C4

"A hundred million pack resources is a whole lot, Mommy," Zuberi said. He pointed his small finger at the glowing screen. "A big leader wants your special wolf healing powers. His inner wolf is totally broken."

I looked at the name on the message and made a mean sound in my throat.

"I am not going to save him," I said.

"But Mommy," Zuberi said, his eyes going wide. "You can buy a whole new territory with that much resource! Why did you say no so fast?"

"Because he is a bad wolf," I told him. I ripped the fake freckled mask off my face and threw it on the table. "He hurts weak omegas to get more power. Bad wolves like him are always the most scared to die. He cannot buy my heart."

"This is why you stopped being a famous pack healer, right?" Zuberi asked. He looked at me with giant eyes full of love. "Now you just help the Alpha Council find out how rogue wolves died."

"Living wolves are too greedy," I said. I washed my face with cold water. "They think pack resources can buy anything. I would rather look at old bones and help the dead."

"I think you are the coolest mommy in the world," Zuberi said.

I laughed and patted his head. "Of course I am. Everyone loves me."

Zuberi looked at my real face for a second. Then he looked down at his shoes. "Mommy, that little girl who hugged you at the Ravenmoor International Gateway today. She really looked a lot like you."

My hands stopped moving. My heart went so fast it hurt.

I thought about my own little babies. Five years ago, after I gave birth in the dark, Ayomide took my two pups away. She hated me so much. They were probably dead now.

If my little girl is still alive, I thought, she would be the exact same age as that sweet pup from the gate.

The next morning, my loud phone woke me up at five o'clock. It was totally dark outside. I picked it up, feeling very sleepy.

"Zanele, I am sorry to wake you up so early," Head Guardian Jabari Kane said through the phone. "But some guards found black bags full of wolf bones down by the Bloodmoon River. The water ruined the scent tracks. We need our best pack bone reader right now."

"Send me the exact spot, Jabari," I said, rubbing my eyes. "I will be there in fifteen minutes."

I kissed Zuberi while he was sleeping. Then I glued the ugly freckled mask back onto my skin. My beautiful face vanished, and I looked like an ordinary, plain omega again. Only my bright eyes stayed the same.

I drove fast to the river bank. The Alpha Council had put up red flags everywhere. A big guard in heavy armor stepped in front of my path.

"Stop right there, girl," the guard barked at me. "This territory is locked. No outer wolves can come in."

"I am Zanele Okafor," I said. I pulled out my silver Alpha Council badge and held it up to his nose. "The Head Guardian called me himself."

The guard looked at the silver badge and his mouth fell open. He looked at my ugly face, then back at the badge. He looked so silly. The special bone reader did not have to follow his rules. She was the boss here.

"I am sorry, ma'am," he said quickly. He bowed his head. "Please come this way."

I walked down to the wet mud by the water. There were three big bags on the grass, and one was torn open. There was dark wolf blood all over the ground. Two young pack healers in white robes were taking pictures, but their hands were shaking. They looked like they were going to throw up because the smell of dead wolf was so bad.

I rolled up my sleeves and knelt right in the mud. I opened my bag of sharp silver tools.

"You two are moving way too slow," I told them.

The young girl healer got a very red face. She looked at my ugly mask and got super mad.

"Who do you think you are?" she screamed at me. "You are just an ugly omega! You cannot tell us what to do!"