Crossing Paths With The White Wolf

Helios POV

I was standing by the balcony waiting for Nat to come to bed when I saw Kassia walking out of the forest. Her face was hidden in the shadows and her shoulders were dropped in defeat. As she got near the back door, a familiar pain-filled howl filled the air. I got distracted trying to find him and didn't see her run inside. I sighed. I didn't know how to help Gonzalo. He had told us what happened in Sicily, but he still just seemed unwilling to talk about it after, despite my pushing. He's been avoiding Kassia, and as much as I understood his reasons, I didn't think it was healthy. He needed to talk to her. I looked up at the dark sky. Tomorrow was the full moon. Celeste had told him he would find his mate soon. This might all be over tomorrow, or things could just get more complicated if he found her and Kassia tried to step between them. If he didn't talk things out, I would need to step in. I didn't want to do that to my friend.

I smiled as I felt sparks bloom from my waist as Natalia wrapped her arms around me. I looked back at her beautiful smiling face. "Penny for your thoughts?" She asked. I sighed and looked out at the forest as I saw Dario running towards the packhouse. "I'm worried about him," I told her. "He has so much pain."

"He needs to talk to her," she said, and that made me look at her again. She had been all for helping him avoid her.

"What made you change your mind?" I asked her. She walked inside and sat on the bed.

"I was in the kitchen when she burst into the packhouse a little while ago. She was arguing with Adrien." She sighed. "She actually loves him, Helios. She is leaving because she thinks she is hurting him. I think there's more to the story than what Gonzalo is aware of." I closed the balcony door and stripped down to my boxers. "Yeah, I'm beginning to see that. Have you noticed she doesn't have a Beloved mark? Gonzalo said she was marked the night he went to find her. She has never mentioned a male in her life and neither has Adrien. She also claims to be close to her sister, and yet she never mentions her. I've had Evergreen look around and he can't find any record of a mention of Queen Karissa's sister. It's like she's been wiped from existence. I think you're right. There's more to this story than what we know, but Gonzalo refuses to talk to her."

"What if we talk to her?" She asked me and again I was surprised. At the look on my face she explained, "She's in pain, Gonzalo. I could hear it in her voice. I recognized it. You and I both know Gonzalo still loves her, or he wouldn't feel her supposed betrayal so deeply after all this time."

I gathered her in my arms and we settled down to sleep. "Let's wait until after the full moon. If he doesn't find his mate, we'll try to get him to talk to her."

I woke up early the next day. I was tired, but I couldn't sleep. I needed to know if Kassia had left. I grabbed my tablet and went up to her door. I sent a quick email and sighed in relief when I heard a small ping notification come from her phone. She was the key to getting Gonzalo back to normal. I was sure of it.

I went downstairs and visited the shifters. Gonzalo was already there, with a goofy grin on his face.

"What's got you in such a good mood today?" I asked him.

"I asked Dr. Castle if he could change the white coats when he came over to make them more comfortable and he delivered," he explained, motioning me over to the med side of the basement. I chuckled when I saw what was making him smile. Dr. Castle and a couple of nurses were still wearing coats, but they had been tied-dyed with bright colors.

"It looks good on them too," I said, "How are the rest of them? Any of them up for joining the festivities tonight?"

"A couple. The two vampires are fine to attend as well as 4 of the shifters. The rest still need a bit more time, but they are getting there," he said as we walked up the stairs.

"I'm headed over to training. You coming?" I asked him. He nodded and we headed over to Crescent Moon for the advanced training which was still being led by Markus and Danny. I knew Natalia and Celeste would be busy all morning with the preparations for the full moon run tonight and we had already been warned to stay out of the way, so we had planned for a longer session. Half way through the training, I sent a quick mind link to Nat. Gonzalo was taking a beating, he was so distracted. I knew it had to do with the full moon tonight.

"Helios, Nat needs me to help with the set up in the backyard. I gotta go." Gonzalo said, and I nodded at him.

"What's wrong with him? I've never seen him so distracted," Danny asked.

"I think it's the full moon tonight. He thinks this will be the one," I said, not wanting to discuss Gonzalo's private issues until he did.

"He's the last one. I can understand his frustration," Gillian said.

"Kara said something about it being soon. That's gotta add a layer of nerves to it." Markus said.

"Yeah. Let's just hope he finds her tonight." I said. We returned to training and helped Nat with the final touches for the run while she went to change. Rhett and Kelly arrived promptly around 7 pm with their people. Markus and Celeste came over with their pack shortly after. We were set up in the backyard. Long dinner tables, bright lights and even a dance floor with light music to start. She set up a buffet-style dinner on each side of the gathering. 'Everyone is arriving. Where are you, mi amor?' I linked her.

"I'm right behind you," she said, and I turned to see her walking towards me in a beautiful blue spaghetti summer dress that went down to mid calf with white daisy flowers scattered on the skirt of the dress.

"You look beautiful," I told her, swirling her around and dragging her over to the dance floor.

She laughed. "Shouldn't we go greet the guests?" she asked.

"Maybe after this dance," I said. The entire world fell away as we slow danced. I loved these moments with her. As the song ended, I heard a tiny shriek and I turned to see Bellarose running towards us. I picked her up when she got to me, just as Markus came running with Cory in his arms.

"Sorry, they kind of ganged up on me. They ran in different directions," he huffed.

"It's alright, Markus. She's just asking for the next dance." I said as I twirled around, making her giggle.

"I'm going to go check how Kelly's doing. Find me later?" Natalia smiled at me, her eyes twinkling. I nodded at her. Kelly was 2 months pregnant and they were supposed to find out the gender soon. I danced with little Bellarose. I was sure I looked like an i**** but it was making her laugh. I looked around for Nat while I walked back to Markus when the song was over to find her staring at me with a smile on her face. I winked at her as I passed little Bellarose over to Celeste. I looked at my watch. The moon would peak in a few hours.

Rhett joined me as we headed towards our mates. "How are the rescued shifters doing?" He asked.

"Well. There's a couple from the last raid here tonight."

"We're making good progress on the plans you wanted. Let me know if I need to pull more from other projects if you need things faster." He said as he put his arms around his mate.

"I think we're OK. We should be able to get some of them out and into more permanent lodgings soon. Once we head abroad, though, I'm not sure what we'll find or how many we'll bring back."

"I'll pull a couple more people. I'd like to make sure you have the proper place set up to help them," he said.

"Thank you. All of the construction you've done for us has been appreciated," I told him.

"What you're doing to rescue all these people is more than amazing. I'm happy to do my part," he said.

The rest of the night passed by quickly and before I knew it, it was a few minutes before the moon peaked. We made our way over to the platform we had set up. I was feeling nervous now. I could see Theo and Sebastian looking around for him. I saw him coming out of the packhouse, looking up at the moon. He made his way over quickly and I could feel the tension rolling off him in waves.

"Thank you for coming to Guardian Moon. We're happy to see our packs getting along so well. We are a blended pack, made up of everything from wolves, bears, pumas. Really, almost every kind of shifter and even a few witches and warlocks that have found their mates within our pack," I said, motioning over to the mates of some of my warriors. I was thankful that they seemed to be finding their mates amongst species that lived almost as long as we could. Selene was really blessing us with people we wouldn't lose to old age. "I am thankful for how easily you have accepted my blended family and welcomed us into your life. Let this be the first of many full moon runs we do together." I finished, looking up at the moon. Any minute now, I thought, as Markus laughed beside me. "What's so funny?" I asked him in a hushed whisper.

"I can never seem to get the timing right either. I always end up getting interrupted. You appear to be the opposite." He laughed. I shook my head with a smile and looked out into the crowd. When I saw a few begin to sniff the air, I looked over at Gonzalo. He looked up at the moon and took a deep breath. His eyes went black and he started looking around. I saw his eyes lock onto someone and he froze. I followed his line of vision and almost cursed out loud. At the very back of the gathering were Adrien and Kassia. I saw one of my warriors, Elias, stop in front of Adrien and grab him by the shirt to kiss him. Adrien looked surprised and then completely wrapped himself around him. Kassia was just frozen in place, looking back at Gonzalo with wide eyes. "Min-NO" I heard Gonzalo growl. I looked over at him again. He was breathing hard and he looked to be fighting himself and his wolf. He looked over at Celeste. "This is bullshit. Tell her she made a mistake, Celeste. She cannot be my mate."

"I - Gonzalo, it doesn't work that way. You need to trust her." Celeste said quietly.

"NO. This was supposed to fix everything. Fix me." He walked off the platform, shifting and shredding his clothing in the process. Theo made a move to go after him but Natalia held him back.

"Give him time to process this." She told him, then looked at me. "Let's get the run over with so you can go find him later. He doesn't need an audience right now."

I agreed and instructed the run to begin. I saw Kassia was still frozen on the spot. I couldn't read her face anymore. "Someone should stay with Kassia. I think Adrien is a little busy."

"I'll stay. I have spent the most time with her," Sebastian said. I nodded and hoped Gonzalo would be OK.

~~Kassia POV~~

I looked up at the moon as I saw people begin finding their mates. I looked around and found Gonzalo. He was looking at the crowd as well. Finally, his eyes locked on mine and I felt the tether snap in place like a physical thing. My heart soared, the impossible had happened. The moon goddess had granted me my deepest wish. Gonzalo was mine. I stood there looking at him, wondering if he would come to me like everyone else was doing to their mate. My heart sank when I saw him say something to Luna Celeste. His features were angry and in pain. He looked at me once more before he shifted and ran away.

I felt the pressure in my head building but I couldn't move. He was going to reject the mate bond. The thought popped into my head. I felt a hand on my shoulder and I blinked. "Kassie, are you OK?" Sebastian asked.

I looked around. Everyone was removing their clothes and shifting. They were going on their run. I looked for Adrien and found him against a tree, oblivious of everything but the man he was wrapped around. I think I remember the man calling him mate. Good for him. Someone should get a happy ending. I walked inside, Sebastian hot on my heels. "Where are you going? Kassie wait."

"I need to leave." I said, using my speed to go up to my room. I quickly began stuffing everything into the suitcase.

"Kassie, you can't leave. You're his mate," Sebastian said as he reached the door and took in the suitcase on the bed already half full.

"He is going to reject me, Sebastian. I don't belong here. I should have never stayed after I woke up." I swallowed a sob and kept packing. When I was done, I tried looking around to see what else I needed to grab. The ring and the letter. I went over to the drawer and took them out. Do I take them with me or leave them here? I had gotten my closure, even if it wasn't one I wanted. I should leave them here.

"s**t, Kassie, your nose and ears are bleeding and your hand is shaking. Is this the precursor to your seizures?" Sebastian asked. I looked down at my hand. It was shaking violently. I nodded. "Forgive me," he said, and I looked up in time for him to punch me right in the temple. Sebastian POV~~

'Alpha, you need to come up to Kassie's room. I just punched the lights out of Gonzalo's mate,' I mind linked Helios as I put the unconscious vampire gently in her bed. 'What the f**k Seb. He roared.

'She didn't give me much choice. She was packing her things and then she almost had a seizure. I knocked her out because she wasn't in the right state of mind to calm down on her own. I didn't know what else to do.' I said defensively. f**k, OK. I'll be right there,' he said.

I tried to mind link Gonzalo but he had blocked it. I sighed as I removed the items gripped in her hands. A familiar handwriting caught my eye. I put the ring back in her nightstand drawer and read the worn letter against my better judgement. My eyes widened as I

read. Kassie,

I have to leave soon. I haven't seen you in days and I feel like I'm drowning without you. I love you. I don't care if you're the queen herself. I want you to leave with me. I can protect you. My friends will help us. I'll be waiting for you at our spot tomorrow after sunset. Please come talk to me. I will do anything to have you by my side. I love you.

Gonzalo

I put the letter back in the drawer along with the ring. There were so many questions in my head. Why did she keep his letter if she took another? And really, if she had a Beloved, why would the Moon Goddess mate her to Gonzalo? What the f**k was going on? Helios and Natalia rushed in with Theo. Not even 10 secs later, Adrien rushed in at his vampire speed while trying to button his pants. He saw the bruising around her temple and pushed me against the wall, his arm on my throat. "What the f**k did you do to her?" he said, his eyes red and his teeth elongating. I lifted my hands up as Theo tried to pull him off me.

"I had to knock her out so she wouldn't have a seizure. She couldn't calm down on her own," I choked. 'It's OK, Corazon. He's just worried about his friend. I mind linked Theo, who let him go but didn't move from behind him.

Adrien c****d his head for a moment before he let me down, "Why did I never think of that? Knocking her out stops her brain from getting overwhelmed and cause the seizure. You're a genius Sebastian, though I hate hurting her." He grabbed a cloth from the bathroom and came back to wipe the blood off her nose gently. "What happened? Why did she get overwhelmed? Did Gonzalo find his mate?" He asked, looking at everyone in the room.

"You don't know?" Helios asked.

"Know what?" He asked.

"Kassia is Gonzalo's mate. Kassia was upset because Gonzalo ran away after he figured it out," Nat explained.

Adrien looked happy for a moment but quickly his eyes turned red again. "f**k. Did he reject her?"

"Not officially, but his reaction definitely indicated he might," Helios said.

"That stubborn a*****e. I love Gonzalo, I really do. He's perfect for Kassie, but they need to talk and you haven't done anything to help. Kassie has been trying to talk to him all week and y'all just keep helping him avoid her. If they had talked things out by now, neither of them would be so f*****g miserable." He hissed at us. We all shifted around looking uncomfortably. We all knew we'd played our part in helping Gonzalo when he needed to avoid her.

"You have no clue what Gonzalo has been through because of her. We are allowed to be protective of our family." Helios countered, though the rest of us knew he was the only one that had really pushed him to talk to her.

"You're right, I have no clue what Gonzalo has been through, but you also have no clue what Kassie has been through," he said as he caressed her face gently.

Helios was about to respond when we heard steps coming towards us. He stepped out of the room and cursed and he went out of sight of the door and then we heard arguing.

"Let me pass Helios." Gonzalo's angry voice came through the door.

"Gonzalo, this isn't the time."Upstodatee from Novel(D)ra/m/a.O(r)g

"No, I need this over with. I am leaving for a few weeks, so I need to reject Kassia and go get f*****g drunk in peace."

"Gonzalo, she's your mate. She's the other half of your soul." Helios tried to reason with him.

"Your sister made a mistake, Helios. Kassia has a Beloved."

"Are you sure about that? I haven't seen a mark on her," Helios said. His back was back in view of the door.

"I am not her consolation prize. Let me do what I need to do," Gonzalo said as he pushed past and stopped when he took in the whole room. He was half naked, breathing hard and with a wild look in his eyes. In the entire time I've seen him, I'd never seen him look like this. His face changed to one of concern when he saw her unconscious with everyone standing around her. He took in her bruise and the bloody cloth in Adrien's hand. "What happened?"

"You happened. You broke her heart. So she was going to have a seizure. Thankfully, Sebastian here had the good thought to knock her out before the seizure took hold," Adrien hissed. I don't think I've ever seen him angry at anyone before. I would much rather have happy Adrien back.

"You hit her?" Gonzalo growled at me, taking a step towards me.

I raised my hands, and Theo stood in front of me. "I was just trying to help."

"Oh no, you don't get to do that macho man act now. This is your doing. If you hadn't been such a coward everything time she tried to talk to you. You could have been mating like bunnies right now if you had gotten over your s**t. Hell, I'd be mating like bunnies too if you hadn't pulled this s**t tonight. Speaking of, Theo, can you mind link Elias? Tell him he can wait in his room once he's done with the party. I will find him." His thoughts were going all over the place as he talked. Theo nodded and his eyes glazed over. "Stay out of my life, Adrien. You don't know shit." Gonzalo growled at his friend.

"Oh, I know more than you think. You're lucky I'm on a gag order from her or I would tell you exactly what the f**k you don't know. Get out. You will not break her heart again so soon." Adrien dismissed us. Gonzalo growled before he turned on his heel and pushed out of the room, Helios hot on his heels. "I should have left with you when you got here" Adrien mumbled as he pulled the covers over Kassia.

I followed everyone down to the Beta floor where Helios was arguing with Gonzalo again. I pushed into the room. I almost wanted to laugh. Gonzalo was doing the same thing I'd caught Kassia doing.

"Gonzalo, enough of this. You're not going anywhere." Helios growled.

"Is that an order, Alpha?" Gonzalo challenged as he dumped an armful of clothes into his suitcase.

"You know what, yes. I've tried being patient with you. I have tried to get you to f*****g listen and you're too caught up in your grief to think clearly. I command you to stay within the packground borders for the foreseeable future." I was surprised at Helios' response. He had never used his Alpha command on any of us. He hated forcing his will on us. He always said he would rather talk things out. "You would leave me trapped in this place with her? After what she did to me?" Gonzalo yelled.

"I don't think you have the full story, and until you do, yes, and I command you not to reject her. You may think my sister made a mistake, but I don't. You need to sit down and talk to her before you ruin your life." I could feel Helios' Alpha aura and command as he spoke.

"I have nothing to say to her." Gonzalo said stubbornly through gritted teeth as he tried to fight the command before he turned his head away, submitting.

"Then I guess you'll be spending a lot of time here. I won't talk to you like this. Figure your s**t out. Calm down and come find me when you're ready to listen. I have some theories." Helios said as he left with Nat.

"This is my life! Not a f*****g theory." Gonzalo yelled as he threw his suitcase at the wall.

He looked at me, "What? Do you also want to tell me I need to give her a chance too?" he growled.

I shook my head. "I can't tell you what to do, but I do think you're missing part of the picture and that might change your mind. Talk to her. Get the full picture before you reject her. Isn't that the exact same thing you advised Helios just last year?" I said as I walked to where Theo was waiting for me just outside his room. I took his hand and walked back to Kassia's room. I knocked lightly. Adrien opened the door. "Does she need anything?"

"No. She will probably sleep for a few hours. I'll be here with her." He said and, for the first time, I noticed he looked tired.

"Didn't you find your mate tonight? Shouldn't you be with him?" I asked.

He sighed, "He will either understand or he won't. I owe Kassie my life. I won't leave her when she needs me most. She's had enough of those in her life." I didn't know what he meant, but didn't ask. It was clear that there was a lot of information we were missing. "Do you want us to watch over her and you can go see him?" Theo asked.

"No. It needs to be me, but thank you. Just tell him I will look for him after I'm sure she's OK and please give him my phone number." Adrien asked.

We nodded and headed up to our floor. I was happy Elias didn't seem upset. He said he understood and was proud his mate was so caring. We showered and laid in bed. I told him of the letter she had in her hand when I knocked her out.

"Why would she keep that if she got a Beloved?" Theo asked, his face making an adorable expression.

"I don't know, Corazon. I've talked to her the most outside of Adrien, not once did she mention a Beloved."

"I hope Gonzalo can fix this. I don't like seeing him so broken," he said as he snuggled up to me. I kissed his forehead and agreed. I really hoped Selene knew what she was doing.