Whatever threat scared this girl was close, and Blade didn’t like that.

Crystal left her baby next to Andy, and Blade kissed Andy before they left together.

“Nancy says you have a room for rent? Is it far from here?”

Blade smiled and led the way.

Whatever trouble she’s in, we have to help her! Talon said urgently. We can’t leave this poor girl and her baby to fend for themselves.

I know, but it’s not that easy, Blade responded to her wolf. We don’t know who the hell she is or what kind of trouble she’s in. For all we know, her entire pack will converge on us by nightfall and we’d have to run again. This time, we would have nowhere safe to take Andy.

Regardless of her misgivings, Blade took Crystal home.

“Wow! This house is super cute!”

They were standing in front of the house as Blade locked the front gate.

“It still needs work, especially the front and back yards.” Blade pointed at the weeds that were out of control and the trees that desperately needed pruning.

“How long have you lived here?”

“About a week.”

“You’ve been here a week and you already have a house? And in front of the university?”

Blade shrugged. “Inheritance. From my grandfather.”

“Oh, nice. I wish my grandfather had left me stuff. All he left me was a grouchy grandmother. Thank the Moon she lives with my parents.”

Blade showed her around the house. Except for the brand-new beds that Blade purchased the day they had arrived, Blade discovered that everything was as the previous owner had left it. It was as if someone bought new furniture for the house, covered it, and left it all behind. No one had ever lived there.

Having already made up her mind to help her, Blade showed Crystal the room she would share with Robby.

“This is adorable!” Crystal said with a squeal. “And I get my own bathroom? Really?”

Blade smiled at her, appreciating her excitement. She made them some tea, which Crystal took gratefully, and they sat down in the dining room.

“Okay. Tell me,” Blade said. “What’s going on? Why are you running away from your mate?”

Crystal gulped some of her tea. “I know it looks bad, but I swear, I am not running from my mate. He knows I’m here and so does my alpha.”

Blade eyed suspiciously. “Your alpha knows you’re here? I won’t have any problems with your pack?”

Crystal put her hand over her heart, “I promise you, on my life and on the life of my son and in the name of the Moon, that neither my mate nor my alpha will give you any problems on my or my son’s account. They know I am here.”

It’s a little much, Talon said, but it’s a sound promise.

Blade nodded, accepting Crystal’s oath.

“So why are you hiding?”

Crystal sighed. “The Azul Valley packs are at war, and my mate and alpha think it best to hide me and my son among the humans. I’m sure you’ve noticed that there are no wolves living in the city?”

Blade nodded again.

“None have been allowed to live in Azul City for over, I don’t know-–a long time. They had a huge issue with the Nightshade Valley packs buying land in the city ages ago. So, now it’s a no-wolf zone. Anyway, it’s an Azul Valley thing. If the packs weren’t at war, you’d be forced to choose a pack and go live with them.”

“I’ll just declare myself a lone wolf. They can’t force me.”

“As long they’re busy at war, no one will even notice that you’re here. I’m betting on that. So, we’ll just be lone wolves together, okay?”

“What are they fighting over? The packs?” Blade sipped her tea.

Crystal shrugged. “The usual. Land. Mates. Resources. Revenge. What else do packs fight over?”

It didn’t surprise Blade that the wolf packs in the valley were at war. In fact, she would have been shocked if they’d been at peace. Werewolf packs were rife with dominance, possessiveness, backstabbing, and violence. Bloodshed was in their nature. There was a reason her grandfather believed that a Spymaster was just as important as a Training Master, if not more so. A well-trained Spymaster is capable of avoiding conflict before it reaches the battlefield.

Crystal and Robby moved in that very afternoon. Her mate and another male were scheduled to drop off their belongings. Blade gave Crys a copy of the key and planned to be conspicuously absent with Andy when they arrived.

“Don’t you want to meet my mate?”

“Not really,” Blade said as she got ready to leave. “Just let them know that I’m a lone world and an outsider. I want nothing to do with their wars. I just want to be left alone to finish my degree. I’ll probably sell this house and leave this city after I graduate, so there’s no point in me picking sides.”

Crystal didn’t look happy, but she nodded. “Fair enough.”

Blade returned late that night with an already sleeping Andy in her arms.

Crystal had made herself and Robby at home, and she met Blade at the door.

“My mate says he and the pack are grateful for what you’re doing, and that if you ever need protection, you are welcome to join our pack,” Crystal said. “Maybe you won’t ever need it, but just remember that.”

Crystal seemed hopeful that Blade would accept their veiled invitation, but she just thanked her for the offer.

Seems to me like they’re the ones needing protection, Blade said to Talon.

For months, everything worked out well. Blade was surprised that Crystal was also enrolled in the Child Development program. They had those classes in common, and they finished the semester well together. They grew closer and became good friends. The boys were growing up together, as well, and they seemed to enjoy each other’s company.

Having grown up with such a close-knit family, Blade never sought to make friends outside of her family because she had never needed them. When she wasn’t training with her grandfather, she was training with Uncle Danny and all of her cousins. When she wasn’t training she was with her mother or playing with her twin brother, or with Rebeca, her cousin of about the same age as her. They got older and, eventually, Joaquin found his mate, Amalia, and she became Blade’s sister and friend. Without any familial ties to Crystal, Blade’s friendship with her was a different experience as their trust deepened.

May 2012

Blade woke up on a Saturday morning to urgent knocking. She picked up her phone. It was 3 a.m.

She took out one of the large machetes she had under her bed and ran to the front door of the house, but Crystal was already there, closing the door behind her and a very thin but also very pregnant young woman.

Both women gasped when she appeared ready to strike with her very sharp black machete.

“It’s okay, it’s okay, Blade,” Crystal said. The woman next to her had a hand over her heart and clung to Crystal. She was pale and her eyes were wide with fear.

Blade stood up from her fighting stance. “Who is she?”

“She’s my friend, and she’s in trouble,” Crystal said meekly. “Our pack was attacked last night and Rachel here is, well—-her mate is afraid for her and their baby.”

“What if she goes into labor?” Blade didn’t know much about pregnancy, never having been pregnant herself, but she could tell that Rachel was close to delivering.

“I’ll take care of her, and I promise I will take full responsibility,” Crystal said. “Please, Blade.”

Blade nodded, sniffing the air. There were few scents as acidic as that of fear, and both women reeked of it. She lowered her machete and sighed.

“She can take the spare room,” Blade said turning around and heading toward her room.

“Thank you!” Crystal called out.

Once school was out, Blade went to the park and took out her phone. Since Rachel’s arrival, neither Crystal nor Rachel left the house. Rachel was too pregnant, and Crystal was too scared. This worked out well for Blade because she trusted these women well enough to leave Andy in their care. She had yet to smell any wolves in town, so she felt they were safe.

On a sunny spring day in late May, Blade sat on a park bench in front of an artificial lake. Since school had let out, she was alone in the park. She stared up at the tall green mountain that hovered behind the school. At the top, a lone tower jutted from a grey stone building that was almost completely concealed by lush greenery. Even from where she sat, Blade could make out the windows that surrounded the top, just below the pointed roof.

Blade had asked Crystal about that tower and its inhabitants, but Crys had merely shrugged.

“It’s been here forever. I’ve heard that it belongs to the owners of the distillery. In fact, the distillery is up there. Uh, somewhere. Only the main offices are in the city.”

“Could you be any vaguer?” Blade had said with a laugh.

Crystal had looked over at Rachel nervously, but Rachel ignored her.

“They’re the ones that, uh–”

“--are the original inhabitants of the valley,” Rachel said loudly. “They were the first pack and from them, all the other packs broke off. They’ve been the guardians of the valley for many generations. Humans live here only because they’ve allowed it.”

Blade and Crystal stared at Rachel. That was the most Blade had ever heard Rachel speak since she had arrived, but she stopped her right there. The less Blade knew about the wars going on around them, the better she and Andy would be.

Still staring up at the tower in the distance, Blade made the call she had avoided for over six months.

“Richards, Faye, and Associates, how may I direct your call?” a crisp female voice said.

“Uh, I’d like to talk to Marty, please,” Blade said, feeling her mouth dry up. “Mr. Marty Richards.”

A long silence ensued.

“Hello?”

“Yes,” the female voice said, becoming stern. “I’m sorry to inform you that Mr. Richards passed away almost six months ago. Is there anyone else you’d like to speak to?”

Blade’s mind raced. Marty Richards was gone? She couldn’t help but feel in her gut that Nick was involved. Marty had been one of her grandfather’s most trusted associates and the executor of his will.

“Who did he leave his portfolio of clients to?”

“That would be Joanna, his daughter. Would you like to make an appointment with her?”

“I’d like to talk to her, yes.”

“I’ll patch you in with her assistant. His name is Malik.”

A moment later, a distracted female voice answered the phone. This voice was huskier.

“Joanna speaking.”

Surprised, Blade immediately said, “Hi, I’d like to know if you’re interested in purchasing knives?”

“Yes, I’ve been expecting your call for a long time now. Mine are dull and I desperately need to talk to you about getting some new ones.”

Blade would have heaved a deep sigh of relief, except Joanna said “desperately.”

“Since this is a personal matter, would you mind calling me on my cell phone so we can discuss pricing and purchase?” The husky female voice rattled off a ten-digit phone number and hung up.

Blade closed her eyes at the southern breeze that fanned her face. Something had gone terribly wrong if Martin was dead. Her only hope was that she could trust Joanna as much as her grandfather trusted Marty.

She was about to dial the number she had already memorized when a sudden shift in the breeze made Blade spring from her seat. But she had caught the scent too late. Cursing herself for getting distracted, she stood still as the tip of a long sword poked into the right side of her neck and another tip poked her lower spine.

A group of five armed wolves quickly surrounded her.

“What are doing out here all by your lonesome, love?”