4. Animal attacks.

In the forest deep where shadows fade,

A wolf is born of blood by fate.

A soul gone rogue a wolf untamed,

The fate of wolves, by him decreed.

This is the prophecy that brought me into town. A prophecy as old as the first lyncan. Some believe the prophesied wolf to be a savior, others the enemy.

Wolves seek it for their packs, hunters seek to kill it. Every few couple of decades, tension rises among wolves and between wolves and hunters, as rumours of the prophesied wolf shake both communities. Recently, the rumors had resurfaced, as hunters and wolves both moved closer to Crimson Hills, believing for some reason, that the prophesied wolf would rise here.

Soon after Lucien Gray was killed, wolves in Crimson Hills began to drop like flies. Killed by other wolves from different packs. Recently, the attacks had reduced after Damian’s pack caught one of the perpetrators and annihilated his whole pack. Again, I wonder why my father would dare cross the young alpha.

Nonetheless, my father believes that the wolves being killed, including the late alpha, knew something about the prophecy and are perhaps hiding the identity of the untamed wolf. He brought me here, under the guise of learning leadership from Damian, to find out what is going on in Crimson Hills, and to find the untamed wolf, if it did exist here, before anyone else does.

“He’s been locked in the woods his whole life. If he’s to be the next alpha, I need him to see the world a bit.” He had said to Damian.

Every pack would love to be the one that finds the prophesied wolf, and ours is no exception. I just find it hard to believe that Damian does not know why we are here.

“Will you move quieter?” Dan asks. “Or do you want everyone to know we are here?”

“Sorry,” I mumble I can tell he is mad at me.

“What’s on your mind anyway? I have been on my own this whole time.”

“Nothing. I'm here now.” I say.

We move sleekly between the trees, hoping to catch a glimpse of the crime scene where the two werewolves have been killed.

“I don’t understand why we can't just work with the crimson hills pack. They obviously have more information and an upper hand here, we will never get to the wolf  before they do.” I find myself saying.

Dan ignores me. “Let's hide here. We will have an escape if we are seen, and we have a clear view of the house. Try to mask your scent.”

I do as advised, crouching behind a tree. Masking your scent is something that takes years of practice, but much like whistling, some people can just do it, some have to work hard for years to master the ability, while others, especially the weaker breeds, can not do it, however hard they try.

I adjust my sense of smell and hearing as try to listen to the sounds in the house, to avoid overwhelming myself. The smell that hits me is the scent of blood. Gallons upon gallons of blood. It seems as if the whole house is painted in blood. I almost gag immediately. What the hell happened in that house?

“Did the child say anything?” someone inside asks.

“’ A big dog’ she said.’ She hasn’t said another word since.” Someone else replied.

“Well, this has to be one hell of a big dog, and the precision of it is almost too sophisticated to be an animal. This seems more like an execution than a rabid animal."

“A wolf?”

“In town? If it happened in the woods or someone's farm, I would say a wolf or a mountain cat. And the bodies are missing some of their organs.”

"Maybe it's a werewolf," a younger voice says. "I read somewhere they like to eat the liver and sometimes the heart."

Laughter erupts in the room.

"Rookie, keep your fantasy movies to yourself, this is real life, not an episode of Teen Wolf."

“We cannot stay too long.” Dan cuts in sounding like he is shouting despite his lowered voice. “There is a werewolf in that house, he might smell us out.”

I sigh. If only the officers in the room knew how right he was. "How do we get the info if we leave?"

“I will hack into their records and find the report once they are filed.”

“We both know what their conclusion will be,”

“Animal attacks. But we cannot stay here.”

“I understand,” I say. As I stand to leave, a very familiar scent hits me, Wilda. What is she doing here?

I sniff the air, but cannot locate her. The smell seems to be coming from everywhere. Maybe im imaginging things. I cannot let her distract me from my mission.

“What is it?” Dan asks impatiently.

“Nothing,” I reply, following him between the woods to report to father. I look back, getting the feeling that I'm being watched, but there is no one behind us or a scent to trace. I look at Dan, who seems to notice nothing, so I write it off as paranoia.

I can already picture my father’s disappointed face. Two days and nothing to show for it.

The drive to the mansion is five minutes long and the whole way is filled with silence. We find my father on the patio, drinking his evening tea.

“I hear two more wolves are dead?” he greets us.

“Yes. A couple. The child was spared.” Dan answers.

I settle in a chair beside him. Dan waits for confirmation from my father before he does the same.

“I'm leaving today. We cannot leave the pack without its alpha for too long, even though no one knows we are here. What do you have for me?” he turns to me.

“Nothing yet, previous victims have all been buried, most cremated, and Dan is still working on getting us the police records.”

“So, you’ve got nothing.” He concludes.

I remain silent, afraid that if I open my mouth something unpleasant will come out. Dan nods. Again, I sense a watcher, this time, a lot stronger than before. I look around the house, sniffing the air for anything.

Though a wolf may be able to mask their scent, unless they are completely naked, the smell of the sweat on their clothes or something in their pockets can still be discerned. Even so, I smell nothing, but my father's guards in the air, and the area in front of the mansion is clear.

“You better find that wolf, if it is here, before anyone else. And please get stronger. Your wolf could be mistaken for a cub, or worse, a dog.” He twists his nose disgusted by the thought.

“Of course,” I say.

“You are looking for a fifteen to seventeen, maybe eighteen-year-old, someone who transformed recently, and may not have had someone to guide them. Look at the high school kids. Anyone showing erratic behavior is a person of interest. I will update you both on any more findings soon.” He stands up and leaves without another word.

I have asked before where he gets his information, but the topic seemed too sensitive and he had brushed me off carelessly and asked me to do my job and ask no questions.

My relationship with my father is not great. It used to be, but ever since this prophesied wolf business started, I never seem to do enough for him. Sometimes I see glimpses of our old loving relationship, but most times I am just the next alpha to him and not his son. I watch him get into his car and drive off. Most of the other cars drive off as well. Leaving the one we arrived in.

Now it's just me, Dan, and a guard. Officially, it's supposed to be just me and a guard and that is why Dan got an apartment a few miles off. Father insisted that if Damian knew we had arrived here with my future beta, he would smell a rat. He insisted Dan’s presence remain a secret and that I am not to be seen with him in public.

“Don’t you think if there was a rogue wolf in town The Grays would have already found it?” Dan brings me back to planet Earth.

“Honestly, I think our chances of finding this wolf are as good as those of you finding a girlfriend.” I chuckle.

Dan an introvert, though almost twenty-seven now, has never had a girlfriend. He claims to be too busy and sometimes he jokes that he is waiting for his mate, but the truth is probably that he is afraid of talking to women.

He does not find my joke very funny. "Your negativity might be the reason we don't succeed. And your distracted mind. Jesus Christ, what are you thinking about all the time? Did that Orion kid rattle you that badly?" He is leaning his elbows, looking at through narrowed eyes.

"I am not rattled," I say defensively. "Nothing rattles me."

"Sure." He sits back comfortably, letting the cynicism on his face show.

"I'm just worried, Damian already knows what's going on. I mean, all these new people in town, his pack is being killed, why is everyone acting like he is stupid?"

"He is quite young to be an alpha,"

"And yet he is probably the strongest one of us right now."

Almost immediately after I say these words, the hairs at the back of my neck stand, and a very familiar and clear scent wafts my way.