The Midnight Foxxx

Chapter 19

MADDOX

"No...," Vixen starts squirming in my grip as we near the main entrance.

"Keep walking," I growl and tighten my hand on her neck.

"No," she insists, "not 'spose to leave." She continues to struggle clumsily, the strength behind her movements is surprising.

“He punish if I leave,” I glance down at her and she looks genuinely scared. My brows furrow. Seems odd to be afraid of punishment for leaving and not about being taken against your will by an angry Alpha. Then again, she doesn’t appear to be in her right mind at the moment. We manage to get her out the door without raising suspicion. Thankfully, the overprotective bouncer wasn’t around. I don’t think we would have gotten her out otherwise.

Getting her into the car was like trying to manipulate a hundred-and-forty-pound octopus. All limbs with no coordination. It took both of us to get her inside.

“You sure this is a good idea?” Asher asks while looking at Vixen in the rearview mirror.

“She’s high as a kite and doesn’t appear to be able to use her magic right now. This could be our only chance,” I steal a glance at my Beta, and he doesn’t appear convinced.

“What if it’s not her?” he asks.

“I’m positive it is,” annoyance laces my voice.

“I hope you’re right. This will go south real quick if you’re wrong,” Asher turns in his seat to look at the woman directly. She’s curled up in the back seat, my jacket covering her head, shaking. I know she’s behind it all, but something doesn’t feel right, like a piece of the puzzle is missing.

Getting her out of the car was much easier. All the fight seems to have left her, whatever drug she took now taking full effect. Asher ends up having to carry her after her legs give out twice. With the odd feeling still hovering in my gut, I pull out my phone.

“Do you know what time it is?” Natalie answers her phone angrily.

“I know, but it’s important. We have who attacked Wilder. Something doesn’t seem right though, I want you to run some blood tests on her,” there’s a long pause.

“Alright, meet me at the Med Bay,” and she hangs up.

We only have to wait about ten minutes before Natalie arrives wearing a robe and her hair messily pulled back into a ponytail. She stops in her tracks when she sees Vixen practically comatose on the table.

“Is she dead?” Natalie approaches the prone motionless body hesitantly.

“No, I think she’s high, but I don’t know on what. That’s what I want you to figure out,” I explain. The doctor pulls out some needles and specimen tubes from a nearby cabinet. She takes an arm and starts looking for a vein. When she can’t find one, she switches arms. After a couple of minutes, she furrows her brows.

“Hand me a blood pressure cuff,” Asher hands one to her.

“s**t,” the doctor curses, “you have no idea what she’s on?”

“No idea. Why?” I ask.

“Her blood pressure is incredibly low,” Natalie then checks her heart rate, which is also apparently low. With a little more poking and prodding, the doctor eventually finds a vein to draw from.

“Give me a few hours, and I’ll have some results for you,” she waves us off, heading toward the back of the infirmary to the in-house lab. Asher picks up Vixen again, going completely limp in his arms though she appears to be conscious. We make our way to the basement where there are several holding cells. The Beta sets her down on the concrete floor of the smallest one, then steps out, and I lock the door behind him.

“Vixen,” I call out to her. She turns her head to face me but doesn’t say anything. The usually bright red rubies are dull and empty. Soulless.

“Is that your real name or just a stage name,” she blinks, “Do you understand what I’m saying to you?”

“Don’t know,” the woman answers simply.

“Don’t know what?” I ask, confused.

“Name… Don’t know,” she says again.

“You… don’t know your name?” I raise an eyebrow at her and she nods.

“Do you know why I brought you here?” Vixen closes her eyes and crunches her nose, as if thinking is difficult. I sigh.

“What did you take? Opioids? Heroine?” Frustration is starting to build.

“Didn’t wanna,” she’s shaking her head as she speaks, “he made me. Said obey or I’ll make you.”

“Who’s ‘he’?” I’m pretty sure I already know the answer.

“Obey… obey… obey…” She chants it as if in prayer.

“Was it the same man who told you to target Wilder Bishop?” Those red eyes go wide at the Gamma’s name, then she’s suddenly curling in on herself and screaming.

“DON’T LET HIM HURT ME!” She throws her arms over her head protectively, like she’s anticipating a strike.

“Hey,” I grunt, “stop that.” She doesn’t. A hand is placed on my shoulder.

“I don’t think we’re going to get much else out of her,” Asher states.

We leave her down there, screaming, and after about an hour she finally stops. Asher and I go over the case files of the murdered rogues, looking for anything that might tie the woman downstairs to the murder victims.

“You’re sure it’s her?” The blonde asks again, breaking the long dense silence.

“Yes,” I growl, “I'm absolutely sure.” Asher sighs and continues scanning the document in his hand.

"Hey, wait," The Beta taps my shoulder, "look."

"What?" I lean over to see what he's looking at.

'The victim was last seen alive exiting a local nightclub by the name of The Midnight Foxxx. The victim is a known regular with several employees confirming he visits the club multiple times a week. Owner and all employees cooperative. Premises searched. No indication the establishment is involved.'

"Holy s**t," I snatch the page from his hand and reread the report, "What about the others?" Asher hands me another file and begins flipping through one himself. After rereading each one, two others were found to have similar ties to the club.

"See, I f*****g told you," Asher rolls his eyes at my gloating.

"There's a connection, but it still doesn't technically prove anything," he deadpans, "Seriously, we really should of done this investigating before we kidnapped her."

"I've looked into those red eyes enough times to know it's her," I insist. Asher runs his finger through his hair anxiously. We both jump at the loud ringing of my phone.

"That was quick," I answer the call from Natalie, "What do you have for me?"

"A couple things actually," she replies, "That woman took one hell of a drug. The core chemical compound is Rohypnol. It was combined with narcotics, a dash of wolfsbane, and enhanced with some strong ass magic."

"Isn't Rohypnol the date rape drug?" I ask.

"Correct," Natalie answers, "She has a dangerous amount of multiple drugs in her system. Honestly, I wouldn't be surprised if she ends up overdosing."

"Fuck...," pity creeps into my mind only to quickly squash it down, reminding myself she tried to kill Wilder. Multiple times.

'Should be nice to her,' My wolf suddenly comes forward. I try to push him to the back of my mind, but he remains steadfast,'Needs help,' he persists.

'She hurt our pack. She doesn’t deserve our help,' I growl at him but only get a huff in response.

"The other thing," the doctor continues, snapping me out of my thoughts, "she's not a witch like you had thought."

"Alright, so what is she?" Asher pipes in.

"She's a shifter. A coyote specifically. Quite rare nowadays," she sounds fascinated by this.

"She doesn't smell like one," I say slowly, "She smells human."

"The bloodwork doesn't lie," the doctor retorts simply, "Now, I am exhausted and I am going to bed." The line abruptly ends.

"I thought the other shifter species were basically extinct," Asher thinks out loud.

"No. More like an endangered species. They're just incredibly rare," the Supernatural Encyclopedia still sits on my desk, untouched since I placed it there.

'Read it. Must know more,' my wolf encourages me, and for some reason, I feel compelled to listen.