*Keera*
“Good thing you never actually got that puppy,” Lexi said from her spot at the door as I rolled the last of my suitcases down the stairs. I held a tight grip on the handle, a slight frown on my face as I walked to add the suitcase to the rest we had already gotten down the stairs. She wasn’t wrong though, I thought to myself. I’d decided just three days ago that I was going to get myself a puppy from a shelter a few blocks away from my apartment building. And then the new mission happened. I couldn’t even imagine having to leave her all by herself if I’d gone through with my plan.
I was at work way too often for me to get friendly with the neighbors. “I guess you’re right.” I finally replied, raising my shoulder. I let my gaze move around the house, trying to get one last mental picture before we left. Lexi was already taking the suitcases and duffel bags out the door as I turned off the lights and turned on the alarm. I didn’t know how long I was going to be away for but I knew it was going to be a while before I saw the four walls of a place I’d begun to see as home.
We arranged all the bags into the booth of the cab Trevor had asked to come pick us up and then we were on our way to meet up with the others. I took my tablet out of my bag, writing down things we’d need to cover if we were going to get to the root of the case. Things would have probably been a lot easier if we’d been called sooner than we had. Now there were eighteen dead victims and we somehow had to cover all eighteen of the crime scenes, had to perform eighteen autopsies and had to conduct interviews with family and friends all the while trying to stay alert in case the killer had the plans of striking again.
God, it was going to take at least a few weeks. Months even.
I turned to fix my attention on Lexi when I heard the laugh she was trying to suppress. Trying and failing. “You look like someone told you your puppy died,” Lexi said, making no effort to control her laughter anymore. “And you don’t even have a puppy.” She reminded me, shaking her head slightly. I rolled my eyes good-naturedly at her, knowing she was having a blast seeing me irritated and antsy.
In a few more minutes we were getting down from the can and into Trevor’s car. Lexi and I said hello to the others already seated, Lexi moving to join the others at the back while I sat next to the driver’s seat. Trevor held my gaze for a second, almost like he was trying to communicate with me without speaking. I wasn’t exactly sure what it was he was trying to say but I got the feeling it would be along the lines of trying to wrap up the mission as soon as possible.
He didn’t like it when people spent too long working on something.
I nodded once to show him that I understood and then fastened my seatbelt, looking out the window as he drove. It was easy to see how the werewolves lived in seclusion more than half of the time. The area they’d marked for themselves as their pack ground was separated from the city by a large expanse of trees, slowly but surely building up into a forest. My eyebrows jumped when Trevor informed us after a few hours that we were going to be covering the rest of the distance on foot.
Annoyed that I was going through all these troubles for a species that had constantly made my life hell, I picked up my bags without saying a word to anyone and began rolling my suitcases behind me. I would have certainly packed lighter if I’d known this was what the journey would be like. “Damn werewolves,” I cursed under my breath, taking off my blazer and wrapping it around my waist. They didn’t have to go through any of this shit.
Certainly not with their abilities.
It would take them a shorter time to run across the maze of trees and into the heart of the city if they really wanted to. I paused, waiting for the others to catch up as I briefly wondered how Ginny had been able to do it, especially while we’d been in middle school. It couldn’t have been all that easy. Unless there was some kind of shortcut that we didn’t know about. I looked around, already knowing that was impossible. It was a good thing I wasn’t all that curious anyway.
The last thing I wanted was a long overdue confrontation with my ex best friend.
“Wait,” Someone whispered harshly from behind me. I turned immediately, realizing it had been Joe. Everyone excluding Trevor had their suitcases in one hand, duffel bags in the other and a backpack hanging on our backs. He’d mentioned that he was returning today since he had a lot of work piling up on his desk. I gave Joe a slight frown, mirroring the look on Trevor’s face. I was just about to ask why he’d asked us to stop when I heard it.
A twig snapping in the distance.
The hairs at the back of my neck stood as I instantly reached behind me for my gun and pointed it in the direction of the sound from ahead of us. I could see the surprise written on everyone’s faces at the weapon in my arm. They might have some bit of trust in these people and their so-called Alpha, but they didn’t know them personally like I did. I’d be damned if I wasn’t going to be prepared for anything.
“Jesus, Keera.” Trevor scolded lightly, taking the gun out of my hands and putting it back in my holster just before a buff guy with chin length black hair showed up in our line of sight. “You do not want to unnecessarily piss these people off with your antics,” Trevor whispered urgently as the guy neared. His face showed a bit of disappointment but I didn’t let it bother me.
I subtly pulled down my shirt so the butt of my gun was blocked from view. “Well, they certainly don’t also wanna piss me off, that’s for sure.” I couldn’t help but mumur under my breath. I took a deep breath, willing myself to calm down. As much as I hated to admit it, I knew Trevor was right. They were going through a rough phase and they didn’t need me rubbing my irritation and dislike all up in their faces.
“Ralph,” The guy said, introducing himself. “The pack’s lead warrior.” He took a few steps further and shook hands with Trevor. Pictures had obviously been exchanged if they were able to identify each other. I wonder why Trevor hadn’t thought to show it to me. He probably didn’t think it was necessary. After all, a nice little introduction should always work fine. “I’m deeply sorry,” Ralph apologized, taking in our worn out states. “I was supposed to meet up with you guys earlier than this together with a few men to help with your bags but something came up.”
Trevor waved a hand to indicate that it was fine, easily letting him off the hook. I reminded myself it was once again time to make good use of my expressionless face. The last thing I needed was these people, knowing what I was feeling because I’d left my emotions out there for them to read. “We managed on our own.” Trevor informed him. “How far are we from the Alpha’s house?”
My heart skipped a beat without my permission at the mention of Alpha.
Something about Grayson seemed to make the hairs on my arms rise. Even back then six years ago when he’d introduced himself and stated who he was right before going off at me like a mad man. I’d already known there was no way that I wasn’t to ask Ginny about it. The entire team let out little sighs of relief when Ralph answered that we were almost there. We walked quietly behind him, taking everything in as we finally arrived at their pack grounds. My eyebrows drew together in a troubled V. I wasn’t sure what I’d been expecting but it hadn’t been for the pack to look as normal as the city.
There were no weird statues or trees or anything of the sort. If anything, it looked like a picturesque sleepy but cozy little town. I spotted a few werewolves here and there as we walked, both adults and kids, but all were in their human form. A few were indifferent about our arrival but most of them looked at us like we had two heads on each of our necks.
Kind of the way I couldn’t help looking at them sometimes.
I took a deep breath when Ralph announced that we had finally gotten to Grayson’s house and that the rest of the council were waiting inside to warmly welcome us. Before I could even release it, he’d opened the door and ushered us inside. I reminded myself to keep a stoic face from here on out. I didn’t want to become an open book to these people.
Nine.
There were nine of them, Ralph included. That was the total number of people scattered around the room. I took them in as Trevor and Grayson stepped outside to have a little talk. Ginny and I locked gazes then. She seemed to be trying to get a read of what I was like now. I looked away when I felt she wanted to address me personally. It was neither the time nor the place. I only looked back when she started introducing the council. I was too out of my element to do my usual mental rundown on people I’d recently met but I was definitely going to do it later. I only committed their names, faces and positions to memory.
We had to start somewhere after all.
“Keera, forensic scientist and pathologist. Team leader,” I said briefly by way of interaction. I inwardly smirked when that caught their attention. Especially that of the two females standing next to Ginny. They’d probably heard something about me. Good thing I didn’t care what. I introduced the rest of the team to them, stating who they were and what they did.
I’d just finished when Trevor called for me from outside the house. “You guys get settled, I’ll be back.” I said to the team, letting go of my suitcase and moving to join them outside. He was looking a little hurried, almost like he had to leave that very minute. “Something came up already?” I guessed, releasing a sigh at his nod. He walked towards me and stopped only a few inches away.
“You’re going to be doing so much here but I’ve been personally assured of your safety,” He informed warmly. “Whatever it is you might want, just let Grayson know.” He stayed, putting both hands on my shoulder. “If there’s anything, any problem at all, Keera, just call his attention. I already know you guys are going to enjoy working together.” My eyes locked with Grayson’s over Trevor’s shoulder and I almost gagged.
Enjoy working together, my ass.
I let Trevor pull me into a tight hug and place a light kiss on my forehead before stalking off with some guy who’d apparently been waiting for him. Grayson and I kept our eyes on him until he was out of sight. I inhaled a steadying breath and then turned to go back into the house, not bothering to spare Grayson a single glance. I paused with my hand on the doorknob, my spine immediately going rigid at his words.
“You didn’t tell him we already knew each other.”