USELESS?

7

Sitting at the kitchen island, wrapped in my mate's arms as we eat breakfast with his best friend and Beta, I can't help but think about everything I've learned this morning. I'm a Guardian, a wolf destined to protect my kind from rogues, yet somehow managed to be raised among them. My parents might be alive, and might be looking for me. I wonder if this is why I didn't shift when I should have.

"Anthony?" I ask, "can you tell me more about Guardians? I have so many questions."

Anthony smiles, "Of course, Hunter, I'll try. But remember, most of what I know is just from books, and tales passed down from the Elders. I can get you the books, if you'd like. Or you can ask your wolf. I'm sure he knows more than even the books."

I slap my forehead "I keep forgetting about Angel. I'm not used to having a wolf, I guess." 'Angel?'

'Yes, Hunter? What would you like to know?' He answers immediately

'Anthony says I'm a Guardian.' I start

'Anthony is right, Hunter. We are a Guardian. I see your memories of what he has told you, and your questions. What would you like answered first?' He asks me.

'If I'm such a powerful wolf, how did I end up with rogues? And why didn't I shift until I was 21?' My two biggest questions.

'If you had been raised in your birth pack, you would have been taught that a Guardian doesn't shift until the first full moon after their 21st birthday. Your birthday just happened to fall ON a full moon. As for the rogues...a nurse in your parents' pack saw your birthmark, and hid you in the bustle of yours and your twin's birth, before your parents saw it.' I'm dumbfounded by Angel's explanation, and quickly turn to my mate.

"Anthony, oh, Goddess...my parents...I have a twin...oh..." I exclaim, "Angel says a nurse hid my birthmark and stole me from my parents."

"What else?" Anthony asks. "Does he know which pack you come from?"

'Angel? Can you tell me anything else?' I ask excitedly.

'Your parents are from the Silver Dawn Pack. The nurse ran with you, but was caught by that rogue 'pack' that raised you.' Angel tells me 'They killed her, and probably would have killed you if not for your mark.'

"He says that my parents are from the Silver Dawn Pack," I tell them.

"The Silver Dawn Pack? That's the Royal family," said Jeremiah. "We have to call them immediately."

"Go, Jer. Call" Anthony orders. "Don't tell them any more than you have to. Just tell them we rescued a member of their pack, kidnapped as an infant, from rogues. Ask them to send that family to us."

"Wait," I say. "Take a picture of me to send as proof. If I have a twin, they'll recognize me."

"Good idea, Hunter" Jeremiah says, pulling out his phone and snapping a picture. He then rushes out of the kitchen to the pack office.

As we're left alone, Anthony seems to sense my distress, and pulls me into his arms. I press my face into his shoulder, my tears dampening his shirt. I'm completely overwhelmed by everything I've learned in the last twenty four hours. 'Has it only been a day since the attack?' I ask myself, stunned. So much has changed.

The abusive mate my false pack forced on me is gone, along with probably most of the "pack," and I'm free at last. I've found my true mate, and I'm quickly falling in love with him. He is everything I ever hoped my mate would be. And now, I learn that my parents may be alive, and I have at least one sibling, a twin. I wonder if it's a brother or a sister? It doesn't matter, as long as I get them back.

Suddenly, it occurs to me that I will be reuniting with my family soon. I don't know how far their pack is from ours, but surely it won't be more than a day before I see them. My distress melts away, replaced by bubbling joy and excitement. Anthony senses the change through our slowly-forming mate bond, and tilts my face up to his with a gentle fingertip.

"I love to see you smile, my love." He tells me gently. "What would you like to do today?"

"Oh, Anthony, there's so many things we need to do..." I exclaim breathlessly. "Can we prepare guest rooms for my family? And maybe go shopping? I'd like to have something nice to give them, and maybe some new clothes?"

Anthony chuckles at my excitement. "Anything you want, love. I'll call for a car and driver, and we'll go."
———-

Several hours and what seems like a dozen stores later, we return to the pack house, and I get a better look at it than I did last night. It's more than 3 times the size of the pack house I was raised in. A red and white brick exterior rising up to what looked to be at least 8 floors, and I could see wings extending back from the front on both sides. Maybe I'll ask Anthony to take me on a tour with my family when they arrive.

We step in through the doors, our arms full of bags, and Anthony leads me to our room. He helps me put away all the things we purchased, and wrap the gifts for my parents, a platinum wolf pendant with an onyx angel wing on its side and sapphire eyes with matching earrings for my mother, and a platinum pocket watch for my father that has a sapphire-eyed onyx wolf with a silver angel wing on its side. I wasn't sure what to get my twin, so I settled for a platinum wolf-head ring with sapphire eyes. As we wrap, we decide that we will tell my parents the truth of why I was taken, and let them decide if my twin should know.

It occurred to me to wonder if my twin had a mate. I guess I'll find out when they arrive. As we finish up, a knock sounds on our door. Anthony opens it, and Jeremiah steps through with a strange look on his face.

"I finally managed to reach the Silver Dawn Pack." He tells us. "We didn't have a direct contact for them, as they're on the other side of the country, so it took some time. I spoke with a low-ranked member, but when I explained why I was calling, they put me through to the King himself. It was his firstborn son who was kidnapped. King Orion, Queen Grace, and Hunter's identical twin, Prince Archer are making arrangements, and will be here the day after tomorrow."

I hear Anthony exclaim as the room goes dark, and my knees buckle beneath me, sending me falling to the floor.