Cedric Dawson exited the highway, heading to his apartment. He hadn’t been home in days and was in need of a scalding hot shower and a fresh change of clothes. Cedric made a left off the service road, thinking about what food he had quick to make in his refrigerator when his cell started buzzing in the console next to him. He glanced at the ten-inch screen embedded in his dashboard waiting for the identity of his caller to be revealed. He was hoping it was one of the members of his team with good news on their twisted and fucked up case. Instead, he saw his brother’s name come across the screen.

“Fuck,” Cedric replied, feeling a sudden spike of adrenaline course through his veins. He quickly pressed the answer button on his steering wheel.

“What’s up, Stevie? Is everything all right?”

Stevie didn’t reply, but Cedric heard noises coming through the speakers so he knew someone was there. Panic all of a sudden seized Cedric’s body as he gripped the steering wheel hard.

“Stevie!” he barked, debating if he should turn his car around and head east to where he thought Andrew and Stevie would be.

Finally, Cedric heard Stevie cuss under his breath before his voice rumbled through the speakers of his truck.

“Yeah, sorry about that. I had to get to a better spot to talk and keep an eye on Mr. Sensitivity.”

“Where are you?”

“Up the fucking mountain. You know how he gets.” Stevie cussed again and Cedric could hear the rustling of branches being snapped in the background of the call.

Cedric chuckled, feeling relief slowly rain over him.

“Ah, I take it shit has been a cake walk tonight then?”

Stevie grunted and Cedric could feel the frustration coming through loud and clear. “Yeah, I wouldn’t quite use those kinds of words to describe it.”

Things had been crazy this last week for this tight-knit crew. Protection for their Alpha had been increased at Rinic’s insistence. There were just too many unanswered questions that needed to be addressed for his taste; one of which had to do with the identity of Nyla Montgomery. Also, Andrew had placed a protection detail on Nyla and Se’Nya and had someone watching Darrius, Nyla’s friend, 24-7. It was hard enough to keep a body on their Alpha and now they had more bodies to keep track.

The increased protection wasn’t a problem when it came to watching Nyla and her daughter. It wasn’t even an issue watching Darrius. The little shit did nothing with his life but work and fuck strippers. No, the issue they had since the second the asshole was born, was protecting their Alpha. Andrew hated the ramped-up protection he had been given. He barely tolerated his usual protection detail, no matter the scarcity of the act or how hidden they managed to be. They expected to get resistance from him; they prepared for it. What they weren’t prepared for in the beginning was a miserable solemn and quiet Andrew.

They were at a loss. They could handle an angry, volatile, unstable, and aggressive Andrew; that’s him on a regular. Hell, they could even handle a heartbroken one. However, a lovesick Andrew was foreign to them as the idea of solving problems without violence.

“Ha, I bet you could come up with a lot of words to describe your time with your Alpha,” Cedric replied. “So, what’s lover boy up to?”

“Besides moping around like a lost puppy, shit. I mean this fucker had just seen the girl yesterday and had been up her ass all last week and most of this week. You’d think he’d be in a better mood.”

“Did you give him the answers he was looking for on Darrius and that chick?” Cedric asked.

Stevie paused before reluctantly saying, “No.”

“Well, there you go. He’s looking for answers so he can fight what he believes is coming.”

“Yeah, yeah. I understand. And, I gave him all I had. There wasn’t anything else to give him.”

“Broaden your search. Look into Nyla’s family members. Maybe there’s something there that connects the girl or Darrius to Nyla.” Stevie grunted his reply and Cedric changed the subject and asked, “Did he give you problems about keeping close to him?”

Stevie sighed audibly, seemingly thankful for the change in subject. “Nothing that I’m not used to. He was more ornery than usual, though. The fucker needs to get laid if you ask me.”

Cedric groaned and rolled his eyes. “Please tell me you didn’t say that shit to him?”

Stevie had a mouth on him that wouldn’t quit. Not a day went by when Stevie was growing up, that he didn’t get the crew into some shit. He was the type to say whatever came to his mind regardless of the ramifications. Either he was oblivious to the fucked-up shit that came out of his mouth, the feelings of others, or he just didn’t give a shit. Cedric was leaning on the latter.

Stevie was one of the smallest of the crew standing at exactly six feet tall. He weighed a solid muscled 215 pounds, not a hint of fat on his body. Stevie had dark brown skin and eyes that were the shade of rich deep chocolate. His temper was brutal, not quite as mean and vicious as his Alpha or Beta, but he was the next worst thing.

Cedric mentally kicked his own ass for calling up Stevie to keep an eye on Alpha by himself. He should’ve had backup with him just to keep Stevie in line. The man sometimes lacked self-control. He was the troublemaker of the group. He was the one that constantly fueled Andrew’s hot temper, confessing that it was his mission in life to feed Andrew’s otherwise suppressed rage.

“Fuck yeah, I told him. He’s with this woman almost every day and he hadn’t tapped that ass yet? He needs to get some. You know damn well he ain’t never been like this over no pussy,” Stevie added, feeling defensive and attacked.

“Oh, okay, and I guess you didn’t meet Mikaliah?” Cedric responded.

“She was different,” countered Stevie hastily before he suddenly grew quiet. He took a deep breath and let Cedric’s words sink in. Andrew had been wrapped up into Mikaliah. He was actually contemplating on leaving the pack for her. Consequently, shit wasn’t half as bad as it is now. Stevie blew out a resolved breath. Cedric was right. He still didn’t understand what the big fucking deal was, but he probably never would.

Yielding, Stevie exhaled before he replied in a calmer tone, “Yeah, okay, I get what you’re saying. The point I’m trying to make is that this is just a woman. Andrew has been with plenty of women over the years, so what makes this one so special?”

Cedric let the question linger before he answered, “Well, my brother, that right there is the million-dollar question.”

Stevie only grunted his reply, not hiding his heightened frustration and tension. He didn’t believe that a woman could hold that much power over a man. He’d always felt this way and had no problem telling anyone who would listen. Unfortunately, he also couldn’t dismiss what he saw in his Alpha. The man was desperate for this woman. Stevie could sense it all over Andrew.

All his life he was trained to protect his Alpha, to make sure nothing or no one caused him harm, grief, or pain, but he was failing yet again. Failing at the job he was born to do, the job that defined him. He wouldn’t allow Andrew to go through the kind of pain he felt when he lost his wife. It nearly killed him and the pack. He would do whatever it took to protect his Alpha, whatever it took.

Cedric felt Stevie’s mounting frustration surging through the speakers. He wasn’t the only one who felt as frustrated as he did. Most of his brothers, the single ones, had questioned what was happening to Andrew. They didn’t understand what it meant to mate with someone and have that kind of pull and force connecting you to a female. Cedric and a few others did understand. But for Cedric, that wasn’t why he was on edge. His added frustration and apprehension had more to do with the loud-ticking clock in his head than anything else. He had agreed with Andrew that something wasn’t right. He wanted answers just as bad as he did if not more.

Cedric took in a haggard breath, bringing them both back to the present. “Okay, Stevie, let me know if he goes anywhere else or does something stupid.”

“Right. I hear you. I’ll hit you up once we leave Pine Rock. His lovesick ass is probably going to her apartment, but I’ll let you know.” Stevie paused a bit and then added, his voice low and anxious. “We need Rinic to hurry up with his shit. It’s been almost two fucking weeks. AP may not have claimed Nyla yet, but you know how impulsive he can get. Plus, we are spread thin. Between working our own cases and playing babysitter to outsiders, we can’t keep going on like this. If a threat comes for—”

“I know,” Cedric interrupted, knowing exactly what Stevie was going to say. “Listen, I have confidence that Rinic will have some answers soon. In the meantime, we gotta do what’s necessary.”

An irritated sigh slowly rang throughout the truck. “Yeah, yeah, I know. I got ’em.”

A devious smile slowly crept across Cedric’s face playfully. “Hey, do you uh… want me to send someone out there to help you with Alpha, Stevie?” Cedric asked and could actually feel Stevie’s rage coming through his speakers. He added just because, “I can call…”

“Fuck you, Cedric.” Stevie barked, not giving a shit that Cedric knew he had gotten to him. “I don’t need any damn help. I got lover boy. Trust me.”

Cedric couldn’t help but laugh. “I know you do, Stevie. Call me if you need me.”

Stevie mumbled his reply that sounded more like ‘son of a bitch’ than ‘okay’ before Cedric ended the call. Despite Cedric’s ribbing of Stevie, he knew the man could handle Andrew almost as well as he could. Cedric also knew that Stevie had made a valid point. Typically, two or more of the Lethal Seven stayed close to Pine Rock most of the time. If anything big went down, as far as the pack went, they had at least some of the crew there to hold down the fort until the rest arrived. That hadn’t been the case these last two weeks. Right now, if someone decided to approach the pack, they’d be in deep shit.

Despite what Cedric had just said to Stevie, Rinic wasn’t moving fast enough for his taste. He was supposed to be the answer they all needed; his promises of help still rang in Cedric’s ear. However, Rinic was either cognizant of the severity of the situation and didn’t give a shit or he didn’t understand. Either way, they were losing precious time.

Cedric thought about calling Rinic to put pressure on the old man. Andrew was holding on by a thin thread and Cedric knew. The desperation, the longing for a woman that you couldn’t stop thinking about or wanting, no matter how hard you tried, wasn’t lost on him. Cedric understood what he was going through, contrary to what Andrew believed. He had lived with that feeling for fifteen years.

But he also knew and understood the seriousness of what would happen if Andrew went into this without all of the facts. It could result in his demise and or the demise of the entire pack. That was too many lives at stake for one woman. Yes, Cedric understood the sacrifice, but he also knew and understood his Alpha. Andrew was a stubborn son of a bitch. When he wanted something or someone, he became completely focused and determined. Nothing and no one was going to stand in his way, not even him.

“I’m getting too old for this shit,” he whispered through his empty truck.

Cedric coasted his black on black Yukon Denali to a stop at a red light and instantly felt physically and mentally exhausted. He closed his eyes. Not only was this shit with Andrew draining him, but he had also caught a huge homicide case that had him on edge, stressed, and pushed to the limit. He’d been running on empty for hours and needed a few minutes just to get his head back on straight. The pressure he was under to solve this case was mounting, and so far, he had shit.

Cedric knew, however, that he needed to stay focused and sharp. There was something going on with this case that left a bad taste in his mouth. He couldn’t explain what was going on, but he felt the urgency to get to the bottom of whatever this was and fast. It had only been twenty-four hours since he was summoned to the crime scene, and he had hoped to be a lot further along than what he was, but again, he had nothing. No, that was a lie, he did know one thing for sure; a feeling deep in the pits of his stomach that made it churn ever so slightly and sent a slight chill down his spine.

Shit was going to get worse.

The scene he had been called to was still fresh in his mind. He’d been a cop for over ten years and had seen his fair share of homicides, both while walking the beat and once he moved to the investigative unit and became a detective. Death and killing weren't foreign to him either. He knew it well, the sight and smell of it. But that night, as he pulled up to the cordoned-off scene, he could tell that something wasn’t right.

There had been something in the air. He couldn’t quite put his finger on what it was, but he had sensed something evil and deadly prowling. The saddened faces he had seen milling about the scene also wasn’t lost on him. Everyone had seemed to have been moving about with steel determination, focused on their specific task as if their own lives depended on it. For Cedric, the behavior of the cops and techs around him told him that whatever he was about to walk into was bad.

Cedric had followed the normal routine as he prepared to enter the two-story stucco house before him. He had stopped just outside of the door to the house and accepted booties from a crime tech dressed in all white coveralls.

One of the guys under his command, an officer named Javier Johnson, slowly approached Cedric as he placed light blue booties over his dark brown leather cowboy boots. Once Cedric stood and made eye contact with Javier, he gave the man a slight nod, signaling he was ready to be briefed.

“What do we have, Johnson?” Cedric asked curtly, trying to get his mind right for what he was about to see.

“Sergeant, I gotta tell you it’s brutal in there,” said Johnson, doing his best to keep his professional demeanor and failing miserably.

Cedric could tell Johnson was on edge. “Yeah?” Cedric asked, eyebrows raising slightly. “Then let’s have it so I can get in there.”

Johnson stared at Cedric’s hard green eyes, trying not to get lost in the coldness he saw in them. Javier had worked with and for Cedric for a few years now. He knew the man; what made him tick and what typically brought a reaction out of him. His temper was renowned on the force. No one fucked with him, his brothers, or his team. When it came to sensitive cases such as the one Cedric was about to walk into, it would undoubtedly spike that legendary temper.

Johnson thought about easing his boss into the scene. Maybe it would soften the blow or minimize the rage that he knew was going to be unleashed. However, as the scene played back to him in his mind’s eye, he decided against it. Johnson believed this case was going to need Cedric at his “wrathful” glory.

“You got it, boss,” Johnson said, hiding a knowing smile. He pulled out his notebook from his back pocket and began. “There are five bodies in the house; three adults and two kids. Their throats were cut, some deeper than others.”

“How were they discovered?” Cedric asked.

Johnson looked at his notepad. “A neighbor called it in when she came home from work. A Mrs. Wallace from next door said that the family was supposed to leave for vacation early this morning. When she saw their minivan still parked in the driveway, she went to see why they hadn’t left. She said she knocked and when no one answered she started peeking inside the windows. That’s when she discovered the bodies.”

Cedric nodded and directed Johnson to continue.

“We were able to get prints from the adult male victim and they came back belonging to a Demond Hendricks, forty-three. He worked for some big insurance company downtown. The house is owned by him and his wife. The wife’s name is Mary. She’s thirty-six. A stay-at-home wife and mom. They had two kids: Carlie, age 9, and Demond Junior a.k.a. DJ, age 11. The fifth vic is believed to be the wife’s mother, but we’re still confirming the identity.”

“And we’re sure the five bodies in the house is the entire Hendricks family?” Cedric probed, keeping up with formality. He didn’t want to speculate although he already knew the answer to his question. He wasn’t sure if it was the same family he was thinking of, but this feeling he had in the pit of his stomach told him that it was indeed the same family.

To Johnson’s credit, he simply nodded in affirmation. “Yes, we showed the neighbor the picture from the house and she confirmed it.” Johnson cleared his throat and continued. “Most of the family were killed in the living room. The wife was found dead in another room.”

“What room?”

“The bedroom.”

“Raped?” Cedric quipped, feeling a deep dread starting to course through his body.

“Probably, although the coroner didn’t want to speculate. You know how she is. She said she’d let us know once she got back to the lab.”

Cedric’s brows furrowed tightly. “You saw the body. What do you think?”

Johnson frowned. “I think she was raped. The way her body was positioned, the pained look on her face. She was violated in some way. I can’t tell you if she was penetrated by the killer or killers, but they did something to her. The body is pretty bad.”

Johnson’s words hung in the silence for a few seconds; Cedric and Johnson communicating to each other using only their eyes. Johnson was doing his best to convey what he had seen to his boss, and Cedric doing his best not to lose it before he even walked inside the house.

“Okay, what else?” he asked finally. “I assume the forensic team is in there gathering evidence. Looking for something the killer or killers may have left?”

Johnson shook his head before Cedric could get his entire question from his mouth.

“The scene’s been contaminated, so don’t hold your breath.”

Cedric frowned. “Contaminated? What the fuck does that mean? The scene wasn’t preserved? Did some fuckwad puke or touch something they weren’t supposed to?”

Officer Johnson shook his head. “Sarge, it’s bad in there; like right out of a fucking horror movie. The house is a mess. It’s hard to do a thorough forensic work up, but they are doing the best they can, going through every room, checking every corner and crevice to see if they find something. They’re not going to stop looking. So far, there were no fingerprints that didn’t belong to the family. It looks like no forced entry, so the family either let the attacker inside or they had a key.”

“Did the coroner rule out murder-suicide since there’s no forced entry?”

“The coroner did, sir. She said that even though the adult male had been killed after his family, he was in no condition to harm anyone or himself. There were signs that the male was tied up and tortured before he was killed.”

Cedric didn’t reply to that, but inwardly, he wondered what kind of hell he was about to walk into and find.

“How are the neighborhood interviews going? Did anyone see anything out of the ordinary today?”

Johnson shook his head. “So far we haven’t turned up anything. Most of the people living on this street work during the day, but those that were home didn’t see a thing. We’re also asking to see anyone’s security cameras. Maybe they captured someone surprising the family or breaking in.”

“Yeah, let’s hope we’re that lucky. All right, Johnson, keep me posted.”

Cedric put on a pair of extra-large black latex gloves that he retrieved from his truck and moved through the doorway of the house.

The second he opened the door, he was instantly met with the scent of death; decomposing bodies, blood, and human secretions.

Damn, Johnson wasn’t exaggerating when he said that the house was a mess.

Cedric’s eyes roamed the open living and dining room space before him. It looked as if someone had created abstract art on the walls using blood instead of paint. It was everywhere, on the furniture, the ceiling. Cedric could even feel his plastic covered boots sink slightly in the crimson carpet, regardless of the plastic tarp that was laid down as a makeshift walkway through the house.

The forensic lab workers moved feverishly around him, gathering what they could from the grisly sight. They were collecting any physical evidence they could find, taking photographs in order to reconstruct the scene once they were back in the lab. It was a very hard scene to work, Cedric knew. Some looked ashen as they worked, seemingly about to lose it inside of their disposable overalls and mask. Others threw curious glances Cedric’s way, noticing he wore nothing to cover his nose or at least stem the smell.

The smell didn’t bother him. Not because he was oblivious to the stench, he wasn’t. He knew that he would have to wash multiple times before he was able to remove the stench of death.

No, his mind was elsewhere as he took in everything. He looked at each of the victims in the living room, paying keen attention to the father’s body. He moved as close as he could without touching anything so he could study the wounds.

Each family member in front of him had rather large savage gashes along their necks. There was a lot of anger used in these killings. Cedric didn’t look twice at the kids that were sprawled at the feet of their father, soaking in a heavy pool of their own blood. He saw the barbarity, the cruelty in the killings by just looking at the father and the elderly woman. Their heads were barely attached to their spinal cords. To the naked eye, it seemed that the killer had used a rather large knife in all cases. But Cedric knew better.

Cedric made his way through the house taking visual pictures of everything he saw, cataloging what was relevant and dismissing what wasn’t pertinent. When he finally made it to the master bedroom and saw the contorted way Mrs. Hendricks’ body lay, the anger that was coursing through his veins erupted into hot seething rage.

“Fuck!” he spat. A few heads turned his way, but no one said anything. They knew better than to speak, especially due to the murderous look plastered on Cedric’s face.

The woman lay naked on once white sheets, which were now bathed in crimson. Her limbs were prostrated in a way that told Cedric she’d fought her attackers with everything in her. What haunted Cedric was the look that was permanently displayed on the woman’s face. Whatever she went through, had caused her insurmountable pain and anguish.

Cedric ached for this woman and her family. Who in the hell would… Cedric started to ask himself, but suddenly, he caught a whiff of something other than death and it hit him like a charged bull. There was something in this room. It wasn’t anywhere else in the house but this room. As he moved closer to the woman, the scent was stronger. An odor that instantly thrust him back to his childhood, back to the night terrors that the elders of his pack would tell.

It was their way of scaring the young, especially the bad ones. Cedric and Andrew had heard these stories countless times growing up, so they knew them inside and out. These were stories of murderous beings with no conscience, remorse, or heart. They were evil and destructive and had one goal in life: to extinguish every living pack.

These creatures were like him, but with no soul, direction, or family. Their only purpose was to destroy. They were called blood packs. And typically, blood packs were led by an Alpha with strength only gathered by killing other Alphas.

Typically, blood packs didn’t kill humans. They didn’t live by a code that said humans were off-limits like Cedric and his kind did. Blood packs killed other packs. If humans got in their way, then they were fair game. They wouldn’t show mercy to humans, but they wouldn’t go out of their way to avoid them.

In this case, Cedric knew the second he walked inside of the house that he was seeing the slaughter of his own kind. The Hendricks family were wolves. He had also been right, they were the same family he had remembered years ago, which sort of made this case personal. Also, from the way Demond had been brutally killed, he could tell that he was killed for a purpose. He had been tortured and murdered for information that apparently, he wasn’t forthcoming with providing. At least not without a little coaxing, which was why his wife was in the other room and his kids were lying at his feet. Another point came to mind. The only being capable of killing in this destructive manner was a wolf. That fact was confirmed by the ligature marks on each of the victim’s necks. Except his kind wouldn’t kill an entire family like this. They weren’t above this type of behavior, which could only mean one thing.

Cedric cursed exasperatedly and fought the urge to run his hands through his hair. This shit couldn’t be happening, not here in his city, no way. However, as his eyes roamed the bedroom and surveyed the woman’s body, he knew what he’d surmised was true.

Feeling the rage within him starting to spill over, Cedric walked out of the house. He didn’t utter a word to anyone as he removed the booties from his boots and tore off the latex gloves. He tossed the items to one of the techs from the forensic team and moved purposefully to his truck, ignoring the questioning glances from his fellow officers. Once inside, he reached for his phone and dialed a number from memory.

“Yeah, nothing to report. He’s still…” started the caller, but Cedric interrupted.

“Where are you?” Cedric asked, not hiding his growing apprehension in his voice.

Winston, sensing the urgency replied, “Outside of Andrew’s firm waiting for him to come down. Why? What happened?”

Cedric noticed his boss heading in his direction. “I can’t tell you now. I’m in the middle of some shit. Do you have eyes on him?”

Winston grunted. “Fuck no, you know I value my life.”

“Yeah, well, I need you to put your eyes on him and keep them on him. Got it? If you need backup or sense that you do, don’t hesitate to make that call.”

“Ced, man, what’s going on?” Winston asked, his own apprehension surging through his body.

“I don’t know for sure so I don’t want to speculate. But if I’m right, Alpha could be in danger.”

“Do you want me to talk to—”

“No,” Cedric said quickly. “All he’ll do is pelt you with questions that you don’t have the answers to, get pissed, and then call me. I don’t have shit to give him yet either. Just watch his lovesick ass like a hawk. I’ll get with him once I know more.”

Cedric hung up, got out of his truck, and met his lieutenant just outside his truck. He filled him in on everything he’d been told, which wasn’t much. He, of course, did not tell his lieutenant he thought the family was attacked by a blood-thirsty pack of wolves or that the victims were wolves themselves, nomads. And, he damn sure didn’t tell him that he had known the family either. He had to play this case close to his chest. It wouldn’t be the first time he had to do this; steer his fellow brothers in law enforcement from the truth to a story that they wouldn’t be able to swallow. He’d pay close attention to what the forensic team found. He had hoped they would find something, but it had been little over twenty-four hours since the murder of the Hendricks family, and so far he had nothing.

The sound of a persistent car horn behind Cedric brought him out of his head. He looked up and realized the traffic light was green and he made a left-hand turn.

As he drove, he tried to clear his mind, if just for a little bit. He had to be running on all cylinders. Andrew’s life depended on it. As he got closer to his apartment building, he thought about calling Andrew and telling him what he’d discovered at the Hendricks’ house and what he thought it all meant, the moment he walked into his apartment. AP would hit the roof and his paranoid ass would undoubtedly increase their already thinned-out detail, but Cedric felt that he needed to know what was going on. Cedric and Andrew were two peas in a pod. One didn’t work well without the other.

Cedric reached for his phone and looked up his number right before something in the far distance caught his eye. In the shadows of the sidewalk, to his right, he noticed a behemoth of a man; broad shoulders, tall, large arms. Cedric started to dismiss it, but for some reason, he couldn’t.

There was something about the man that bothered him. He wasn’t sure if he’d seen the man before or not because he was still pretty far from the person. But still, he couldn’t ignore that feeling deep in the pit of his stomach. Cedric focused on the figure before him, and that’s when he noticed the big man wasn’t alone.

Cedric slowed down slightly when he noticed the man looked to be yelling at someone he had gripped between his fingers.

Cedric rolled down his window so he could hear better. At first, he didn’t hear anything alarming. He thought about just calling the disturbance in and letting a black and white handle it. He didn’t care for the unnecessary paperwork he would have to file if he handled this on his own.

Just as he grabbed the mic off his radio to call it in, he heard a woman scream.