Wolfblood

Security

It was over. After years of loyal service to Segolia, this was what Robyn's life had come to. The Wolfblood secret had been revealed to the world. Jana and her pack had gained some sort of hybrid publicity between stardom and notoriety. Segolia was finished. Share prices had flatlined beyond the help of CPR and Wolfblood employees had all but fled.

With the money drying up like water on a hotplate, her severance package had been considerably lightened. She was only getting a sixteenth of what she was actually entitled to and she'd had to take a dead-end job working in a café with a boss who wasn't exactly the standard she'd come to expect working with Sweeney. While she was grateful to Jana for getting her the job in an attempt to fix her life now that she'd upended it, she also hated her for getting her this job.

But that wasn't even the final icing on the cake. Only an hour previously, she'd had an e-mail from Segolia's upper echelon.

'Dear Robyn,

After the exposure of the Wolfblood secret, a thorough review of everyone's performance on that day has been conducted. The result of this investigation revealed that shortly after Doctor Whitewood injected Jana Vilkas with the wrong serum to fool Victoria into thinking she was more resistant to it, the aforementioned teenage Wolfblood was then able to knock you out and lock you in a broom cupboard. This has prompted a subsequent investigation into why this happened. Even without Segolia training, overpowering her should have been effortless. This has divided this committee greatly. Half believe you were in on this scandal. The other half, myself included, hope this was simply a case of laziness on your part since you thought she was losing her powers.

Whatever the case, this committee is united about one thing: charges need to be pressed. Once your service at Segolia ends and your severance package has been paid in full, the legal proceedings shall begin and your new identity will be validated once they have been settled. As we understand your life is in enough turmoil as it is, legal representation will be provided to you if you cannot afford it. We expect your complete cooperation with this investigation.

Yours: Segolia CEO Brian Cole.'

"Are you ready, babes?" Robyn looked over at the annoying voice from the doorway. The sight of the blonde standing there, wearing a visitor's pass around her neck, brought tears to Robyn's eyes. She didn't want to leave. She didn't want to start a new life and if she had to then she'd have certainly liked to have done it with a bit more money to her name.

"Yeah, I'll be there in a second." Robyn called over as she beckoned Katrina to come in and tried to keep the shakiness out of her voice.

"I guess it's hard starting a new life." Katrina shrugged as she sauntered in. Robyn scoffed, annoyed that someone who was a fangless puppy compared to her was talking as if she knew what was happening.

"I thought when I found Segolia my life had found stability." Robyn muttered. "I started off having a new home and family every few weeks. When I finally found parents willing to take me as their own, I thought that was it for me. When yet more turmoil showed itself in my life, I found Segolia. I sacrificed the family and name my parents gave me to become who I am today."

"Robyn, our past doesn't define us." Katrina reached over to where Robyn was laying on her bunk and ran a hand down her cheek, leaving a surprisingly enjoyable burning sensation. "All our past does is serve as the starting block for what we choose to become."

"I didn't have you pegged as the philosophical type." Robyn folded her laptop down to stop Katrina seeing the e-mail and rolled over to look at her. It suddenly struck her that Katrina was actually quite beautiful under the chemicals she seemed to insist on piling onto her face.

"I had some people at my high school who always said stuff like that." Katrina explained. "They always said that you could get far in the world, but only if you never looked back. No matter what, you have to keep moving forward."

"It's not always that easy." Robyn rolled her eyes and let out an annoyed breath.

"They never said it was easy." Katrina shrugged. "All they were saying was that there was always a door in front of you. It's your job to walk through that door whether it's camouflaged, rigged with explosives or has a bucket of super glue suspended above it. How you do it is up to you. They also taught Jana that if you just be yourself for long enough, someone will come along who knows you." Robyn's eyes flashed yellow and she let out a low growl.

"Don't even mention Jana right now. I know she's the reason I've got a job with you now, but she's also taken everything from me. I'm not ready to forgive that yet."

"Maybe so, but she's also my friend." Katrina fixed Robyn with a steely gaze. "If she comes into the Kafe, you don't have to be the best of friends, but you will respect her like any other customer. Is that clear?"

"I can do that, at least." Robyn nodded. "I guess I'm just bitter because thanks to her I didn't even get to say goodbye to the people I fought alongside."

"Robyn, my dad is an architect." Katrina told her. "He could never be at home for more than about two days at a time. I always hated it when he used to leave. But whenever he did, he always told me not to say goodbye. As long as you don't say goodbye, that person is never gone. They're just not here right now."

"Your father sounds like a very wise man." Robyn gave a half-smile.

"He really is." Katrina grinned. "Do you need a hand getting your bags to the car?"

"Would you mind taking my two smaller ones?" Robyn asked. "I just need to send a quick e-mail and then I'll bring the big heavy one out."

"I'll keep the engine running." Katrina grabbed Robyn's smaller packed duffel bags and easily carried them from the room. Once Robyn could no longer hear her footsteps, she opened her laptop again and started typing.

'Dear Segolia CEO and committee chairman Brian Cole,

Re: Charges. A response…

Dear Chairman,

I must admit my disappointment at your decision to press charges, but I cannot hide my lack of surprise. I too have personally been berating myself over the events of that day and the magnitude of my failure.

I lived the majority of my childhood and teenage years in foster care. You cannot imagine what is was like growing up being a Wolfblood and not having the faintest idea what you are. I only know of one other who has ever shared this experience and while I know this to be for nothing, I still find myself praying he is the last.

The people who took me in eventually were some of the nicest Wolfbloods I have ever had the privilege of knowing. I even ended up taking their family name as my own until I joined Segolia. Actually, it was Segolia who tore all that away from me. They saw me as a talented student who was about to throw it all away. I saw myself as someone who'd grown up with nothing now being offered everything. Upon reflection, I realise now that they were right about me. They knew me better than I had ever known myself. Had I ever the chance, I would do it all again and take back everything I said that day. Had I also the chance, I would also find my old foster parents, Mike and Laura, and try and mend my fences with them; had I only the chance. For this reason, I'm reinstating the family name I so readily cast aside so long ago. If I have to pay to re-obtain the certificates, I will.

I know you see me as weak for being taken by surprise by Jana and that others will as well, but I know of not one court that could convict me, no matter how low their opinion of me. You must understand one simple fact for all this to make sense, chairman. The conduct of all Segolia operatives is run strictly past the committee that you yourself lead. We do nothing without your authorisation. Our black-ops division is no exception to this rule. While there will be many penalties for the exposure of the secret, there will be no penalties for the many terrors we have wrought upon countless innocents if no one chooses to speak out.

Send your men if you wish and can find me. Whatever you have left after last week's events, they won't find the fight they'll probably looking for. All they'll find is a retired Wolfblood who is tired but satisfied that she did all she could in service to the people that took everything without her knowing. All they'll find is a Wolfblood exhausted from a mind more filled with regret than it is with hope.

Sincerely yours,

The last loyal member of Segolia's security force,

Miss Robyn Smith.'

Epilogue

One year later

Robyn sat in her room, stunned by how much her life had turned around. She'd gone from being a depressed ex operative to being probably the happiest café waitress around. She'd made back at least half of the money she was owed from her reduced Segolia severance package and hadn't been pursued further by Segolia over the issue of the Wolfblood secret being revealed. Whether that was because of her e-mail or because they simply couldn't afford to, she didn't know. But the most important thing was far better than anything she could have imagined. The reminder of how complete her life was came every time she heard Katrina's laughter through the door. She had found her alpha.

"Oh girls, I nearly melted my credit cards." Katrina laughed as she passed them glasses of water over the counter. Kara and Kay had recently decided to try and beat their caffeine addictions and were feeling the burn of it each day. Still, they were able to laugh along and seem genuinely relaxed.

"How are you three doing?" Robyn asked as she sauntered in.

"Are you okay, babes?" Katrina asked as she looped an arm around Robyn's waist. This didn't go unnoticed by the other two.

"How long has this been going on?" Kay demanded.

"Why have you been holding out on us?" Kara added.

"Oh yeah, we've been dating for about two months." Katrina shrugged. "Neither of us planned it. It's just that with everything…" Katrina's voice drifted off. Her eyes had drifted to a couple making out in front of the door. As they watched, the short brunette girl shoved the taller blonde-haired boy into the door hard enough to make the bell ring. Katrina made her way around the counter and flung the door open and fixed the oblivious pair with an iron glare.

"What's she doing?" Kara whispered to Robyn and Kay.

"Maddy, Rhydian, no making out against my door!" Katrina screeched. "You were pains in my arse at Bradlington and doubly so now! Take it somewhere else!" With that, Katrina slammed the door shut and stormed back behind the counter.

"Umm, Katrina…?" Kay said as she glanced at the confused couple. "That's not Maddy and Rhydian."

"Is it not?" Katrina asked. Quickly, she went back to the door and stuck her head out. "Sorry about that, I thought you were someone else. Still, take it somewhere else. You're scaring off my paying customers." Katrina shut the door again and returned to her spot behind the counter. "Come to think of it, whatever happened to Maddy and Rhydian? It's like they just up and left one day."

"They didn't even say goodbye." Kay mused. Robyn grinned in spite of herself. She knew exactly where they were, but the Smiths and Rhydian had left to live in peace from the humans. She didn't want to betray that and reveal anything without their consent. If they returned one day, she'd fill in whatever blanks for Katrina that they didn't. Until that day came…

"I'm sure they're somewhere." She reached over and rested her hand on her alpha's shoulder. "They're just not here right now."

End!

Author's Note: Okay, so this is just a small Robrina oneshot I was inspired to write. My annual Halloween story will be up sometime next week. It should be sometime from Thursday onwards since I'm not in college then. The sequel to Bad Dreams will also be soon after that. It's called Midnight Crisis and while I really want to upload it soon, I wanted to post this first and I want to get my Halloween story out in time for the 31st. Please feel free to review and let me know what you think. Your support is greatly appreciated.