*Keera*
“I’m glad I’m not the only one,” Lexi said, settling back into her seat. We were in the conference room having a meeting and wondering what the killer was up to. It had been a while since they had last struck, and I was beginning to fear that they had something up their sleeve. Serial killers didn’t normally drift away from their Target. They loved the high they got from a careful and successful killing routine way too much. I tapped my pen on the desk, moving my eyes around the surveillance monitor.
Grayson’s council members were absent, so the discussion was a lot freer than it would have been. “They have to be up to no good.” Kathleen chipped in with a shake of her head, raising the plastic cup in front of her to her lips. I caught Josie’s eyes then. She was the only one who hadn’t spoke throughout the meeting. I could tell she knew I had something important to say. I just wasn’t sure how to bring it up or how they would take it.
But I couldn’t keep it with me any longer.
I leaned forward and clasped my hands together on the long table, clearing my throat. They all stilled, warily meeting each other’s eyes before turning their attention to me. I didn’t always like addressing them as a team leader since, deep down, I saw them as more than just team members. Right now, what I think didn’t matter because it had to be done. We had to stop playing around for real. I hadn’t expected the case to have been unresolved for this long.
I couldn’t imagine what Trevor must be thinking. “Guys, has anyone noticed anything suspicious about Dahlia?” I asked quietly. I watched confusion take over their features, groaning inwardly. My theory would be a lot harder to bring up if neither of them had even noticed it. “Anything at all?” I emphasized, moving my gaze between them. “I’ve noticed some strange behaviors.”
“Really?” Lexi asked with a slight frown on her face. She stared at the rest of the team, who looked just as confused as her. “What kind of strange behaviors?” She asked. I pushed my hair behind my ears, trying to organize my thoughts so they would understand me. Dahlia was. . . she was intriguing, so to speak. After my talk with Gabe, I’d made sure to watch her closely and realized she was more mysterious than we gave her credit for.
“Do you guys know she’s dating a human?” I asked. Their collective gasped filled the room. They had infact, not been aware of that. I sent them a file, listening as their phones went off with beeps to signify an incoming mail. I waited for them to open it, seeing the shock on their faces. Joe bent his head to the side like he couldn’t believe it.
“Gusto?” He asked, raising his head to look at me.
I swallowed. “Yeah.” It had been extremely difficult but I’d eventually succeeded in getting Gabe to send me a copy of the background check results he had of Gusto. I’d already known Gabe would never had taken him on the team without running one first. I wasn’t surprised Joe knew of him. He’d mentioned something to me about them attending a firearm training together after the ritual had ended.
Standing to my feet, I took the hard copy of the file that I’d printed the day before and set it on the table, pressing a button to bring Gusto’s image on the screen. I hadn’t gotten a proper view of him on the night of the ritual. He was a young man, but he was still old enough for there to be a significant age gap between himself and Dahlia. He was three years older, younger than Grayson, and Dahlia was only nineteen.
From what I’d been able to find out.
“Wait, wait, wait. . .” Kathleen spluttered with a shake of her head, picking up the file and flipping through the pages. I made my way back to my seat, catching the confusion in her gaze. “I thought it was forbidden for werewolves to get involved with humans?” Her question was like an arrow to my heart, even though I knew she didn’t at all mean it that way. It was just my own guilt messing with me.
Because it was infact forbidden.
But Grayson and I had been getting involved anyway.
“It is,” Lexi replied before I could. “Which is why they knew better than to let anyone know.” She turned to face me, lightly scratching her chin. “But I’m not sure what this has to do with the case, though. I mean, I could see how their whole forbidden relationship could result in a complete catastrophe, but what does any of that have to do with the people showing up dead?” I pressed my lips together, pushing away thoughts of my budding relationship with Grayson and focusing on the issue at hand.
I shrugged my shoulders. “It might not be important, but humor me, okay?” Their stares turned wary. It was understandable since I wasn’t exactly making any sense. “I’ve been keeping a close eye on Dahlia for a while. Close enough to notice that she’s hiding something. It’s in the way that she’s overly careful with her words. In the way, she’s always so eager to not hold a deep conversation.”
“So you’re thinking she might be hiding more than just her secret relationship with him?” Joe asked, jerking his head in the direction of the big screen. He rubbed his jaw, staring intently at Gusto’s picture. “I can’t say for certain since I wasn’t around him much in camp, but the only feeling I got was that he was genuinely a good guy.” Joe confessed.
Kathleen slapped her hands on the table, her dark hair bouncing around her face. “Things happen, people change.” She argued, locking eyes with each of us. “It might be nothing, but we can’t take chances. What if Gusto has some vendetta against wolves and is using Dahlia as a pawn in his game?” She questioned the weight of her words, stunning everyone into silence.
Was she only reaching? Or could there be truth in her words?
We’d already established the cause of death; the virus they were being injected with, though we haven’t been able to get our hands on a sample significant enough for us to run a test. It wasn’t completely absurd that Gustavo was the one getting the virus for Dahlia to do his evil work. And Elena? I wondered what was it for her?
She couldn’t possibly be covering up for them simply because she liked Dahlia that much.
“This just got a lot more interesting,” Joe mumbled, setting his phone down on the table. The look he shot me was thoughtful. “I’m going to keep a closer eye on the pack warriors. See if I can detect some suspicious behaviors. Cuz if you’re right, then one of the pack warriors also has to be in on this whole thing.” He disclosed, moving his attention back to Gusto’s picture on the screen.
We rounded up the meeting, each person knowing more than to not keep an eye on Dahlia now. Our briefings were going to be more private from now on. I didn’t want to think about how the council would react, knowing we suspected that one of their own had a hand in the killings. No, we were going to keep the recent developments under wraps as much as possible, until we had solid evidence.
I pressed a button on the remote, erasing the picture of Gusto from the large screen.
***
I lowered myself down on the dock, watching the lake ripple as I threw tiny rocks in it. Swimming has been a form of therapy for me for as long as I could remember. It didn’t matter what it was; a pool, a lake, the ocean. I loved the feel of the usually cold stream of water against my skin. It was the only reason I was willing to keep coming out here even when the lake wasn’t exactly close to the pack.
They were winning me over.
These annoying creatures. To think I’d arrived at the pack fully determined to hate on them with everything in me. Time had changed my perspective. I couldn’t deny that Grayson had played a major role, too. He wasn’t as bad as I’d made him out to be. Seeing the way he genuinely cared about his pack did unspeakable things to my inside. I loved watching him comfort them when they were down or play around with the pups.
He was a good Alpha.
I heard faint whimpers as I kicked my legs in the air, and I paused, straining my ears to make sure I hadn’t been mistaken. I quickly got to my feet when I heard the sound again, my hand instinctively reaching for the gun tucked into the waistband of my pants. I decided against taking it out yet, wanting to check out the noise first to know if there was a need for it.
I cautiously followed the whimpers, crouching down behind some thick bushes and peeping through the leaves. My mouth fell open at the sight before me. A young werewolf was having her first shift. I could tell from all the research I’d done on their species. She was no more than eighteen, her body arching painfully as her wolf struggled to be released.
I looked around helplessly, at a loss of what I was supposed to do. When werewolves had their first shift, they usually needed the presence of a loved one or an older wolf to calm them and talk them through the entire process. The entire process was similar to when a human woman was giving birth. More whimpers escaped from her and before I had second thoughts, I walked around the bushes and made my presence known.
She took a step back, growling at me because I’d frightened her. I raised my hands to let her know I meant no harm. The pain from her first shift distracted her and from where I stood I watched a tear escaped from her eyes. Oh, poor thing. I looked around, checking to see if she was alone. It wasn’t completely unusual, but it was a bit weird for her to have started this far away from pack center.
“Hey,” I said soothingly, still raising my hands above my head. She turned her attention to me. “It’s okay, just breathe.” She whimpered again but she visibly tried to calm herself down. Her clothes had ripped in a few places and I couldn’t begin to imagine how awkward she felt feeling her bones enlarge while she still remained in her human form.
“I need you to turn at the count of three baby girl,” She immediately shook her head no, instantly looking frightened. I tried to shake out the worry I felt on her behalf, gesturing for her to calm down. “Please darling, you have to work with me,” I begged. She stared deep into my eyes as I took tentative steps towards her. “Please,” I repeated, studying her half-turned form.
I released a sigh of relief when she finally nodded.
I winced when her knee popped and bent in an awkward direction. She whimpered again, fearfully keeping her eyes locked with mine. “On three baby girl,” I urged. “One… two… three!” I took a step back as she pushed with every strength left in her, turning to her wolf form in only a matter of seconds. I fell back against a tree, feeling a surge of relief mixed with something else.
Joy.
I was so proud of her. She’d been able to do it. Her wolf was beautiful, with tidy brown and black fur and onyx eyes. She howled, but since it was her first attempt, it came out weak. I giggled, laughing even louder when she ran towards me and danced around my legs. I knelt beside her, giving her a hug and rubbing her head. “I’m proud of you hun.”
Something snapped a few meters away from us, gaining our attention. We both turned to find Grayson staring at me. His expression was a mix of wonder and pride. I tensed as realization dawned on me.
He’d been watching me the whole time.