The Unwanted Wolf

“Don’t move. I’ll be there as soon as I can,” Mark said. I heard the familiar click of the phone call ending.

I let out a big sigh. Mark hadn’t yelled at me or gotten mad at me. He had just gotten quiet for a moment. Somehow, that almost felt worse. I leaned back against the door for a moment, not ready to go inside. This is not how I wanted to spend my day. I didn’t want two guys fighting over me. It was scary enough accepting one guy who liked me, and now there were two who wanted me. I didn’t want to deal with this. I just wanted to stop whoever was trying to kill me. It felt easier to process somehow.

The door I was leaning against suddenly opened, and I found myself falling. I hit the ground, and the wind was knocked out of me. I lay there for a moment, catching my breath. I looked up and standing above me was Daniel. He was looking down at me curiously.

“I was not aware you were right there,” Daniel said. He held out his hand to me.

I sat up and took his hand. He easily helped me to my feet. “Oh hi. What are you doing here?”

Daniel shut the back door and then turned to me. “I was told I could find you outside. I found some information that I thought would interest you.”

“Have you found out more about what I’m mixed with?” My heart started racing at the thought.

“Not exactly. Follow me to my office.” Daniel started walking down the hallway. He led me to the second floor of the building and into a small office.

Despite it being small, it was extremely organized. Three of the walls were lined with a bookshelf that was completely filled with books. The last wall held various filing cabinets. There was a desk in front of the filing cabinets. The desk had surprisingly little on it, which was completely opposite from the state of Doctor Zayla’s office.

I sat in the chair in front of the desk, and Daniel went to pull a few files out of the cabinet before sitting down in front of me.

“I started looking into the history of sorcery and some different aspects,” Daniel began. He handed a folder over to me. “I didn’t get as far as I would have liked with this information. There was no mention of glowing eyes, so I’m not able to confirm if that is in fact a trait of a sorcerer.”

“So can we rule that out?” I asked. I opened the folder Daniel had given me, but the notes weren’t very legible.

“No,” Daniel said firmly. “I did find some information that was interesting. Just like how werewolves have key turning points in their maturity. The first one is at sixteen. Did you notice anything happen at the age of sixteen?”

I swallowed hard at this and then slowly nodded.

“Care to expand on that?” Daniel asked.

I took a deep breath. “I didn’t feel any different on my sixteenth birthday, at least not that I noticed. My father took one look at me and kicked me out of the pack. The rest of that day is a bit of a blur.” I started chewing on my l*p. That was the worst memory I had, and I hated thinking about it.

“Interesting. Do you know why he did that?” Daniel asked.

I shook my head, keeping my eyes down. I had asked myself that question a million times.

“I may have a theory about that,” Daniel said. He handed me a second folder. This one also had a bunch of quickly written notes that I could barely make out. “When you said you were originally from Pack Lyna, that piqued my interest. Years ago I heard several rumors about the pack.”

This got my attention, and I looked back up from the papers. “You know my family?”

“Not exactly. I have never met them, but they are the largest pack in the nearest city. It’s important to be aware of packs nearby. I know the former alpha had a relationship with the pack as well.” Daniel clasped his hands together and placed them on the desk.

“I never knew that,” I said.

“We haven’t heard anything from them for almost five years. They cut off all contact with us without much explanation. It sounds similar to what happened to you.” Daniel paused to let me say something, but I didn’t have anything to say. I was on the edge of my seat in anticipation. Daniel continued, “While they hadn’t said anything, there were rumors going around. I heard several different ones, and never thought any of them were true. I don’t like assuming things without evidence.”

“What kind of rumors were going around?” After I left my pack, I didn’t hear anything from them. I had gone as far away as I could imagine, and I didn’t talk about my family to the few werewolves that came into town, so the topic was never broached with them.

“There was a rumor that the alpha’s daughter suddenly died. One said that the alpha never had a daughter. Another one said a sorcerer whisked his daughter away. I even heard a rumor that the pack was attacked by a sorcerer because Pack Lyna had broken a deal with the sorcerer. There are many more rumors that went around. You can see them in the notes you have in front of you. Some are completely ridiculous, but there are a few things that consistently come up in the rumors,” Daniel elaborated. “A sorcerer was involved and something happened to the alpha’s daughter.”

“Something happened to me,” I said.

Daniel nodded. “Since that part turned out to be true, I’m thinking that there is truth in regards to the sorcerer as well.”

“So you are thinking I am part sorcerer then?” I said.

“I can’t come to that conclusion without concrete evidence, but it seems that might be the case. Perhaps your father realized you weren’t a pureblooded werewolf when you were sixteen, and that’s why he kicked you out,” Daniel concluded. “This is purely conjecture, though. There are other possibilities.”

I leaned back in my seat. This was the second time someone had come to a similar conclusion, and it was hard to believe. Out of all of the reasons I thought my father had to kick me out, I had never thought about the possibility of not being my father’s daughter. That made more sense than anything I have ever thought about. I had done nothing wrong. I had always been the perfect daughter, and I couldn’t think of a single thing I had done that would make my father want to kill me, except for the fact that I was not my father’s daughter.

I felt myself tearing up at the thought. I was relieved. I thought there was something wrong with me for years that made me feel unwanted, but it wasn’t anything I had done.

“Thank you, Daniel,” I said, wiping my eyes before the tears could escape. “You have no idea what this means to me.”

“None of this is fact,” Daniel reminded.

I smiled at this. “I know, but it still explains a lot, and it makes me feel better.”

Daniel nodded. “I am happy that this makes you feel better, but this doesn’t explain why someone is trying to kill you.”

“I know, but it’s a start.” I felt like a weight had been lifted off my shoulders.

“There’s one more thing,” Daniel said. He handed me the last folder that was in his hand.

I took the folder and took a look at the notes. When I couldn’t discern them, I looked back at Daniel. “What else could there be?”

“If you are the daughter that disappeared five years ago and you were sixteen at the time, that means you are twenty-one, correct?” Daniel asked.

I placed the folders back on Daniel’s desk. “Tomorrow’s my birthday actually. I turn twenty-one. Why does that matter?”

“That makes sense. I read that sorcerers come into their full power on their twenty-first birthday. That could explain why you were able to shift yesterday,” Daniel said. “Perhaps your powers are starting to show.”

“Shift? You mean that disappearing thing that I did?” I asked. I still didn’t fully understand what happened in those few moments.

“Likely based on the text I read about sorcerers. It wasn’t very detailed, though, so I can’t tell you much. Usually sorcerers and werewolves do not mingle,” Daniel said. He stood up and moved over to a bookshelf. He pulled out a small book that was leather bound and tied together with a string. He handed it over to me.

“This is all of the information I have on sorcerers. It’s not much, but it might help you,” Daniel said.

I grabbed the book and took a look at it. It looked like some sort of diary. “I appreciate your help with this. With all of this.” I stood up, holding the diary tight.

“It’s my pleasure. I enjoy doing research and solving mysteries. I’m just sorry with how little information I was able to discover.” Daniel frowned and looked down at the ground.

I moved forward and hugged Daniel tightly. “It’s more than anyone has been able to find out for me, so I really appreciate it.”

Daniel awkwardly hugged me back, and I got the feeling that he didn’t get hugs very often. “You’re welcome. I have reached out to a few of my contacts who might know more, so hopefully I can discover more for you.”

I released Daniel from the hug. “You are a good guy, Daniel.”

“You seem to be good yourself, Adira.” Daniel smiled back at me, and it was the best smile I had seen him attempt since I had met him earlier. “Jori is a good guy as well. He is a little rough around the edges, but he is a good alpha.”

I pulled my lips tight. “I will take that into consideration.”

A door slammed downstairs, drawing my attention away from Daniel. I heard a commotion, and once again my chest felt tight. I knew Mark was here, and I was afraid of what was about to happen. I was running out of Daniel’s office and down the stairs in a heartbeat. When I got to the front of the building, I saw Mark pinning Jori against the wall.

“Stop!”