119
David
Duke looked bleakly into his cup of hot chocolate, which Blue made, as Trent seemed to be spitting nails and scribbling furiously before standing.
“I’m going to nail those fuckers to a wall and throw knives at them,” he turned. “Hito, if you could do a full work up on him. I’ll run a lineage trace.”
“There’s no need to,” Duke said softly.
“You… know where your family is?” I asked.
“The-They…. They’re dead.” Duke let out a shuddering breath. “I-I saw their bodies wh-while they were trying to get us out.”
“… You’re a refugee from an attack,” I said softly. “And you remember?”
He nodded. “T-The whole house went up in flames. There was blood everywhere. Some people tried to fight them off, to give us a chance to escape, but I-I don’t know what happened to them. A man helped us. He was a werewolf too. I don’t know what happened to him either.”
“Do you remember the name of your pack?”
Duke shook his head. “It’s… kind of blurry.”
Trent hesitated. “Based on what you’re saying, there is a chance you have some relatives somewhere. Maybe distantly, but they could exist. A lineage test could help you get in contact with them, to find them.”
“And maybe even get justice for your pack if any of them remember a little more,” Amos said softly. “We recognize it’s a lot to ask, so no one is expecting you to answer now.”
My lips twitched. “Lucy… is going through lineage tracing.”
He looked over at me. “I think she’d agree in saying that even if you don’t think there’s much hope, trying is better than never knowing. And I’m sure that if she could remember anything about her family that she thought might help get them justice, she’d share it.”
Duke’s eyes gloss over. “I… I…”
He looked up at me. “D-Do you really think it co-could help?”
My heart clenched. He looked so frightened. “I know that Trent, Maggie, Amos and I will make the Council’s lives hell on your behalf for everything you’ve gone through.”
He grinned. “Blue will make sure you have all the food you could possibly want and more dessert than anyone could possibly eat in one sitting.”
He laughed. It sounded watery at the end, but he nodded slowly.
“O-Okay. Where should I start?”
Trent sank back into his seat and opened his journal. Amos hustled away and came back with his tablet. Once he was set up, Trent said, “From the beginning.”
Duke's took a deep shuddering breath.
“If you want to talk about it tomorrow—“
He shook his head. “Today. I-I’m too keyed up to sleep and I don’t want to have to think more about it for a good long while.”
I nodded. “Would you rather I leave?”
He shook his head. “Y-You should probably know.”
He tilted his head. “I don’t know why I feel like that, but I do.”
“Magical instinct,” Trent said as his eyes flashed. He took a note. Blue got up and came back to refill Duke’s mug. “Whenever you’re ready.”
"It was nighttime, and there was a party going on," Duke began, his brows furrowing in concentration. "But I can't remember why there was a party.”
“Do you remember anything about it?”
He paused. “There were light strung up. It was in the courtyard. The moon was full. There weren’t a lot of people. M-My mom had left me with another cousin. I think only adults were allowed at the ceremony.”
That could have been anything.
“Do you remember what time of year it was? Anything about the house?”
He nodded. “It was in the mountains. Surrounded by tall trees. It always smelled like pine.”
His eyes turned glossy and happy. “I… I remember how it was all lit with crystal like at the coven academy.”
I went still and looked at Trent. He glanced at me in acknowledgement before taking another note. If I wasn’t wrong, and I didn’t think I was, there was only one pack who used magical infrastructure in their den back then: White Moon.
Duke was a White Moon wolf. I licked my lips as he went on.
“I was inside the house. I think I was supposed to be going to bed, but I wanted to watch through the window. I couldn’t see much. I think there was a spell being cast or something. The lights in the courtyard flickered and swirled…. Then, someone started screaming.”
His voice trembled. “The lights broke like a bubble was popped. I saw people starting to scream and run. They were casting spells but it wasn’t helping. They bounced right off of these wolves with wild red eyes that stormed through the courtyard. One of them r-ripped my dad clear in half.”
Blue let out a little whimpering sound. My eyes burned as his eyes fluttered closed.
He took a deep breath. “I didn’t know what to do. I remember being frozen when a woman came into the room. I didn’t recognize her. She brought me and my cousin out of the room, but we got caught. M-my cousin was killed and then another man showed up. He told us to go, that he would hold them off. W-We ran. We went through a portal I think and ended up at the orphanage. One of the caretakers came out and gave the woman a bag of something before she left.”
I set my jaw. “Which caretaker?”
He shook his head. “I don’t really remember. I don’t remember seeing him after that.”
“Could you describe him at all?” Trent asked.
He frowned. “Dark hair? He seemed older. I’m not really sure. I think he had a scar on his arm, a large jagged one.”
That detail pricked the back of my mind, but it didn’t come to me immediately why. It was clear that whoever brought him there was working with the man, and likely connected to the attack.
"I thought I was the only werewolf at the orphanage," Duke said softly. “At least… until you got there.”
“And Lucy?”
He shook his head. “She didn’t feel like a werewolf. She still doesn’t. But she has a restraint.”
His head popped up. “About her anchor.”
“She’ll be okay; I gave her enough to get her to Luke tomorrow.”
Duke nodded and his lips twitched. “You really took to this whole leader thing.”
I smiled. “Yeah. I really did.”
I looked at Trent as he finished taking his notes.
“Anything else you want to add about the attack?”
He shook his head.
“What about when you were taken from the orphanage?”
He went pale and dropped his gaze to the table.
“I… I was taken to an auction.”
Hours later, dawn had come and gone. The light filled the sky outside my workout room. The rhythmic thuds of my fists meeting the punching bag echoed through the empty space. I’d already replaced half the contents of the bag with magic crystal a few hours ago. My muscles were humming, but I wasn’t tired. My magic was already in overdrive. I wouldn’t be sleeping for several days.
My mind kept going over Duke’s testimony. Fury and helpless frustration filled me. With each punch I watched my magic strike and ripple through the air.
“Pay up,” Amos’ voice from the doorway. “I told you.”
I paused, panting and looking at Trent and Amos. Both of them were dressed for the day. Trent shook his head.
“Blue is going to throw a fit.”
“She came in earlier,” I said nodding at the pitcher of water and stack of croquettes. “What have you got?”
Trent closed the door and threw up a spell as I crossed the room and poured myself some water.
“I don’t think I have to tell you that it’s very likely that he’s a White Moon survivor,” Trent said. “Whoever bought him from the auction did a hell of a good job covering their tracks, or they’re a totally different outfit. I’d like to put him in trance to try and get some more details.”
“If he agrees, then do it.”
Trent nodded. “As for his Handler situation, I’ve got it under control… mostly because he doesn’t have an assigned handler.”
“What?”
“His records are completely obscured internally. I’m reaching out to someone with some higher clearance about it. He’s not even a protected person in the system, which is why he didn’t have assigned housing.”
I licked my lips. “Duke is the GED program with Lucy. They were introduced through the coven. I can’t believe that they would let him slip through the cracks like that.”
“Then you know what I’m going to tell you next.”
I growled. “The fucking Council… First Blue Moon…”
I scowled. “What else?”
“I have a theory,” Amos said. “And it’s probably going to piss you off more. Between the attack at the apartment, Knives is escorting them to campus this morning, by the way. But I don’t think it’s all connected as in it’s one large job.”
“Multiple factions,” I murmured and took a bite of a croquette. I paused looking down at it.
“What?”
I shook my head. “Blue’s pissed.”
“Why do you say that?”
“It’s lamb.”
Amos sighed. “To be expected. I’ll talk to her.”
I nodded, relishing the taste. I’d likely be eating her special lamb croquettes until Duke put on some more weight, and I couldn’t complain.
“We’ll keep you updated. Duke should be coming down for breakfast soon, so you should probably shower before you join him.” Trent grinned. “I hear a good Alpha is always properly groomed.”
Log in with Google Account
Chapters
Favorite
Settings
