Electrum

I don’t think that Lucian’s father was all too impressed by the troop that piled into his Mazda seven seater family car. Nevertheless, he sat there wordlessly, parked on the dirt road, drumming his fingers on the steering wheel impatiently.

“What about your camping gear?” he asked his son as the boy clambered into the front seat.
“Oh, that wasn’t our stuff. Cobalt brought it all,” Lucian lied casually, looking evenly into the older man’s eyes.

His father frowned with disapproval. “You know I don’t like you hanging around him…”
“Not that it’s any of your business, but we won’t be seeing him again.”

“Got in a fight, did you?”

Lucian sighed. “You could say that.”

“Squish over, would you?” a green eyed girl demanded. I remembered her as the one Mathis had called Yvette. I could tell already I would have both my hands full dealing with her and her preteen attitude.

Mathis remained unperturbed and, before I knew what was happening, had pulled me onto his lap. “Problem solved?” he asked calmly. Yvette grumbled something and slid in next to us, followed by Ebony.

“Damn it, why did you two have to take the back seats?” snapped an inky-haired boy to the duo behind him.

“Stop swearing, Ebony,” the girl he had shouted at berated him. She looked around the same age as him, with blond-brown hair and deep blue eyes.

“Why should I, Topaz?” he demanded, waving his arm in the air for emphasis. “I turned thirteen last week. I’m a teenager now; I can say whatever I damn well want to.”

“Ow!” Yvette cried as Ebony’s hand accidentally hit her elbow. “That was my sore arm, idiot!”
“Shut up, bitch.”

“Make me, butthead!”

“Lucian, tell them to stop it!” shouted Topaz over the racket. “It’s upsetting Lee.” I glanced over Mathis’ shoulder. The little Asian boy, probably around ten years old, was sniffling slightly, his eyes going red and puffy.

If Lucian, who was doubtlessly the oldest of the new arrivals, was going to say anything, he didn’t get the chance. “If I hear a single peep out of you lot for the rest of the journey, I’m kicking you all out onto the road!” the driver said, and we all fell into silence.

I sighed and put my head on Mathis’ shoulder, forehead resting against his neck. “What on Earth have I got myself into?” I momentarily felt his arms tighten slightly around me, his chest moving with the dry chuckle he let out as he rested his own head on top of mine.
You know that strange feeling someone gets when they’re being watched? I opened my eyes to be met with the curious ones of four individuals. Lee was still sniffling, staring at Mathis and me with an innocent confusion. Topaz looked like she was trying to figure something out, and Yvette just rolled her eyes. As for Ebony...he just scoffed.

“What was that supposed to mean?” Yvette snapped, green eyes flaring angrily.
“Look at them, acting like damn Lucian did a couple years back! And that ended so fantastically.” The sarcasm was clear.

“Well, they’re together, so what did you expect?” she shot back. This was just like middle school, where people gossiped about you like you weren’t even there.

“Enough.” There was no yelling, no screaming. Lucian hadn’t even lifted his head off the glass window. Instantly, the topic was dropped like a hot potato, no questions asked. Another adult in a child’s body, I thought. I wonder if this is what could happen to Xochil someday. Not now, but in the future sometime. We all rode in silence for the next couple minutes, no one daring to break the stillness.

Except Lee. “What does ‘together’ mean?” he asked, turning his head to one side.
Topaz answered him, her quiet voice easily audible through the car. “It means when two people stay with each other,” she explained.

“Why would they want to do that?”

Ebony, ever the problem child, decided the journey was now too peaceful for his liking. In fact, I doubted he could spend fifteen minutes without trying to create a stir. “Of course you don’t understand, Lee. You were an accident caused by a fucking one-night stand.”
“Ebony, that was out of line. Apologize to him!” Mathis shot him a look.

“Sorry Lee,” Ebony grumbled. “But that doesn’t change the fact that it’s true,” he added under his breath.

“Alright, everybody out!” For a second there, I’d thought Lucian’s father was actually kicking us out of the vehicle as he had threatened to do earlier when Ebony had been causing trouble. Then I realized we had pulled into the driveway of a family house, not elaborate by any standards but nice nevertheless.

A plump woman holding some gardening clippers came to greet us. I assumed she was Lucian’s mother, having the same chocolate brown hair as he did. “You’re back!” she exclaimed excitedly. “How was the trip?” She grabbed her son in a strangling bear hug, smothering the top of his head with kisses and ruffling his hair.

“It was great, Mom,” Lucian said, giving us an embarrassed laugh-and-die glare.
“It’s so good that you’ve been getting out again! I was so worried after what happened with Isabella; I thought you were going to become a sixteen year old hermit!” she rambled. I frowned. Who was Isabella? Ebony mentioned something earlier in the car when he saw Mathis and I…was she Lucian’s ex-girlfriend or something? I had always been good at putting these things together, probably because of my memory. If I heard one thing, saw one dance, I could repeat it right back perfectly the first time around. When I was younger I’d always been praised for being able to learn fast. Still was.

“You kids can go out back to the clubhouse like you usually do, just be sure to wash your hands after; we’ve just had chemicals put in to kill those weeds.”

The ‘clubhouse’ turned out to be pretty much an old shed to one side of the back yard. Apparently the previous owners had built it, and Lucian’s family had never found the time to get it pulled down, especially after it became a popular place for him and his friends to spend time. I suspected they only allowed it because then they could be sure he wasn’t out clubbing or going to hook-up parties. But still, Lucian Evington hadn’t struck me as the type.

“I don’t believe I’ve seen you around here,” Mrs. Evington said. “I’m Ell; it’s nice to meet you.”

“I’m Susan, Susan Viljoen. I live on the other side of town,” I said, shaking hands. The rest of the pack had already gone into their little hideout, leaving just me and Mathis.

“I’ll bring out some tea and biscuits.” She paused. “How many are in the visiting troop this time?”

“Seven total,” Mathis said with a smile. “You don’t have to go through any trouble; we’ll be out of your hair as soon as possible.”

“Oh no, don’t worry at all!” Mrs. Evington said. “You kids go have fun and I’ll be right down.”

So I followed Mathis down to where the others were waiting. Some were throwing darts idly at a worn out board, and others were just sitting around. It made me wonder of other meetings that might have been held here, what horrible things had been planned by the Aliath pack. I shook my head, that was in the past now.

“Where’s Ebony?” Mathis asked the group as they all turned to face us.

Topaz sniffed and rubbed her eyes. “I-I don’t know!” she sobbed. “It’s all my fault! He was teasing Lee so I told him if he had nothing nice to say then not to say anything at all and leave him alone but...he...he...” She broke off into wails, mousy brown hair plastered across her face with tears. Yvette patting her back sympathetically.

Five minutes and already there were problems. It was just like those girls I taught ballet to. There was the King of Moodiness (Lucian), the Queen of Snobs (Yvette), the Prince of Crybabies (Lee), the Duke of Juvenile Delinquency (Ebony), and the Princess of Peace Treaties (Topaz). Yep, I’d summed them all up in that short while I’d known them.

“Don’t worry,” Yvette comforted. “I’m sure Eb’ll be back. He always is.”

“B-but he said he wasn’t going to be!”

“...he says that every time too,” Lucian pointed out blandly.

Topaz wiped her eyes. “Ok...” she murmured hopefully. “You really think so?”

Mathis smiled at her. “I know so,” he said.

The blond girl wiped her eyes for the last time and looked around. “Ah, Lee! Don’t pick your nose with the darts!” she panicked.

Not many noticed, as Topaz tried to pry the sharp pieces of metal from Lee’s pudgy fist, the silhouette that had appeared in the doorway. I was the first to noticed, stiffening slightly, and alert even as a human for a fight. It couldn’t be Mrs. Evington.

As close as I could see, the visitor was a wolf.

Mathis immediately noticed my action and whirled around, swiftly altering into his wolf form in record time. He snarled, the fur rippling upwards as he did so. I had noticed the wind direction – any wolf would, and would have realized we would be unable to smell the intruder from our current position.

Slam! The wolf on the other side had slammed itself against the door. Bam! Bam! Bam! Lee screamed and clung to Topaz, who in turn was hanging on to Yvette. Mathis gave a warning bark, and then paused. “Get away from the door!” he shouted to me. “There’s a second exit at the back!”

Too late. The door flew straight off its hinges, crashing into Mathis with full force. He quickly scrambled out from under the wreckage and threw himself at the intruder. It had the recognisable thick dark fur of a Tundra Wolf, somewhat similar to my own. The only difference was in its coal black eyes.

“Ebony...?” I cautioned, letting my guard down slightly.

The dark wolf whimpered and began to morph back into human form, face twisted in concentration. I noticed blood pouring from several clawed wounds that the wooden door had given him when he’d gone busting it down. Mathis grabbed a spare picnic blanket and tossed it to the boy with one flick of his jaws, who wrapped it securely around his humanizing shoulders.

“I...back...meeting...” he rasped, words becoming more audible as his jaw altered shape.

“Electrum...activated...” And with that, he was out.

“Electrum?” Topaz asked as Mathis moved Ebony into the fold-up bed in the corner. Doubtlessly it had been used by other Aliath members for stakeouts, or maybe even just as a place for Lucian to be on his own. Probably both.

“Crap.” This eloquently put statement came from Lucian, still in the corner. He turned to Lucian. “I thought that program was history.”

“It was,” Mathis said. “But in light of recent events...”

“But how can they do it without...?”

“People are dispensable to him.”

“Right.”

I was beginning to feel a little left out of the loop here. “What’s going on?” I asked. “What’s Electrum?” I sat down next to Mathis’ wolf form.

Mathis stared at me with his strangely colored eyes. “Susan...understand that I never meant for any of this to happen,” he said, a hint of sadness in his voice. “Trust me when I said I tried to stop it.”

I nodded again mutely. Mathis looked me directly in the eyes. “You’re being targeted.”

“W-what?” I stammered, shocked. “By who?” Now that I think about it, everything should have been obvious.

“Who do you think?” Yvette scowled. “Rias wouldn’t even let us know what the whole Electrum deal was, and even Lee could figure out who’s targeting you.”

“Three of the most trusted Aliath were assigned it. The Electrum Project. The Amber Project.”

“It was my...test. A rite of passage for me,” Lucian added, blessing us with a full sentence for once. “When the project was aborted...”

“His girlfriend ended up in a psyche ward.” a new voice drawled from the mangled doorway. “Nasty business, that is. What happened here?” A white wolf padded forwards, nosing the debris.

“Trouble already?” Takis followed Alex in.

“Not trying to be rude but...what are you guys doing here?” The Erate wolves never hung around me unless they wanted something, just like parasites. Ruairi would expect me to follow his decisions whenever it suited him. Read: He expected me to fix his problems every time he screwed up without admitting he made a mistake.

“Paying back our dues,” Camden grunted. “In more ways than one.”

What was that supposed to mean? I wondered vaguely. “So this is all about revenge, huh?”
Mathis frowned, a little line appearing between his eyebrows. “You shouldn’t be doing this, if it’s about vengeance this fight will never end even after the battle’s been won.”

“Don’t you think we already know that?” snapped Alex, sounding remarkably like Yvette for a second.

“Ruairi sent us,” Takis explained. “Everyone who could still move, that is.” Everyone except himself, it seemed.

“But that leaves the rest of the Erate unprotected.” If I hadn’t understood Ruairi before, this really left me confused. No wait...I think I did understand. Stupid, arrogant Ruairi was thanking me. Thanking me for all the times I’d come to his rescue, without saying so directly.

“You’ve put a shitload on the line for us before,” Camden said grudgingly. “Time to return the favour.” I knew he was still a bit annoyed about the incident at the stream. Cam was a soldier after all; he did things instinctively without thought. He did his duties, and hated being wrong because of it.

Topaz and Lee seemed to be accepting the strangers quietly, seeing my friendly terms with them. In absence of a conscious Ebony, Yvette decided to cause the stir. “Alright, who the heck are you and what are you doing here? Because if you don’t have a good reason then go away!” she demanded, poking Takis with one bony finger.

Camden laughed. “Just like your little sister, eh Takis?”

Takis looked down at Yvette, eyebrows raised. “Look little lady, Susan, Mathis, and possibly Lucian are the only ones in your pack who stand a chance against Rias and his crew. Sure you want us to go away now?”

“We’re fine on our own!” Ebony had woken up and was as antagonistic as ever.

“...any chance the midget could go back to being unconscious?” Alex asked dryly.

Mathis cut through the racket with a sharp bark of authority. All heads turned to look at him, as he paced across the room. “I thank you three,” he said sincerely. “What do you know about the Aliath’s project?”

Camden jerked his head at Takis, who answered. “While on patrol, we discovered a hidden set of plans for the attack.”

“Actually, we snuck into Rias’ territory,” Camden corrected.

“Whatever. They’re executing the Electrum Project tonight. They know Lucian’s home is considered a safe house, and they’ve done all the research on you, Susan.”

I gasped involuntarily. “Then we’ve got to get out of here!”

Mathis shook his head and put his wolfish head on my knees. “Rias knows what would draw you out. You care too much about people, Susan. He’ll attack your family.” This hit me like a punch to the gut. “Should have expected as such...” He murmured to himself. “I’m sorry that it’s come to this.”

“It’s all been carefully premeditated,” Alex said sharply. “The more recent Ex-Aliath should have a more comprehensive and recent analysis of their individual fighting styles and attack strategies.”

Lucian didn’t put down the book he was flicking through. “Cobalt and Halifax will be dispatched to the homes of your relatives. Rias will practically hold them at gunpoint in exchange for your life or something more. Afterwards, when they’re through with you, they’ll be killed anyway. It’s a no-win situation.” Somehow I got the feeling he was talking from experience.

“Like with Isabella...right?” Topaz asked, although it couldn’t exactly be interpreted as a question from the way she said it.

“This. Is. Not. The Time,” Lucian said stiffly, accenting each word in an effort not to lose his temper.

Takis brought us all back to the present. “Alright, so we need to confront them before those wolves are sent out, correct?”

“Charms wouldn’t want us to be known as the ones who dealt the first blow...” Camden muttered.

“I don’t want to attack first, either,” Mathis said. “But Rias’ pack doesn’t operate like most. If you kill the leader, there’s always another waiting to take over.”

“That was you,” Yvette stated.

“Kill the head and the spider still lives...” Lucian added.

“Right. But becoming the Beta takes years, there’s no one there right now,” Mathis explained.

“It’s the one big flaw in his perfect scheme to have mindless followers,” Alex deducted.

Lee frowned. “They were going to make us into robot alien zombies?” he asked. Clearly he’d been watching far too many cartoons for his own good. But hey, it was impressive he was managing to follow the conversation; although...it was kind of sad that he could, really.

“Ah...something like that,” she agreed with a shrug.

It took a couple of hours to come up with a decent strategy, after we’d been given a brief overview of the Aliath pack. It wasn’t like I’d ever had very much contact with them, I tended to hang around in what might be called no-man’s-land. That was how I stayed out of everyone’s way.

It was a good thing I’d become a ballet teacher, because I don’t think most people would have the discipline or patience to put up with these adults in children’s bodies, although some of the smaller ones like Lee and Ebony were obviously childlike in so many ways.
To me it felt strange, being in such a position in the pack. The Alpha Female. I guess that made me the Isra of this pack, although I really didn’t have all that much in common with her. “But if I’m now Isra...then who’s me?” I wondered.

“Alright, is everyone clear on what they have to do?” Mathis asked the group. He had changed back to his human form; although he had been forced to borrow a pair of Lucian’s dad’s pants since his old clothes had been a little shredded after transforming on the go.

So until we had to go back into our wolf forms, he was stuck in a pair of baggy jeans and nothing else. Blame Eb for that...or thank him, I added mentally, staring at Mathis. A second afterwards, I slapped my self on the head. Stupid brain making me notice these things at inappropriate moments.

Everyone nodded, a strange feeling of determination sweeping over the area. Camden and Alex were in charge of Yvette and Topaz. Their small squad was going to protect the innocent people the Aliath would doubtlessly try to drag in. I couldn’t let my or anyone else’s family get hurt in this mess, even if it lessened our chances against Rias. Ebony and Lee were monitoring the Aliath’s movements, while Lucian, Mathis, Takis, and I were going to deal with Rias.

“Once Camden’s squad is put in motion they should circle around and cut the rest off, and drive them back to minimize their potential target area north-northeast.” Topaz indicated to a crudely drawn map scratched into the dirt with a stick. It still shocked me to hear a thirteen year old say casually talk about fighting tactics in her sweet little voice.

“But why do I have to be stuck with such a bogus job?” demanded Ebony. “And with that midget? Come on! I wanna kick ass too!”

I knew that look; I knew it all too well. “Ebony,” I said, bending to his eye-level. “I’m giving you this job because you and Lee are the only ones who can.”

“Great, I’m on the same level as him now, huh?” he grumbled sarcastically, adding “Lee’s not even a teenager yet...” to himself.

“Keep this up and maybe you will be,” I responded. Time for the good old reverse-psychology. “You’ve done more than anyone else already, finding out about the Electrum Project. We just need you to do this one last job, alright?”

“Fine...” he agreed reluctantly, as though he was blessing us just with his appearance. “Just how do I get this tracking thing working?”

Mathis nodded. “The devices were implanted and can be picked up by a GPS satellite. All we have to do is interfere with the connection.”

“Implanted?” Somehow that word sounded...bad.

“Under the skin – it’s what happens when a wolf becomes a full member of his pack,” Lucian explained. “It’s how Rias,” he spat the name out as though it were poison, “keeps track of his cronies and coordinates attacks.”He held out his forearm, a large gash still weeping blood through the bandage. “Ain’t got anything on me though.” The boy added proudly.

“Ew!” Yvette squealed. “That’s gross, Lucian!”

“You ripped it out?” Mathis’ eyes widened.

“Yeah. You might want to do the same yourself, Alpha.” It was almost said as a challenge.

“It’s been deactivated,” Mathis explained.

“Which is what smart people do before resorting to self-mutilation,” Alex said flatly, now fiddling with a laptop computer before pounding her fists onto the keyboard. “Damn! The signal’s all messed up...”

Takis shrugged. “Don’t look at me.” He may have been a pretty good scout, but when it came to computers...you probably didn’t want to go there. His technological skills probably rivalled his cooking skills, that guy could burn water without even trying. And that was why most werewolves in the Erate preferred to remain in their wolf form and get their own food.

Lee plodded over to the computer. Reaching out, he pressed a couple buttons. The many pop-ups and lines of encrypted data faded from the screen, leaving only a map with a few flashing dots. Too many.

“Man, I feel stupid...” Takis muttered in awe of the eleven-year-old.

“That’s ‘cause you are.” Yvette couldn’t resist that little dig.

Camden reached into his bag, pulling out several earpieces. “Dad used to be a federal agent,” he said, “I tinkered a bit so they won’t break when you go wolf.” We each accepted one, putting it on.

“Sure they still work, Cam? I’m hearing a lot about Old Macdonald right now,” I asked, a familiar tune drilling it’s way through my ears.

“And I’m overhearing a conversation somewhere that I’d rather not listen to. Ever.” Lucian scowled.

“See that dial over there? That controls frequency, just adjust it a little,” Camden told him.

Mathis moved. “Here, let me.” I swear, my heart almost pounded out of my chest was he leaned over. A flush rose to my face, burning its way across my cheeks. Mathis fiddled with the dial until the fuzz vanished, but didn’t move. I was close enough to kiss him.

“CAN YOU HEAR ME NOW?” Yvette’s voice blasted through everyone’s headsets, causing Mathis and I to leap away from each other.

Small tears were forming in the corner of Topaz’s eyes. “Y-Yvette, that’s too loud!”

After the volume issue, there were few hitches. I could almost sense all the tension in the air. Everything was counting on this fight, this battle. Even Ebony had fallen silent, not even a crass comment or joke coming from his direction. He was as quiet and cold as, dare I say it, Lucian.

Mathis was stressed too, even I could tell, but he had to hold strong for everyone else, especially since the group was so young. I knew the feeling well. Once, after a brutal fight in which I gained three broken ribs and a concussion, I had to attend a family dinner acting like nothing was wrong. Jan had been the only one to notice, I was that good at hiding it.

I put a hand on his shoulder, and we walked to the garden. If anyone made a move to come after us, they decided against it. It was a nice home, full of the freshness only a place so close to the woods could have.

“This isn’t between the Aliath and Erate anymore, is it?” I asked him. “Because we’re neither.”

He nodded. “That makes us the Electrum Pack.”

With Mathis by my side I felt strong, invincible, like nothing could hurt me. Me, Mathis, Lee, Topaz, Camden, Takis, Yvette, Alex, Lucian, Ebony...I knew we’d be alright.

Mathis’ hand moved up and entwined with mine. I smiled up at him. No matter how complicated things got, this one thing would remain pure and simple. There was who we were and who we are. Where we were going, only we could find out. Then there was how we felt, and when we kissed I realized I didn’t need to find out.

I already knew.