"Yes, mom, what is it?" Natalie asked.
She was on the phone, speaking to her mother, who had called.
After Alfa spoke with Kimberly, she was very concerned. He was right. The way he was literally begging for them to help him speak with Valac was not normal for any werewolf, especially the Alpha of a pack.
"Nats, I need you to come over tomorrow..." Kimberly began, but Natalie jumped in, "Mom, are you out of your mind? You know I can't just jump out of class and fly there any time I want to!"
"We have a problem. I've spoken to Marcus, and you both are coming home tomorrow. Dad has paid for your tickets, and I'll be picking you up from the airport."
"Mom, what is this about?"
"Something's not right. I can feel it in my gut, and I can tell that something big is going to happen."
Natalie went silent for a while. This was her mom's thing. Sometimes, she would feel that something was wrong, and it turned out to be true.
"But - " "No buts. You are coming over, and that's final!"
Natalie sat on her bed and thought about this. Deep down, she knew it had something to do with Alfa wanting to speak to her mate, but her mother had never sounded this urgent before.
Natalie picked up her phone, and before she could dial, it rang. Marcus name appeared on the screen.
"Hey, I was just about to call you," she said into the phone.
"Did Mom call you too?" Marcus asked.
"Yeah. Just now. Do you know what's going on?"
"No. She just said dad has paid for our plane tickets, and we will get to know everything once we reach there! Did she tell you anything?"
"No," Natalie replied. "You know, a few days ago, Alfa spoke to me about calling Valac because he wants to talk to him."
"What? Why?" Marcus asked, surprised.
"I think it has something to do with bringing Arya's wolf back."
Marcus scoffed, "Could be. He was a dick for letting her go through all that, and now, the only way he will be able to survive is with his mate," Marcus said with confidence.
"And how do you know all that?" Natalie asked.
"I did some digging on the history of werewolves. Any werewolf whose mate dies or leaves slowly starts to die or go insane. Unknowingly, Alfa killed his mate - "
"Arya is still alive, Mar!" Natalie cut in.
"Yes, but his mate was her wolf. Not her."
"Okay. I'll pretend I understood what you just said. Please continue." Natalie said, and Marcus could almost see her roll her eyes.
"Well, Alfa unknowingly killed his own mate, and since Arya left his pack, he has no form of connection to who he thought was his mate. So he is dying. Literally."
"Now, I feel bad for him. But then again, it serves him right for throwing us into prison."
Both siblings laughed.
"We will meet tomorrow at the airport. Let's do some packing," Marcus said when the laughter died down a little.
"Honestly speaking, I really don't want to go," Natalie said, her voice carrying the weight of unsaid words.
Marcus knew how badly she wanted to talk to Arya that time, and it really broke her heart when Alfa threatened her.
Their mother had told her that Alfa could really kill her, and there would be no consequences since he was the Alpha of this pack. Being humans, they wouldn't be able to do anything.
Kimberly had understood what her child was going through, but Alfa had stopped them from seeing Arya, and knowing how accurate their sense of hearing and smell was, she didn't want her family to get into trouble, so she sent them out as soon as she could.
Now, that same Alfa is asking for their help. It's so ironic that it's laughable!
Marcus knew how Natalie was feeling. She had kept everything inside for so long, and now, Alfa was asking for her help! He didn't want her anywhere near his mate, but now he wants Natalie to call her mate for him. That is quite bold of him!
"I know, Nats. But I'm curious to know what's really going on and how far Alfa will be willing to go to for Arya," Marcus said.
"You know what, you're right. He has given me enough pain, and now the ball is in my court!"
"Did Mom send you our tickets?"
"No, not yet," Natalie said as she went through her email. "I don't see any new mail."
"Okay. I'll go now, but call me if you receive anything."
"Okay. And you tell me if she sends it to you. See you tomorrow. Bye."
"Bye."
Natalie felt better talking to Marcus. She felt like only him and Arya understood her.
Arya! God knows where she is! Natalie missed hearing her voice and her jokes. She was always so sweet and wonderful that she couldn't imagine her life without her.
Natalie began packing her bag with some of her clothes and necessary items. Knowing her father, she wouldn't need to tell the principal where she was going, as that would already be done.
"Hey, going somewhere?" Came a voice from the door, making her jump.
"God, Sam! You nearly gave me a heart attack!" Natalie said, looking at her roommate, who was standing by the door.
"Sorry. I didn't know you'd react this way," Sam said, as she jumped on Natalie's bed. "So, where are you off to?"
"Small family emergency. Have to leave tomorrow." Natalie kept packing.
"Oh. I came to ask, what would you like to eat for dinner? I was going to order takeout!"
"I think stir fry would do for me. Will you order it?"
"Yeah. I was going to order chicken salad, so I'll add your stir fry to it."
Sam walked out of the room, and Natalie felt this knot in her stomach.
What if she was going to walk into an ambush tomorrow? What if her parents call Alfa and they force her to call Valac?
No, they can not do that since they know that if they do anything that displeased her, Valac would personally kill them. So why was Natalie feeling this way? Something was not right, and her mother was hiding something from them.
She hoped that Arya would also come. She will get a chance to talk to her, and maybe she will forgive her and Valac for what happened to her wolf.