Page 32 of Alpha's Choice
“But does it match with the other attacks you’ve been investigating?”
“I’m not commenting on an active investigation.”
“One of my wolves is dead, and I just got back from telling his mate. I need something.”
Sebastian turned and stared at me, giving me nothing. I would hate to play poker with the man. “The incident occurred off your pack land. That makes it my jurisdiction. I’m not in the habit of telling-”
I cut him off. “Don’t give me that crap. You’re the one who warned me about the attacks. My patrols were on high alert, keeping an eye out for anything unusual.”
He rubbed the back of his neck with his hand, reluctance coloring his words. “The woman appears to be a hiker. That, and the bite, are consistent with the other attacks. The smell is new, but this is the earliest we’ve arrived at a scene.”
“Neil was a well-trained warrior. It’s hard to believe a rogue could take him out as quickly as the timeline suggests.”
“The tracks indicate only one attacker.” His frustration was obvious. “I have a team out trying to follow the trail, but they’re not having much luck.”
We stood watching his team work in silence for a moment. When I saw them carry Neil’s body bag away, I turned to Sebastian. “I would prefer it if we could keep Neil’s body.”
“We need to autopsy him.”
“We have a hospital and doctors. Or you could bring your own doctor in. Our resources are at your disposal.”
“I appreciate the offer, but we have access to a well-equipped lab close to here. If you feel his mate needs the closure of seeing his body, we can arrange that.” Sebastian was firm. “As soon as we complete the autopsy, we’ll return the body to you. That’s the best I can do.”
“Tell me what you need from me.”
“I need your patrols to continue to keep an eye and an ear out, particularly along this border. Whatever is killing these people, your pack appears to be right next to its hunting grounds.”
“I’ll make sure my patrol teams stay together.” I knew it would stretch the schedule, but there was no avoiding it. “We’ll have to increase everyone’s shifts to cover it, but I don’t want any of them to stumble across this thing alone.”
“I can talk to the Council about sending you some temporary reinforcements.”
“That would be helpful.”
“I also want to station some of my men in the area west of your pack. For surveillance.” Sebastian tucked his hands in his pocket. “Since it’s park land, I’ll have them pose as hikers.”
“Let me know if you want to house them at our pack.” I leveled a stare at him. “I’ll be following up with you regarding your investigation.”
Sebastian looked disgruntled. “Of course you will.”
“Don’t look so miserable.” I slapped him on the back. “If I were a different Alpha, I might take it as a sign of disrespect.”
“I appreciate your restraint.” He responded dryly. “But I’ll take my chances.”
* * *
Emma
Louisa was a tremendous help. When she arrived, we went over how it went with Jenny, and she gave me advice and praise. “It’s the hardest part of being Luna. Wolves who have lost their mates can be unpredictable in their grief. You need to let them feel their feelings, but you also want to make sure you don’t lose them to it.”
We went over plans for me to follow up with Jenny. Instead of taking over, Louisa said I had already established a bond with Jenny in her grief. “Her wolf will see you as her Luna now. If I take over, she may feel abandoned by you.”
I felt the pressure of that. Louisa had explained that it was mostly the wolf half we needed to focus on. The human side experienced the normal stages of grief, but the wolf added unpredictability to the process.
If the wolf didn’t survive the loss, the human side would often wither away, having lost not just their mate, but also part of their own soul.
I remembered how Tobias explained his relationship with his wolf. Two parts that make up a whole. What must it feel like to lose half of yourself? I was determined not to let it happen to Jenny.
“How soon will Tobias want to meet with the pack about what happened? I’m assuming he’ll want to address it himself.”
