A Kunai & Puzzle Box
Laurent
If you had asked me last week where I thought I’d be today, on my way to Hokkaido, in the middle of winter, by order of the Moon Goddess certainly wasn’t anywhere on my radar of possible answers. Yet here I am, sitting on a plane, sipping on what I suspect to be my last tumbler of Lycan whiskey for some time.
Vivian didn’t even give me a place to start my search, Hokkaido, that’s it, that’s all she gave me. At least I speak Japanese, I spent three years working in Tokyo for one of Nikolay’s corporations. That’s where I met Alexander, and he offered me a job as his assistant. That was nearly ten years ago now. I’ve never been to Hokkaido though. There are only two werewolf packs left in all of Japan and no wild wolves at all, they went extinct in 1889. You can thank the humans for that one.
I’ll start my search for this lone wolf in Sapporo. Alpha Ito might be able to help me. Hopefully he’ll have forgotten about the affair I had with his daughter all those years ago. How was I to know she was an alpha’s daughter if she didn’t tell me? Alexander always said these flings would somehow find a way back to bite me in the ass, and I get the feeling this might just be one of them. If The Mangetsu Pack choose not to help me then my only alternative to find this stupid wolf would be to go play detective amongst the humans and ask around if there are any rumors of a wild wolf up to no good.
This is why I’ve stopped fucking around. That, and ever since Alexander found Victoria, I’ve been envious of them. Sure, they had a rough patch, and when Alexander lost her for those few years, he went to a rather dark place that he almost didn’t make it out of, but when I watch them now, I know that it’s what I want, and if I ever do find my eresthai the last thing I want to tell her is my exceedingly high body count. Not like I’d be able to give her an actual number, I’m the walking definition of man-whore. It’s been five months since I’ve dipped my stick, and I’ve come to the realization that when I don’t get that realize, I’m incredibly snappy and short tempered. No Lycan likes to find faults in their character, but I don’t want to be governed by my Lycan anymore. I’m trying to take a page out of Alexander’s book and train to control him. Tae is especially impressive, his grip on his Lycan is like nothing I’ve ever seen before, and I doubt I ever will, the guy’s practically ancient.
I’m snapped out of my thoughts by the sound of Vivian’s blink. She makes me jump in my seat, sending the whiskey in my hand tumbling out. Vivian seems to suspend the glass and liquid midair, takes the tumbler and scoops it all up back into the glass.
She hands it back to me smirking, “Sorry to pop in on you like this, I forgot to give you something.”
“I hope it’s a map with big red X on it to show the exact location of this wolf you need me to find,” I mutter into my drink.
“Not me silly goose, Selene.”
“Wait, why couldn’t you just blink me to Hokkaido and save me the trip?”
She looks at me and smiles, “Umm, because I’m not supposed to meddle.”
I feel my brows knit, “Then why are you here?”
Vivian chuckles mischievously, “To meddle, duh. Agnar may have given me a little heads up before Selene took him, and I hold Agnar in much higher regard than Selene, no offense. I also don’t have much time, I’m technically in the little girl’s room back at Tae’s place.”
Vivian opens her hand to reveal a small Kunai. It doesn’t look like anything special, in fact it looks old, blunt and completely useless, “Wow, you shouldn’t have...just, wow.” I lay the sarcasm on a little too thick.
“Touch it,” the smirk on Vivian’s lips is playful, but I know her well enough to know that I’m about to be put in my place.
I pick up the kunai and instantly feel it vibrating in my hand, pulsing with energy, “Holy fuck.”
“Don’t be so quick to judge things on their appearance.”
“What am I supposed to do with this?”
“I don’t know yet, but Agnar said you’d need it. You’re also going to need my help at some stage. I don’t know when, or how, but when you do, call me.”
“How do I do that?”
“A drop of blood on the Earth as you say my name will do, it’s a little old-school hail but I’ll feel it as long as my feet are on the ground.”
I smirk, “What if you’re on a trampoline? Or swimming?”
Vivian laughs, “Then keep bleeding ass hat.”
I chuckle, “Terrific.”
“Oh, and this is for Alpha Ito,” Vivian says handing me a small wooden puzzle box, “Alexander may have called and mentioned he might be a potential hurdle.”
I shake the box, there’s something inside, “What is it?” When I looked back to Vivian’s seat she was already gone.
I take a deep long breath and let it out slowly. Vivian’s surprise visit was short, but now I don’t feel as alone in this quest as much as I did five minutes ago. I hope she and Tae accept Alexander’s offer to join our little pack. I’ve never had much of a family growing up, but that’s the best part about being a Lycan, we can choose our own family and make our own packs. Werewolves are somewhat stuck with one another unless they want to go rogue or lone wolf, and yes, there is a difference. A lone wolf is someone who chooses solitude, their wolf’s aura still remains pure. A Rogue wolf is one who was exiled by their pack for whatever reason. It’s a punishment usually only reserved in sever instances because the wolves’ aura starts to mutate, marking them for life unless another pack is willing to take the risk of accepting them.
Most rogues choose to band together, they are more dependent on social interaction and structure than Lycans. Some search for redemption, some for revenge, but most of them die alone in the wild. Come to think of it, I don’t even know for sure if the wolf I’m looking for is a Loner or a Rogue, or what I’m supposed to do when I find it.
I suppose only time will tell.
