*Grayson*
“I’m thinking of calling for reinforcement.” I said to Ryan and Jax. We were seated in my office and my hands were folded on the desk as I tried to explain why I had come up with the idea in the first place. I’d already placed a call to the Alpha of one of the packs nearby and he’d assured me that he was going to do whatever he could to help. Ryan and Jax met each other’s gaze for a spell before turning to me. “We’ve lost a total of fifteen people now.” I reminded them, pinching the bridge of my nose. “I want the killer found and apprehended immediately.”
Ryan leaned forward in his seat, shooting me a concerned look. “We want the same thing,” He said calmly. “Of course we do.” He seemed to be contemplating his next words carefully. “But I’m not sure what you hope to achieve by calling in reinforcement from some other pack.” Jax echoed that he felt the same way. I groaned, wishing that they would understand.
Didn’t they get it?
I tapped my knuckles on the desk a little impatiently. “We’ve tried to fight the kill off by playing by the books but I don’t think that’s working.” It had been a few days now and the only information we’d gotten from Keera’s team had been that they hadn’t been able to match whatever Sam had been injected with to anything that could potentially harm werewolves. They still had not identified what it was that had gotten into his system and taken him out.
All these while I’d sort of been holding out the hope that there wasn’t actually a serial killer on the loose. A part of me had wished to the moon goddess that the cause of death turned out to be some kind of new deadly disease currently spreading around the pack. Or at the very least some rogue wolf had somehow found their way into the pack and was trying to get some sadistic revenge.
It devastated me to come to terms with the fact that the killer could very well be a pack member.
“We could get people from other packs to run surveillance.” I informed them. “We don’t even need to inform the pack about it. They could just discreetly arrive and see if they could figure out who the killer is.” I could see that Ryan and Jack were still finding it difficult to understand what my plan was. “Think about it,” I urged them. “The pack won’t be nearly as cautious around other werewolves like they are around Keera’s team. It would be a lot easier for the killer to slip and trust the wrong person with the information we’ve been looking for.”
Jax tapped his fingers on the table, considering the option. I waited patiently for them to mull what I had suggested over in their heads. Ryan was the first to concede. “I mean, I understand how that could work,” He started carefully. “But still. I think we should give Keera and her team a few more days, maybe even a week or so, to see if they can come up with something.”
I immediately turned my attention to Jax. Ryan was clearly having a hard time agreeing to call for help from other packs. We’d always made our decisions concerning the pack by voting between the three of us. Most times we took it up with the council and sought out their own votes. If Jax agrees with me then I knew I could easily go ahead with the plan.
A wage of resignation washed over me when he sat up slowly, looking like he was trying to be careful with his words. I already knew whose side he was going to take before he even said a word. “I think I’m going to go with Ryan on this one.” He stated a little apologetically, running a hand through his hair. “We should probably give them a bit of time to come up with something before making such a huge decision.”
I heaved a sigh, nodding.
As much as everything boiled down to me, I always made sure that I listened to them and respected their opinions. They were my beta and gamma after all. “Waiting it is.” I reluctantly agreed. We discussed a few other things before they decided that they were going to have to leave. Jax had left Ellie with the neighbor and we all knew Ellie wasn’t exactly the type to be friendly with other people. She was Nyx and Jax’s six year old daughter. Ryan was on patrol with some of the pack warriors. I let them return back to the things they had to take care of.
I was going to give it a few more days.
And then, I was calling for help.
***
The sound of my phone ringing woke me up from my nap. I paused for a second, taking a minute to remember that I had decided to get some rest at some during the day. I had obviously dozed off in the process. I picked my phone from the nightstand, a little surprised when I saw Trevor’s name dancing across the screen. We didn’t always commit through calls unless it was important. Usually, we sent each other texts and waited for the other person’s reply.
“Hey,” I said cautiously after I’d picked up the phone. I threw my legs down from the side of the bed, walking to stand by the window. “Is everything alright?” I asked carefully. I heard shuffling on his side and then a loud thud. I waited a while so he could sort out whatever it was going on. When I didn’t get any response for too long I had to repeat my question. “Trevor?”
“Sorry, I dropped my phone.” He explained, sounding a little out of breath. I nodded although he couldn’t see me. I pulled the phone away from my ear to check what the time was. It was pretty late. Almost nine o’clock in the evening. I made a noncommittal sound at the back of my throat to indicate that it was okay. “I’ve been trying to reach Keera for the past few days but I’ve not been able to.” He explained, successfully dampening my mood even further. “I don’t know if I can talk to her now.”
I stared at the time once more.
“Now?” I asked just to be sure. Keera and I had been avoiding each other after the other night when I’d lost my temper and said some shit to her that I didn’t really mean. She had tried her best not to show it that night but I could tell immediately that I had hurt her. I would have been surprised that she could take my words so seriously if I hadn’t known myself that I had been extremely demeaning. Hell, I’d felt bad for saying those words to her the second they’d left my lips.
“Yeah,” Trevor replied from the other end of the call, making me mouth a curse word. I had known that I had to eventually apologize to her. We had to at least be in talking term with each other if we ever wanted to solve the case in time. Thinking back now I wasn’t sure why I had been that pissed. I pressed my lips together knowing that even now I was still lying to myself.
I’d needed my mate that night.
The fact that a thousand things stopped me from being with her had almost driven me crazy. And then I’d returned to find Lexi waiting for me. And it had gotten me even more angry. The thought that Keera couldn’t be bothered whether or not I was okay had cut more than I had ever thought it could. When I’d heard the knock on my bedroom door, a part of me had prayed that it was her standing on the other side.
And it had been her.
Only she had been coming to give me the meal she hadn’t bothered to prepare. And when she’d given me her usual attitude after noticing my shitty mood, I had seen red. My intent had been to hurt her. Badly. Make her feel something other than the usual indifference or anger she felt around me. For the most part I had succeeded, but she had been right.
I had infact been acting like a dick.
I’ve wanted to apologize since then. Even now I was still a little miffed that both my wolf and conscience were pressing for an apology. I almost never apologized to anyone. And certainly not to a human. But for the first time I was strangely willing to. It was the thought that she couldn’t care less that had held me back for so long already.
Trevor’s voice lulled me out of my deep thinking. “I’ll go see if she’s awake.” I informed him, heading across my room to Keera’s room without cutting the call. I knocked on Keera’s door three times before stopping when I heard shuffling coming from her room. I waited to see the surprise on her face when she saw me but there was none. Just her cool mask of indifference.
She’d gotten better at hiding her emotions.
“Trevor wanted to talk to you,” I said calmly, pointing to the phone. She nodded once, taking the phone from me and taking a few steps away from me after shutting the door. I watched her as she talked to him over the phone, battling with the urge to not listen to their conversation. It took a whole lot of work to distract our minds but werewolves could tune voices out despite our hearing abilities.
“I’ll see if that’ll work,” She was saying when I tried to see if she was done. Her eyes shot to mine and it registered in my head that it was the first time we’d made eye contact since that night. Even now when she’d opened her bedroom door she hadn’t really been meeting my eyes. “Sure, Trevor. I’ll try,” She said with a light laugh. “Good night.”
She handed over the phone to me before crossing her hands over her chest. “Keera said there was another death recently,” Trevor said to me over the phone. He kissed his teeth and I imagined that he was shaking his head. “I’m real sorry about that.” He gave a meaningful pause.”Please remember that Keera’s safety is your priority Grayson. I don’t want anything bad happening to her.”
I fixed my attention on Keera before nodding though Trevor couldn’t see me. For the first time I wondered what the exact nature of their relationship was. Had they been in a relationship in the past? Were they sleeping together? The thought left a bitter taste in my mouth and I wasn’t ready to look into why that was. “Sure, I’ll do my best.” I replied simply, turning my phone off and putting it into the front pocket of my pants.
Keera waited patiently, leaning against the wall and giving me time to say whatever I wanted. The tension between us was so thick only a chainsaw could cut it. I’d been prepared for us to settle whatever had happened between us the other night but standing here, staring at her, the only thought running through my mind was whether or not Keera was sleeping with her boss. I shouldn’t care. I didn’t care.
Liar, my wolf whispered.
My lips thinned as I turned and began walking up the stairs. I heard her bedroom door close with a soft click just before I entered my room. I could always talk things out with Keera later. The fact that she’d stayed back after returning my phone rather than retiring back to her room right away had showed that she was willing to talk if I was. I had a feeling trying to talk to her right now was not going to end well for either of us.
Not when I suddenly felt like breaking a few bones.