*Grayson*
Well, that was unexpected.
I’d anticipated a lot of things happening during the ritual but seeing Ginny and Keera hugging so warmly had definitely not been on the list of things I’d anticipated. And I could say the same for those who knew about their fall out, especially the council members. Every one of them looked as stunned as I felt. I wondered if Keera was just trying to be kind for old times’ sake or if they had finally settled their differences. I’d seen them hugging right after Ginny had finished with the rites for Sam, her face red as she tried her hardest to stop herself from sobbing her eyes out.
I was happy for them.
Especially since I knew I’d played a major role. Which had me wondering if Keera and I were ever going to confront what had happened in the past. I was a little surprised we’d both managed to stay off the topic for so long. The small tug on my shirt drew me out of my thoughts. I turned to find Nyx smiling widely at me. I’d always suspected she secretly wanted Keera and Ginny to fix their friendship and the happiness on her face proved I was right.
“Finally, huh?” She asked, studying them. I nodded once, moving my attention back to the hugging duo. Sam was the last victim so we were finally done with the difficult part of the ritual. Everyone was majorly making small talk and shooting the last fireworks, sharing the excitement of finally being done with the ritual. “I think now’s the best time to announce them.” Nyx stated.
It took me a second to catch her meaning. We had ‘volunteers’ in the pack. They were people who were interested in being members of the werewolf council. They got signed up with the council members depending on their positions of interest. After some preliminary training and exam, the council reported back to me who they wanted to intern. Whoever they chose would be the person to succeed their place in the werewolf council when a new Alpha was ruling the pack.
Elena and Ria had chosen their interns really early but then again, it was solely their decision and I could tell that they really needed the extra hand. Elena had chosen Dahlia, a young werewolf with raven dark hair as her assistant and Ria had chosen Willa, a female of about the same age who enjoyed adding colourful highlights to her hair. She’d apparently decided to add bright purple streaks for the ritual.
I asked Nyx to ring the bell so everyone could gather around. The confusion on their faces were evident. Understandable, since the decision was spontaneous as it was. Despite the fact, they went with it. We announced that Dahlia and Willa were the new interns and performed the initiation rites so they could start working with their leaders as soon as possible. Around five thirty in the morning, everyone was more than ready to retire to bed.
And so was I.
***
Gabe and his team were ready to leave first thing the next morning, as usual. I unlocked my knees and folded my arms across my arms, slightly irritated. I told myself I was annoyed that the other members of Gabe’s team were yet to arrive in the pack house so we could thank them and see them off but deep down I knew the truth. I couldn’t stop my gaze from deflecting to the dining room.
Keera and Gabe were huddled there their heads lowered and almost touching as they discussed so silently I could only make out the tone of their voices but not the words. What were they possibly talking about? I hated the amount of eye contact they were making, hated that they all but ignored the presence of everyone else in the room like they couldn’t help but focus on each other.
Before I could decide against it, I made a show of walking past them to get myself a bottle of water from the fridge. It didn’t take long for me to realize why I could even pick up the sound of their voices any longer, talk more of the words. They’d stopped talking. Neither of them were looking at me but it was obvious they were patiently waiting for me to leave so they could pick up their conversation.
I kept my gaze pinned on Keera until she had no other option but to turn and meet my eyes. Our gaze locked. Really? I asked silently. You’re going to sit there and talk in hushed tones with him? She darted her gaze to someplace else like she could hear me but I knew it was impossible. She wasn’t a werewolf. I couldn’t talk to her through the mindlink. But I could damn well talk to her through my eyes.
We both knew she could understand that just fine.
I threw the empty bottle into the trash can beside the kitchen island, grinding my teeth as I headed back to the sitting room. Fortunately, the front door pulled open and the rest of Gabe’s team showed up. We exchanged greetings and made small talk. before Conall, Ryan and I saw them off. We finally got to where they’d packed their car after a few hours. I stood by the side with my hands tucked into the front pocket of my trousers as everyone exchanged hugs.
Gabe adjusted his fully packed bag and headed in my direction, shielding his eyes from the sun with his hand. He pulled me into a hug, clapping his hand on my back before leaning away. “Keera said she was going to keep in touch with me.” He informed me. “I think she might be on to something she would need my help with.” We watched his team load their luggage into the vehicle.
I unlocked my legs, mulling his words over.
If she really thought she was on to something, why hadn’t she come to me with it first? Sometimes I felt like we were making progress trying to get over all our differences but then she turned around and did things like this. I pushed the thoughts to a corner of my mind, heading back to the pack with Ryan and Conall after they’d left.
“You okay?” Ryan asked quietly so only I would hear. I wiped my hand down my face, giving him a brief nod. I wasn’t entirely okay, but it was fine because I already knew why. I needed to let someone know Keera was my mate. I didn’t think it was something I could keep to myself any longer. Not when it was beginning to affect how I felt about every single thing she did. And especially not when I felt, when I knew, that we were going to end up doing things we shouldn’t.
Because one could only resist the mate bond for so long.
“We’ll talk about it later,” I finally admitted to Ryan, meeting his eyes. He nodded to show he understood. We all paused to take our clothes off so we could shift into our wolves. Covering the rest of the journey back to the pack was a lot easier when we were running. A weird feeling ran through my wolf when we got back to the pack. There was a weird haunting silence that seemed to suck all the air. I shifted back and instantly knew.
That someone had been murdered.
Ralph was the first person we saw as we headed for the pack house. “The killer struck again,” He stated bluntly, gently steering us to the crime scene. Just like before, there were already red crime screen tapes everywhere to stop people from getting too close. I took in the sad faces of my pack members and I went under the tape, a sinking feeling in my chest.
How many more were we going to take?
My wolf moved around sadly, a sinking feel growing in my chest. It always felt like we weren’t doing enough work whenever we discovered another victim. Willa and Dahlia moved away as we got closer to the victim. It was a man, not someone I knew personally, but I definitely knew his face. His body was sprawled on the floor, his back to the ground and his arms and legs spread out. Something tugged on my senses the wrong way as I studied his lifeless body and it didn’t take long to realize what.
His limbs had carefully been arranged to make him look like a snow angel. And more than that, we’d never discovered a victim on the side of the road where everyone could find them. I knew all the tiny details had to imply something but I couldn’t understand what. Keera and Lexi carefully moved him onto the stretcher. Kathryn covered him with a white sheet and Joe began clearing the way for her as she wheeled him away from the scene.
“A group of kids had found him.” Ginny said, nearing me. Of course they had, I thought to myself. He’d been kept where he could easily be discovered. The killer had obviously done it deliberately. He’d wanted the victim to be found easily. “What I don’t understand is how the killer could have possibly gotten the body spread out on the side of the road without being seen,” Ginny continued, her tone laced with worry.
Ryan pulled her to his side and into his arms. He gave her a kiss on her head, rubbing her shoulder and willing her to calm down. “I’m beginning to think the killer might be closer than we think,” He said silently. Ginny and I were the only ones who’d heard him. Conall had already stepped away to control the scene. We snapped our heads in his direction.
Closer than we think?
He shrugged his shoulder, his arm dropping to loosely hold Ginny’s hand. “It’s the only explanation.” His voice was solemn, a deep crease forming between his eyebrows. “It has to be someone close. Maybe even someone every one trusts.” He released a long breath. “It’s the only sensible reason we haven’t caught the killer yet.”
“Hey,” Ria breathed, jogging to where we stood. She was putting on running clothes and a purple head band was wrapped around her head. She looked like she’d been running for at least an hour, her whole body rising and falling as she struggled to catch her breath. “Have we ID’d the victim yet?” Willa showed up by her side, handing her a bottle of water.
Ginny pushed her hair behind her ears, pulling away from Ryan and giving Ria a curt nod. “He was a bartender at one of the local bars,” She replied. I looked away from them to where Keera and Lexi were picking up items they wanted to test later for fingerprints. I pulled my phone out of my pocket and sent a text to Keera to see me in my office when she was done. She’d been wanting to talk to me for almost a week and since we had finally finished with the ritual, I had time.
I watched from where I stood as her phone beeped in her pocket, causing her to stiffen. Josie helped her get it out, her lips moving as she read the text out loud to her. A few seconds later, her gaze finally collided with mine and she gave me a nod. I acted like I hadn’t seen her slant a glance at Ria before continuing with her work.
It didn’t escape my notice that she also hadn’t bothered walking up to me when I’d arrived at the scene. Then again, I couldn’t blame her after how I acted the last time. Suddenly, I couldn’t wait to have the long awaited talk with her. It didn’t even matter what she had to say to me, I admitted to myself.
I couldn’t wait to talk to her, period.