Wolfblood Origins
It was early morning when one of the female beta wolves of the wild pack went to fetch water. As she walked, she took in the serene landscape of the area they'd settled in. She loved it there, and decided that whatever it took, she'd persuade the alpha to keep them there for as long as possible. The flowers of mid spring bloomed, set off by the sunlight cast on them at just the right angle. The hot sun also beat down on her back right between her shoulder blades in just the right spot to send waves of warmth through her. It was days like this that she was tempted to ignore her duties and let her wolf run wild all day. But she knew how pointless those thoughts were. She also knew what the alpha would do if she even heard a pack member had been thinking such things. The alpha was by no means unkind, but there were young cubs in the pack that everyone had a duty to care for. One of those cubs also happened to be the alpha's granddaughter; and if anyone failed to look after her properly, it meant time at the chronoch for sure.
The woman reached the stream they collected water from. She bent down, splashed the cool water on her face with a contented sigh and then went about filling the bucket. As the water flooded into the bucket and it filled to the brim, a slight crackling sound made her look up. Nothing was in sight, but she decided to be quick in filling the three flasks, because any unfamiliar noise could signal the presence of humans. If there were humans, the alpha would need to be told. As a beta wolf, the woman could do nothing against the alpha's decision. That said, if the alpha decided they needed to move, it would be for the best.
As the second flask filled, the crackling noise became yet louder still. The young beta looked up to see a moving wall of orange bathing the landscape in front of her. The majesty of the place seemed to wither and die as flames engulfed the flowers, blackened the trees and stripped the life clean from everything it touched. The wild Wolfblood's eyes turned yellow in fear as surviving animals blasted past her, keen only to save their own tails. A fox slammed into the woman, knocking her over from where she crouched and giving her just the jolt she needed to snap her out from her state of shock. Quickly, she turned and ran back to the pack, transforming into her wolf form as she ran for the sake of speed.
Two minutes of running later, she neared the pack. But the more the fire consumed, the stronger it became and the faster it gained ground. The animals that managed to keep their pace ahead of her blasted through the wild Wolfbloods' camp, causing those that weren't already outside to emerge from their shelters. The terrified beta returned to human form as she ran so that she could call out to the pack, but the warning was irrelevant. The alpha had seen the danger, and was already issuing orders. By now, the flames spiraled up over the top of the forest and created a beacon for all to see. That meant humans would soon be on the scene. No matter what, the pack had to move now. As they ran from the fire, this thought crossed the beta's mind. The shelters could be replaced, along with most of the belongings, but that particular haven was now gone forever.
The beta's train of thought was once again interrupted as the pack neared the edge of the forest. They all transformed to avoid any humans seeing their eyes and veins as they burst onto the grassy plain. The flames hit the edge of the forest and stopped, licking at the grass and trying to get a purchase on it, but not being able to catch onto anything substantial enough to sustain a flame. The exhausted pack breathed a sigh of relief as they sunk down onto the cool grass, inhaling its delicate scent. The alpha reached down to kiss her necklace. It was a tradition for her every time the pack got out of a near-death situation unscathed. But as she reached for her necklace, she found only air. For a second, she wondered if it had fallen off; but then she remembered her granddaughter had been playing with it. She cast her eyes over the pack, looking for her. After her eyes had done a second sweep of the pack, she let out a sob of anguish. Her granddaughter was gone. Quickly getting into a crouch position, she focused on the world around her. She could feel the earth under her, the air over her and the scorching, soul destroying heat of the flames to her right. As she felt the rush of Eolas through her veins, she focused on the face of her granddaughter. The only thing that met her eyes was the billowing inferno decimating their forest.
Line Break!
Fire crews battled the forest fire for a full twelve hours to get it extinguished. Eventually, police and forensics were allowed in to survey the scene. Forensics determined the fire started when a camper left a can of petrol out in the hot sun, causing it to explode. Police with dogs did a thorough sweep around the campsite, as well as the baffling settlement they'd found. From what they could salvage, the huts of the settlement appeared to have been primitively built out of deer skin, animal furs and tree branches. That wasn't nearly as baffling though, as the tracks they found. Some were clearly identifiable as animals that were running from the fire such as badger tracks in places and fox tracks for most of the distance, but what struck them as odd were the human tracks. There had clearly been humans running faster than any recorded human so far. Even more confusing was the fact that near the edge of the forest, the tracks seemed to change to those of something that wasn't a human. The paw prints left were far bigger than a fox. As soon as this had been recorded, one of the newer companies, Segolia, had sent in their best forensic investigators.
It was after two hours of finding nothing that one of the dogs snapped to attention and started pulling at his lead. His barking alerted the others just as movement in a stream caught a Segolia investigator's eye.
"We've got a live one!" she yelled into her radio. The whole group ran over and worked to pull the girl from the stream. The water was as cold as ice and the woman who'd first noticed the movement dipped her hand to the water. Eventually, they pulled the dithering girl from the water and quickly wrapped her in their jackets. Some shouting into a radio later, and about five doctors all ran down to the crowd, ordering everyone to move back. They took the girl's temperature and deemed that she was borderline hypothermic. Provided they could raise her temperature quickly, they could avoid taking her to a hospital. The woman who'd first spotted the girl picked her up and carried her to her car.
Line Break!
The young cub woke up in front of a radiator on a pile of police officer's coats to find she was warm, dry and safe. Her head felt like it was about to split open. Her clothes were very worse for wear, crusted with mud to the degree that it actually made it hard to move. Suddenly, raised voices from the other room filtered through the pain in her head. She cautiously crept to the door, her eyes burning primal gold.
"Mike, you are not taking her away from here until someone has been round to give her a full and proper checkup!" a woman shouted, taking a slight step forward as her eyes burning the same golden color as the cub's. Black veins spread through her arms as well.
"Sarah, you know the protocol regarding these cases." Mike said, his eyes igniting too. "She's a Wolfblood, the same as you and I. She needs to be with the appropriate people."
"I can feed her and get her cleaned up." Sarah told him. "After someone's checked her over properly and given her a clean bill of health, I'll have no problem turning her over to whoever wants her. But if I released her before then and something went wrong, I couldn't live with it. It's happened once and I won't have it on my conscience a second time." Just at that moment, Mike's nose twitched. He turned to the doorway the cub was at and spotted her watching.
"Hi sweetheart." he said, walking over to her with his arms outstretched. The cub responded aggressively. Her lips peeled back to reveal her fangs and the roar she let loose made Mike think twice about taking another step. The cub didn't know what was going on, but she was frightened by something about this man and the thought of having another female around seemed somehow comforting.
"Mike Kincaid, I think you need to leave, right now!" Sarah snapped as she put herself between the two of them. Mike let out a growl, but backed off and left without another word. The cub ran over and wrapped her tiny arms around Sarah.
'How old is this girl?' Sarah thought. 'She can't be much older than three or four, and here she is in an environment that she doesn't know. Her pack is probably dead, and she ends up needing to be able to make a choice for the sake of her own sanity in a circumstance that's out of her control.'
"What's your name, sweetie?" Sarah asked.
"I don't know." The girl muttered, tears running down her face. Sarah took a tissue from out of her sleeve and started wiping the cub's face.
"It's hard to believe there's a Wolfblood under all this dirt." she muttered. "And she's a really beautiful one as well." The cub grimaced as the tissue glided roughly over her chocolate skin, freeing it of the dirt. "Oops, now I've done it. I've made a clean spot. I'm going to have to do the whole thing now." Sarah continued wiping the cub's face until the worst of the dirt was off. "Shall we get you washed up properly?" The cub nodded, wanting nothing more than to feel clean again. As Sarah led her to the bathroom, she bumped into a drinks table and knocked a book off the top of it. The cub flinched at the sight of it falling.
"What's that thing?" she asked, pointing to the book.
"It's a book called 'The Sweeney'. You're not old enough to read one like that yet." Sarah said. "Come on, let's get you cleaned up."
About two hours later, Sarah had managed to completely clean the dirt and grime off the cub. The neighbors next door had a little girl who'd out-grown clothes of the cub's size, so finding her a new outfit was easy. Nothing really suited her, but they would do until someone could take her into town and get her something that looked a bit better on her. The cub was happy though. Sarah took her into the kitchen and sat her on a chair while they waited for the doctor to get there and check her up. Sarah was alarmed by a rather large cut across the young girl's temple, but didn't dress it in any way so that whichever doctor came round could look at it properly. As soon as Sarah had sat her down, the cub watched as she went over to a cupboard and took something out. A small animal fang hung on a small silver chain that glittered in the light.
"This animal fang was found with you." Sarah explained. "The string it was on was ruined, so I put it on a chain for you."
"Thank you." the cub said, just as a knock on the door drew their attention. Sarah went to answer it to find the doctor standing on the doorstep.
Line Break!
Days, months and years passed since the cub was rescued. She'd taken on a new name and decided that she wanted to stay with Sarah permanently when given the choice, but she never remembered where she came from before that. All she had to go on was the fang on the silver chain. Sarah had told her not long after her tenth birthday (about four years ago) about a Wolfblood power called Ansion that could use the aura emitted by an object or person and see glimpses of the past. The girl had made it her mission in life to track down a wild Wolfblood and find out the story behind the necklace. She was determined to know where she came from. Sarah had gone to the Segolia building one Saturday, but forgotten her lunch. The girl knew the route to the office and was quite well-known among the science staff, so she knew she could get in with no trouble. She'd walked for about ten minutes before getting to the main courtyard. Just as she neared the main doors, someone burst through the doors clutching a computer disk, with Sarah and the Segolia security team on his heels.
"Stop, thief!" Sarah shouted. "He stole data from Kincaid's lab!" By this point, any off-duty personnel milling around had heard this and turned to intercept, their eyes blazing golden. The girl was closest and charged forwards, her own eyes burning. She grabbed the thief by the shirt and threw him sideways. He landed in the centre of the courtyard, just as the jets of water spurted upward. The cold water stunned him long enough for her to transform and leap forwards, pinning him to the ground. The young wolf grabbed the computer disk in her jaws and bit down, splintering the plastic between her teeth. She dropped the broken chunk of plastic and stepped backwards, growling at him as a warning to stay down. As she transformed back, several security members grabbed the man and hauled him to his feet before marching him off. Sarah grabbed the girl in a tight hug before a man stepped up to her and shook her hand.
"Thank you for helping us catch him. I'm Collin, Segolia's head of security."
"It's a pleasure." the girl said.
"It's lucky you were passing by." Collin said. "Were you thinking of joining Sally here at Segolia by any chance?"
"In the long term, I put it as a maybe." the girl told him. "I'm no good at science though. I prefer sports myself."
"I'm not surprised after seeing that." Colin muttered. "Now, I'd never normally make this offer to someone so young, and I realize you'd rather focus on school first and the future later, but we offer a four year security course to anyone aged eighteen and over which will be free for you after the way you've helped us. Just remember that even if that's not what you want to do, then wherever you find yourself learning after you've helped us in this manner, it's on us." At this, Sally clapped a hand over her mouth and flushed red. Segolia had always valued her services, and now here they were offering to basically pay for her cub's education. Tears welled up in her eyes. She couldn't have been more proud if she tried.
"I can't thank you enough." the girl said.
"No, we are the ones who need to thank you." Colin told her. "Some very sensitive research nearly slipped through our fingers. I think that if you were to join our security team in the future, you could transform the way things are done for the better. By the way, I don't think I've seen you round here before. What's your name, may I ask?" The young Wolfblood lifted her gaze to look Colin square in the eyes with a certainty that made even him uneasy. He knew that if there was anyone on earth, she'd be the one to replace him as head of security.
"My name is Victoria Sweeney."
Line Break!
It was six years later when Victoria came back after two years of training, and joined Segolia as a member of their security force. As she'd been told over and over in that time, it was one thing to wedge your foot in the door. Next you have to prove you belong there. She got her first proper chance nearly a month after officially signing on and getting set up. Colin was so transfixed with the potential she displayed, that when the call came through, he deviated from the protocol to let Victoria prove herself. Wolfbloods in blazers stood in a row, with Victoria on the end in the standard issue female security suit. They all listened eagerly as he began the briefing.
"A call came in a few minutes ago that a young Wolfblood of about two years old was found in the woods." Colin began. "Segolia presence is being established there, but security has been requested on site just in case the wild pack he belongs to hasn't moved on as we think they have and tries to eat the eggheads surveying the area." This sent a ripple of laughter through the line. "Additionally, you've all met Miss Sweeney by now. For those of you who have only heard the rumors about her, I can tell you that they're true. She did indeed stop a thief from getting away with vital Segolia research in a spectacular fashion at only age fourteen. So that I don't have to spend time undoing any and all screw-ups that you're all apparently prone to, she will be in charge on this mission. That will be all." By this point, the Wolfbloods had all turned to look at Victoria with mixed looks of admiration and skepticism. Nonetheless, they all filed out to the waiting truck and jumped in.
"So, what are your orders for when we get there?" one of them asked with a mocking tone in his voice, which she chose to ignore.
"I want everyone to fan out and circle the perimeter." Victoria barked to everyone in the truck. "If even one of those nerds suffers at the hands of a wild Wolfblood, it'll be on all of you. I'll secure the young one, and we'll wait for the medic to get on site and look him over." Again, mixed looks crossed everyone's faces, this time varying between admiration and annoyance. This woman may be fresh off the cutting block, but she certainly knew what she was doing.
The truck pulled up in a patch of woodland just outside of Stoneybridge. Immediately, the security team jumped from the back and fanned out just as instructed. Victoria moved over to where the survey team crouched. At the same moment, a doctor ran over to their position from a different direction. The yellow in the doctor's eyes dimmed and his veins receded as he dropped to a crouch next to them.
"Sorry I'm late." He muttered. "I had an urgent two O'clock to keep."
"I don't want excuses, I want answers." Victoria snapped. "What sort of condition is he in?" The doctor quickly checked the boy over before nodding his head slowly.
"He needs a good bath and de-flea, but he's fine otherwise." Just then, realization crossed the doctor's face. He bent down, and sniffed the air near the cub to get the boy's scent. "I know this cub!" he blurted.
"How could you possibly know a wild cub?" one of the surveyors asked.
"His mother was the wild pack's healer. When she went into labor, they couldn't help her, since they only had her as a healer. They had no choice but to seek outside help. They were lucky enough to find me, and I helped the delivery. I'm shocked to see they left him behind." By the end of the doctor's explanation, everyone had their eyes fixed on the cub.
"Since you delivered him then, do you know his name?" Victoria asked. The doctor looked her in the eye in a very similar manner to the way she'd looked at Collin six years ago.
"His mother named him Rhydian Morris."
Line Break!
Ever since that day, Victoria Sweeney climbed quickly through Segolia's security ranks. To say most were jealous was an understatement. Eventually, things ironed out over the course of the following two years. Pretty soon however, the day she was dreading arrived. Colin had been her trusted mentor for a while now, but no one gets younger as they age. When he announced his inevitable retirement, everyone knew who he would pick to replace him. Sure enough, Victoria's name was called, and everyone's resignation slips were handed in. They just couldn't grasp the concept of this woman having been there for not even half the time they had, and yet succeeding and surpassing them all. Truth be told, Victoria had never liked most of the men on the security force anyway and while Colin was disgusted at the obvious jealousy going on, she couldn't have honestly cared less. Those Wolfbloods worked with nothing but disharmony between them. They lounged around at every given opportunity and would rather stuff their faces than bother with protecting Segolia. They just weren't the sort Victoria could have had on her team. She needed cooperative workers and an unbiased atmosphere. Shortly after Colin's retirement, Mike Kincaid followed, and his adopted son Alex took his place. As soon as that happened, there were massive staff changes all over Segolia. By far the most notable though, was the introduction of a new liaison for Segolia. Victoria met her the first time she knocked on the door.
"Come on in, I don't bite." Victoria said, not looking up from the papers in front of her.
"Miss Sweeny, I'm Dacia Turner. I was told to report to your office about something." Victoria looked up to see a young woman standing in front of her.
"Oh yes, Dacia, I was told you'd be visiting." They reached across the table and shook hands. "Already I have a little mission for you. Actually, it's more of a side note spanning the next few years. As you know, just over a year and a half ago now, Alexander Kincaid joined the Segolia Corporation's science department. Since then, one mysterious word keeps getting flagged up: 'Cerberus'. I want you to look in as often as possible and try and gather any information as to who the hell is behind it, what it is and whether it's a danger." Dacia nodded as she jotted all this down. After a brief second, she opened her mouth as though she wanted to say something, then closed it again and left the room.
'I hope I'm doing the right thing in trusting her this early.' Victoria thought, as she returned to the task at hand.
Line Break!
It was a handful of years later when Sweeney got word related to Cerberus. Alex Kincaid knocked on her door when she was in the middle of pulling an all-nighter behind the desk. Segolia had just helped a family run away to Canada to protect the secret, so she was left with the paperwork for their social security and new IDs.
"What is it, Alex?" she asked, annoyed at the intrusion.
"Miss Sweeney, I think I've found something that might interest you." Alex walked over and placed a folder on her desk. "I've been keeping an eye on one of the accountants recently." Kincaid explained. I noticed him acting suspiciously, so I snuck in and picked up this file. There's a discrepancy worth millions of pounds in Segolia's account. This word 'Cerberus' keeps getting mentioned repeatedly."
"And what, pray tell, is the name of this accountant?" Sweeney asked.
"He's Gerwyn Morris; the one that was hired shortly before I joined."
"Thank you, Mr. Kincaid." Sweeney shut the file and stood up, shaking his hand. "This will prove most useful. I'll see to it that credit is given where it's due once we've apprehended him." Alex nodded and turned to leave. As soon as he was gone, Sweeney grabbed her phone.
It was some time later that everyone was assembled next to one of the trucks. Sweeny had only decided to take her main five operatives on this mission to avoid causing too much of a scene. They all stood in front of her, lined up and standing to attention as she briefed them. Once the signal was given, they all piled onto the truck, which quickly thundered towards Gerwyn's house and pulled up at the driveway. Eyes blazing, they all jumped from the back and formed up on the door. Sweeney knocked and rang the doorbell, but no answer came. After thirty seconds, she signaled to the Wolfblood on her left, who armed a mini charge on the lock. There was a small bang, followed by the lock falling off the door. As they all piled into the house, Sweeney took three of the Wolfbloods upstairs flanking her, while two others checked the ground floor. As Sweeney neared the bedrooms, she used her sense of smell to pick out which one smelled most strongly of Gerwyn. In a flash, she pinpointed the room on the far left.
"He's in there." As Sweeney signaled, the Wolfblood on her right kicked the door in. The one behind him moved into the room just as something swung down and splashed in his face. He instantly dropped to the floor holding his face and screaming as the mixed stench of chemicals and flowers slammed into the others.
"I've got a Wolfblood down!" Sweeney screamed into her radio. "He used a perfume bomb! I need reinforcements up here by yesterday!" There was the racket of pounding feet as the other two Wolfbloods made their way up to where the man that was hit lay thrashing and writhing on the floor. Sweeney crept into the room, her eyes watering from the scent of the perfume; the bottles for which lay empty on the side. Her sense of smell was now compromised, meaning she was left with very little ability to trace him. One thing was for certain: it wasn't long since he left. The bed was still warm and there was a half eaten bacon sandwich on a plate in the middle of it. Whatever happened here, they'd clearly missed it and with no sense of smell, they had no way to go after their target.
"What do we do, ma'am?" one of the Wolfbloods asked.
"Fall back to the truck!" Sweeney growled bitterly. "He's won the day this time."
Line Break!
Ever since that red-headed wild Wolfblood, Jana, had arrived, Sweeney had kept an eye on her. When she thought the time was right, she made her move. She'd asked for a chat with Jana and then led her to her office, before sitting her down and handing over her most prized possession. In Jana's hands was an animal fang attached to a silver necklace; the symbol of Sweeney's missing memories. She knew Ansion was prone to inaccuracies, but all she wanted was a basic picture of what happened.
"Okay then, wild one, let's see you use your Eolas; your Ansion, and tell me what that is" Sweeney asked her. There was a pause, and then Jana's response came a bit more bluntly than she'd hoped.
"It's a tooth."
"Oh she's good!" Sweeney mocked. The security operative standing behind her laughed patronizingly, but she shut him up with a glare that could turn sand to glass. "I want the story. Where did it come from?" Jana concentrated. Her eyes flashed yellow for a brief second, then nothing. "What's wrong?" Sweeney demanded. "Don't tell me your powers have deserted you."
"I can't do it here." Jana said. "It's too hard."
"Or maybe Eolas and Ansion don't exist?" Sweeney hid her disappointment behind her mocking tone. "Maybe it's all rubbish."
"They connect you to nature." Jana hissed. "They're to use in the forests; in the wild! Not in a man-made box!" Sweeney thought for a moment, and then asked Dacia to bring the bonsai tree from her office. Dacia returned shortly after and placed the tree on the table. Sweeney's gaze then fixed once again on Jana.
"You can do this." Dacia assured her. Jana concentrated once again. This time, when her eyes turned yellow, they stayed that way.
"The tooth is from someone in your pack… your grandmother. She was the pack leader. There was a fire in a forest."
"Tell me more." Sweeney was having a hard time keeping her tone neutral. Fragments of her lost memories were starting to re-surface.
"She was leading the pack away from the flames. They were moving so, so quickly. The youngest cub wasn't strong enough to keep up, she decided to leave it behind so the pack could escape. But the cub survived." Jana's eyes returned to normal. "She left you this, so that you'd always know who you were. But you never found your pack again." Jana placed the necklace back into Sweeney's hands. "That's all." Sweeney stood up and backed up next to the security operative. In unison, they bowed.
"There will always be a place for you at Segolia." Sweeney said. She was about to say more, but at that moment her phone went off. She answered it, trying to keep her voice even. She lowered the phone and turned to face Jana. "I have to go." Jana nodded and the two Wolfbloods bowed to her again. Was she imagining it, or did Victoria Sweeney very nearly crack a smile for what looked to be a long time?
Line Break!
After roughly two months of pursuing Gerwyn, Sweeney finally got a lead. As it turned out, Rhydian was his son. He'd run to is family in the hopes they'd protect him. She was ashamed at who Rhydian had become. She couldn't blame him for protecting his family, but he was so reckless, it was actually unbelievable. Just as she cast her mind back to how Rhydian's history teacher had been allowed to discover what they were, the thought was interrupted by the sight of a person in the road. He was staggering everywhere as though he were either drunk or over tired. Sweeny pulled up just in time to see a van pulling away on the upper road.
'I don't believe this.' Sweeney thought. 'I chase him for months and have an operative be blinded by a perfume bomb over this man, and here he is.' She and Dacia got out of the car. Dacia hung back while Sweeney stormed over to where Gerwyn seemed to be struggling to keep his eyes open.
"Who's your accomplice, Gerwyn?" she asked threateningly.
"What accomplice?" Gerwyn slurred, letting out an obviously fake yawn.
"Who was driving the van?"
"It was just some guy asking directions." For the first time, a glimmer of doubt crept into Sweeney's mind. It was obvious he was a criminal. The evidence was overwhelming. But she was beginning to think something was genuinely wrong with him. He looked like he was struggling to keep his eyes open.
"And I'm just picking up a hitch-hiker." Just like that, Sweeney pushed her doubts to the side. Whatever was wrong with him, it could wait. She shoved Gerwyn into the car and went to get in herself.
"Now what?" Dacia asked.
"We stop that van." Sweeney replied. Just as Dacia buckled up and she prepared to pull away, a young boy on a moped pulled up and blocked her. Infuriated, she got out, slammed the door and stormed over, her eyes blazing yellow. "Get out of the road!" she demanded. Something was different though. There was no fear on this boy's face. If anything, his expression was one of awe. At that moment, the teacher she was thinking of earlier pulled up on his bike, followed by those two maddening human children. "Oh, it's you. Are all teachers this mature, or is it just you?" she asked the teacher
"Nah, it's just me." The man acted as though she was complimenting him.
"Can you do the thing with your eyes again?" the boy on the moped asked. Sweeney simply glared. The teacher caught the boy's gaze and subtly shook his head.
"I don't understand you." Dacia said to Shannon. "Why do all this for someone who stole? He committed a crime."
"You don't know, do you?" the ginger haired girl asked.
"Know what?"
"What Cerberus really is and how your boss is behind it all."
"Excuse me, let me get this right." Sweeney vaguely remembered the girl's name as Shannon. The boy she was with she knew to be Tom from hearing her mention him. He was also the one she took great delight in seeing get soaked by the water jets in the courtyard. "You think I'm behind Cerberus?"
"You want Eolas and Ansion for yourself, and a human army with Wolfblood powers to take control of the company." Shannon accused. Why had they let this girl near the science department? She was clearly insane! Sweeney wouldn't have trusted her with a pen, let alone a scalpel. Why would she need an army of humans with Wolfblood powers? If she wanted to take over the company, surely the Wolfblood security team of about thirty men that she'd hired during her time as head of security would be enough?
"Who told you that rubbish?"
"You won't trick me into betraying my friends." Shannon rambled. "So who was the man you took prisoner? Was he someone else who found out the truth?"
"He was an ex employee seen in public ranting about a Wolfblood conspiracy. We took him off the street." Sweeney could tell Shannon didn't believe her.
"He had the laser thing Tom took."
"She didn't know that until Rhydian told me." Dacia chipped in.
"So why were you asking him about Cerberus?"
"A shot in the dark." Sweeney answered.
"Then where is he now?" Tom asked.
"Ask your mentor, Alex Kincaid; he lost him." Sweeney was still quite annoyed at Alex for that monumental failure.
"Alex Kincaid?" Shannon's voice had changed in tone. Something had clearly struck a nerve there.
"The man escaped from his lab." Sweeney told her.
"I don't understand. Alex was helping you?" Dacia and Tom's expressions were changing by this point as well.
"Was and is." Sweeney said with undeniable certainty.
"Shannon, you've got it all wrong." Dacia said. "Gerwyn's file-"
"Which she made up!" Shannon interrupted, pointing at Sweeney.
"-was based on evidence provided by Alex!" Dacia forced the last bit in so as not to be interrupted again.
"He's the one who gave me Gerwyn in the first place. I didn't make anything up." Sweeney knew there was a picture somewhere in the puzzle pieces, but she was starting to think they'd been put together wrong.
"You're lying." Shannon said, with a look of confusion plain on her face.
"Why would I lie?" Sweeney couldn't help but wonder how stupid this girl was. Gerwyn was a thief. The facts were right there. What more did she need?
"Alex wouldn't do that. He's been helping us!"
"Helping you?" In a flash everything slammed into place properly, along with a feeling of guilt. Shannon wasn't the stupid one, she was. Kincaid couldn't be helping both parties at once unless there was a conflicting of interests. Quickly, she moved round to the side of the car and opened the door. Gerwyn was sitting peacefully in the back seat with his eyes closed. Sweeney gently shook his shoulder, causing his unconscious form to slump to the right. Finally, everything was crystal clear to her. "We need to get after that van, now!" she announced. Just then a soft hissing noise caught her attention and a pained look crossed Tom's face. The last of the air was just escaping the back tire.
"Sorry." Sweeney wanted to throw Tom into next Tuesday.
'It looks like I'm not the only stupid one around!' she thought.
Line Break!
At the end of the next day, Sweeney sat back in the chair at her desk. None of her security operatives stood tirelessly behind her like they usually did. On this particular day, she needed space to think. After Kincaid had been overthrown and they'd all returned to human form, she'd done a thorough sweep of his mansion. In one of the many back rooms, she'd found fake documents detailing the CEO of Segolia was long overdue a leave of absence and that Kincaid was set to assume temporary command while he was away for two weeks. That would be more than enough time for him to wipe out every Wolfblood in Segolia and start to mass-produce his serum. As she mulled this over, there was a knock at her office door. The very noise of the knocking irritated her, and she made a mental note to put some of her wage towards getting a more sturdy door.
"Come in!" she called. One of the security officers stuck his head around the door frame and announced that there was a young boy to see her. Instantly, Sweeney sat up a bit straighter, hoping that this was the guest she was waiting for. Sure enough, Rhydian Morris walked confidently through the door and sat down in the chair opposite her. "To what do I owe the pleasure?" she asked.
"I'm here to take you up on what you said." Rhydian replied. "You said that if there was anything we needed, to not hesitate to ask, so I have some questions for you."
"Ask away, Rhydian." Sweeney said as she sat back in her seat.
"Okay, so Shannon wants to know if now that Kincaid's gone, the offer he made about paying her way through university still stands."
"That decision now lies with doctor Whitewood." Sweeney told him. "With Alex gone, she's the next best person to head Segolia's science department. She's the only other one there that knows the Wolfblood secret, so that instantly means she outranks the others. We have to place those who know higher in the chain, so that we have a better chance of keeping the secret as safe as possible."
"That makes sense." Rhydian mused. "Okay, I'll let her know."
"Was there anything else?" Sweeney prodded. Rhydian clearly didn't quite know how to phrase what he wanted to say, so opted to just blurt it out.
"Before Doctor Whitewood joined Segolia, she chased my alpha from her territory. As I understand it, you sorted out the paperwork for their new identities and created a new history for them."
"That's correct." Sweeney could guess where this was going. "If you're wondering what I think you are, it's too late to bring them back. I'm sorry to say that."
"I don't want you to worry about it if it's impossible." Rhydian said. "I'd like you to do something similar for me. If I had a Canadian relative who wanted guardianship of me, I could go over there, be with Maddy and never have vegitarian food again." Sweeney had to surpress a chuckle at that.
"I should imagine we can come up with a watertight reason for you to live in Canada. If you have a word with that teacher who found out the secret as well, we can get a reference from him to say he's seen the family tree too and can confirm its legitimacy." Rhydian gave a simple nod.
"I'll have a word with him." Rhydian said. "By the way, his name is Mr. Jeffries."
"I'll be sure to remember that." For the first time since he'd met her, Rhydian saw Sweeney crack a smile. It seemed to do more than light up her face. It was like it broke through a neutral mask she'd been wearing for years. That said, it probably wasn't far from the truth. However long it had been since she last smiled naturally, Sweeney knew she wouldn't have much to smile about in the next few days. There was some serious work to be done.
Line Break!
It was just under five weeks since Rhydian had asked Sweeney to move him to Canada. Since then, things had moved fast. The CEO had come back from leave of absence, only to be faced with a mountain of paperwork. Not long afterwards, his resignation had turned up on her desk. She'd wondered why she was recieving this, before he said the one thing she'd never expected to hear.
"I hearby appoint you CEO and annointing chairwoman of the Segolia Corporation; irrevocably and effective immediately." As soon as the words left his mouth, Sweeney sniffed the air for any trace of alcohol. As she registered that there was none and that this was actually happening, the CEO added his confirmation. "I would see it as an honour and a privelige to have you say yes to this offer." It wouldn't take a genius to anticipate Victoria's answer, and now on this first day, she stretched out behind her new desk.
As Sweeney relaxed back, she reflected on her time involved with Segolia. She'd been known by them all her life, and in that time she'd learned a great many things about herself and about life in general. But the most important lesson she'd learned of all of them was that it didn't matter where someone came from. That much was irrelevant. It was what you did with any and every opportunity given to you that determined who you were. With that in mind, she pulled a sheet from the paperwork in front of her and began her new job, as top dog of Segolia.
Wolfblood Origins
End