Siren's Secret

4. Meatballs and Murder

Alpha Randolf Stephens stands on the stairs with his mate, Archangel Luna Raziel Stephens.  His imposing 6' 6" stature and broad shoulders made him intimidating on the best of days. His slightly wavy dark hair had a few white and silver strands around his temples which gave him a sophisticated look. Jason is almost his spitting image as he gets his blue grey eyes and wavy brown hair from their father. 

Their mother Raziel, was even more striking. Standing at 6 feet tall, she was athletically curvy and pure muscle, though you'd never know it as she oozed grace.  Her striking eyes were the color of the most vivid spring green you can think of with light brown hair.  Being an immortal angel, Raziel radiated calmness.  For those that truly knew her, they know that  the calmness is only one side of her.  She could swipe a head from someone's shoulders before you could blink an eye- and she has done so more than once while protecting the earth, and now, her pack. 

At seeing her daughter, Raziel smiled her blindingly beautiful smile and with a quick push of her wings was instantly in front of Rieka and pulling her into a tight hug.

"Habat Shelee (My daughter) it is so good to see you! I have missed you so much!"

"I've missed you too mom," Rieka sighed into the hug. 

Alpha Randolf approached his daughter giving her a firm hug as well, "I'm so happy to see you darlin' but what are you doing here?"

Rieka sighed, "I need your help on a case I'm working on.  It's definitely something supernatural, but it's not something I've come across before.  I'm worried because we've had two bodies with the same markings show up in less than a day and something tells me there's going to be more.  With the humans looking into solving the murders too, you know that it could cause us more problems than just a few dead humans." 

"Well if we're going to be doing some serious discussions, it's not good to do so on an empty stomach," Alpha Randolf says heartily, "Let's head to the dining table. I'll link Mrs. O'Malley to get some dinner ready for us while we talk."

Walking into her childhood kitchen caused a rush of memories to flood Rieka's mind. Mrs. O'Malley, their Matron of the Omegas, was already starting to throw together some meatballs, pasta, garlic bread, and salad.  

Mrs. O'Malley had been a beta's daughter in another smaller pack that had been wiped out by a hunter attack not long after Alpha Randolf had become alpha of Nocturnal Eclipse about 30 years ago. Her and her younger sister Leela had fled here and was granted admittance into the pack. 

They were both young back then, but competent warriors.  Leela ended up being mated to one of the border guards and Mrs. O'Malley wound up mated to the pack's head warrior trainer Walt O'Malley.  Raziel took an instant liking to her and gave her extra training to make her one of the most formidable warriors in the history of the pack.  

Mrs. O'Malley's true passion though was in cooking, so after a few years in culinary school, she returned to become the head of the Omegas and also the secret personal bodyguard of the Alpha's family.  She rarely left the pack house and she liked it that way as she could cook to her heart's content. 

Rieka walked up to Mrs. O'Malley and was met with an excited squeal and a crushing hug, "My little Riri! Oh my it's so nice to see you! My goodness you are so grown up and simply STUNNING! You take after your mother." 

"Thanks mama O'Malley!" Rieka laughed heartily. It felt good to see her.  Mrs. O'Malley was like a second mother to her and she was looking forward to some of the best food in the state. 

"Let's get started shall we?" Jason motioned to the table where the rest of the family had already gotten settled. 

Rieka went and sat down at the opposite head of the table from her father and took a deep breath. She relayed all that she knew and any detail she could think of about the bodies, the marks, how they smelled, and where/how they were found.  She presented a file with detailed pictures of the bodies and bite marks and pointed out the depth of the bites and strange serration on the edges. 

When she was done, she waited for them to absorb all the information. Raziel was the first to speak, "This is definitely strange. My first instinct would be to look at the mermaids.  The close proximity to the water for both victims as well as the depth of the bite marks could easily explain what you saw." 

"I disagree," Jason spoke up, "the smell of autumn leaves, gravel and salt is not one that is associated with mermaids. And only wolves or cat shifters would pick up on that little detail. It's possible that the real killer made it look like a mermaid kill for some reason." 

Mrs. O'Malley put the finished spaghetti, meatballs with sauce, garlic bread and salad down on the table, along with plates and silverware, "Mermaids don't like to hunt on or near the shore.  They only hunt in deep waters and usually try to avoid feeding on humans if at all possible. It would have to be a very motivated or distressed mermaid to kill two humans where the bodies were found."

"You have a point there mama O'Malley," Jason replied while handing a giant plate of pasta and all the fixings to Rieka.  She took a bite and moaned out loud, "oh man, I miss your cooking almost more than I miss my family."

"Hey now," Alpha Randolf smirked, "we're pretty awesome and not just because we're helping you with your mystery killer."  

"She did say 'almost' Randy," Raziel smiled and winked at her daughter. 

"The other thing that doesn't make sense to me are the claw marks on the security guard," Rieka pointed out between mouthfuls, "Mermaids don't usually have claws or talon like fingernails. It's almost like a giant falcon clawed at the shoulders while a mermaid bit the neck for the kill." 

Raziel stopped suddenly, eyes wide, "Talons... I think I might have something. I'll be right back."  

With a small gust of wind from her wings she was gone. A few seconds later she whooshed back to the table with an ancient looking and very large leather bound book.   Alpha Randolf and Jason moved the food to make room on the table for the book.  

Raziel opened the book on the table and started combing through the yellowed pages. Each page depicting different animals, monsters, beasts and notes in ancient Aramaic which had become a dead language for mortals. For good reason as It was one of the languages of the Angels. 

Raziel had taught Rieka to read Aramaic when she was little. Only Angels and Demons or those with their blood could read it fluently.  

After a few minutes Raziel stopped on a page, "Here.  I think I found your monster." She pulled a single long brown feather with white stripes and a black tip out of the book and handed it to Rieka.  "Is this what you smelled?"

Rieka inhaled a few times, "Yes! Yes this is it, I'm sure of it." 

She handed it to Jason who sniffed and handed it to their father who also sniffed, "Yeah... gravel, salt and a little bit of a musky autumn leaf smell. What creature is this from?"

Raziel turned the book around so they all could see the page clearly, "You're looking for a Siren."