*Grayson*
I stared at Ginny, hating the disturbed look on her face. My sister was almost never happy these days. It was true there was practically nothing to be happy about, but I hated that she was letting it get to her this much. Especially since there was nothing I could do about it. I ran my hand down the length of my face, releasing an exasperated sigh. If there was anything I absolutely hated then it had to be this constant almost permanent state of helplessness. My entire pack was in danger but there was nothing I could do about it.We've lost about twenty werewolves and five pups in the past three weeks. No one seemed to know what had happened to them. Their dead bodies were simply just stumbled upon. At first we hadn't taken the deaths seriously. It was true that werewolves were immortal but it wasn't unheard of that a werewolf died. There were so many things that could cause a werewolf to lose their life. Natural causes, for one. That had to be the most common cause of death. Ancient werewolves died all the time.Sadly, that wasn't the case."Why aren't they here yet?" She asked in agitation, looking down at her phone to check what the time was. We had fixed another council meeting, the tenth one in only four days. If we didn't put a stop to the killings and as fast as possible, it was safe to say the entire pack was going to slowly but surely be wiped out. I was about to say something to calm her down when the door burst open and the pack healer walked in.She halted in her steps, taking note of how empty the chairs around the long table were. Aside from Ginny and I, there was no other person seated for the meeting. She frowned a little, appearing concerned. "Why isn't anyone here yet?" She asked quietly, taking a few steps further inside the room. Ginny shook her head at her, making a gesture to indicate that she equally had no idea.The hairs on the back of my neck stood up and I instantly knew that something wasn't right. I fisted my hands, hoping against all odds that it wasn't another death. I wasn't sure how I was going to deal with another death in under twenty four hours. I had contacted Trevor, an old friend, about a week ago but he was yet to give me a solid reply. He was a supervisor to the best scientists the country currently had and I needed their help.Fast.I wasn't sure what exactly it was that was causing the delay but Trevor had assured me he was going to put together a team. Apparently, his team was going to help in getting to the root cause of the brutal murders. I had no doubt he was going to do all he could to help me out. He was doing me a favor in return for saving his life a few years back when he'd been attacked by rogue wolves.He'd contacted me three days ago to inform me that he wanted me to be personally protective of the team's leader. At first I'd found it odd that he seemed to care more about the leader than the rest of the team, but when I realized later on that the leader was female and she was best at what she did, it made complete sense. I had immediately promised to look after her. Werewolves had a hard time staying away from their mate, so I couldn't imagine what it would be costing him if they were romantically involved.The door burst open and the rest of the council seemed to enter the room all at once. Ryan strode to Ginny, pulling her to his side and giving her a kiss on her head. He was my beta and my sister's mate. She managed a small smile in his direction but even that didn't reach her eyes. She was too concerned about the state of unrest in the pack and I was worried it was beginning to affect both her health and her relationship.For one, she had practically moved in with me after I had tried to hide the deaths from her. She made it clear she wanted to be kept in the loop, even after I tried to let her know it wouldn't exactly be the wisest decision to make. We both knew she had an unhealthy way of taking everything that concerned the pack very personally. Almost more personally than I did.I could see Ryan trying to deal with not having her around but I wondered how much more he could take. He was already dealing with the pain of losing so many people in such a short amount of time. We all were. He didn't deserve for his mate to not be by his side in such a dire moment. Which was why I've been trying to convince Ginny to move back to home.It was a miracle she had finally agreed."Sorry we're late," Ria apologized, meeting my eyes. She was the pack seer. My eyebrows creased as I studied her. Her gaze flickered away from mine and I instantly knew why they'd arrived late. Ria had been overworking herself lately. We've all been trying to convince her it wasn't her fault she couldn't foresee the deaths before they happened but she was having none of it.She was constantly trying to pry into the future and we didn't want to admit it but it was becoming obvious it was beginning to take a toll on her. For one, whenever she forced herself to see into the future, she ended up falling unconscious afterwards. I had a good guess that it had happened again a few minutes ago and the rest of the council had been trying to revive her.My jaws clenched.I was going to have to talk to her. Again. Ginny met my eyes then and I knew she was having the same thought that I was. We all got seated around the table and I stared at them, trying to arrange my thoughts in my head. The werewolf council consisted of nine members now but it would be ten after I had found my mate. Asides my beta and gamma and their mates, there was also the pack healer, the pack seer, the pack lead warrior and the pack lead hunter."You said you were going to contact some human who could help," Jax reminded me once we had all sat down. He was the pack gamma. The tone of his voice was low and polite. He wasn't asking out of a place of anger or hostility. I released what seemed to be like the millionth breath since this morning and pinched the bridge of my nose. "How did that go?" He asked.The rest of the council fixed their attention on me as expected of them. It was the entire purpose of the meeting in the first place. I met their eyes, hoping I could communicate to them that I was doing my absolute best in finding a solution to the problem we were facing. "Trevor has assured me that he's putting together a team he believes is sure to get to the bottom of the deaths," I informed them. "He'll contact me as soon as the task is completed for a proper introduction."Nyx sighed in relief, resting her head against Jax's shoulder. I felt a slight stab of envy as I watched him run his thumb along the length of her arm. They didn't know how lucky they were. Almost all of them. At least they were mated. Everyone knew a werewolf was their strongest when they were mated. It was easy for them to find strength and comfort in each other. I pressed my lips together.I didn't have that."We should probably start making arrangements for them then," Ria suggested. Everyone echoed their agreement. We had to make sure they were as comfortable as possible if they were going to sacrifice their time coming down here to help us sort out the mess we were in. I had already gotten their lab ready. Trevor had insisted that we make it available since they were probably going to be carrying out a lot of tests."They'll be staying here," I informed everyone, settling whatever issues they might have been having while trying to come up with a place for them to stay. Ginny's eyebrows creases and I knew she was already wondering if it wouldn't be too much having humans in my house. Invading my personal space. It was no news that I didn't trust them. I knew to be extremely cautious and with good reason.They'd hurt more than their fair share of werewolves in the past. I'd been given a run down of all the crimes they committed. And only because they were too scared and too arrogant to get off their high horse and accept the fact that a species stronger than them could ever dream of being existed. The meeting moved to other topics and in a few hours we were ready to disperse. Ginny packed the few things she wanted to take back with her and left with Ryan.I watched Ria stylishly slip out between the doors and fought the urge to go after her. She was a grown woman after all. Though unmated, I knew Ria was smart and responsible. I was going to give her a few days to get over this stage of guilt before I talked to her about it. I didn't mind if it meant ordering her not to use her gift for a long while. The pack was what mattered to me the most right now. I wouldn't have any if them getting into more danger than we were already in.Not on my watch.*Keera*I'd agreed to it.It was a shame really. I'd had such an iron clad resolve to not let myself be talked into helping those beasts but in the end sheer curiosity and sympathy had won against my initial determination. Trevor had set up a simple team of five. Two forensic scientists , Lexi and me, one retired firearms and weapons expert, one profiler and one bioengineer. I was a bit surprised he was willing to go to these extents just to help them out.There was something he wasn't saying.I walked into the conference room and took a calculative seat at the right side of the table. We were all having a meeting with the Alpha of the pack, and I wanted to be in a place where I would feel the most comfortable. I had spent barely ten minutes in his presence a few years ago but it had been more than enough for me to form a strong opinion about him.A strong hateful opinion.I looked up at the door when it burst open. Trevor walked in, his strides long and confident. He frowned at the e
*Grayson*I felt all the air leave my lungs the second I locked gazes with those familiar light brown eyes. I blinked once, trying to make sense of what exactly was happening. I'd been standing at the entrance of the building when my wolf had gone mad shit crazy of a scent. Over my mate's scent. I hadn't been able to believe it at first. I had already lived a good number of years searching for my mate and she had seemed nowhere to be found. What was the probability that the first visit I made back to human territory would bring me to her? But then like any other werewolf I'd been hopeless not to follow the scent of the one the goddess had made for me. But it had led me to her. Keera. I cleared my throat, moving my gaze away from her cold and calculating one. I had to get it together in front of these humans. I walked to where Trevor was seated and shook hands with him before taking a seat beside him, making me find myself seated directly opposite to Keera. As Trevor made the introdu
*Keera*I avoided Lexi's eyes as I packed up the things I was going to need while working my ass off to help those people. Lexi and I had bonded after working together on a couple of assignments and it seemed our bond was about to become even tighter seeing as we were about to work on yet another assignment together. We'd gone out for drinks to celebrate the success of our mission a few months back and to explain my disdain for werewolves I'd given her a summarized version of my relationship with Ginny as well as a bunch of other things that had happened in my life.Because of those people.She knew enough to know that I wasn't happy about being sent there Especially with the fact that Ginny and I had never resolved our falling out and I completely despised her cold and arrogant twin brother. Even after six years I was finding it extremely hard to get over the fact that our entire friendship had been built on such a huge lie. She had watched me get bullied by her kind on several occas
*Grayson*I ended the call and resisted the urge to throw my phone against the wall. I'd tried my best to remain calm while I'd been on the phone with Trevor but I'd been seconds away from howling like a true beast. The entire arrangement was getting too intense already without emphasizing the fact that I needed to watch out for Keera. I wondered how the rest of the team were going to feel if they knew most of his concerns were about his precious, Keera. The headstrong stubborn woman. Who the goddess had also apparently decided was my mate.I should have known after being without a mate for so long that the goddess didn't want me with one. Because I couldn't see the reason she had picked Keera out of the thousands of humans to be the one made for me. She had to be well aware. that Keera was never given up being human no matter what. And certainly not for someone she completely despised. Which was. absolutely fine by me, anyway. I wasn't interested in being with her for the rest of my
*Keera*"Good thing you never actually got that puppy," Lexi said from her spot at the door as I rolled the last of my suitcases down the stairs. I held a tight grip on the handle, a slight frown on my face as I walked to add the suitcase to the rest we had already gotten down the stairs. She wasn't wrong though, I thought to myself. I'd decided just three days ago that I was going to get myself a puppy from a shelter a few blocks away from my apartment building. And then the new mission happened. I couldn't even imagine having to leave her all by herself if I'd gone through with my plan. I was at work way too often for me to get friendly with the neighbors. "I guess you're right." I finally replied, raising my shoulder. I let my gaze move around the house, trying to get one last mental picture before we left. Lexi was already taking the suitcases and duffel bags out the door as I turned off the lights and turned on the alarm. I didn't know how long I was going to be away for but I k
*Grayson*She had no right looking nearly as good as she did. Her red hair was in a ponytail. She had on black tights, a white shirt, a black jacket tied around her waist and black ankle boots. She looked more badass than a scientist had any business looking. And it was doing a lot of things to my wolf. Not me, of course. I didn't think she was ever capable of affecting me. Just my wolf. I already knew how rebellious and stubborn she could get beneath that cool exterior of hers. She halted her movements at my words, turning to face me with a cold look in her eyes. Yes, princess. I'm not about to make any of this easy for you. Her brown eyes flashed a warning at me. One I was very well going to ignore. I leaned against the wall, crossing my arms over my chest as I waited for her reply. "There was no need for him to know." She finally spat.My brows rose as I huffed, moving my head from side to side. "It's okay to keep things to yourself but then it becomes a problem when someone else
*Keera*Breathe, just breathe.I let my eyelids drift shut as I tried to mentally count to ten. Nope. Nothing was working. "With who?" I finally repeated, extremely proud when my voice came out sounding way calmer than I felt. Grayson dug his hands into his pockets, looking like he was waiting for a child to get over their tantrum. "What do you mean I'm staying upstairs with you?" I asked again, my voice sounding even calmer.There was no way I was giving him the reaction he was expecting. Thankfully, Elena had the sense to excuse us, saying that she had to get home and get a few things done. I managed to murmur my thanks to her amidst my growing annoyance. As Grayson walked her to the door I wondered if this was going to be a constant emotion for as long as I was here. This anger and irritation. The door closed with a soft click and soon enough Grayson was in my line of sight. He stalked across the room calmly, all six and half muscled inches of him. I crossed my arms over my ches
*Grayson*I turned again, like I'd been doing for the past four hours, this time lying on my right side. It was no wonder that sleep had eluded me. Having my pack members killed off like chickens and not being able to do anything about it was beginning to mess with my head, my wolf and my sleep. And then there was the fact that I'd finally found the one person that was supposed to help me get through my rough days, and she happened to be the most insufferable human being I had ever met. Literally. Who was currently sleeping just a few feet away from me.I let out an irritated sigh and turned, facing the other side. I'd let my curiosity get the better of me today when I'd walked downstairs and into the kitchen pretending to get something to eat. There was a kitchen on this floor, smaller than the one downstairs, but a kitchen nonetheless. I hadn't let Keera know about it because I hadn't been prepared for her to invade that part of the house yet. Which I somehow knew was exactly what