Forty Three

*Fire at the garage!* Eva called through the pack mind-link.

Eva didn't bother to see if anyone heard her and instead ran towards the garage to try and see if anyone had been in there. She was so distracted by the fire that at first she didn't see the small brown cardboard box sat neatly on the street until she practically tripped over it.

Frowning, she glanced at it, seeing that it was addressed to Daniel. Reaching down to pick the box up, she was surprised by its lightness but could tell something was in it. It was meant for Daniel but Eva felt dread freezing her blood when she saw smudges of blood on the light brown surface. Breathing deeply, Eva moved to open the box but didn't get very far.

"Don't open the box." Daniel's voice broke into Eva's concentration, their eyes meeting and Eva could see from the rage burning in Daniel's eyes that things had taken another deadly turn.

By now people were pouring out of their homes or the packhouse to see what was going on. A dozen or so wolves had run off to tackle the blaze while others watched on with horrified or solemn expressions.

The heat of the blaze left Eva's skin feeling hot as the astringent smoke filled the air. The smell of melting plastic and burning chemicals made the she-wolf feel sick as she let Daniel lead her away from the scene. There was nothing they could do anyway. Those trained to tackle these things were there to get the blaze under control and to keep people safe. By the look on Daniel's face, there was more to this than an accident and Eva followed her mate obediently, eyes glancing down at the box every now and then.

The war room was already full of wolves, the sounds of them chattering dying down as Eva and Daniel walked in. Eva was relieved to see Ethan there, the visiting beta looking confused and shocked just like everyone else. Joe stood in a corner, bronze arms crossed over his chest and a dark look in his eyes. Perhaps what was more surprising was Duncan and Slade were present. Slade had practically retired since handing the reins to Daniel but something in the solemn look in his eyes hinted that this was more than just average pack business.

"What's going on?" Eva asked Daniel quietly, shuddering inwardly when she saw more than just anger in his eyes.

There was grief.

"I'll explain in a moment." Daniel murmured, taking the box from his mate and carefully opening it.

At first Eva didn't recognise what was in the box until her eyes focused on the familiar hellhound patch that was stitched into the worn leather jacket. Under it was the symbol that Eva had only ever seen one person in the pack wear; the symbol of a beta.

The scent of blood mingled with the smoke in the room, tasting bitter on the tip of Eva's tongue. It had turned sticky as it dried against the surface of the jacket, seeping into the pores of the patches and leather and smudged across the shell of the box. Settled on top was a slip of white paper with a simple message.

*Dear Daniel,

You're next.

The Mad Alpha.*

The silence was stifling as realisation of what had happened settled in like a cold ache. Eva could only watch as Daniel stilled, a muscle in his jaw ticking as he glared down at his friend's bloodied jacket and the note. His eyes had darkened but Eva couldn't read him as he kept his head down.

"Kade's motorcycle was found by police earlier today." Daniel finally spoke, lifting his head so his steel blue eyes bore into his audience. "It appears the front wheel was shot out. They found a significant amount of blood and brain matter just off the road and a shell casing. They can't be sure until they do testing but they believe the blood will belong to him."

Eva felt her face pale, her heart dropping into her stomach.

Kade was dead.

“Wait, so there was no body?” Ethan asked, looking confused.

“No but even if there was, would it matter? The amount of blood at the scene and the fact half of his brains were sprayed across the forest is enough to tell us one of our own has fallen.” Daniel replied coolly. “There is more. Several hours later, the prisoner was killed in a cafe about eighty miles from here. His throat was slit. I have no doubt that it was the same person behind everything going on. This Mad Alpha.”

The silence was unsettled. Some of the old guards, including Slade looked troubled while the younger wolves at the table seemed confused. Eva found herself stuck in between. The title had a home in Silver Moon's history but it didn't seem possible that this phantom was the Mad Alpha that had darkened the pack's history. The old bastard had to be at least seventy if not dead. While a body hadn’t been found at the time of the uprising, the general consensus had always been that he had been killed or died shortly after escaping.

"The Mad Alpha?" Ethan spoke up again, a bemused frown on his face. "What kind of stupid name is that?"

"The kind given to a piece of shit that we had hoped was dead." Slade snarled from his seat.

"It can't be him." Eva finally spoke up. "He'd be old now if not dead and the belief is he died in the uprising."

"Who are you talking about?" Ethan asked.

The pregnant silence filled the room, no one wanting to really explain something from history that had left scars of so many kinds for too many people. There were wolves in the Silver Moon pack who had been victims of the Mad Alpha's tyranny. Some bore the scars physically and emotionally even after so many years of peace. Hundreds had been slaughtered, families destroyed not to mention the horrors women had endured. It was enough to make Eva shudder but she steeled herself. None of that was going to help catch the bastard.

“His name was Michael.” Slade finally spoke up, drawing all the attention to him. “But Eva is right, he is either too old now to do any damage or dead. It has to be someone else.”

“Someone who knows the history between our packs and the Mad Alpha.” Daniel added. “We don’t know for sure what happened to him after the uprising. I’m going to make enquiries to see what we can dig up. Someone has to know something.”

“And what about finding Kade?” Joe asked. “He deserves a funeral.”

“I’m assuming that this Mad Alpha took his body for some reason.” Daniel replied. “I, more than anyone, will want to make sure our beta is properly laid to rest but right now, I’m not willing to risk anymore lives. The human authorities are already sniffing around thanks to this and the murder of the prisoner on their patch. We can’t give them anymore reasons to look into things.”

No one argued. While the death of one of their own pierced their hearts, Daniel was right, they couldn’t draw more attention to themselves. They needed to be clever about this.

“I’d like to help with trying to find more information about this Mad Alpha.” Ethan suddenly spoke up. “I have a few contacts in packs here and overseas which might be of use.”

“I’d appreciate that.” Daniel nodded once. “Everyone else, we need security tightened and new weapons and vehicles. You all know what you need to do.”

A sombre silence fell as everyone made their way out of the room, leaving Eva and Daniel. Only when the last person had left and the door was shut did Daniel sink into his seat, pressing his fingers into his closed eyes, stress painting his features into a frown. The bloody box and jacket sat on the desk, glaring up at the pair, mocking them over their loss.

“I’m so sorry, Daniel.” Eva finally spoke. Her throat felt tight and her eyes burned as she fought against the tears. “Tell me what I can do to help.”

“Talk to Bethan again.” Daniel finally spoke, his voice hoarse. “I don’t care how you do it but she knows something that will help us find the bastard who murdered my best friend and when we do find him, he’s going to regret the day he messed with us.”