Moonlight Prowl

Chapter Eighteen: A plot awakened

Marcus POV

After a few moments Marcus tried to refocus on his investigation. He needed more details, and only one person from his past life was willing to give him any leads - His best friend Darius and last connection to his old life.

Pulling out his phone, Marcus made the call. One ring, two rings. Then a low, measured voice answered.

“Marcus.”

“Hey Darius, it’s been a while. I hunted down the last lead you gave me. It’s a dead end.” Marcus filled his old friend in on what went down at the warehouse.

“The killings…” Darius began, tone tight, “all follow the same pattern. Puncture wounds at the neck. Every victim found in their cat form. And…” He hesitated, almost swallowing the words. “Their pelts… removed. We suspect that they are no longer taking the bodies with them and have found a way to skin them on the spot.”

“And now,” Darius continued, “there’s a new case. Human. First one.”

Marcus’s jaw clenched so hard it hurt. “A human?” His voice was low, dangerous. “What the hell does that mean?”

“We are not entirely sure. Was it an accident? maybe the wrong target? Or a threat? All I know is it’s not good and the king has gotten involved in the human world now. A lot of our kind is afraid of the risk that we might be exposed to the humans,” Darius’s voice was tense. For a wercat of his rank and strength to be this worried was bad..

“Darius,” Marcus said, voice quiet but sharp, “send me everything you’ve got. Patterns. Times. Locations. Anything King Kieran and General Tony have pulled together. And the details of the human case. I need to find who this is - it’s my only chance at redemption. This has to be the same monster from all those years ago. I must seek my revenge!” Purus roared in my mind as the images of my sister’s lifeless body flashed behind my eyes.

“You’ll get it,” Darius replied. “But Marcus…Whoever’s doing this is more dangerous now than ever before. They’re not just killing. They’re hunting. And now they’re risking our realms exposure.” With that chilling reminder Darius hung up.

Marcus pressed the phone down onto the nightstand, staring at the cracked ceiling. The first human victim. What could that mean! His jaw tensed. The rage built, coiling like a living thing inside him.

Purus growled low in his chest, golden eyes flaring in Marcus’s mind, “The hunt begins now. The hunter will become the hunted, and we will not fail.. if we redeem ourselves and avenge our family.. can we then know our fated mate?”

“It has to be her,” I hissed back at him. “We have to be worthy of her.” He imagined Evelyn’s face again. “I won’t let this touch her. Not her. We can’t loose our loved ones ever again.”

Just then his phone lit up. A zip file had been shared. Marcus opened it and begin rummaging through the files. The evidence. the photos. He searched every detail and begin his plot to find out who shadow claw was how they tied into his past the present and his future.

The jaguar shifted closer, muscles and instinct pressing him to move, to plan, to strike. Marcus inhaled sharply and together they whispered, “We track. We hunt. We kill.”