Chapter 11

Chapter 11
Selene’s POV

“I think someone is trying to send me a message,” she whispered.

For several seconds, neither of us said anything. I kept staring at the mark on the body, trying to understand what I was looking at even though I knew exactly what it was. I couldn’t be dreaming.

The little bird Violetta had carved for me the night before she left was still wrapped carefully in a piece of cloth somewhere inside my mother’s house, hidden away in a drawer I barely opened anymore. And now that same signature was carved into a dead fae for the second time. I could have said the first time was a coincidence, that it didn’t mean anything. But now that I was seeing it on another dead body, I could not dismiss the thought that it was actually important.

“What the hell does this mean?” I asked.

“I don’t know,” whispered Violetta, staring off into the distance. I could see all the wheels turning in her head.

“You’re the one who brought me here,” I deadpanned. Even through my confusion, I had no intentions of being nice to her or treating her the way I used to since she decided she was not going to acknowledge me in that way again. To hell with her.

“I know.”

“You said someone was sending you a message.”

“I said I think someone is,” she corrected.

“Same difference.”

“Okay? So why is knowing about the bird important? Don't you charge normally?”

“I don’t exactly go around showing off my skill or giving people my carvings,” she snorted.

Somehow that sent a flutter of warmth through me. She didn’t give people, but she had left one for me in that room. Did that mean I was special?

She left you, my wolf reminded me.

“Who knew about it?” Asked Violetta, pacing around a little. “I was hoping you could tell me. That’s why I requested for your presence.”

“I told you. It’s in my room,” I replied with a roll of my eyes, looking bored.

“Who has seen it?”

“I don’t know.” I shrugged nonchalantly. “Am I supposed to keep a fucking log book of everyone who looks at it?”

“Be serious, Selene,” she frowned, frustration evident in her tone. She was trying her best not to show it, but I knew her long enough not to buy it.

“I don’t fucking know, Violetta,” I replied.

When Violetta was worried, she became even more controlled. It used to be one of the first things I noticed about her, and now I hated that I still knew. I hated that I could read her so well and at the same time I couldn't read her at all or know what she was thinking.

“Anything?” Lyra asked, her voice coming from behind us. She had gone to check on her kids after they called her, and told me she was going to come back later. I turned towards her.

“Just markings.”

“What markings?” she asked, furrowing her brows in confusion.

Violetta shot me a look as if to tell me to keep quiet, but I was done trying to make her happy.

“Someone carved Violetta’s signature into the body. A signature she uses on her obscure little wood carvings.”

Lyra’s brows immediately pulled together again. “Which carvings?”

“Yeah… hey, the time you visited my parents' house, did you see any bird carving?”

“There was one you were obsessed with and carried everywhere for two years.”

My cheeks flamed in shame from that. I could see a twitch in Violetta's lips.

“Yeah,” I said dryly, making sure to shoot Lyra a glare. She mouthed ‘I'm sorry’ but looked amused. “Yeah. There's like a signature she puts on every carving.”

“Oh. I did not notice. So let me guess, the same mark from the bird?”

I nodded.

“And you saw it on the first body too?”

“Yes.”

Lyra looked between us. “That's quite disturbing. What's even their angle? What do they gain by putting it there?”

Violetta and I shrugged, but then I spoke. “Or maybe they put her signature there as a way to make people think she was responsible for it.”

“If they wanted to make me seem responsible, they wouldn't kill them when I clearly have alibis for the time of these killings. They would not put wolf prints there,” she replied.

I suddenly felt dumb in her presence, especially because she was right. I hadn't even properly thought it through.

“I agree.” Lyra sighed, rubbing her hand through her hair thoroughly. “I’ll get Kade and Silas… Qamar too. We need something more.”

“No,” Violetta said. “Too many people.”

Lyra frowned. “Why? They are part of this pack.”

“If someone is watching us, bringing half the pack into the forest will make it obvious that we’ve found something,” Violetta replied.

Lyra considered it for a moment and tilted her head. “You have a point.”

I looked at Violetta, who was already studying the surrounding trees again. “What are you looking for?” I couldn't help but ask.

“Anything out of place,” she said, still focused. She raised her palm and a ball of light appeared.

Ah. How convenient to have magic, I thought, as Lyra did the same and began to search another strip adjacent to Violetta.
“Like?”

“Footprints that aren’t of a wolf. Broken branches. Anything that could tell us where whoever did this came from.”

I sighed. “Fine. I’ll look with you.”

She glanced at me. “You’re coming?”

“You think I’m letting you investigate something involving my territory without me?”

“Well, no. Even if you have an alpha doing that, you should too.”

I frowned slightly; I had not been expecting that answer. She could have at least found pretense to argue with me.

“I don’t have the energy to argue with you, Selene. Neither is my goal to make our lives more difficult.”

Well shit, I had said my thoughts out loud.

I rolled my eyes. “Come on.”

We moved deeper into the forest. Lyra stayed behind while Violetta and I followed the trail, making me want to go crazy. I had found myself uneasy after the last time I confronted her. For the first few minutes, neither of us spoke, making it so awkward.

Violetta suddenly stopped, making me almost walk into her.

“What?” I questioned.

She pointed ahead. “Look.”

I narrowed my eyes and then noticed that there was a broken branch hanging low between two trees. I crouched. “It’s fresh… goddess.”

Violetta knelt beside me. “Someone came through here. And it's like, recent.”

“Could be a wolf patrol,” Lyra suggested. “Might not be anything alarming.”

“Could be.”

I looked around. “Or a fae.”

“Exactly.” Violetta sighed. “Why would they even be here right now?”

“Maybe they want to drop another dead body? There was an interval after the first one, so what if… We should split up.”
“No,” she said hastily.

I looked at her. “Why?”

“Because we don’t know what we’re dealing with,” Lyra sighed.

“I can handle myself.”

“I know,” Violetta said. “But you also don't have magic like Lyra and I.”
She said it so simply that I didn’t know what to say to counter her argument. I hated feeling weak, but the truth was she was right. Lyra and Violetta could easily defend themselves and I couldn't. The only thing I had was a knife I always kept with me whenever I was going out, and that knife wasn't going to do a thing if whatever was here was quite huge.

She started walking with Lyra and I followed. We hadn’t gone far when something moved in the trees. Violetta’s hand immediately went to her weapon.

“Behind me.”

I frowned. “Excuse me?”

“Selene.”

“I don’t need—”

Something flew out of the trees, interrupting me. I barely had time to react when Violetta and Lyra simultaneously shoved me sideways. The object missed my chest by inches and buried itself in the tree behind me.

I spun around immediately. “Are you—”

“Move!” She pulled her sword as another projectile came flying toward us.

This time, I caught it. I glanced at the object in my hand. It was a small blade whose handle was made with an unfamiliar material.

“Three,” Lyra breathed. “Fuck.”

“Good thing we are three. We take one each,” continued Violetta. I felt like the odd one out among them.

“What?” I questioned.

“There are five attackers,” Lyra explained.

“How do you fucking know? I haven't seen a thing.”

“I smelled them,” Violetta and Lyra echoed together.

I felt less like a wolf even then. We had a strong sense of smell normally, but I guess because of Lyra's powers, hers were heightened and she could be so precise. And of course, Violetta was what she was.

Lyra placed a finger to her lips and began to sign directions. I nodded at her and then ran toward the left while she disappeared into the trees on the right, only for a figure to lunge from behind a tree.

I ducked beneath the blade and slammed my elbow into his ribs, making him stumble. Without wasting time, I grabbed his arm and twisted. He hissed in pain.

“Who sent you?” I commanded.

He didn’t answer, so I twisted painfully even as he tried to wrench himself away from my grip. When I realized it was pointless getting answers, I pulled my knife and stabbed it straight into his stomach and twisted till he fell.

Somewhere behind me, I heard the clash of metal, making me turn while still holding the arm of my attacker. Another attacker was coming straight for her.

“Violetta!”

She ducked while I threw the blade I was holding with my free hand. It struck the attacker’s weapon and knocked it out of his hand. Violetta looked at me, and I shrugged.

“You’re welcome.”

She almost smiled.

Then another figure jumped from the trees, making Violetta and I react simultaneously. We moved together, me going to the left and she moving to the right. She blocked the first strike with her magic while I attacked from behind with my bloodied blade. As he turned toward me, she kicked him in the knee, making him drop. I grabbed his collar and slammed him against the ground, only for another attacker to come from behind.

Violetta saw him before I did. “Down!” she yelled.

I ducked, her sword passing over my head and striking the man’s weapon from his hand. Lyra appeared from nowhere and suddenly he was suffocating without her even touching him.

I rolled away, Violetta catching my wrist and pulling me up.
“The other is dead. Killed him. Yours?” she questioned.
Violetta gestured toward the bodies. “They’re masked. Who the fuck were they?”

Lyra shrugged. “Don't know. The scent isn't wolf,” she said, walking towards one of the bodies.

And then she pulled the mask.