Chapter 26 A creature of unknown origin
Dravik's pov
I flung a thick book across the room and it slams into the wall, dropping to the floor in a thud.
“Dammit.”
I have glanced through researches, blood bound tomes, even witches scripts written in languages long dead, yet not one page names the creature I just killed. Not one sketch comes close.
I drag a hand through my hair and stare at the screen of my laptop as it glows on the desk, the tabs still open. I slam it shut. There was nothing on it either. Not in our records, not in the council archives I managed to get access to. Not even the cesspool humans call the internet.
The door opens and Jace strolls into my office like he owns the place and drops into the chair across from me, his boots coming up on my desk.
“Have you seen your mate?”
A low growl slips out of my chest before I can stop it and I shove his legs off my desk.
“Yes.”
Hope’s voice is still faint in my head. She had mindlinked earlier, telling me how Auren was having an almost panic attack about stepping outside alone. I chose not to interfere with whatever was going on with her this time. She needs to learn where her strength ends and where it begins again. I can guard her from blades and beasts, not from fear.
“Why?” I ask.
He shrugs, “Just curious. And I’m surprised you left her alone.” He grins. “You two have been practically joined at the hip lately.”
I chose to ignore that.
“What do you want, Jace?”
“I thought we were heading to Silverveil.”
“Not anymore.”
His face twists as he leans forward, “You serious?”
“Yes.”
“Oh, come on mannn. Well thanks for telling me now.” He drops back dramatically. “Would’ve been nice to know earlier, I had to rush things with this sweet little redhead I was with. Which is not my usual signature, by the way. I have a reputation to uphold in these streets and she definitely wasn’t satisfied—”
“Jace,” I cut him off. “I don’t give a fuck about your sex life.”
Why does he always think everything is about him? Shadow snarls in my head.
I lean back in my chair, “I’m occupied as you can see and you should be too.”
He lifts his hands, “Alright, Alpha. Relax.” He casually puts his boots back on my desk anyway. “I checked the surrounding forest with Garrick. There is nothing else out there I assure you of that. You’ve got nothing to worry about.”
“That doesn’t comfort me,” I say.
He tilts his head, “You worry too much. Besides we are all trained really well and have dealt with different kinds of unbelievable creatures. If another comes, we will deal with it.”
He sounded so optimistic that I just stare at him. He has always been like this, calm in chaos, laughing in the face of death. Weirdly enough that is one of the qualities he had that made me make him my second Gamma. I once caught him in bed with a merchant’s wife while her husband was banging on the door with a blade. He just smiled and finished tying his boots.
If he wasn’t my brother, I’d say the boy was missing some nuts in his head.
“Now,” he continues, smirking, “about that gorgeous mate of yours—”
The door opens again and Garrick pokes his head in, “I thought we were going to Silverveil.”
“Change of plans,” I say.
“Ohhh man,” Garrick mutters as he enters and shuts the door.
The irritation in his eyes surprises me. Why am I the only one reasonable enough to know that leaving the pack after an attack from an unknown creature should be unthinkable.
I raised them better than this.
“I know, right?” Jace adds, gesturing wildly. “I was just telling him about the redhead I canceled plans with. A real tragedy.”
Garrick shoots him a look. “Nobody gives a fuck about that, you whore.”
He smacks Jace’s boots off my desk and shoves him out of the chair, taking his place. They scuffle briefly, more habit than hostility.
“Focus,” I say to them, not interested in waiting for the shuffle to turn into a fight.
Garrick pushes him into another seat and turns to me, “Did you find anything on the creature?”
“No.”
That earns my full attention from both of them.
“Nothing?” Garrick repeats.
“Nothing,” I say again.
Garrick frowns now, “That’s weird right. I mean a creature that can’t be found in any record shouldn’t exist.”
“Exactly, It shouldn’t exist,” I say. “Not without records or precedent.”
Unless it was created for something……but why would it come here. None of our neighboring packs has reported seeing such a creature before.
“I doubled patrols,” Garrick says as he watches Jace move around the room, moving books. “Rotations overlap now.”
“Good,” I reply. “Triple them near the eastern ridge.”
That stops Jace in his track, “wait the eastern ridge, but that's close to—” He stops.
“To her quarters,” I finish.
Silence follows
“You think it was after her?,” Garrick breaks the silence.
I shrug, refusing to say anything about that until I'm sure. My mind went back to everything that has happened since I brought Auren into our pack. The blood tie and Madam Agatha’s warning before she disappeared. The timing……some might call it coincidence, but nothing in my life ever is.
Jace and Garrick exchange a look.
“Why would you think that?”.
“I mean no offense,” Jace says slowly. “But there’s nothing special about your mate. She’s just someone you found, took pity on and decided to add to your contract with the intent use her and exert your revenge…..something I still don’t understand how or why.”
She is not just someone we found Shadow snarls.
I ignore him.
Tell him she is special and if he ever put hands on her or try to infect her with his waywardness I will chop his fingers off
I smiled at his words
“What’s funny?” Jace asks.
“Nothing.”
“So,” Garrick leans back on his chair, “if we’re not going to Silverveil, what are we doing today?”
“I don’t know about you,” Jace drops the book he is holding and heads for the door, “but I’m going back to my redhead, I have-.”
“No you’re not”, I cut him off, opening my laptop as I searched for an address.
He pauses, turning towards us, “ What now?”.
“You’re going to trace Madam Agatha.”
“The witch?”
“Yes.”
“Come on, man. That’s like looking for a needle in a haysack. Witches are untraceable.”
“Then imagine you’re looking for a redhead with voluptuous tits in the sack,” Garrick piped in and we both laughed hitting the table as Jace glared at us.
A knock interrupts us and the door opens revealing Brandon as he steps in shutting it.
“We have a problem, Alpha.”
I straighten. “What?”
“The council is paying us a visit. They want to know why you haven’t sealed the union with the girl yet.”