First, the timing. Zane claims he left the celebration around midnight, but Selene didn’t emerge from the forest until nearly three in the morning. What was he doing out here for three hours?
Second, the result. Why did his attackers leave him alive? If they were trying to send a message, it really isn’t clear what that message might be.
Third, the lack of evidence. If three shifters attack a man, there should be tracks, scents, signs of a struggle. Instead, we have nothing but Zane’s blood and some mysterious, red powder.
I walk the perimeter again, looking for anything my team might have missed. The ground here is soft enough to show tracks, but there are none. Not even Selene’s footprints, which should be here if she really found him like she claims.
“Commander?” One of my soldiers
