June 22, 2001
Stephanie went with her coworkers for dinner and drinks after work. Emma's pack was based in Saint-Jerome, a city near their workplace, so they went to The Wooded Tavern, a restaurant bar located right outside of her pack-land. The establishment looked like a bungalow and sat at the end of an off-road that was hard to notice from the main road because of the dense forest hiding its entry: people had to know where to look.
Despite being operated by werewolves, local vampires would sometimes hang out there, and The Northerners' team members enjoyed going there once in a while when they didn't want to be interrupted by fans or journalists.
"It's Friday night, I don't know about you guys, but I'm in no rush to go home. Wanna go to The Wooded Tavern?" said Steven, one of their defenders.
"I'd be down for that. Frank is working tonight, and I didn't get called by any agency for a case or a meeting," said Coralis.
"All right, that's a plan then. Are you coming with us, Sebastian?" said Lydia.
"Will surely do!"
Stephanie enjoyed going there with her coworkers. Listening to her coworkers' conversation, she looked around and wondered if all the patrons were werewolves, now that she knew about vampires, elementals and other supernatural. She saw Coralis entering the restaurant with people she had never seen before and immediately stood up.
"Agent Blue is here, mind if ask her to join us?"
"Of course not, I like her," said Emma, turning her head in the direction Stephanie was looking. "She is with three other people and there is no one sitting at the table next to us. We could pull it beside ours."
Stephanie went to her and Clarissa followed.
"Cor…-Agent Blue!" yelled Stephanie, remembering what Coralis had told her regarding her names. "Didn't know you knew about this place!"
Stephanie hugged her as soon as she got to her. Coralis' teammates were amused by the scene.
"Uh, yeah… it's not far from where we play, we come here relatively often," said Coralis and gestured toward her friends. "Guys, this is Stephanie. She's, uh, my boyfriend's sister. Next to her is Clarissa. They both work at Healing Moon."
"Are they like you?" said Stephanie, looking at them. "Hmm sorry, I don't mean it like that. I just found out 2 months ago about other supernatural besides werewolves. Want to sit with us?"
"We're also mages, yes, but not all of the same kind. I'm Sebastian, a water mage."
Sebastian stretched his hand to shake Stephanie's, then Clarissa's.
"Don't worry about it, I'm just glad you didn't call us witches from the get-go. I don't mind sitting with you, why not! I'm Lydia, and I'm a spirit mage like Blue."
Lydia shook their hand and Steven did the same after her.
"I'm Steven, I'm an earth mage."
The Northerners' team members followed Stephanie and Clarissa to their table and introduced themselves to Jessica and Emma.
"It's nice to see you here. Is Agent Suri with you tonight?" said Jessica.
"No, I have two full-time works. Eva is from my other work."
Emma and Stephanie pulled the table next to them beside theirs. Coralis sat next to Emma, and Steven sat next to Coralis, to her other side. Sebastian sat between Stephanie and Steven, and Lydia took a seat between Jessica and Clarissa.
"To be honest, I don't typically hang out with elementals and witches, but Agent Blue Thunder is the most competent one the CMMA has ever sent us, so I think I like you three by default," said Emma.
"We also don't hang out with witches," said Steven, smiling.
"Well, she's also the best flyball player our team ever had, it adds up. Our home field isn't far from here. We like to come here," said Lydia.
"You play flyball together?" said Stephanie.
She remembered what Coralis had told her about flyball and was still hoping to watch a game someday.
"Yes, we are," said Sebastian, glancing at Stephanie before returning his attention to Emma. "Isn't it interesting that technically, she isn't even working for the CMMA? Not long ago, her employer said they would terminate her partnership with Eva, but they never did. Blue, I never found out what happened, but my dad thinks High Fay Ellya is pressuring your elders to maintain your partnership with them."
"Wait, are you serious?" said Jessica.
"Yes, I am an apprentice with the European Bureau of Elemental Energy. When I renewed my contract with The Northerners, our flyball team, my elders at the EBEE decided to terminate my collaboration with the CMMA and have me working around London instead."
"Ooh, that explains why your clothing is of a different colour than other CMMA agents," said Jessica.
"Why? Trust me on that, I think you're the only witch or elemental, that werewolf packs trust at the moment. When I called the CMMA after Owil went feral the way he did, I specifically asked if they could send us you and agent Suri."
"Blue, you know she's right. My dad said that a lot of werewolf packs had been requesting you and Eva to work their cases," said Sebastian.
"That explains why we've been working on a lot of cases involving werewolves lately. I can see why the EBEE wasn't happy about me renewing my contract with The Northerners, but I never wanted to work for the EBEE in the first place."
"Could you ask for a transfer? Packs barely trust the CMMA as it is and usually won't only call them unless they absolutely need to," said Emma.
"Hold on, did you say that you're only an apprentice? To whom, if you're not affiliated with the CMMA?" said Jessica.
Sebastian tried to keep his attention on the discussion but was distracted by the one Stephanie was having with Steven about flyball. He was sitting between them and wanted to be the one answering Stephanie's questions about their sport.
"Do you want to come to a game?" said Sebastian, glancing at her before answering Jessica. "Yes, she is, and so is Eva Suri."
"Really? I mean, sure, both of them look like teenagers, but honestly, they're the best damn agents that the CMMA has ever sent us. And you're telling me that they're APPRENTICES??" said Jessica.
"It's not that simple," said Coralis, not knowing how to answer Emma. She trusted the wolves she sat with but didn't know who else was listening. "My mentor mostly works around the UK. Eva and I have been partnering for over a year. We don't know what was said between the EBEE and the CMMA, but for now, we will continue to work together wherever we're asked to go."
"Well, I certainly hope so. I don't know how to tell you this, but you do remember our last feral patients, right? Thankfully, you've been able to restore the connection to their wolves, but do you have any idea what that meant for us? I told my alpha about it, and he wanted me to get your personal number. Don't worry, I didn't tell him about, uh, your connection to our student Stephanie, but damn, you need to keep doing whatever you do with the CMMA. The wolves NEED you," said Jessica.
"Are things getting that bad? My sister was telling me not to trust any elder, and she thinks we're heading to a faction war, but I honestly thought she was being paranoid," said Steven.
Coralis was becoming uncomfortable. She realized that she was in the middle of a werewolf establishment, but she was worried about who could be listening. Although the majority of the patrons were shifters, she knew all too well that not all of them were friendly to her, and that this place was known by many factions.
"Let's just say that nothing is as it seems."
"Clearly! My twin sister told me that ghosts are agitated lately, but couldn't tell me why. I'm starting to think that something is brewing, and I never was a conspiracy theorist," said Lydia.
Coralis's hologram vibrated as Lydia finished her sentence.
"Hold on, I need to take this," said Coralis, turning it into a satellite phone.
She walked away from their table and answered the call once she was in a secluded spot.
"Sorry guys, I gotta go pick up Eva, ghoul trouble in Grenville," said Coralis when she returned to her friends' table.