1. His Clue

Aiden watched his blood seep into the bowl full of things of which he’d rather not know the origin, and then looked at the oracle expectantly.

He had fulfilled his task, which had consisted of making a werewolf pack stay out of the oracle’s business, and it had been no easy feat… since as he was the US alpha ultra’s son, and this was considered Canadian territory, not messing things up was a priority. If he ever were to be the reason why the alliance fell apart, his father would never forgive him. Of that, he was sure.

Still, as he looked at the old oracle, waiting for clues as to what he wished to know, while ignoring the nasty smell coming from the bowl, he couldn’t help but wonder why he couldn’t have been given an easier task.

When she opened her eyes at last, she told him in a voice that didn’t sound like her own, “Follow Anastasia.”

“Follow Anastasia?” He repeated dumbly, wondering what the hell that was about.

“You got your answer, boy,” she then told him coldly, having recovered her normal voice, “Now, if you’d please leave me, I have a few potions to research.”

“What answers?” He bellowed. “You said to follow Anastasia, but who the hell is Anastasia? Is she my mate? How am I to find her? You have not given me any answer!”

“A clue is a clue,” she retorted calmly. “What you do with it is up to you.”

“I have not travelled all this way here, played your errand boy in making the werewolf pack bothering you back off, just to have this answer.” He was disappointed, but also angry, and he could feel his eyes changing to black. He was only eighteen after all, and had barely had two years of training as a wolf –seeing as he had changed at the age of sixteen. How was he to contain his anger really?

Before he could do something he would later regret, the oracle raised her hand and said a few words in Latin, and he found himself at the bottom of the mountain atop which she lived.

“What the hell?” He exclaimed.

“My only offer is to come back see me in ten years if you don’t find your mate.” He could hear her tell him levelly, almost as if she were near him.

“And don’t even bother coming back up before then.” She then ordered harshly.

Just like that, he was left to swear, alone on Canadian territory.

** ** ** ** ** **

“How could you go seek the oracle without telling us?” Jonathan, Aiden’s father, reprimanded in a very angry tone.

“How could you not take me with you?” Jasmine, his mother, was almost pouting as she said that, and Aiden had to repress a laugh. His mom was such a big fan of the oracle, being a witch herself.

“You’re completely missing the point, love,” his father then told his mate affectionately.

“Well, I never got to meet her. You did!” She retorted accusingly.

“To find you. And it was no walk in the park.”

“Uhum, uhum,” Aiden cleared his throat.

“Right… What you did, worrying us like this, is unforgivable,” his father told him sternly.

“Is Aiden in trouble daddy?” A young boy who looked no older than nine years old, came into the living room, yawning.

“Nobody’s in trouble, honey,” their mom retorted. “Tell us, Aiden, what the oracle told you.”

“Rubbish,” he spat out. “That’s the clue she gave me.”

“Her exact words please?” His father demanded to know.

“Follow Anastasia were her words,” he informed them sheepishly.

“Okay,” his parents both drawled at the same time.

All three werewolves sported perplexed frowns for some time until Jasmine hit the palm of her left hand with her right fist in an eureka-like moment. “You’re going to Florida, son.”

“What for?” He asked, a bit dubitative.

“Be a little bit happy!” She admonished. “You’re going to meet Blake The Troublemaker’s daughter at long last.”

“Huh?”

“Her name is Anastasia.” She explained with a wink.