20. Alphas meeting

My drive home was quiet and reflective. I haven’t felt this peaceful in a very long time. I guess part of that peace was because I made a decision when it came to Iris.

I wasn’t even dreading the visit Grace said she would make soon. I was ready and eager to sign whatever documents that needed to be signed.

“I’m surprised. It’s the first time in a long time that you’ve made a selfless decision” Raya says, interrupting my thoughts.

She was staring at me lazily. Her head on her paws as she lay down. I choose not to answer her.

Engaging with her always ends up with my feelings hurt and right now I didn’t want to ruin my good mood.

“Ignoring me won’t make me go away” she smirks.

Right now I wanted to smack that smile off her face. I’m still hurt and mad at her for the stunt she pulled when she refused to shift.

“I’m not ignoring you, just hoping you would go back to where you were hiding before” I replied through clenched teeth.

Every time I think about how she abandoned me to die, I feel like beating the ever loving shit out of her.

Because, seriously, how could she?

“Don’t be like that” she mocks.

“Leave me alone Raya”

With that I push her to the back of my mind and block her. The last thing I hear is the echo of her devilish laugh.

I honestly don’t know what’s going on and how to help her. Maybe it was time to talk to someone about it. Her behavior is starting to get out of hand and I was afraid that it would one day put someone I care about in danger.

I enter the pack gates and park my car on the other side of the house. Reason being that there were about ten cars parked on the front and there wasn’t any more space.

Getting out of the car, I can’t help but wonder who our visitors were. I already knew one of them. I recognized Darren’s car. So maybe it was an Alphas meeting.

Darren, I haven’t spoken to him since the night the truth about Iris was revealed. He tried calling and texting but I ignored him. He even came once or twice asking for me but I asked Ren to make excuses for me. Just like with Raya, I was still hurt by his actions.

‘You’re being unfair. You’ve forgiven Bash and Ren so why can’t you forgive Darren?’ that annoying inner voice asks me.

A good question but I have no answer for it. I don’t understand why his reaction hurt me more than that of Ren and Sebastian. It just did.

Pushing those thoughts away I enter the house through the kitchen. Maybe after the meeting I could get a word with him.

No one was there so I head straight to my room. If there was a meeting then the others wouldn’t be around. So I could take a shower then head out to look for Ren and the kids. That is if Ren herself wasn’t part of the meeting.

I finish showering in record time then put on something more comfortable. I take my phone and leave the room.

Just as I was landing on the last step, the door to Sebastian’s office bursts open and Ren comes out in a rush. She suddenly halts when she sees me.

“I was about to look for you, come…the Alphas want to have a word with you”

“Me? Why?”

“Just come, this is something we can’t talk about here in the open”

With that she turns around and goes back to the office while expecting me to follow. I sigh and change my direction and follow her. It was better to get this over and done with.

The moment I step in, all eyes present turn to me. I count about seven Alphas including Sebastian and Darren. Being under their scrutiny makes me feel uncomfortable.

“Close the door behind you, Mayra” Sebastian orders and without wasting any time I do it.

I stand there awkwardly shifting from one foot to another while trying to avoid eye contact with Darren. I can feel his stare burning holes into my skull.

“Would all of you stop staring at her? You are making her uncomfortable” Ren snaps at them. They immediately avert their eyes, making me breathe easily.

I honestly don’t know how she does that. I think she’s the only woman, apart from the Oracle, who has the guts to order a bunch of Alphas and they actually listen to her.

“Right, so everyone this is Mayra and she’s encountered the wolf that we believe might be behind the killings” Sebastian begins before turning to me. “Mayra, we need your help. There have been killings these past few months and all of them were werewolves. The council asked us to investigate and find out who is behind them and put a stop to them”

Ren picks up from him. “Usually when something like this, a threat to werewolves occurs, the goddess directs me and I’m able to eliminate the threat but she has remained quiet. Not even Midnight has been able to get anything from her. We think it might have to do with the fact that I’m pregnant but that has left us working blind”

“There is usually no clue left, no scent, no footprint, absolutely nothing. More wolves continue dying but we have no idea who is killing them, why, or how to catch them. We were hoping that your encounter with the wolf with red eyes would shed some light. Maybe it’s the one responsible for the killings”

Darren adds.

I keep quiet as I try to sort out everything they’ve told me and it’s actually scary. That there’s someone going around killing wolves.

“But I don’t think it’s the same person. You said that there isn’t a scent left behind when the killer strikes, but the wolf with red eyes had a horrible scent. It would be hard to miss that” I tell them.

“Not really. Not if his kill wasn’t fresh and all his or her victims were found days after they were killed according to the postmortem that was done on their bodies” An Alpha with blonde hair that was almost white said.

Sebastian talks next. “We measured the claw marks on their bodies and they were approximately the same size and width as the one you had on your back. This solidified the idea that it might be the same wolf. You were probably going to be its next victim that night, but the patrol guards got to you before it was too late”

I shiver when I remember that night. The fear and the adrenalin pumping through my body. I remember the pain when it clawed me. It was all so vivid and I was lucky I got out alive because when I fell and felt it behind me. I wasn’t sure I would live to see another day.

“Is there no footage? Though I wouldn’t recognize it. The only thing I remember seeing before running away was its red eyes”

Ren shakes her head. “He kills in the forest because that’s where all bodies have been found which makes us think this isn’t just a mindless wolf, or a feral one, it’s intelligent. It’s the only way it would know to kill in a place where there are no surveillance cameras”

Thinking back, I thought that I was running in the right direction, away from it. But what if that’s what it wanted? What if that’s what it was aiming for? Chasing me and leading me to the forest, where there were no cameras and it would take days before anyone found my body.

“You’re right, about it being intelligent. I thought it was a coincidence but after hearing what you’ve told me I think it’s not. That night wasn’t the first time I saw those red eyes. I first saw it after my therapy session the day before” I tell them after the truth hit me.

“What?? Why didn’t you tell anyone” Darren all but yells.

“The only thing I saw was the red eyes, it was during the day but its entire body was shrouded in darkness. I thought I was imagining things so I disregarded it thinking it was just paranoia given I’d just come from talking about my experience in captivity”

That will teach me not to disregard things no matter what my rational brain tries to tell me. Maybe if I had told someone then, we would have been careful that night and might have caught it.

“Looks like it wasn’t a coincidence. It wanted to kill Mayra, it planned on killing her” Ren runs her hand through her hair in frustration.

“This is a helpful information. It seems like it stalks its victims before killing them. So this isn’t a random killing, this is calculated” another Alpha concludes.

To be honest I don’t know which one is worse. That It is killing randomly or having targets.

My eyes catch the pile of pictures on Sebastian’s desk. At first I couldn’t understand why but one in particular brought forth a memory. Without thinking I rush forward and grab them.

“Mayra, what the hell?” Sebastian growls at me but I don’t pay him any attention. My mind fully focused on the pictures that were falling from my hand one by one.

“Oh my goddess” I whisper. Fear lacing my voice.

Once I’m done looking at them and they’re all scattered on the floor. I turn to look at Sebastian.

“Why do you have their pictures?” I ask slowly. Afraid of the answer.

He frowns confused. “Those all the victims. The ones that were murdered”

My knees buckle at his answer and a gasp of horror leaves my mouth.

“Mayra, what is it…why do you look like you’ve seen a ghost?” Darren holds me, giving me support because I was sure without it I would collapse on the floor.

I look at him. I feel it as tears cloud my eyes.

“Because those are some of the wolves we were in captivity with.” I whisper, dropping the bombshell that leaves all of them shocked.