Chapter 514

Olivia

The small, hunched-over old man in front of me sat rifling through a box of files, muttering to himself as he searched.

“Hmm… No… Not that one… Hand me that box over there, will you?”

Turning, I grabbed the box of files that he was pointing at off of a nearby shelf and handed it to the old man. He took it and began rifling through it with just as much fervor as before, even though this was the fourth box of files he had gone through so far.

“These damn Elders erased all of their information while they were here,” the archivist said as he searched for something, anything, on Freya. “They came in here like bats out of hell, said that they had their own ‘personal archives’.”

I frowned. “And that was the last you saw of them?” I asked.

The archivist nodded. “Yep. But I’m certain they didn’t collect everything. Let’s see… Aha!” He pulled out a single sheet of yellowed paper, which he smoothed down on the desk and examined for a moment.

“What does it say?” I asked, peering over the archivist’s shoulder.

“Hmm… It seems that Freya had connections to one of the western packs in the past,” he said. “Pack Crescent, to be exact.” He handed me the paper, and my eyes scanned it for a moment before I nodded and handed it back.

“I’m sorry I couldn’t find more information for you,” the archivist said.

I shook my head, already turning to leave. “It’s better than nothing.”

…

As I veered my car down the narrow, winding dirt road, I leaned forward to get a better look out the window. Pack Crescent was known for its wooded location—heavily wooded, to be exact.

In fact, I hardly even saw the log buildings before they almost seemed to appear amongst the trees, camouflaged so well amongst the greens and browns that I could have driven right past them if I hadn’t been paying attention.

“Aha,” I muttered, pulling my car over to the side of the road. “Here we are.”

I parked the car and stepped out, the scent of fresh pine instantly filling my nostrils. The small pack was nestled cozily into the woods, hardly more than a circle of various buildings with a small park in the center.

Stopping in the center, I looked around until I spotted it: the pack’s Council building. I wasted no time in marching up to the front door, seeing as how the sun was already beginning to set.

Hopefully, they had some sort of information on Freya and the other elders. Maybe they knew where I could find her.

“Hello,” I said, walking up to the counter, where a young secretary was sitting and doodling in a notebook. “I’m from the Evergreen pack; I was hoping you could help me find someone.”

The secretary raised an eyebrow at me. “Who?”

“Her name is Freya,” I said. “She used to be one of our Elders—”

“Olivia.”

A familiar voice caught my attention, causing me to whip around. Behind me, next to a window, sat an elderly woman.

A woman who I recognized all too well.

“Mingan,” I breathed, taking a step closer. “I wasn’t expecting to—”

“I knew you would come.” Mingan slowly rose from her chair. She looked a little more weathered and frail now, but her eyes were just as striking as ever. Even now, after having been banished from our pack for months, I couldn’t help but feel a little reverent upon seeing the head Elder.

“You… You did?” I asked, although I supposed it came as no surprise. There was no doubt in my mind that Mingan, in all of her wisdom and powerful nature, saw me in a vision or maybe even a crystal ball.

Mingan nodded. “You seek to learn more about your powers, and Freya is the only one left alive who can help you,” she said, her gaze unwavering. “But I’m afraid you’re too late.”

I blinked, confused. “Late?” I asked. “Did something happen to Freya?”

“She went crazy,” the secretary chimed in. “Totally off her rocker.”

The secretary’s words left me taken aback. I looked at Mingan for some hint of a joke, but there was none. She merely nodded.

“What the girl says is true,” she said. “Freya went off into the woods on her own. In her wolf form.”

“In her wolf form…” I furrowed my brow. “Where did she go? Maybe I could find her, talk to her.”

“I’m afraid not.” Mingan turned, glancing out the window. The forest was already growing dark, even though the sun hadn’t fully set yet. The thick cover of trees had that effect. “Many of us have tried talking to her, and it’s no use. She’s stuck in her wolf form.”

There was a long silence. I was too stunned to speak; Freya, the one person who seemed to have everything together, had… lost her mind and gotten stuck in her wolf form.

No. I refused to believe it.

“Where is she?” I asked, pulling my shoulders back firmly. “I’d like to pay her a visit.”

Mingan turned and looked at me, genuine surprise written across her face. “It’s dangerous, you know,” she said. “Are you sure that is something you really wish to do?”

I paused for a moment, thinking back on everything; not just my Ancient Wolf powers, but Clarissa’s lost memories. And now, having heard that Mingan expected me to come, I couldn’t help but wonder if there was more at stake here. Another trial for the Ancient Wolf, perhaps.

“Yes,” I finally said. “It is.”

Mingan sighed, her shoulders sagging slightly as she came to realize that I wasn’t giving in. “Alright,” she said softly. “I’ll draw you a map.”

…

By the time I arrived at home later, the sun had already long since dipped below the horizon, leaving the sky inky black.

I couldn’t help but shudder a bit as I pulled into the driveway; I always hated the new moon. The full moon cast such a bright light over the landscape every night that when the new moon came around, the pitch blackness was even more unsettling.

As I put the car in park and rubbed my tired eyes, the map that Mingan had drawn for me caught my attention from where it sat on the passenger seat. Sighing, I picked it up and peered at it in the light of the car.

“I still can’t believe she did this for me,” I muttered to myself. Part of me had wondered if this was some sort of trap, some way to get back at me for having a part in the Elders being banished from our pack, but a bigger part of me somehow knew that she was telling the truth.

The fear in her eyes when Freya was mentioned, the way her hand shook slightly as she had drawn the map to the place where Freya was last seen…

I couldn’t find Freya today, though. If she really was stuck in her wolf form and had gone feral, I couldn’t just walk up to her and try to chat. I needed to have a plan.

As I climbed out of the car and began walking up to the front door, something else caught my eye and momentarily pulled my attention for my hunt for Freya. There was something on the doorstep.

A bouquet of roses and something in an envelope.

I didn’t even need to pick it up to know who it was from: Nathan. I could tell not just by the gesture itself, but by the handwriting on the envelope. He always wrote in cursive. Always.

For a moment I just stood there, staring down at the flowers and the note. And for a moment, I felt my eyes mist over as I imagined what might be written inside; an apology, maybe? The explanation he seemed so adamant about?

“No.” I said the word out loud as if to steel myself.

Then, without a moment of hesitation, I forcefully grabbed the things off of the porch, marched over to the trash bin, and threw them inside without so much as opening the letter.