Chapter 32

“That girl must’ve took it.” Adam hissed.

“What girl?” I suddenly asked out of complete curiosity. A tinge of jealously rose in my heart, making me strangely uncomfortable. Was this normal? I think so? I honestly don’t know, still it bothered me a bit that a girl came close enough to steal the necklace. Still, even though we both were marked, it didn’t mean he was during the time when the girl stole the necklace, but at the same time, I was surprised that he would even let a girl get so close. Whoever she was must’ve slipped past Adam’s defense way to easily, meaning that the girl was probably cunning. Plus, this was a huge problem, that pendant was the key that led straight to Samantha.

“The girl that was next to Donovan. Her sticky fingers must’ve grabbed at it the moment when I bumped into her. I thought I felt something strange, she used magic so I wouldn’t feel it break.”

Magic. Something of that level was definitely not normal, especially if it meant sneaking it under Adam’s nose without him noticing it.

“That’s not good. It means that girl is probably working for Ogma.”

“Exactly,” Adam spat. He quickly pulled out his phone and started to dial a number.

While Adam was busy with his phone call, I pulled out my phone. This wasn’t good at all, right now I suspected that Ogma might have the pendant in his hands. I needed to call on my pack to protect the borders of the National Park as quickly as possible. Who knows when he would slip in and cause trouble.

“Hello?” A similar voice close to Jaz picked up the phone.

“Jayden, where are you now?” I quickly asked.

“I’m at the pack house. Why? what’s wrong?”

“No time to explain. Right now, Ogma is probably heading his way to kidnap Samantha.”

“What? I thought she was safe.”

“Not any more. If you see any suspicious activities near the borders of the National kill them on sight.” I didn’t want to take any chances, the thought of Samantha being ferried away and chopped into little pieces wasn’t what I wanted anytime soon.

“I got it Alpha, do you want me to call the other packs?”

“I would appreciate that. Keep the children safe, stay within the borders as much as possible.”

“Understood. Anything else?”

“That’s it.”

“I’ll make sure to keep the pack safe and look out for any suspicious activities.”

“Good.”

With a click the phone turned off, I let out a deep sigh. I felt a migraine start to set in, telling me I was getting too stressed out.

“Tila, We got a problem.” Jaz spoke, she was also on the phone. She covered the phone and worriedly call out to me.

I didn’t like the tone of her voice, it actually made me more nervous in what she had to say next.

“We won’t be able to catch the next flight until tomorrow in the morning.”

“Shit!” I cursed so loud that a couple of them jumped up in startled. Even Adam stopped talking for a moment and look in my direction. “If at least one of you guys could get the earliest flight than take it. I’m going to go search the city for clues on Ogma’s whereabouts.”

“Wouldn’t he be heading towards Wyoming instead? I mean, why would he stay here?” Ray spoke confused.

“He’ll be here alright. He doesn’t need to be there to kidnap Samantha. He’ll give such task to someone else. Plus, I remember him talking about some kind of plan in California, when I was kidnapped for a week.”

“Wait, you heard of his plan?”

“I heard bits and pieces.” I got up and started to pace back and forth, trying to remember exactly what he had said. Remembering the past month wasn’t something easy to recall, especially if majority of the memory were bad. Every time I thought of those day, the flood of other memories swamp me, making it difficult to focus. My lips started to bleed from biting to hard, while my finger rubbed back and forth.

“Are you okay?” Brian asked. He gripped the edge of the blanket. I stopped and sharply turned towards his direction. For a moment, he froze at my sudden movement, making him squeak.

How in the world did I ever think during my heat that he was worth my time? Yes, his smell was excruciating delicious, making it even difficult to think, but other than that he seem so weak. Then again, being used as a breeder and having the vampires suck the blood out of him probably turn him like that.

“I’m fine, thank you.” I calmly spoke, trying not to make him jump in fright all over again.

“Do you have anymore information?” Adam asked. He wanted to know exactly what I heard from Ogma’s conversation.

“Oh yea!” I snapped my fingers. “There’s a dragon here.”

“Damn, I was hoping that wasn’t the case.” Adam raised his hand, and pulled back his hair. “This is worse than I thought.”

“You’re telling me.”

“We’re going to have to forget about going back to Wyoming.”

“What? Why?” Jaz cried out in outburst. “Don’t you think it’s best that we go and stop him from getting her?”

“No, that wouldn’t work so easily. He has the key to find her, while we don’t. Plus, he can slip through any which way, making it a lot more difficult to cover. It’ll be best that we find the dragon first, he’ll probably be around there.”

“How are you so sure that Ogma not going to go to a different one? How are you guys so sure he’ll stay in San Francisco?”

Adam demeanor changed. I could tell that he wasn’t to happy about thinking about Ogma, instead I felt anger swell around him like a locust. “My uncle is the type to see the action happen in front of him. He wants to be there when things go to hell.”

“Wait, he’s your uncle?” Both Jaz and Ray spoke out in unison.

“Why haven’t you told us? Did you know, Tila?” Ray asked.

“Yea, but that’s not the issue here.” I spoke, having a mass killer on the loose wasn’t something one would be proud of, especially one that would go far as genocide.

“Not everyone knows that Ogma is my uncle, though we had broke contact over two centuries ago.”

“Still, it would’ve been a helpful news.” Ray wasn’t pleased in what he heard. Instead he seem to readily look at Adam as if he was some kind of plague. “How do we know you’re not working with him?”

“Ray enough. He’s my…” I wasn’t so sure what to say. He wasn’t my mate, or a boyfriend. “He’s our provider and friend.”

“He’s a vampire.”

“Damn it, Ray. He’s marked and that means you can trust him. You know what it means to be marked.”

“I do. I trust you Tila, though he’s a different case.”

I cocked my hips and gave him a stern look. Ray tried his best to look away, but he failed. Instead he gave up and met my gaze. “Now tell me, you know what it means to be marked. Tell us all why he’s not going to easily turn his back on us.”

Ray squirmed under my gazed that seem to pierce him, I could tell that he was struggling of wanting to say it as well as understanding what I was getting at.

“Anytime now.”

“Come on Tila. Do I have too?”

“Yes.” My Alpha tone was starting to raise up, the more he struggled to not say it, the more I wanted to command him to blurt it out.

Finally he gave in and spoke, “When one is marked, it means that one trust each other enough to bet their lives with one another. If one is mated the trust and connection becomes ten time stronger, meaning when one dies, the other soon follow if they don’t survive the hell’s baptism in which case ninety percent fails.”

“Exactly, Adam’s priority have shifted in a more favorable terms towards the pack and me. Plus, he’s against the possibility of a Magical War, he did everything in his power trying to keep Samantha away. ” Even though I sound confident to them, I honestly wasn’t. I marked him when I was in heat, while I wasn’t completely sane. This meant, I didn’t think too much when my instincts choosed him. All I could do now was put my bet in the choice I have done. Breaking the bond was something that I wouldn’t even dare to do, I was afraid actually that it would damage me.

The only thing I could do now was to trust him even more than before. I hope that he put me on the same level as his life after hearing about what Ray had just said. When I turned towards Adam, his face was completely expressionless. Trying to figure him out wasn’t easy, honestly I was actually having a hard time. Usually reading his expression were simple, but today was one of those day that Adam hid his facial features really well.

“You guys can choose to believe whatever you want to believe, but right now we need to move and find that dragon.” Adam got up, he headed towards the door. “You can either follow me or go your separate ways. I’m not stopping anyone from doing whatever they want.”

I stood up. “I’m coming with you.” Then I turned towards Brian, causing him to flinch. “Come on. I can’t have you staying here by yourself. You know how to fight correct?”

Brian shook his head. “I wasn’t taught such skills.”

“Figures.” I scrunched up my eyebrows. Why did I even ask him such question in the first place, maybe I was hoping that he had some kind of special skill, but every second he disappointed me.

I had to push my ideals off of him, and instead ask him what he was good at. Picking around the negativity only made me even more angry, I had to change my thoughts fast.

“So, what are you good at?”

“This and that.”

“Explain please, it’s to ambiguous. I need something that could possibly help us in this situation.”

Brian thought it over, “I don’t know if this is useful, but I can sense things. I can give you a rough estimate of what you are looking for.”

“Now that’s something.”

“Wait, why exactly are we even taking him if he’s so useless?” Ray spoke, not liking the idea of Brian following them at all. “Plus is his power even legit?”

“Honestly, I don’t know, but you got to admit we’re supernatural creatures, our existence is already magical in its own way. I wouldn’t be surprised if humans have started to develop their own kind of ability. Come on think about it, he’s a honey trap for Vamps and Werewolves.”

“Exactly, it would best that he stays here.”

“And who’s going to protect him? You? Me? Jaz? Adam? Right now we need to move,” I spoke, “What do you want to do Adam?

Adam was by the door, ready to leave, he stopped and turned. “Bring him along. He’ll be put to use in some way or form.”

“See.” I said. Adam usually finds ways to put them to use in some form.

Everyone ferried out towards the door, Adam grabbed Brian by the shoulder, and handed him a tag. I, wondered where Adam just suddenly had a tag with him, but I didn’t ask any further. Brian stopped and glanced towards Adam confused.

“Where this now. Everyone would know that you are the Velvet’s Rose Clan’s property.”

Brian nodded, taking the tag gratefully. He slipped it around his neck and tuck it in his clothes. “Thanks.” He mumbled.

Adam nodded. We quickly left the hotel, knowing that we were staying in San Francisco for another day.

I hoped that we were able to find the dragon in under one day, but sometimes things don’t always went our way. Throughout the whole time we broke into three teams. Jaz and Ray hit as many supernatural clubs around the vicinity, Adam took off to who knows where, and I was stuck with Brian. The memory was still fresh in my mind, when Adam told me to watch over him.

“Are you serious?” I folded my arm in front of me. Adam shook his head up and down. Not phased by what he said. Did he forget what had happened the past night?

“Yes, I believe that you would do a good job in keeping him out-of-trouble. You’re good at what you do, plus I trust you.” He spoke, confident that I wouldn’t do anything demeaning to myself.

I couldn’t help but feel a bit happy that he trusted me. Maybe being marked changed my mind by a lot, I was also glad that he wasn’t the controlling type. What sucks about werewolves mate is that they can be overly possessive. It’s feels great being wanted, but at the same time it could be suffocating. The only reason that I believe that the ‘mated’ pairs works so well is the trust and possibly some reworking around some of the issues that the mate bond tends to pull.

Luckily, I didn’t feel that pull yet. I heard that the moment one was mark, they would feel the pull. Hopefully, I wished that the mate bond won’t pull me so hard that I become overly possessive to the point where I need to check on him every ten minutes, read his text, or act like a complete stalker. There have been quite a number of cases where I have seen the females becoming overly possessive, causing the ‘mated’ pair to break apart in a very horrible way.

Cheating does happen, and it’s not a pretty picture. Especially when one or the other push them too far to the point where they feel suffocated. That was a borderline, unhealthy obsession and a lost of trust to the partner, still that was a rare one percent of the werewolf community. So far, none of my pack members have been pushed that far, though I did hear it happen in other packs.

“Thanks,” I mumbled. A small smile erupted up my lips. Adam leaned over and pecked my cheek.

“Plus, you’re mine now.” He whispered in my ear. “I know you, Tila.”

I blushed red. “Stupid vamp.” I pushed him away. “I got it. I’ll go check out a few places as well. We’ll all meet back at 9pm back at the hotel?”

All of them nodded in agreement.

“Good.” We broke apart, majority of us taking a cab.

I on the other hand went over to grab myself a map by the news stand. “Here.” I walked over and handed him the map of San Francisco, California.

Brian look down at the map and back at me confused.

“Point out the areas we need to check where Ogma might be located.” I remembered seeing something like this on TV, so I wanted to try it out.

“Oh.” Brian spoke, then he was silent still staring at me lost.

“What is it now?” I folded my arm in front of him, wondering what was eating him up.

“Um…how come you’re willing to deal with someone like me? Why haven’t you gotten rid of me?”

I thought for a moment. “I’m not the type to go around mass murdering people. Seriously, do you see me as some kind of monster?”

Brain wasn’t sure how to answer to the question that I asked. He fidgeted a couple of times, before he attempted to open his mouth.

“Plus, why haven’t you run away? You had every opportunity too.”

“I..” he cast his head down and mumbled.

“What did you say?” I leaned over, trying to catch his words. The loud bustling cars wasn’t making it any easier for me to hear him at all. Even though I had keen hearing, when there so much ambient noise, sometimes it gets difficult to tune out so much sound without going a bit crazy. Luckily, I didn’t have that much problem, but Brian’s voice was still to quiet.

“It would be pointless. I don’t have a place to go to and eventually I’ll become a meal if I’m not careful. I thought it would be best to stay around you guys who aren’t bent on using me as a blood pack or a some kind of bree…” His voice trailed off.

He had some serious confidence issue, I guess that was one of the requirements in their breeding program: docile and timid. The complete opposite of me, who had the tendency to be confident and outspoken.

“Look, Adam’s not the type to force his way towards your blood, though he might take mine…” My voice dropped, and hand rubbed against my neck. I completely forgot that he might now start asking for my blood, making me feel a bit uncomfortable. “Either way, I been with Adam’s coven for awhile now, and he’s not like others.”

Brian nodded, he straightened his back, and searched around. He stopped and walked towards the Coffee shop not to far away from where we were standing. Pulling back a chair, he placed the map onto a table. I walked over and took a seat on the opposite side, wondering what he would do next.

With a deep breath, he sat down and closed his eyes. His fingers tapped against the table in a rhythmic beat for a good while. Then his finger started to move upward towards Marshall’s Beach, hovered around it for a moment, and then Brian eyes snapped open.

“Why there?” I asked confused.

“I’m not sure, but I get the feeling that something big is going to happen here.”

I stroke my chin, thinking over what he said. My gut instincts were telling me to have a look at this, but my mind was telling me that he could be leading me on the nose. He was Donovan’s property to begin with in the first place.

“You sure about this?”

“Yea, its like an icky feeling that I can’t get rid of in the back of my mind.”

“Then let’s go.” This was the only clue that I had. I picked up the map, flagged a cab down. We quickly entered and made our way towards Marshall’s Beach.

Marshall’s Beach was quite breezy, the sand were palish brown, different from the some parts of Florida beach that I have visited for a short period of time in the past. The sand in Florida would seem like they were blinding from the light colors similar to white. I was glad that I wasn’t blinded just by stepping foot on sand.

People were present, lying around sun tanning in the open. Children were playing in the ocean water happily, while others were running around excitedly. What was dazzling about this beach wasn’t just the calm ocean water, but the famous Golden Gate Bridge that stood proudly connecting one part of land to another. It’s reddish brown bridge gate was the one of the internationally recognized symbol of San Francisco, California. Ranging for three miles of long stretched out road, and a beautiful scape of the ocean and land view that wouldn’t be easily found often throughout the U.S.

“Are you sure it’s going to be here?” I asked, searching for possibly any clues of Ogma and his crew.

“Yea.” Brian stepped beside, he squinted from the jarring bright light. “It feels like whatever it is is getting closer.”

“Getting closer?” I tilt my head to the side confused. “From where?”

Brian pointed towards the suspension bridge, I tried to see what he was pointing at. All of a sudden, I felt an overwhelming feeling of dread. Something dangerous and powerful was coming towards the bridge. Heavy unnatural fog started to sweep low through, creeping towards the beach.

I couldn’t help but freeze up in fear, whatever it was wasn’t something either one of us could handle. Better yet, I hope to dear god that it wasn’t what I thought it would be.

Not even a second later, I heard the most horrifying sound of metal wires breaking, blaring honking sound of cars screeching into a stop, and the bridge crumbling. One part of the bridge crumbled and fell into the ocean water, taking other unlucky cars with it.

Everyone turned towards the sound, completely dazed at what they were seeing. From the thick clouds of fog, a terrifying creature silhouette appeared swimming leisurely in the water as if it was its own. All I could do was hold in a sharp gasp of breath, and watch the terror unfold. What I had feared came true, an ancient dragon has awakened from its slumber.

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