Chapter Twenty-five

 

 

The ringing of her phone woke her up.

“Hello?” Her voice was groggy.

“Ms. Morris. It’s Detective Baker.”

“Hello, Detective. What can I do for you?” She squinted looking at the time on the phone. Eight am, pm? Turning her head, she looked toward the window. Definitely, eight am.

“I just wanted to check in with you to let you know I’m still investigating your case. I hope I didn’t call too early.”

“No, I was just about to get up.”

Declyn opened one eye and looked at her before putting his arm over his face.

He’s so not a morning person. She smiled at the thought.

“Ms. Morris?”

“Sorry Detective, did you say something?”

“I was asking has anything happened to you that seemed strange.”

“Strange?” She sat up in the bed pulling the cover up to her chin.

“I’m sure you’ve seen the news. There have been reports of mutilated bodies.”

“There has been so much going on with getting relocated that I have not seen the local news lately. What do you mean when you say mutilated bodies?”

Declyn sat up and moved closer to her so that he could hear both sides of the conversation.”

“There have been several women found who have had their bodies cut open. Their organs have been found around their bodies.”

“I was unaware of this. Have you caught whoever is doing this?”

“Not yet.”

“Why are you calling me about this?”

“The signature of the suspect reminds me of what was done in your apartment. I wanted to call and make sure that you were indeed safe. Have you remembered anything that you think I should be aware of?”

“I wish I had anything new to report to you detective. If I remember anything or see anything suspicious, I will call you. How many women have you found?”

“So far we have found five bodies. We will find the culprit, I suggest you be careful.”

“I will. Thank you for calling me.”

“You’re welcome.” The phone hung up with a soft snick. She still held it to her ear as she looked at Declyn.

“None of those bodies belong to Deja.”

“How can you be so sure?”

“If one of mine dies I know. She can hide her presence but not her death. If she were dead blood would flow.”

Her head fell to her chest as tears rolled down her face. “I miss her, I want her back.”

“Then it’s time to find her.”

“Do you think that Ron or whoever is stalking females is stalking her?”

He wanted to say no but stopped. It made sense that they would stalk Deja she was more than human. Ron would have researched Safire before he approached her. Which meant he knew who all her friends were.

“There’s a possibility.”

She got up and went into the bathroom. Something strange is happening, but I can’t put my finger on it. Why would Deja leave? She would know to wait for her to come around.

Maybe she thought you would die?

Could that be it? Did her best friend think she would die? Would she leave her to die alone? It was possible, but it wasn’t likely. That wasn’t Deja, and that wasn’t her style. So, why did she leave?”

She washed her hair thinking about the time Deja sent her to the store. Her eyes blazed when she did. How come she didn’t notice that before. Now that she was thinking about it, she had seen her brown eyes look like they were glowing more than once. Every time her eyes did that it was accompanied by a frown. Something was bothering Deja, but she never mentioned it.

Stepping out the shower she used a leave in conditioner before she blew dried her hair. Nothing felt right. It felt like if she could turn fast enough, she would find something hiding in the shadows.

Declyn was sitting on the side of the bed waiting for her when she entered the bedroom. She went over and straddled him giving him a deep kiss.

“Morning, Wolf.”

“Morning, Alpia.”

His arms slipped around her pulling her in closer for a deeper kiss. She laid her head on his shoulder breathing in his scent.

“I want to go for a walk to clear my head.”

“I’ll come with you get dressed.”

She pulled on a pair of jeans and combined it with a graphic tee. He laughed when he saw the wolves in a tree. It said ‘sometimes you must defend yourself from a higher position.’

“I figured if I was going for a walk with a wolf. I’m going to have some t-shirts made that say ‘Wolves do it better.’ I’ll have one say ‘Mess with my mate and die. The last one will say, ‘We’re a pack, enter at your own risk.”’

“Make sure you have one made for me.”

She slid her feet into a pair of sandals before they left the house. They walked towards The Wolves Den noticing the relative quiet of the morning.

“Is it always this quiet?”

“No, I can usually hear Mia’s laughter and Cole chasing her making her laugh louder.”

“Ven is telling his mother he’s going for a walk and Enzo is saying not before breakfast. Others might not hear them, but as Alpha, I’m made to pick up their voices.” She nodded and slipped her hand into his.

They kept walking until they got closer to the barrier.

“Who is that?”

“I don’t know. I have Chase and Jasper trying to locate any information on her. She comes several days a week at different times and just stands right there. She never comes closer, and she doesn’t seem to present a threat to us right now.”

“She can see us.”

“I believe she can also. She has been known to wave at Mia when she waves at her.”

She bit her lip and decided that was a mystery for another day. “I’ll guess we’ll know who she is when she crosses the barrier.”

“Why do you say that?”

“I don’t know about Kur’iks, but humans don’t case a place they have no interest in entering.”

“Case?”

“Slang. To watch a place, see who comes and goes and when. She’ll make her way in. Then we’ll find out what’s happening with her.”

She tugged on his hand leading him back the way they came. “Do you know what we need?”

“What?”

“Porch furniture. That way we can sit outside enjoy the weather, watch people walk up and down the street and do Alpha things.”

“Alpha things?”

“Yeah, watch the interaction of the pack. That’s a huge one, and this is obviously the main street everyone seems to walk up and down here.”

“We’ll have to shop for that when we shop for living room furniture.”

She stopped in the middle of the street and kissed him.

“I love you, Declyn Lupe.” She took his hand, and they walked back to the house stopping to sit on the top stairs of the porch.

“Declyn, tell me again what happened between you and Deja.” She leaned back on her arms allowing the warmth of the sun to caress her.

“Nothing happened which is why I don’t understand why she has been gone this long.”

“What does nothing mean to you? She is human maybe she took it differently.”

“When I found out that she sent you away I remember feeling anger. I was not happy with her actions. Then we found you and your organs were…” She slipped her hand back into his, as he closed his eyes and took a deep breath.

“Just thinking about what happened makes me want to crush something.”

“Something or someone?”

He turned to look at her his eyes narrowing. “Something.”

“But when it happened you wanted to crush Deja?”

“I did. It was like a whisper that went through my body continually circulating telling me it was her fault.”

“Why didn’t you hurt her?”

“She’s pack and my beta. I would never hurt her.”

Her teeth were worrying her bottom lip while the fingers of the hand that was free were drumming into the porch.

“Is that normal behavior for you?”

“No, but it’s also not normal to have an unattached mate that I was unable to protect.”

She nodded it made sense that he would be more protective of her. Still, she didn’t like the feeling that they were missing something.

“So, you didn’t send her away or direct threatening mental messages to her?”

“Of course not. What type of Alpha do you think I am?”

“The best. That’s why this doesn’t make any sense to me. Deja isn’t one to up and leave. Look how long she dealt with Marcus’s shit. She hung in there to the very end.”

“You’re right. I was there for that.”

“Someday you’ll have to tell me what really went down and not that story Deja told me.”

“She was trying to protect you. Would she have left to protect you?”

“Protect me from what? Surely not from you.”

“Good question.”

“I don’t think I’ll ever forget the anger I felt. It was like being suffocated.”

Her cell phone rang. She reached into her pocket only to realize it was still on the nightstand. She stood and ran into the house. It stopped ringing the minute she answered it. There was no one there. The number came up as unknown leaving her to wonder who was calling her and why didn’t they leave a voice mail.

“I got to the phone too late.” She walked back to the porch. “Hi Cole, Jessie, and Mia. What are you doing out so early?”

“Mia had a bad dream last night and insisted she tell you about it.”

Fire reached her arms out, and she flew into them. “You’re still shaking. Everything will be okay.”

“Only if you find the bad man. I saw him looking for godmom. Then he found her. He was laughing as he hurt her.”

“Sweetheart Enzo and Ven will keep her safe.”

“They can’t because they don’t know he’s looking for her.”

“I’ll find her, I promise you.”

Mia gave her a bright smile and hugged her neck.

“You’re the only one that can stop him.” She kissed her neck before getting down.

“Can we go eat? I’m hungry.”

“Who knew growing girls could eat so much?” Jessie said with a smile that said she loved feeding her daughter.

“Declyn?” The look in her eyes showed just how worried she was.

“I just sent out a call to both Chase and Jasper. They are to work day and night until she is found and I want her found yesterday.”

Xander and Caden pulled up in front of their house. “We are going to look for signs of Enzo, Deja, and Ven. If we find something, we’ll let you know. Also, there are rumors that Enigma one is stirring.” They pulled off with Declyn staring after them.

“Enigma one?”

“They’re a deadly group of Kur’iks, they are good to have around in a fight.”

She nodded. She would deal with them when they arrived.

“Do things move this fast around here all the time?”

“No, it all started when Deja crossed the barrier.”

“Makes you almost wish you didn’t know us.” She gave a weak laugh.

“For four hundred years, we stayed to ourselves on this planet. We fought no one except the Thalians. Then Deja crossed the barrier bringing with her both life and trouble. I watched my people have a reason to fight again, to come together as one. Then Jessie came bringing her contagious smile and her beautiful daughter. Kur’iks have lined up to have the pleasure of playing with Mia. Then you came bringing happiness and life to my heart and my house. I would never willingly go back. We can defeat what’s coming for us as long as we’re together.”

“I’m not sure what I did right, but whatever it was it gave me you.”

“Let’s go to The Wolves Den that’s where Chase and Jasper are set up. At this rate, I’m going to have to have to have a place built especially for them.”