Chapter 161

[ 1,546 words ]

Theo

The healers turn Rosa’s body over gently and Aria growls low, furious beside me.

Her skin is a sickly yellowish-grey color. The remnants of foam spilling from the corner of her lips.

“What is that?” I ask Thomas, as the male examines Rosa’s remains.

“It looks to be like poison,” the male says in a deep voice like the distant rumble of thunder across the mountains.

“Poison,” Aria repeats.

Her rage is magnified across the bond. A spark that grows hotter the longer she looks at the older female.

I can feel the concern of Ronan and Kade through your bond and know it won’t be long until I receive a call.

Stepping in front of her, I hold her shoulders, rubbing along the columns.

“Breathe. We will find the person who did this and we will make them pay.”

“Fucking poison, Theo! What kind of weak, malicious male would hurt an old woman,” she seethes her wolf flashing in her eyes.

She is right, my wolf says, agreeing with our mate’s assessment.

“It’s a tragedy,” I venture carefully, “but we need to put aside our feelings right now if we are going to get her justice.”

The fury wavers, ebbs and in its place sorrow comes crashing in.

Her hand covers her mouth. “We need to tell her children.”

“We will, but let’s get all the facts first. It won’t suit anyone to go in without as full of a picture as we can.”

Thomas stands with a sigh. “We’ll take Rosa and perform a medical autopsy. I’m certain the poison is fast acting however it needs to be analyzed for me to definitively say what it is.”

“I want to be notified immediately of your findings,”Aria says, using her Luna voice.

Thomas gives her a nod, his passive face giving no indication of his feelings. Not even his scent changed from careful neutrality.

It is a trait my wolf respects.

The dominant male isn’t what you would typically think of as a healer. He’s calculated, analytical and showed very little tolerance for others’ feelings in instances outside of treatment.

Where Kiara is firm and fiery, Thomas is steady, an indomitable fortress.

“Thank you Thomas,”

He holds up a hand dismissing the gratitude. “It’s my duty. Rest assured, there will be no stone left unturned during my examination,” he says to Aria before turning to leave.

With the wrapped body in tow, the other healers and two enforcers follow.

Barric enters, his brow furrowed in frustration. “I’ve dispatched two teams. The first is searching the ground for weak points. The second will look inside the house. Quinnie is outside settling the upset members of the pack along with a few of the other submissives.”

He holds out his hand, indicating that we exit the house, probably to give the enforcers room to perform their search thoroughly.

“Do you think they waited for Ronan and the other Alpha’s to be gone to do this?” Aria asks, her sharp eyes scanning the area.

I can’t say I haven’t thought of that possibility myself.

“If they did then that means we’ll have to contact the other packs.”

Barric and Aria give me a confused look so, before they could ask I fill them in.

“We still don’t know who is behind this or what they are after. After the attack on Quinnie all of this seems more random, chaotic even. Like the trouble being caused is just for the sake of it.”

Barric’s eyes widen, catching on to my train of thought. “So if this attack is isolated, we can assume our pack is under attack, but if not, then there is something we’re missing.”

“I would push it further and say that if other people were attacked then it gives us more possible links to explore.”

Aria frowns. “I’m more concerned about the fact that those bastards managed to get inside.”

“Same here,” Barric says, his face growing dark.

His wolf prowls behind his eyes, his Beta instincts moving to the forefront.

Barric’s gaze moves meaningfully to Aria.

Her emotions are moving at rapid fire which is exactly the opposite of what we want in her condition.

“Take Aria home. I’ll give you guys a call when we find something.”

I get why he said it, but he must have forgotten that pregnancy hormones make females more easily offended, not less.

I can almost count down the seconds as she unleashes her agitation.

Aria’s spine straightens. “I am not going home. I’m Luna of this pack and I will not restrain myself into a hidey hole until I know the rest of the pack is safe.”

I give Barric a shake of the head to try and convince him to stand down but he doesn’t.

My wolf sighs.

“The pup—”

“Is perfectly fine. Healthy. Strong. And has nothing to do with me keeping an eye out for my pack.”

“You’re my concern right now. Our pup is my concern and I won’t be able to do my job if I’m worrying about something happening to you.”

“Look,” she says haughtily, holding up a hand, “I know your instincts are telling you to wrap me in bubble wrap and shove me in a closet, but you just gonna have to get over it because it’s not happening.”

We should break them up, my wolf says.

I inwardly sigh, stepping in between them and giving them each a soothing caresses down their spine.

“Barric is right that your safety and the pups take priority,” I say to Aria. Her face contorts, unimpressed and she opens her mouth ready to argue back with me but then I turn to Barric, “And Aria is right that keeping her locked up won’t solve anything. The rest of the pack needs to see that it’s safe here. We can’t exactly project that message if we won’t let our mate step outside.”

Barric’s face hardens. “I was with you for the first half.”

“Trust me, I would rather Aria me somewhere where she can lounge all day but I know that won’t happen. So let’s be smart about this.”

“Whatever you are about to suggest, I hope it doesn’t make me punch you in the dick, because I will,” Aria warns.

I laugh even though I’m one hundred percent sure she will.

“I was going to say I’ll go with you to check on the pack and start to question the neighbors, while Barric makes the calls to the other packs.”

They both look satisfied by my proposal though I can tell the Barric would still argue if he felt he could.

“We’ll meet back at the house in the evening,” Barric says leaning in to give Aria a kiss.

She nips at his bottom lip communicating the fact that she is still offended he tries to bench her.

“Ow,” he laughs.

Grabbing his chin, I lick the sting from his red bottom lip.

Aria sucks in a breath. The bond humming with pleasure as she watches us.

“Stop being such a baby,” I say to him.

“And you,” I say to Aria, my eyes still on Barric. “Behave.”

“I don’t want to,” she taunts.

Brat.

Barric’s fine stubble grazes against fingertips, but the feeling isn’t unpleasant or wrong.

It’s actually kind of nice.

Barric looks like a fish, his mouth gaping open and closed and I just smirk at him before running my knuckles against his jaw and dropping my hand.

“We’re going to head out,” I say.

Placing my hands in the small of Aria’s back I guide her away to the closest cabins to Rosa’s. It would be difficult for no one to have heard anything considering how acute shifter hearing is.

We spoke to two of her closest neighbors who were away at the dining hall and didn’t hear anything all night.

When we get to the third, a young submissive named Dedre, who had just started living on her own, she looks frightened.

“Aria, Theo, hi.”

“Hi, Dedre, mind if we come in,” Aria says.

“Yeah, of course.” She flushes, gesturing to the pile of boxes. “Don’t mind the mess I’m still unpacking.

She leads us into the kitchen, which is in a similar state of partial organization, and gestures for us to sit.

“Do you want any tea? Water?”

“No thank you. This will be quick. We don’t want to keep you from unpacking.”

Dedre glances over in the direction of Rosa’s house. “It’s horrible what happened to her. I can’t believe anyone would be so cruel and vicious to an old woman. Fucking cowards.”

Her words rang true with honesty. “I agree. We came to ask if you. Noticed anything off about Rosa or anything unusual in the surrounding area?”

“Umm…” she scrunches her face in thought, leaning on the table. “Rosa seemed pretty much the same. Last night I was with my parents. My daddy was putting the finishing touches on my table so I stayed to help him prime and finish the wood.”

She is being truthful, my wolf senses.

“Are you sure there is nothing you remember? It could be anything even if it’s small, nothing is insignificant.”

“Dedre thinks again, then her eyes light up like she is discovering something.

“There is this one thing. When I got up one day, there was a raven feather in my yard. I figured a bird had flown by but for the next five days a black feather would always be there. That is when Rosa died.”

“What happened after,” I prompt, sensing that Dedre was struggling with the next part.

That’s the thing. The morning she did there was another black feather right on the fence between her property and mine but this morning, there was nothing.”

My wolf stills. “Are you sure?”

“Positive.”

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