3. DEVRIM

Police cars were parked in front of the building and the cops lingered about. They all turned to stare when I parked the truck and climbed out. I ignored them as I made my way around the building to the backyard.

More men were scattered around, searching the big garden. I bit back the urge to tell them that they wouldn’t find anything behind those bushes.

My eyes instantly located Mayor Reeves and the Chief of police standing at the far side of the garden; the place where Vanya had been attacked.

The Chief nodded towards me when he spotted me approaching them, making Reeves turn around. He instantly scowled at me.

“What is this talk about having Ezra arrested?” I growled.

“We have a dead body,” Chief said. “It looks like the woman had been ripped apart by an animal.”

My fists clenched at my side as I tried to control my anger. How fucking dare he? 

“Ezra saved your daughter,” I sneered. “Thanks to him she’s alive and the body of a missing woman had been found.”

“We can’t rule out your pack—”

“Pride. We are not wolves,” I growled.

“Pride.” He swallowed. “We can’t rule out the possibility of it being one of your pride.”

“My pride members would never attack a human without reason. They will most definitely never attack a female unless they feel threatened by her.”

Mayor Reeves swallowed and took a step back. His eyes darted around nervously. “Look, I don’t want any trouble, but you need to understand where Chief Curry is coming from.” He swallowed again. “W-what about that c-crazy a—man? The one with the scars?”

“Obsidian wouldn’t attack a human,” I told him, but at the same time, doubt filled me.

“Sir—”

“I want to see the body,” I interrupted the Chief.

His eyes shot over to the Mayor who gave him a nod. “Follow me.”

The smell of death assaulted my senses as we approached the body. It wasn’t far from where Vanya had been attacked. I sucked in a sharp breath, but all I smelled was the body. Any other scents that may have stayed behind had already disappeared. It was no use trying to look for any clues. The humans had already ruined any chance of finding anything.

I instantly understood why they thought it was one of my pride when I saw the body. The woman had been ripped apart, and it was hard to tell whether it was by a knife or claws. We wouldn’t be able to tell until the body had been cleaned of blood and all the pieces had been assembled.

“Any weapons found?” I asked as I crouched next to the body.

“Only the knife with which Miss Reeves was attacked with.”

“What about the man who attacked her?”

When he didn’t immediately answer, I looked up at him. The man was rubbing the back of his neck and looking everywhere but at me.

“What happened to the man?” I repeated my question.

“I… uuh… we…”

“Just spit it out!” I yelled.

“W-when we g-got here, h-he was a-already gone.”

I was on my feet in an instant with my hand wrapped around his neck. “You let him get away?” I growled. “He tried to fucking kill her and you let him get away!”

“I’m s-sorry, sir,” he gasped, clawing at my hand. “W-we got h-here as s-soon as w-we could, but h-he was a-already g-gone. We found some fresh blood.” My eyes narrowed. “It’s at the l-lab, being t-tested as w-we speak.”

I hissed at him before I let him go and stepped away. With one last glance at the body, I spun around and left.

***

I found Obsidian exactly where I knew I would; in the basement with loud music blasting while he punches the shit out of a boxing bag.

Leaning back against the wall, I crossed my arms over my chest and waited. It was never a good idea to sneak up on the man, Ezra and a few of the pride had learned their lesson the hard way.

Obsidian was shirtless, but I knew he had knives hidden underneath the pants he still wore. He had clothes that were specially made with hidden pockets for his knives. It made him feel safer.

My eyes dropped to the blood droplets on the floor. How long has he been hitting that bag? When is he going to stop?

I straightened when his hits increased. A few seconds later, his fist went right through the boxing bag. He stood there frozen with his eyes glued to the part of his arm still visible before he jerked his hand free.

When he turned, our eyes locked and the rage I saw in his eyes made the air lock in my lungs.

Had he finally lost it?

Rolling his shoulders, he walked over to the stereo and turned the volume down. With the sudden silence, I could hear his harsh breathing along with the pounding of my heart.

“To what do I owe the pleasure?” he rasped.

I hesitated before I took a few steps towards him, but froze when his hands twitched at his sides. “Vanya was attacked last night.”

His whole body tightened, muscles strained, ready to attack if I moved any closer.

“Ezra heard her screaming and managed to get to her in time. She was stabbed, but it’s nothing serious.”

My eyes dropped when he just continued to stare at me. His eyes were steady and unnerving, and sometimes just plain fucking scary.

“I have a job for you,” I said softly.

“No,” he growled. “You make me interact with those—”

“Not this time, I promise.” I wouldn’t make that mistake again. “They found a body.”

He growled. “They think I did it.”

I stayed silent. We’ve been through this before. The last thing I wanted was to say something that might set him off.

“Ezra just injured the man who attacked Vanya. By the time the police got there, the man was gone.”

“You think he might go back to finish the job,” he muttered.

I nodded. “It’s a possibility.  Vanya is in the paper today.”

“Everybody already knows who she is.”

He slowly turned around, but kept me within his sight.

We all had our demons, but some demons lived deeper than others.

When I agreed to act as leader a few days after we were freed, there were certain things I had to do to make sure that everybody was sane. Obsidian was the one member who had suffered abuse and the only one who had survived through it that had joined the pride.

“Why?” Obsidian asked. “Why me?”

I walked over to him and stopped in front of him. My eyes darted over his face, then down to his healing knuckles. “Because you know how to be… invisible.” Giving him a smirk, I spun around and headed for the stairs. “Don’t kill anyone—not unless it’s someone who wants to hurt her,” I called over my shoulder.

Ezra was waiting for me when I reached the top of the stairs. He straightened and glanced over my shoulder, his grin fading when he realized that Obsidian wasn’t following me.

“How are you not worried?” He fell into step next to me. “He’s been down there more than he’s ever been since he returned from his last trip”

“He’s fine.”

“It’s not healthy, Dev,” Ezra exclaimed. “He’s not eating! Maybe we should intervene?”

“Leave him, Ezra,” I told him. “Don’t start something you’ll regret.”

He scoffed and muttered under his breath. Pushing the door to my office open, I entered and walked over to the desk to search for some papers and a pencil.

“You saw the man,”—I held out the essentials to him—“draw him for me.”

“Didn’t the cops catch him?”

“No.”

Ezra was silent. He stared at the paper for a few seconds and then looked up at me. “I can’t draw him for you because I didn’t see his face.”

I frowned at him. “What—?”

“The man wore one of those stupid masks the human wear on that holiday where they decorate the place with that scary shit.”

“A Halloween mask?”

He snapped his fingers and pointed one at me. “Yes, one of those. You said the police didn’t catch the man, so that means there’s a possibility that he will go back to finish . . .” he trailed off.

I nodded. “He will go after her again, and that’s why I went to see Obsidian.”

His head snapped up. “Are you sure that’s a good idea?”

“He won’t hurt her.”

“You don’t know that. Besides, I’m more worried about the humans who he will encounter.”