Alpha killer

Chapter 4

"Yeah, and it's not easy to kick open one of these doors," he said. I looked at the frame, it had been splintered. A werewolf could do it in one kick, taking out the multiple latches would be more difficult for a human.

"What do we know about this guy?"

"Local guy, deacon in his church, suburban home and blue-collar job. No priors."

I smelled the bed and pillow and the human's scent was strong in it. Whoever she was, my mate had come here to get her out, then had taken her down to her room. She was either stupid or smart, and I wasn't betting on stupid. "So, based on what I've seen, we should be looking for a professional killer who is about five-foot-six and came to get this woman. She's the one who is missing, right?"

He nodded. "How did you know?"

"Because the killer ignored the girls in the other rooms and came right to this one. If the dead guy wasn't the target, the woman was."

"Fuck."

"Yeah. They took the wrong person, because hiring someone with that skill level isn't cheap. Whoever she is, her parents are rich or connected, and I'm betting on connected."

"Come on, we need to talk to my boss."

I followed behind him, trying to figure out what to do next. I needed to talk to my father; there were things I knew about the shooter that only he could know about.

I spent another three hours on-scene, working with Detective Anders as the bodies were moved and the scene was processed. I talked to the officers who had done the canvassing and got a description of the women in the room on the third floor. "She was a hottie," he told me. "About this high," he held his hand at my shoulder height, "Looked like a gymnast or dancer, even in the middle of the night she had a perkiness to her. Blonde hair past the shoulders. Her sister I didn't get a good look at, but she was blonde too."

I had an idea and pulled out my phone. Going to the messages from my father, I scrolled up until I got to the picture that had been sent out with the reward from the Council. It was a surveillance photograph taken on Alpha Kenyon's land before he was killed. I made it full screen. "Was this her?"

He looked at it and his eyes got wide. "Yeah, definitely her. Such an innocent face, you just don't forget a girl who looks like that."

"Thanks." I walked outside, I really needed to talk to my Dad, and I needed to do this in person.

My mate was the Alpha Killer, and the Council wanted her dead.

Four Years Ago, Tomah Pack, Wisconsin

Tania's POV

I surfaced in the lake, shaking my hair as I took a breath. "Nice one, Tania," my best friend Claire said. "I can't believe you did a double backflip!"

I smiled as I swam over to her and the other kids in the shallower water, tossing the rope swing back towards the shore. Pat caught it, handing it up until it was on top of the cliff again. The big oak tree's limb overhung the lake far enough for us to get a good thirty feet out on the swing, and you could get a long hang time if you timed it right.

I stepped out of the water, looking down at my body as I got out. I was getting curves now, my birthday had been two months ago, and I was going through a growth spurt. I was almost as tall as Talia was. My sister was sixteen, and I was pretty sure I'd be taller than her when I was done. Curvier, too, if the early returns were true.

I moved over to the towel I'd set out, drying my long blonde hair while I watched. There were twenty or so of us at the lake on this hot August day. "Talia, I need you to come up to the road, your parents are on the phone," Beta Todd sent to me. I looked in that direction, the road was a good half-mile west of where we were.

"Give me a few minutes to pack up," I said.

"Just shift and run up here," he said. I looked around, everyone was busy swimming or eating down at the beach. I shifted into my straw-blonde and white wolf and took off up the hill. A couple minutes later, I had jumped into the open passenger door of Todd's Suburban. "Here you go," Todd said as I shifted in the seat and closed the door. I grabbed the phone and put it to my ear, right as I felt something poke me in the neck.

It burned like fire as the wolfsbane hit my bloodstream, and I dropped the phone as I stared at him in shock. I tried to call for help, but the link was blocked. I looked over at him, he was grinning as he saw the recognition come over me. I had been betrayed by a man I looked at as an uncle. "What have you DONE," I cried. I felt rage well up in me, but the drugs left nowhere for it to go as I slumped back into the seat.

"Goodnight, Tania," he said. I fought the blackness for a few moments before I lost that battle too.

Beta Todd's POV

I didn't have much time, so as soon as she was out, I started driving. Turning off the main road, I followed a logging trail to the edge of the territory. Another vehicle was waiting, and I pulled up alongside them. I got out and went around, opening the door and taking the young Alpha heiress in my arms. "Hold up your end of the bargain," I said with a low growl.

"Don't worry about us," the man said. "My men will be in place and ready when your Alphas return."

"Good." I put her in the back seat and closed the door, and they drove off.

I drove right back to the Pack House, parking and going back to my office. It would be a while before her absence from the beach would be noticed, I hoped, and I was right. It was two hours before I got the panicked link. "Beta, it's Claire. We can't find Tania."

"What do you mean you can't find her?"

"We haven't seen her for a while, she must have wandered off. We can't reach her on the link, can you try?"

"Of course." Betas and Alphas had the ability to 'break in' to wolves who were blocking out communications, it was a necessity in case of emergencies. I waited a good twenty seconds before talking again. "I've got nothing. Organize everyone, start a search from where you last saw her, I'm on my way."

I ran out to my Suburban, broadcasting to the whole Pack on the way. "Tania Stillwater is missing and is not responding to my calls, last seen at the beach by the rope swing. All warriors to the perimeter, patrol and report. All other available Pack members are to respond immediately to the beach for search detail."