Another Half

There wasn’t much Crys and Rachel had told Blade about the Essa Family, mostly because at the time Blade had been focusing on school and she had lost interest once they told her that they practically owned the valley, the mountains that surrounded it, and pretty much everything on it all. Once Blade expressed skepticism about owning everything, Crys said that they may as well own everything. Without the Essa family and their businesses, the valley was worth pretty much only whatever the land sold for.

After driving south for over an hour, Blade turned right onto a broad entrance with a giant blue-grey boulder carved with Azul Springs Distillery in silver letters to the side. A large, black iron gate stopped her. Blade got out of her car to open the gate and as soon as she reached the gate two male sentries appeared before her on the other side.

“Who are you and what’s your business here?” The shorter of the two approached her and stopped in front of her.

Blade crossed her arms. She didn’t like his attitude.

“I came to pick up my baby from Crystal Segundo. She told me how to get here.”

He leaned over and sniffed her.

“You’re a she-wolf.”

“Really? And here I thought I was a damn vampire.” Blade glared at him, aggravated. “Let me through. I want my pup back. Mind link Crys if you need to.”

“She checks out,” the other male said, as he opened the gate himself. “Interesting to finally meet a vampire,” he said with a wolfish grin. “I thought you guys didn’t exist. Name’s Raul.”

“I’m Blade,” she said and smiled back despite herself when he raised his eyebrows in surprise. Nobody ever forgot her name.

“What I find interesting is that the Beta’s mate has a vampire friend,” the first said, doing his best to flirt as charmingly as the other.

Blade stared at him in shock.

“Crystal is the mate of—wait, what?!”

“Hey, take it easy,” Raul said, standing next to his annoying companion. “They’re good folks, both of them. I know what people usually say about ranked wolves being assholes, and sometimes that’s true–”

Blade glared at him, and Raul put up his hands in mock resignation.

“Okay, okay, I’m sorry! You’re right. It’s true almost all the time,” he said laughing. “But, I’m sure they’ve taken really good care of your pup. I give you my word as an Omega that they’re honorable people.” He winked at her. “Us Omegas have to stick together, right?”

Blade stared back at him and grinned. She found comfort in his unassuming words, not to mention that he was very nice to look at.

She was sure Andy was fine, but her concern had more to do with meeting their angry, out-of-control alpha than anything else. All this to say that Blade and Andy needed to leave that pack as soon as possible.

“I’m sorry, but I need to leave,” she said turning to her car. She stopped next to them as she drove by. “Thank you for opening the gate for me, Raul. How do I get to the Pack House?”

After receiving driving directions, Blaze drove about a mile into a wooded area to a large field that contained five large blue buildings, only one of which looked like office space and the rest looked like warehouses. Blade guessed that about fifty trucks were parked in front of these buildings, three of which were being loaded by several males, and another four were unloading large quantities of potatoes, fruits, and other produce.

A large river that ran down the mountain passed next to the buildings, and she could see several large pipes that connected the river to at least two of the large buildings. Blade didn’t know anything about running a distillery, but everything seemed to be clean and organized with enough staff to keep the production gears going.

Damn. Blade couldn’t help but be impressed. No wonder Rachel spoke about her pack with nothing but the utmost reverence, and Crys did a poor job of masking her respect and pride with indifference. Blade never heard of a pack taking such meticulous care of their own.

Twenty bucks say they’re all pack members, Talon said.

Obviously, Blade said.

For the most part, packs made money by farming their lands, playing the stock market or they were into investments, but she had never heard of a pack owning a business large enough to employ its people. It was risky, particularly with a well-known label as the Azul Vodkas, and she knew they made Rojo Bourbon, too. Someone in the pack was exposed to the human community, and she very much doubted it was the Alpha.

Once she reached the end of the large field, Blade found the road concealed behind another giant boulder and yet another gate, which was bigger and had three sentries guarding it.

Once again, she stopped and explained why she was there while one of the other sentries verified her information via mind link.

“Damn this place is under air-tight security,” Blade said once they passed the third pair of wolves that stared at their car as they passed, not to mention all the eyes she felt on them but that she didn’t see. “I’ve never seen such a distrustful bunch of wolves.”

Blade made her way up the mountain through a winding road surrounded by the vibrant green lushness of the forest. She saw another three wolves on three different occasions glaring at her from among the greenery. They didn’t strike her as very welcoming.

“It must be a nightmare to get on these people’s bad side,” she muttered.

The road continued on and they eventually reached the top where Blade had to stop and get out of the car to appreciate the sight before her. She looked down on a basin with a large, pristine blue lake surrounded by deep blue-grey rock mountains. Several cascades sprouted out from the sides of mountain rock and poured into the lake, which eventually flowed into the river that ran by the distillery.

“Azul Springs,” Blade said with awe. “They really are blue. I thought it was just a pretty name.”

Greenery in the form of vibrant leafy trees and large bushes grew around the lake, and the lakeshore teemed with different kinds of wildlife. Off to the right side of the lake sat the Pack Town, which was bustling with life and industry. Further down and up onto the northern mountain sat the large blue-grey stone building with the imposing tower in the middle that Blade recognized as the building she often admired and wondered about from the artificial lake on the university campus: the Pack House.

"Now that I look at it from this side, it's like a gorgeous mini-castle, isn't it?" Blade told Talon.

The sun had almost arrived at its zenith in the sky, and after several minutes, Blade got back into her car and drove down into the basin, past the town, and onto the short road that lead up to the Pack House.

The gates to the Pack House were open, so she drove in and parked out to the side of the circular driveway, feeling a little intimidated by the grandeur of a polished brick driveway and the fountain of four howling wolves in the middle surrounded by many rosebushes. The Pack House itself was surrounded by the thickest stone walls she had ever seen, but once inside, the house itself resembled more a modern-day villa than a stodgy castle-like structure.

“Blade!” Crystal’s scream echoed throughout the courtyard.

Blade had just gotten out of the car when a pair of flailing arms assaulted her into a hug that squeezed the air out of her lungs.

“I’m so glad you’re here and that you’re alright!” Crystal started to sway Blade as she continued to hold onto her tightly.

“Thanks,” Blade coughed out with a laugh. She really had missed her friend, but she had a bone to pick with her. “What’s this I hear about you being the Beta?”

Crys immediately released her and looked at her with shock and a bit of worry. Blade laughed.

“I, well, in my defense, I’m not the Beta,” Crystal said narrowing her eyes at Blade. “My mate is, and you’ve never wanted to meet him, so serves you right!”

Rachel appeared within Blade’s line of sight. The still-pregnant young she-wolf smiled and waved shyly at Blade. “Hello, Blade. Welcome to the Azul Springs pack. You are welcome to stay with us for as long as you’d like.”

Blade widened her eyes. “Are you the Luna?”

Rachel truly looked panicked, “No! Of course not, I’m sorry if I made it seem that way, but I thought I’d properly welcome you to our pack since the person called to do so,” she said glaring playfully at Crystal, “can’t be bothered right now to do her job.”

“Cranky pregnant she-wolves, am I right?” Crys said rolling her eyes. “But don’t let her fool you,” she whispered loud enough for Rachel to hear. “Our Gamma’s mate is always a handful, pregnant or not.”

Blade turned to Rachel with less than concealed dismay. “You’re a ranked wolf, too?”

Rachel shrugged. “He’s nice to me and my family, and that’s all I’ve ever wanted.”

“You’re very lucky,” Blade said, meaning it but feeling a little sad at the same time. She hadn't wanted much more in a mate than what Rachel described. “And I am very happy for you.”

Gruffly pushing an indignant Crystal out of the way, Rachel embraced Blade.