CHAPTER 12

CHAPTER TWELVE
My sharp gaze studied the bodies, tracing how their hearts had been ripped out. This was not the work of some low life street killer. Whoever he or she was, had to be a well-trained assassin. I was not sure whether to rule out if the assassin was a wolf or not because there was no scent left off the bodies. A few rogue wolves were known to be perfect killers and they never left any speck of scent that could be trailed back to them. In addition, none of them had ever been spotted remotely anywhere within the four supernatural towns. It almost felt like they were of a tale than real. Was it perhaps time they made themselves known?

“You think it’s the work of a gang?” Ethan questioned beside me, his own gaze trained on the bodies.

“No. This is the work of a seasoned killer,” I answered, the answer pretty obvious.

“Are you saying just one killer, no matter how skillful he or she is, can take out three of our sentinels? We’ve been training them for months so I think that’s highly impossible,” He said, his voice full of disbelief and could you blame him? I was personally trying to believe it despite the clear facts.

Danny had gone back in his room obviously to sleep, claiming the sight was too gut wrenching for him. Left to scout the mess, was just Ethan and I with a few other sentinels standing a few paces away from us.

“That’s exactly what I’m saying. This is a call for desperate measures because we cannot afford to lose one more member of our pack. We don’t know who this is or what exactly they want. We have absolutely no idea where they are going with this. One thing I’m certain of is that when I find them, they’ll be begging me for mercy,” I clenched my jaw, trying subdue the pain and anger of losing my sentinels. Maybe I should never have left town. I turned to look at the pack members behind me, my gaze subtly gliding over each of them, “Tonight we double the watch and Ethan, pick a team of six of our best hunting members. We have got some scouting to do in the parameter,” I ordered.

“Of course. But one question, how can you be so sure this is not the work of a group of individuals?” He questioned. He was clearly finding it so difficult to make sense of an individual taking out three sentinels. I could not blame because even I thought it was highly unlikely it could be just an individual even though the evidence proved otherwise. Heck, I had trained those sentinels myself with Ethan helping me out just a few times.

“Look closer at the way their hearts were carved out. It’s the exact same knife cut or whatever it was that the culprit used to cut out their hearts. But whoever this is, we need to find him or her before this gets out of hand. Now go get the team while I find Danny. I need him to get a list of every new person that has stepped in town in the last three months,”

“I’m on it,” I watched him walk away before letting out a shaky breath. It was hard to keep up straight face when there was killer on the loose; a killer whose motives were unknown to us.

Three sentinels, each from the seven packs of Wood cave town, murdered exactly the same way and the same messages meant for the Alphas of the parks, left the same way. Looking at the note, I studied the handwriting, written in messy blood that had now dried out on the paper. Nothing about that particular handwriting rang familiar. Last I checked, the wolves had been in peace with everyone. There had been no wars as far as my memory could go.

“Trevor,” I beckoned the sentinel who was standing right outside park house and he was quick to rush over. Well, that dose of silver I gave him must have made him a little bit afraid of me and maybe that’s how I needed to rule the park now. I was done being the vulnerable, sweet Alpha always looking at the bright side of things. After Laila’s betrayal, I was now hell bent on seeing things exactly the way they were.

“Alpha,” he acknowledged my presence.

“Get a few other sentinels and prepare for the tonight. We cannot let the dead haunt us under the darkness of the night,” The haunting part was just a mere joke. Who the hell still believed in spirits and ghosts anymore?

“Okay,” He walked away and I changed direction, walking towards Danny’s house. After knocking thrice, he opened up looking like he could use twelve straight hours of sleep. He was dressed only in shorts and his hair was a curled up mess with a few strands of it sticking to the side of his face. Heck, I was tired too from the journey but being an Alpha meant putting the pack first. He was lucky that he was just a beta in training and didn’t have to rush around, trying to solve the mystery that was plundering the packs in town.

“This better be good Collins,” he groaned as I walked past him into the house, settling on the leather couch.

“Well, looking at you right now, I’m not sure if you are really going to be up to the task I’m about to give you but you need to do it before tomorrow six p.m. I cannot afford to waste any more time when there is a killer on the loose. So tomorrow, I want you to get a full list of everyone who set foot in town in the last three months. Anything suspicious and you report it to me immediately,” I told him and as expected, he groaned in annoyance.

“Why can’t somebody else do that task for you? I might be sleeping till the day after tomorrow. I’m so fucking drained out, man,” He complained as he let his back rest on the couch. eyes half closed.

“Just because you are my friend, does not mean you are getting any favors. Get me the list by tomorrow six in the evening Danny,” I ordered.

“You do know WoodCave is such a big town, right?” He was still trying to get out of this and admittedly very lamely at that.

“No excuses. Get that list while I try to figure out if I can spot anything familiar about this note,” I stood up from the couch, proceeding to walk towards the door.

“How are you even standing right now? Because I could honestly use a million hours of sleep,”

“It’s called being an Alpha Danny. The pack always has to come first,” I answered with a slight smirk before walking out; almost colliding head on with Laila.

“Alpha “she muttered. I had no idea if it had to do with the fact that Laila was a woman but when she called me alpha, my mind quickly spiraled back to that night in that club on the outskirts of Las Vegas. The way Nadia had told me to take her while grabbing on my shoulders like she needed me to breathe as she called me Alpha crossed my mind.

“Just Collins and no, that does not mean you and I are in talking terms now,” I stated sternly.

“Look, I know what I did hurt you Collins but you’ve already punished me for it. Bradley is-“now that easily pissed me off and I leaned to stare into her gaze, my eyes spitting venomous hatred mixed with rage

“Don’t you ever mention that bastard‘s name on my face ever again because if you do, I won’t be held responsible for what happens next,” I walked past her and she had the fucking audacity to grab my right arm.

“I know you do not want to hear this right now but I’m ready to do just anything so we could go back to how we used to be; anything,” I did not miss the slyness in her tone. She knew she was so damn attractive and so she did not hesitate to use her beauty to get what she wanted but not this time. I was over her charms.

“Fuck off Laila! I could care less about what you are so willing to give. As a matter of fact, you are just pissing me off all over again,” I easily detached my arm from her grip, walking towards the team that Ethan had gathered.