*Grayson*
Ginny was acting weird.
At first I thought she’d only been popping up wherever I was because she needed to talk to me. After she’d missed the chance when I was alone, it became glaringly obvious she didn’t want to talk. She just kept shooting curious glances at me when she thought I wasn’t looking. I met her eyes and arched my eyebrow, silently asking what the matter was. Her only response was a pointed squint followed by a tiny scowl.
What was her deal?
I shot her a scowl of my own, turning my attention away from her. The meeting we had with the Nightshade wolves had gone better than expected. We’d decided it was time to start making arrangements for reinforcements before it was too late. The attack on the pack had been an eye opener to just how much shit we were in. Word had obviously gotten around that we had a serial killer on the loose.
We were on our way back to the pack after a long ass day in another pack. We’d split up while we there; each of us meeting up privately with some of them. Elena had talked with the pack healer, Ria had talked to the pack seer, and the rest of us had talked with the rest of the members of their council. My phone beeped just as we reached the pack’s borders. I folded my lips when I saw it was a message from Keera.
I have something to tell you.
One second and another text came in from her.
It’s about the case.
I deflated a little, shoving the phone back into the pocket of my pants. I’d been a little more excited to see her when I’d thought she wanted to talk about us. Ria nudged my shoulder lightly, reminding me of her presence. She jerked her head at my pants. “Who was it? It seemed like whoever it was changed your mood.” How long had she had her attention on me?
For a second I was grateful I hadn’t smiled. Something told me that would have led to an even more difficult conversation. I shrugged my shoulders, going with the truth. “It was Keera. She said she has something to tell me about the case.” There was awkward silence. I moved a branch out of the way for her to walk pass.
I could feel the wheels in her head turning. “You, but not the council?” She emphasized. I met her eyes then, wordlessly asking her to drop it. I wasn’t imagining it anymore. Ria definitely had a problem with Keera. I’d thought it had just been her general dislike for humans at first but it had become more and more obvious she didn’t like Keera in particular.
I wondered why that was?
Because she secretly had feelings for me?
Sbe wasn’t backing down. She pushed her hair behind her ears and wiped a bead of sweat off of her brows. “I’m just saying. You guys go to town for a couple of days and suddenly she’s reporting to you and not the entire council?” She wasn’t raising her voice, she knew better than that, but she also wasn’t being quiet either. Not to mention she was drawing attention to us.
I dragged my hand down my face. “I’m sure she has a good reason.” I quickly cut in when she tried to say something else. “With all these questions you have, I’m sure you would have preferred that I had just lied to you about who it was.” That shut her up. I knew she didn’t want me lying to her for any reason. If she thought it was a possibility, she would definitely tone down her reactions.
I avoided Ginny’s eyes as we finally made it pack grounds.
There were a few people gathered to help us settle back in. I quickly made my way to the pack house, giving Josie a small wave when she opened the front door. It didn’t take long for me to be done with showering and freshening up. I picked up my phone and closed the last button on my shirt. “Where should I meet you?” I immediately asked, avoiding small talk.
I could feel her surprise at how direct my question was but she let me know she would be waiting by the lake. I rushed down the stairs, suddenly anxious to set my eyes on her. I told myself it was the mate bond playing with me, especially because Keera and I had gotten intimate. I told Ryan I was taking my wolf out on a run and I would be back in a few minutes.
I wasn’t sure why I didn’t just go with the truth.
Keera was standing beside one of the oak trees by the lake when I got there. She turned when she heard the noise from my boot. I acted like I didn’t see her immediately reach for the guy she’d tucked into her waistband. She seemed a little wary of me as I walked closer, almost like she was trying to guess what mood I was in. I swallowed when she crossed her arms over he chest.
Goddess, she was so beautiful.
I wanted to reach for her and pull her against me but there was an invisible wall between us. The air was thick with tension and I knew I’d caused it with how formal I’d been on the phone. She squared her legs, slowly rubbing her lips together as she stared at me. “How’d things go with the Nightshade wolves?” She wanted to know.
She’d really meant it when she said she wanted to talk about the case. I knew better than to make an issue out of it but I also didn’t feel like letting it slide. “That’s it?” I heard myself ask. “We’ve not had a conversation since we got back from town and that’s what you’re going with?” She raised an eyebrow, silently asking where this was going.
“I’m not the one who acted like they didn’t have time for pointless chit chat.” She retorted, raising her second eyebrow. It wasn’t that I’d been trying to act professional or pretend that things hadn’t changed between us. Between Ginny’s weird looks and Ria’s fixation, I hadn’t wanted anyone to pick up anything.
I pinched my nose.
“We were successful, for the most part.”
“Yeah?”
I nodded. “Yeah. They did say they were going to get back to us, but we all knew it was only so they didn’t look like they were easily influenced and didn’t have a mind of their own.” I clarified. No pack wanted another thinking that they were a push over. Teaming up with us was best for the Nightshade pack, and I wasn’t just saying it because we needed their help.
If other packs succeeded in attacking us, there was a high chance they would also attack Nightshade pack was high. Partly because they were our closest neighbors and so the attackers would be expanding their territory, and partly because Nightshade pack population was small in comparison to other packs in the state. “You wanted to tell me something?” I reminded her.
Her face lit up. “Yeah, yeah.” She uncrossed her arms, taking a step closer to me. I caught a whiff of her lavender and lemon scent. My wolf stirred and I closed my hands in a loose fist in an attempt to stop myself from reaching out to her. I had a feeling what she wanted to say was important. “We’ve narrowed down the cause of death.” She informed.
All the breath left my lungs.
I stared at the top of her head, not wanting to make eye contact with her. “And what is it?” I braced myself for whatever response she might give me. She shoved her hands into the front pocket of the grey coat she was wearing, a little hesitant. “Is it some type of contagious disease?” That would be deadlier than hearing there wasn’t a killer on the loose.
Because then we would be sure of at least a few more deaths.
There was no saying who might have contacted it.
Keera shook her head. “No, nothing like that.” She replied. “Grayson, it’s a virus.” It took a moment for her words to sink in. A virus? Didn’t that mean it was a disease? “But it’s not infecting them naturally, they’re being injected with it.” I released a huge breath, taking a step back as the wheels in my head began turning. That was the cause of death?
They were being injected with a virus?
She pulled her phone out of her pocket, moved her fingers over it and then turned it to face me. “What does this look like to you?” She questioned. I met her gaze, taking the phone out of her hand so I could stare at the image properly. I zoomed out to get the full context of the picture. It was the side of one of the victim’s neck.
Zooming in, I realized she was in fact right. I could see the needle mark on the side of his neck. “He was definitely injected.” I replied, handing her the phone. “So all the victims have this mark on the side of their neck?” I was already going a mile per minute, trying to figure out all the places people could find syringes in the pack, which admittedly was a whole damn lot.
It wasn’t exactly something forbidden.
Anyone could walk into any of the convenience stores around the pack and get themselves a needle. “Yes,” Keera replied, looking around. “I went around the pack while you guys were away,” I arched an eyebrow. “I was only trying to find out how easy it was for someone to get hold of a syringe, which is very easy.” I shrugged my shoulders, agreeing that she wasn’t wrong.
In our defense, there was no way we would have known syringes would be such lethal weapons in the pack.
“Did you find out what they were being injected with?”
She parted her lips and close them. Then parted then again. “We’re having a bit of a problem trying to narrow down the content of the injection, but we’re working on it.” She settled with. She was hiding something but I didn’t want to push her. Whatever it was, she could only keep it to herself for so long. “I’m sorry we haven’t exactly been able to come up with a solution to-”
“Hey, hey, hey,” I quickly cut in, holding her arm and pulling her to myself. “I know you guys aren’t just sitting on your hands and that’s all I ask,” I tried to change the subject, not comfortable with the idea she thought I was disappointed in her team. “Why did you want to talk to me first and not the council?” She fidgeted, subtly pulling her arm away.
A dark feeling cloaked my chest.
She ran her tongue over her bottom lip, scrunching her nose in a way I thought was cute. “It’s not something we want to let everyone know yet.” She explained. “Word might get out and the killer might somehow get informed that we’re on to something. We didn’t want to risk that.”
“I think Ginny suspects something,” I blurted out.
I could tell I’d shocked her from the way her eyes widened and her mouth dropped open. “About us?” She asked to be sure. I nodded. I had to give her a head up before Ginny bamboozled her. Knowing my twin, that was bound to be the next step she’d take. “Did she say anything to you?”
“She hasn’t said anything yet but she’s been giving me the looks.” Keera’s brows raised even higher and I didn’t think that was possible. She knew from her years of friendship with Ginny what it meant for Ginny to shoot someone weird looks. “But it’s nothing you should worry about. I just thought you might need the heads up.”
We heard a twig snap behind us. And then…
“Heads up concerning what?”