Unnatural Allies

Chapter 2-2

Since he wasn’t due back to work until seven, Sand called Dimas on his way home to find out exactly where Raúl had died, explaining he wanted to check out the site.

“I’m not making any promises,” he said when Dimas asked if he’d changed his mind. “I want to take a look, is all.”

“If you find anything we missed…”

“Yeah, Dimas, I’ll let you know.” He probably wouldn’t. He was no longer a part of the pack, which seemed to be fine with most of the members, excluding Dimas, so he owed them no loyalty.

“I’ll send you a map with the death site marked.”

“A visual would help, too.”

“Can do. Are you going to teleport in?”

Sand considered that for all of five seconds before dismissing the idea. “I don’t want to take a chance that hikers or hunters might be there, despite the fact it’s far off the beaten path, and see me appear. It is a holiday.”

“Makes sense.”

Dimas sent what Sand needed to his phone as Sand drove home. When he got there, he changed from his work clothes into a pair of jeans, a flannel shirt in deference to the fact it was only late spring and the mountains would be cooler than the city, and a pair of hiking boots. He got out the backpack he used for sorties to the high country. Even though he wouldn’t need most of the gear it contained, he was a firm believer in ‘better safe than sorry’. He tossed it on the floor in front of the passenger seat of his twelve-year-old Jeep Wrangler, checked to be certain he had enough gas—which he did—and took off.

An hour later he was deep in the mountains, not too far from the home of the Wintermane pack for which Raúl had been the Alpha. He pulled off the road onto a narrow lane that, according to Dimas’ map, was less than half a mile from his destination. After making certain no one was around, he shifted to his werewolf and set out, staying well within the trees to the side of the path where Raúl’s body had been found.

Locating the exact spot was easy enough. It smelled of blood and death. He circled it slowly, searching for anything that might indicate who, or what, had murdered his brother. Then he widened his search, as he was certain Dimas and the other Betas had. Their scent lingered, not that it mattered if the killer was a vampire. They had no scent of their own. If it had been a human, however, then he knew he was s**t out of luck as the Betas’ scents would have overridden any human one.

If I were a vampire, where would I hide to wait for him? Not close and not on the ground where I might inadvertently step on a twig which would have alerted Raúl to my presence. He gazed up at the branches of the tall trees beside the path. If it were me…Yeah. Which one, though. As his werewolf, he couldn’t climb, or balance successfully on the branches, so he shifted, clothing himself with a thought, and teleported to the larger ones, checking them one by one. Finally he saw it—a few small twigs that had been bent or broken, on one of the branches. Balancing carefully, he put one hand on the tree trunk for stability and studied the branches above and below him. Given what he was, his eyesight was sharper than an average human’s, allowing him to spot two dark hairs caught on a branch about six feet above him. He plucked them free, tore a leaf from the branch, and wrapped it around them, putting it into his shirt pocket.

Finding nothing more, he dropped to the ground and shifted again. Moving slowly up the path, away from the pack’s home and toward where he’d parked, he scanned for anything more which might tell him who was responsible for Raúl’s death. He was almost to the car when he saw them—tire tracks. The jeep’s tires had obliterated most of them, but there were a few partials. Becoming human again, dressing with a thought, he pulled his phone from his jeans pocket to take pictures of them, and of two footprints that weren’t his. He was well aware the car that had been there might have had nothing to do with what had happened, but he wasn’t about to ignore possible evidence.

He called Dimas to find what forms he and the others had been in when they searched the area. If they’d teleported in, and remained as werewolves, then he might have found a clue other than the two hairs. Dimas said that was exactly what they’d done, which made Sand feel as if he’d one-upped them. Given his relationship with the pack—which didn’t exist thanks to his father and Raúl—that made him smile.

“Did you find anything I should know about?” Dimas asked.

“No,” Sand replied, sticking to his vow that he had no loyalty to the pack, even if Dimas per se was still his friend. I’ll do my own hunt for Raúl’s killer. If I find him, then I’ll decide whether to deal with him on my own or bring in the pack.

From the angle of the shadows, he knew it was well past four and he had to be at work by seven—and needed to change clothes and eat dinner first—so he took off, heading back to the city.