Page 88 of A Wolf's Heart

I nodded. “I’ve been super busy on the Cartway case. I was just wondering if you could look up some names for me.”

“Sure.” She smiled.

I picked up a pen and a sticky note. “I don’t know if this is their name, but I’m looking for Markus Ophidian.” I wrote out the name. “He should be located west of Cartway Park, just on the other side of the conservation area. It might not be his last name, but if you have a hit on that last name, I will take that as well.”

I glanced up just in time to see her suspicious gaze, which she masked as soon as she noticed me watching her. Jenny gave me a smile. “Sounds good, I’ll get on that.”

“Thanks.” I gave her a tight smile, the hairs on the back of my neck standing up, though I wasn’t sure why. Jenny had always been nice to me.

I had just made it to my desk when Rodney stuck his head out of his office and called my name, as if he was calling me into the principal's office.

I let out a long breath, bypassing my desk and going into his office. The lecture that Rodney proceeded to give me wasboth confusing and out of character for him. He still stammered around in his happy-go-lucky way, but it was much more forced than usual, like he was laying it on too thick when communicating how “genuinely concerned” he was. Now he expected me to check in every so often when I wouldn’t be in the precinct, which, honestly, didn't make sense to me to begin with.

Rodney also went on to insist that he needed to see the files on the alpha case. Again, I declined. Instances like this always made me second-guess how he got into such a high position to begin with. Rodney lacked almost all knowledge on proper protocol. The case wasn’t his, and even though I was employed at this precinct, the case now belonged to Weylin’s team. It had been transferred over. I was just a detective working ontheircase. I didn’t have to disclose any information to him. After explaining this to him several times, I had given up and agreed I’d give him something. I wouldn’t give him everything, just a little bit to get him off my back.

When I returned to my desk, Jenny had placed a sticky note with a number on it and a name, Markus Ophidian. I took the sticky note and walked out of the precinct, nodding a thanks to Jenny as I went. I wanted somewhere private to have this conversation.

I went to my car and pulled out my phone, dialing the number. It wasn’t long before someone answered.

“Hello?” the female voice asked.

“Hi, my name is Detective Evans. I’m looking for Markus Ophidian, I think that is his last name.”

There was a long pause on the other end of the line, and I pulled my phone away to make sure I hadn’t accidentally hung up on her. “May I ask what this is about?” she finally asked.

“Well, I’m a detective working on a case, and we wanted to get his side of the story.”

Another pause. “One moment.”

It took almost another three minutes before a male voice filled the line. “Detective Evans, I presume.”

“Yes.” I smiled. “Is this Markus?”

“It is.”

“Markus, I am one of the lead detectives working on the alpha case—”

“I’ve already discussed, at length, that we will not allow any outsiders on our territory,” he said, his voice both calm and reasonable.

“I understand. I wanted to express my sincerest apologies. I know your alpha has been missing for quite some time. Markus, we aren’t accusing you of anything, we aren’t looking to get in there and arrest you. We simply want to know what happened so that we can locate your alpha.”

Markus sighed and I felt bad for him. I know this couldn’t be easy. I had watched videos of the other packs mourning their alphas. “Cridhe Pack is banned from our lands for good reason. The fact the council continues to hold them at such high esteem is troubling. It makes it difficult to know who to trust.”

“I get that, I do. I’m not with Cridhe Pack, though.”

“Oh?” he asked.

“No, I’m bordering their territory and yours. I have no ties with them, aside from this case. If it makes you feel better, I can be the one to come out,” I offered.

“That is an interesting proposal…” Silence filled the line once more, and I waited as he thought the offer through. “Okay, we will allow one pass for an outsider. But it is to only be you.”

I thought back to what the guys had said about Ophidian Pack. “I may need to bring someone with me.”

“No exceptions,” he said firmly.

“The thing is, I know I said I had no ties to Cridhe, however Weylin is my mate.” I figured claiming only one to be mine was safer, and Weylin seemed the least frightening.

“Weylin… which one is that? A gamma? No, I’m not liking this, Detective Evans. I have to keep my pack safe.”

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