Chapter 4: Six Bodies, One Mate

Valen's POV

“Is it just me? Or does this night seem to be dragging?” Ezra mused aloud.

It was one of those occasions when I was prone to agree with something that came out of Ezra's mouth.

We stood off to one side and watched as Lucas and Cameron—one of the patrol officers that had found the body—helped Meredith, the pack healer, place the man on a stretcher.

I probably shouldn’t refer to the human as a body, since it still had a pulse—a discovery that had surprised even me.

Over the past two years, five bodies had been found on pack territory and from one to another, they had all been the same—young male, late twenties-early thirties, mutilated, and most certainly dead. I hadn’t expected anything about tonight’s occurrence to lend any novelty.

But it had. This time, the human wasn’t dead. At least not yet.

And what was the anomaly in tonight’s scenario?

Zira. My mate.

I frowned as the thought whispered through my head, unbidden. My instinct was to reject the ridiculous claim outright.

Mate? No, I wouldn’t accept it!

Except…how could she possibly know about that place? The other information she'd spouted could be explained away by a host of reasons. But not that. It didn’t mean she was innocent even if she was his mate.

“Linus?”

I stiffened at the sound of Lucas’ voice. I hadn’t even been cognizant of the fact that my Beta had approached. A glance at Lucas and Ezra told me they’d both noticed my lapse, and while I knew Lucas wouldn't remark on it, it was too much to hope Ezra would keep his mouth shut.

“Distracted tonight, aren’t we? Any reason in particular?” Ezra asked with feigned innocence.

Insufferable b*stard.

I ignored my second in command and turned to look at his brother.

“The trackers haven’t found anything either,” Lucas reported.

Lucas, Ezra, and I had personally traversed the area within a three-mile radius of where the human had been found and had come up empty-handed. While it was unlikely that we had missed something, I had still sent trackers out.

I wasn’t surprised they had come up empty-handed, and I would have felt frustrated at the lack of progress if it wasn’t for the fact that this particular human was alive. It was more progress than we’d made over the past two years.

“Meredith is eager to get back to the clinic. She patched him up as best as she could but there’s still a lot of bleeding.”

I nodded to Ezra as I said, “Make sure she doesn’t run into anyone on her way back.”

There were already two of my men with Meredith. I knew they would ensure their journey remained uneventful but I needed to rid myself of Ezra. The other man was the only one in the entire Linus Pack who continuously risked his life just to get a reaction out of me.

Knowing when he’s been dismissed, Ezra grinned irreverently and made an exaggerated salute.

“Aye, aye, Captain.”

“Are you sure he’s your brother?” I asked Lucas, not for the first time, as I watched Ezra leave.

“No,” Lucas answered seriously. He often eschewed any mention of the fact that they were related, much less twins.

“What do you think about the girl?” I questioned without missing a beat.

I had my thoughts on the matter, but I valued my Beta’s opinion more than anyone else. I had filled him in about the events at the lake during our exploration of the scene.

Lucas eyed me warily. The two of us were close, perhaps even closer than most Alphas and their Betas. We had been like brothers long before either of us had progressed to our respective roles.

“The timing of her appearance and this new human is…questionable.”

A thoughtful silence stretched between us, following Lucas’ assessment. I wasn’t prone to trusting anyone, but if I could think of anyone more distrustful than myself, it would be Lucas. Neither of us believed much in coincidences.

In the two years since these incidents started, I had yet to discover how the bodies kept showing up on pack territory. There hadn’t been any indication of a breach in the barrier. As far as we could figure, one moment they wouldn't be there, and the next they appeared.

Much like Zira.

F*ck.

There she went again. Popping into my head.

It had been a thorn in my side for two long years now, but with this new development, maybe I could finally get some answers.

“Have Meredith send over some photos. I’ll pass it to Rowena to get an ID on him.”

Rowena was one of my contacts in the Human realm. She was a rogue wolf who had grown up in the Human realm. She was also a detective. And an ex-lover. Though that relationship had ended almost five years ago, we still remained good friends, and she’d been able to identify the last five victims without much effort.

Even with the information we had about their identities, we still hadn’t found anything that could lead us to the culprit or the reason behind the attacks. Clearly, whoever it was, had a bone to pick with the Linus Pack.

The problem was, given the previous Alpha’s reputation, the list of possible suspects was too long to contemplate.

My father, Luther Linus, had made enemies with too many people. And shifters tended to carry grudges. The man had been a cruel Alpha. A terrible mate. And an even worse father.

“And the girl?” Lucas asked.

“The girl…”

My thoughts veered toward the girl. The girl…

Her timing was suspicious, to say the least, but I couldn’t help but wonder about her claims. However ridiculous they might be.

She’d mentioned Savalet Peak, and had stirred a deeply personal memory I’d long ago buried in the deep recesses of my mind. A memory I had forgotten existed before she’d mentioned it tonight.

“Do you remember when Luther brought me and his mate on that trip?” I asked, unable to resist the memory surfacing.

Lucas couldn’t hide his shocked expression. I was sure it was because I had willingly brought up the subject of my father.

Among the pack members, the former Alpha was only ever mentioned in whispered discussions of fear. Some of the older, more superstitious members, feared the dead Alpha’s spirit somehow hearing his name and making an appearance. Others feared I would overhear mention of his name.

“Yes. You were seven,” Lucas answered carefully.

"Do you remember where he took us?" I asked again.

"Savalet Peak," Lucas responded.

It wasn’t common knowledge. Even among the pack members. Luther had been deeply distrustful even of those closest to him. He had been constantly paranoid that someone was always trying to kill him. Although, in retrospect, it hadn’t been paranoia because someone had always been trying to kill him.

And in the end, someone had. Me.

My mother and Linus had not been mates. But my mother had been the only daughter of the largest pack in the realm. It had been a power play. A marriage of alliance. And from what little I could remember, Luther had made my mother miserable.

When I had been seven years old, Luther found his mate. And nothing else had mattered. A shifter’s mate was known to bring unknown strength, particularly for an Alpha. And Luther had valued strength above all else. Above honor, above alliances, and above family.

My mother had conveniently—for Luther—fallen ill only weeks after Luther’s mate appeared. And she coincidentally died just months after that. It had taken me many years to discover that her death hadn’t been such a coincidence after all.

Luther had taken his new mate to Savalet Peak to woo her—a fucking joke. Of course, seven-year-old me hadn't thought so at the time. He had taken me with him. To project the image of a grieving widow and dedicated father…for his mate.

And with that one act of kindness, it had been as if all the abuse I had suffered over the years had been eradicated. Like his new mate, I had believed he’d finally changed. And I had thought it had been because he’d found his mate.

In those moments, I had thought finding a mate was the best thing that could happen for a shifter. How very wrong I had been.

"Savalet Peak," I sighed tiredly. I needed this night to end. "He wanted to impress her by taking her there. Showing her how well he took care of his son… What a fine mate he would be," I said to Lucas.

He said nothing. I knew he was perplexed by my sudden mention of Luther and past events. He knew I usually steered clear of anything that happened before I'd become Alpha.

"Tell me, what are the chances that someone outside of our pack would know about Savalet Peak?" I turned to Lucas as I asked that question.

"The girl… mentioned that?" Lucas asked, frowning over the possible ramifications.

She couldn't have come by that information easily. "The fact that she mentioned that place isn't the issue. But why would she mention it in defense of proving she's my mate?"

"I don't understand."

I remained silent for a long time, pondering how much to say. As secretive as Luther had been about his travels, the events of that night were locked in a vault in deeper.

"Something happened while I was there. Something that only me and the Goddess herself know about."

Lucas studied my face. I knew it revealed nothing, but, as he'd been doing for years, way before he'd become my Beta, he figured out what I was thinking.

"The girl knows."