CHAPTER FIVE
Kyle
I felt the push of the mind-link.
We found another body, one of my guards on the edge of the territory informed me.
A werewolf? I had to ask the question.
Yes. Relief flooded through me. It wasn't Crystal. I couldn't go through this every time we discovered a new body. We would have to catch the person responsible for the murders soon.
Is the body still warm? If it was a fresh crime scene we might have a chance at figuring out who the culprit was.
Yes.
Where? I asked, looking at James.
As soon as he gave the location we shifted into our wolves and ran as fast as we could through the forest, intent on getting there as soon as possible in the hopes of finding a new clue.
The scent of blood was in the air when we arrived at the location. I shifted into my human form and surveyed the murder scene.
James stopped beside me but remained in his wolf form. He lifted his snout and breathed in the air above as we stood beside the dead form lying in the grass. Despite the smell of blood, there wasn't a lot of blood on the body.
The unmoving form of the werewolf lay on its side with its amber eyes open, staring into nothingness.
Slowly, I walked around the dead body, taking a deep breath. There was more than the scent of the deceased. I inhaled sharply again as I was struggling to pinpoint the smell.
It's human, James said through the mind-link.
He was still sniffing the grass a few feet away from the dead body. I walked closer to him and the scent strengthened. I breathed it in. It was soft and sweet mixed in with the metallic smell of blood.
Human female blood. It wasn't a female werewolf, so it couldn't be Crystal. The relief was short-lived. She was still out there somewhere, still in danger. Even though it couldn't possibly be Crystal I didn't like the fact a human girl had been injured in the attack.
There's another human scent, James said.
The guards watched as James and I walked the scene, one in human form and one as a werewolf. Once we were done, James shifted back.
"It makes no sense," he said. He was right. The only scents other than the dead werewolf were both human. It was difficult to believe a human had killed a powerful rogue.
"I know," I replied, feeling just as stumped.
I was just about to tell the guards to move the dead body back to the compound when I heard movement behind me. I turned just in time to see Cade and my sister arrive. As her eyes took in the scene, she stopped abruptly.
"What did you find?" Cade asked as he walked toward me. His eyes were already skimming the area around us.
"Coming here was probably not the smartest thing I've done," Scarlett muttered, closing her eyes briefly. I gave her a questioning glance but she opened her eyes and dropped her gaze to the ground. Her eyes fixed on the violence-free grass in front of her as she stood by a nearby tree with her one hand holding on for support.
"I have a thing about seeing blood," she explained, staying on the edge of the scene.
It was strange to have an aversion to blood. In our way of life, blood was a common thing.
"James can escort you back to the compound," I offered. I would have taken her but I still wasn't ready to leave the scene, somehow hoping I would discover something we'd missed the first time we'd gone over it.
Send our best tracker, I instructed James. I hoped that if one of our trackers could pick up on the scent outside the scene, we would be able to track them down.
Cade swung his gaze to sweep over James, assessing him before he looked back at his mate.
"You can trust him," I told Cade. They knew each other, but I knew James better and I would trust him with my life.
He considered what I said for a few moments.
"Go with James," Cade told her. "I won't be long."
She lifted her eyes to his and his features softened. Their obvious bond made my heart ache. The one I was supposed to share this with was trying to get as far away from me as possible. I shifted my gaze away from them, unable to see what wasn't within my grasp.
"Okay," she said, and James walked over to her.
"Anything happens to her, you're dead." The soft threat held as much menace as if he had bared his teeth and growled.
Even without trying, Cade was powerful and intimidating. James nodded and threw me a look that made me shake my head. Cade loved my sister and would do anything to ensure her safety.
Go with them, I instructed the guards, giving them more protection in case the person responsible was still around. Cade and I were alphas. We were more than capable of defending ourselves.
The two guards left, leaving Cade and me alone.
"He won't let anything happen to her," I assured him.
"He will pay with his life if something does." He shrugged his shoulders before he began to scan the scene.
By the dead body of the werewolf, he crouched down and touched the blood with his fingertips. He rubbed the substance between his fingers for a few seconds. Taking a deep breath, he stood up and swung his gaze to the smaller patch of blood that we had already discovered was the blood of a human and not a werewolf.
"It's a human female," I told him as we stood side by side and looking at the dark patch of crimson blood. "Everything fits with previous murders except this time there were two humans, not one."
His eyes narrowed as he studied the blood covering the grass.
"And the first time human blood has been spilled."
Standing up, he turned to face me with his arms across his chest as he contemplated all the information.
"It still doesn't tell us who it is," he murmured.
Unfortunately, he was right. Even with a fresh scene and a couple of more clues, we were no closer to catching whoever was behind this. Frustrated, I rubbed my hands over my face. I felt like no matter how hard I tried I couldn't stop that horrid feeling that uncurled in the pit of my stomach that something really bad was going to happen. Unable to find Crystal made that feeling so much more ominous.
I hadn't even been able to touch her. There was no way I could lose her. Even though my mind reminded me there was no proof she was still in the area, I couldn't stop worrying about her safety with all of this going on.
"We'll find Crystal," Cade assured me with a hand on my shoulder pulling me out of my dark thoughts. I nodded. I had to believe we would.
I nodded again as I took one last look at the murdered werewolf who hadn't stood a chance.
So far we had eleven dead werewolves, and not many clues. There had been one human injured but we had no idea who she was. We knew whoever was doing this was either a werewolf disguising themselves with wolfsbane or something entirely different.
I didn't want to think that there was a creature, human-like, that could do that to a werewolf. But something nagged at me.
"What did they do with the human female who got injured?" I asked, narrowing my gaze at the evidence of the attack.
"Maybe he took her with them."
"But why?" I asked.
Cade shrugged his broad shoulders.
Had the rogue attacked the human and the killer had intervened to save the girl?
We didn't have natural enemies. Our only enemies tended to be werewolves from other packs, or rogues.
I rubbed my temple as I took all the details in one last time so I could make sure I didn't miss anything. We had to find a way to figure out what was going on or I had a feeling there would be far more dangerous consequences than a few dead rogues.
Crystal
I felt groggy when I opened my eyes. I was lying on a small bed covered with a large gray blanket. A small lamp beside the bed was lit and I looked around the bare room trying to figure out where I was. My heart sped up as fear and panic set in. In the fog of my mind I tried to remember what had happened.
When the last memories I had came flooding back, I sat up and pushed the blanket off me. My arm ached and I held it to my chest. It had been cleaned and bandaged. I swung my legs to the side of the bed and as I looked down I saw I was dressed in new clothes.
For a moment I panicked, thinking they had gone through my bag, but then I realized the clothes weren't mine. They were a size too big, and black. They had obviously cleaned me up once they had seen to my wound.
Where the hell was I? I remembered Flynn, the dark stranger who had helped me. He was going to get someone to see to my arm and then he was going to take me home. But then I had passed out.
I stood up quietly and walked to the door. It was closed. Feeling frightened, I opened the door softly and peered into the passage. It was empty. I had to get out of here as quickly as possible. I thought of Flynn and what he was able to do. I knew what he was and I had to get away before he discovered my true identity. My life depended on it.
The stories I had been told had ensured I knew how dangerous my existence was. Thankfully, the wolfsbane hadn't worn off, so to them I was still human but it wouldn't last. I needed my backpack. That thought made me hesitate before I stepped backward.
There was a small closet and I walked over to it. When I opened it and found my backpack at the bottom of it, I felt relief. I retrieved it before closing the closet door as quietly as I could.
Now that I had what I needed, the next thing I needed to do was to get out of here as quickly as I could. Slinging the backpack over my shoulder, I made my way out of the room.
I walked down the hallway slowly, taking in my surroundings. It was quiet, a silence that chilled me right down to my bones. I kept reminding myself they had no idea I wasn't anything more than a human girl who had been in the wrong place at the wrong time and who had been attacked by a vicious rogue.
Most of the half dozen doors I passed were closed. The ones that were open were rooms like the one I had just left. The hallway opened up and I found myself at the top of a set of stairs. I was in a massive house. As I looked down the stairs I could see a massive foyer that led to a set of double doors. My way out.
I took a deep breath and let it out before I started to descend the stairs as quietly as I could. My hope that I would be able to escape without anyone seeing me was dashed when I got the bottom of the stairs and I heard a voice say, "And where do you think you're going?"
Stunned, I stopped, feeling my heart hammer in my chest as adrenaline pumped into my veins. I turned to the owner of the voice and found myself staring at a man I had never met before.
If Flynn was intimidating, this guy scared me to death. His dark eyes studied me. Could he tell I was hiding something?
"I…" I started to say.
"Flynn brought you in," he said, taking a step closer to me. His cold eyes swept over me and it took everything in me to remain where I was. "You were badly injured and you needed to rest."
There was no emotion in his voice despite his words. There was a coldness and lack of emotion that made the hairs on the back of my neck stand up. He was as tall as Flynn with dark brown hair with gray flecks on the sides cut short and neat. His dark brown eyes had no warmth as they held mine.
I didn't know this man but I didn't like him or trust him one bit. I hadn't known Flynn either but somehow I trusted him. There was no logical explanation. It was more a gut feeling that told me to stay away from this guy because he was dangerous.
"I need to get home," I said, trying to keep my rising panic out of my voice. I had to get out now.
"You're not going anywhere," he said. "It's dark and dangerous. You don't want to have another run-in with a werewolf, do you?"
Remembering they only saw me as an innocent human who had been attacked, I shook my head and allowed fear to show on my face. I had to play the part well, since my life depended on my acting skills.
"You should be resting," Flynn said in a clipped tone as he stepped into the room, beside the guy who'd caught me trying to leave.
"I wanted...to go home," I stuttered. Flynn frowned slightly before closing the distance between us with two strides.
"It's too late and you need to get some rest," he told me. His voice was calm but firm. His hand wrapped around my uninjured arm.
I couldn't exactly make a run for it so I let him lead me back up the stairs and to the small room I had woken up in. He took my backpack from my shoulder and put it back in the small closet.
I got into the bed and pulled the blanket to cover myself. My eyes were fixed on him. Before, in the forest, he had been ruthless without any remorse and now there was something more in his expression. His features were a little softer.
"You need to rest," he repeated. "You have nothing to fear here. No one will harm you."
I wasn't convinced that extended to the guy who I had encountered downstairs. I had a really bad feeling about him. Hell, I had a really bad feeling about the whole situation I was in.
"Who was the other guy?" I found myself asking, needing to know about a person who could make me feel so unsafe.
Flynn paused for a moment before he answered. It was like he was trying to find the right way to say it.
"His name is Travis," he said. "He is in charge."
Oh, great! That gave me the chills.
Flynn watched my reaction. I had to remind myself to play the part of the frightened human. If he suspected I wasn't who I said I was, I would be in big trouble.
"What are you?" I asked, and despite my nervousness I held his gaze. "Humans can't do what you did to that...werewolf."
He contemplated my question for a few moments.
"You're right. I'm not human, I'm a Keeper," he replied.
I knew what he was. The second he took in the rogue, I knew without a doubt what he was, but hearing him say it out loud brought home the reality of my situation.
"What's a Keeper?" I asked, making as if I had never heard of them before.
He seemed to weigh up his answer before he replied. His long finger rubbed his jaw.
"We are the Keepers of the Order. The Order of the Orion," he told me. I completed my brilliant acting with a look of confusion.
"We're the ones who make sure the werewolves don't break the rules," he said, simplifying his answer. There was hatred that shone in his eyes when he said the word 'werewolf.' I swallowed my nervousness. He wouldn't be so kind to me if he found out who I really was.
I couldn't allow him to discover the truth.
"Did that...werewolf break the rules?" I asked softly.
He nodded.
"It is forbidden for them to attack humans."
He was right but why, after all these years, had they come out of hiding? They were a very secretive group, so secretive few packs knew about them.
"It's your job to keep the werewolves in line?" I asked.
"Yes," he said. "If it wasn't for the Order, the werewolves would become out of control and lawless."
I had to stop myself from frowning. I disagreed with him but I couldn't voice it. The way he spoke you would think all werewolves were like the rogue who had attacked me. And I knew for a fact that wasn't the truth.
"Are all werewolves bad?" I asked, unable to stop myself.
His jaw tensed.
"Yes, although we can only administer punishment when certain rules are broken."
I was stunned. Killing the rogue werewolf had been 'administering punishment'? I swallowed my fear as the Keeper watched.