The Midnight Foxxx

Chapter 2

MADDOX

“Maddox?” A tentative knock pulls me from my concentration. Looking up from the piles of paperwork littering my desk, I see Asher leaning against the door frame. His hulking size takes up most of the doorway. Taught muscles betray his relaxed stance.

“What?” I ask, leaning back in my chair. The muscles in my neck aching from being hunched over for so long.

“We may have a situation,” he says hesitantly. His expression is neutral though his blue eyes study mine, gaging my reaction.

“Alright,” I sigh, “Hit me. What is it?” Asher approaches the desk. The heavy footsteps break the late evening stillness. A folder is dropped in front of me with a loud thwack. I quirk my brow at him but open it. Case files… Homicide case files.

“The f**k are these?” I ask pointedly.

“They’re rogues,” he answers simply, as if that should clear everything up.

“Okay, and? These are all in human territory. So why is this pack business?” I can’t hide the annoyance in my voice.

“Three within the span of two months. Yes, they’re rogues, not our problem unless on pack land, but the concerning part is we don’t know what killed them.”

“Another rogue probably,” I say dismissively.

“No, this was too clean to be the work of a rogue,” Asher insists, his voice raising just slightly in frustration. “Whoever killed these rogues didn’t leave behind any prints, hair, blood, fur… nothing.”

“Alright, so what do you think is doing this?” I cross my arms over my chest, conceding.

“I’m not sure,” The Beta’s blonde brows furrow in contemplation, “A simple concealment spell could hide someone’s presence?”

“Wolves can’t use magic,” I butt in, earning a glare from blue eyes.

“Which is why I don’t think a rogue wolf is responsible,” the blonde huffs, looking down at the case files, “Something just doesn’t sit right with me.”

A growl rumbles in my chest, low and deep, warning the other man to check his attitude. But however frustrating, my Beta’s instincts are rarely wrong, and this is definitely odd. Silence falls over both of us, blanketing the office with uncomfortable tension.

“Alright,” I sigh, “Do the humans have anything useful?”

Asher hums, “Not really. Zane happens to be assigned undercover at the precinct in charge of these cases. He’s looked over the crime scenes himself and couldn’t find anything either,” The blonde's eyes are distant, deep in thought.

That sent my brain reeling, “Zane didn’t pick up even a scent? He has the best nose in the pack.” Asher’s eyes meet mine again an scans my face. His gaze is intense and piercing.

“Which is why I’m thinking we’re dealing with magic. That’s the only way I know that can hide a scent completely,” he finally responds. I rub my chin subconsciously in thought. It makes sense, though there are several creatures in the supernatural world that can use magic. The most common would be witches and warlocks.

“It’s a sound theory, but for now we don’t have much to go on. Keep tabs on it, keep me updated with anything new that comes up.”

Asher nods in affirmation before standing up straight, “Yes, Alpha.”

When the door clicks shut behind the Beta, I drag my eyes back down to the folder in front of me. Photos are sprawled across the desk, flashes of blood appearing in some of them. The crime scenes appear astonishing neat, relatively speaking. Very little blood spatter, just a single puddle of blood under the bodies. No bite or claw wounds that would indicate the assailant as a shifter, instead what looks like a single killing blow to the skull. I dig through the file, flipping through page after page until I find what I’m looking for. The autopsy reports of all three victims say the murder weapon is suspected to be an axe, or something similar, swung with a large amount of force.

I sit back in my chair, unsettled. That alone is impressive. Shifter bones are incredibly strong and durable and incredibly hard for anything other than a supernatural beast to break, even with the aid of a weapon. The amount of force needed is far beyond the capabilities of most humans, but if we're dealing with magic a spell could increase someone's strength briefly.

Continuing through the case files, the reports mention each victim is stripped of cash and anything valuable, which seems odd. A rogue isn’t going to have a lot of money, so why target them for robbery? A groan slips past my lips as I slump even further into my chair. The information swirls around my mind like a damn tornado and I can’t seem to make sense of any of it. My eyes sting from exhaustion and over use. The heels of my palms dig into the orbits and provide moderate relief as they rub harshly. Colors dance across the underside of my eyelids from the rough treatment.

Finally mustering the energy, I stand from my desk. Muscle and bone groan in protest at the sudden use after sitting for so long. Ignoring the discomfort, I walk over to the old bookcase sitting across the room. It stands tall and largely unused with a layer of dust covering every shelf. My eyes scan the titles, sweeping across each spine methodically before landing on the one I’m looking for. Antique leather feels smooth under my fingertips as I pull it from its slot on the shelf. Brass inlay intricately adorns the outer cover, however dulled by the years of built-up dust.

‘Supernatural Beasts and Beings’ is written neatly on the front.

I start combing through the pages, analyzing every creature for answers. Grotesque faces stare back at me, the hand sketched eyes looking deep into my soul. Many of the monsters depicted are long extinct, narrowing down my search. Filtering out anything that can’t use magic thins it out even more. When my eyes land on the section for Werewolf, I pause and scan the page.

‘Ruled by the Moon Goddess, these creatures are strongest at night. They possess incredible strength and speed. The strongest among them known as ‘Alphas’ possess the ability known as ‘Alpha Command’ or ‘Alpha Voice’ to dominate and control their subordinates. These commands only work on lower level werewolves, not other Alphas. This ability has been known to work on the other Were subspecies as well, though it is not as potent.’

The passage continues but the mention of the subspecies gives me pause. They are pretty uncommon in this day and age. I haven’t even seen one in years, though I believe there is a Coyote pack somewhere north of here. Skipping ahead a couple pages finds the entries for the aforementioned sub types. Curiosity has me briefly scanning over the passages and sketches before tucking a random piece of paper into the old book to mark my place.

Soft chimes from the grandfather clock suddenly fill the room, startling me. It was midnight, everyone long since gone to bed for the evening. Feeling the exhaustion prickle at the edges of my mind, I envy them, unable to remember the last time I had the luxury of a full night of sleep. Though still plenty of business and mountains of work to finish up, I haphazardly organize the paperwork decorating my desk. I leave the ancient supernatural encyclopedia off to the side to look through later.

Outside the office is dark and still like a cold winter night. It wraps around me like a blanket as I pad down the hall to the master suite. I barely remember to close the door behind me before flopping face first into the large custom made bed. Sleep immediately creeping over me, ready to drag me deep into the restless dreams that haunt me every night.

A blanket is lazily thrown over my body and I grunt a thank you to my soon to be mate, just barely conscious enough to feel bad for waking her up.

“Sorry babe,” I mumble. She hums softly in reply, the last thing I hear before drifting off.