Dead

Jerome

I woke before Danica. So I was free to stare at her the way I wanted. She was sprawled on the bed, he hair scattered on her face as she snored softly. I wondered if I should have reacted the way I did last night.

No, I shook my head. I was Alpha, I didn't second guess myself.

*************

Vincent met me half way to the gate, smiling happily.

"I guess you got lucky?"

He grinned, "I did, how is Danica coming along?"

"She claimed me." I pulled my collar for him to see

"No shit!" He gasped, "never thought she'd do it, but Koala mentioned how you couldn't claim her back because she is an Hikrata, so what made her finally did it?"

I was going to say 'it was a moment of weakness ' but I grunted instead and the topic was dropped

****

We met Cara and Pete sometime later Infront of the bakery Amelia worked, Cara had finally been released when Tara was sure they were going to be safe.

"Alpha." They both greeted. "Beta." They greeted Vincent and we both grunted back in response.

"Where's Amelia?" I asked.

"Her boss was just telling us how she had traveled days ago because she had something important to do where she's traveling to."

"But she didn't request permission to leave." Vincent said.

Cara nodded. "She said Amelia told her she already requested permission from one of the council members."

I growled, "I already told them to stop giving permission without first informing me."

Vincent grimaced. "Like that would stop them from giving permission, they already think they are the law."

And it was true, because I treated them like royalty and let them have their way, they treated everyone else like crap.

"Have you searched her house?"

"Yes, we also found it locked, Amelia's parent's were out before we reached." Pete answered.

"Well then, once they are back you let them know their child is a suspect, do not tell them why she is a suspect."

"Understood Alpha." Cara said.

I sighed when she and Pete walked away.

"Wanna finish our discussion?"

I didn't need to ask Vincent what discussion he was talking about.

"No." I answered firmly.

"Oh come on, I wanna know what's going on in your life."

"And as your alpha I'm telling you to drop it."

"And I'm asking as your brother not —"

"Cousin." I corrected.

"—Your Beta."

I squinted at him, "really?"

"Oh come on, I want to know what's going on in your life."

"Do I ask you what you do behind closed doors with your mate?"

I was dissecting, I knew it and Vincent called me out.

"You know that's not what I meant, what did you mean when you said she claimed you in a 'moment if weakness."

"Really? Did I say that?" I didn't realize I said it out loud.

"Jerome?"

I sighed, "It was after Tara did something to her, when she woke up I guess her head wasn't settled and her instincts were guiding her, she claimed me, and we argued over something and her answer was, claiming me was a mistake, it was a moment of weakness."

Vincent winced, "but she told me she wanted to be your mate, I thought it her mind was changed regarding the matter?"

"Well I can assure you that she's not ready to be the mate of an Alpha yet, she doesn't know what she wants, and I don't think she ever will."

************

In the evening, when Amelia's parent's came back from work we searched Amelia's room and found a grimoire in a backpack filled with clothes and money. We found different types of spells in different languages, we found different pages filled with explanations on what was needed and how to summon.

We wondered how Amelia got hold of it, and when we asked her parents, they had no idea their child was a practitioner.

Three days later Pete found Amelia's dead body hanged on a tree when he went into the woods to hunt in his wolf form, we guessed the backpack we found was supposed to be with her during her traveling, but since she never travelled.....

The pack was in jeopardy and I had no answers to their questions.

How did Amelia die?

What was she doing in the forest?

Who murdered her?

Was Amelia really the traitor or was this all part of the plan?

"The only suspect we have was murdered, we have no idea who the murder is, we have no leads." Vincent said.

"Yes we do." Danica said, her eyes wide, red and puffy as she came into the living room in shorts and a top.

Danica had been affected by the death, she didn't believe Amelia could be a traitor and, Hailey thinks her confession was involved in Hailey dying.

"What do you mean?" Josh asked.

"I can sniff out the murderer, just take me to where you found her body."

"But we already did, we tried everything, we found nothing on her." I said with a grunt.

"Not with my nose you haven't." Danica answered back.

"She's right, Hikrata's senses are five times higher than the average shifter." Koala pointed out. I smiled deep in side, be was already fulfilling his duty as a beta mate.

"Yeah, and besides, what have we got to loose?" Josh added,

*******

I had no idea if Danica knew what she was doing with the way she climbed up the tree sniffing it along the way.

"Why is she doing that." Cara curled her lips I'm disgust, and I understood her reasons, a dead body had been left there to rotten, the smell still lingered in the air, so wouldn't it be worse on the tree?

"The murderer must have had to climb when he dumped the body, so she's sniffing the tree for any clue." Octavian answered his mother.

Danica suddenly jumped down. "Now all I have to do is find the owner of the scent."

"You found a scent?."

Danica looked at Cara like she was stupid for asking.

"Of course I did."