You are the Answer {boyxboy} ✓ (Dogs, Bats & Monkeys series, Book I | Riley)

Chapter 18

A/N: Happy Easter Sunday to everyone who celebrates today and happy belated Easter to those who celebrated last week!

About the picture above: to be mated - they haven't undergone the mating ceremony yet, mated - have undergone the mating ceremony and are officially a couple in the eyes of the werewolves, married - are officially together according to human laws, on the way - the female is pregnant.

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"Anything else you want to know about us before you go to bed, Riley?" He took another loud sip while I contemplated over what to inquire about.

"The Bullets... Well, some of you anyway," I corrected myself now that I knew that was the name of the whole community and not just a part of it, "sometimes consult the police; in what capacity? I mean, what do they do exactly?"

"Can't tell you that," he shook his head. "I'm not supposed to know."

"When you phrase it like that, it sounds as if you do know more than you should," I pointed out, leaning towards him. He sighed and lifted the cup to his lips, allowing the liquid to slide down his throat. I imitated him, coughing as the beverage went the wrong way. Kennedy patted me on the back and waited until I caught my breath before he carried on:

"You know that this has happened before, right?" I nodded. "It was like... I don't know; maybe seventy years ago?" He furrowed his eyebrows, white teeth biting into his bottom lip in contemplation. "Yeah, I think it's about seventy. Anyway, there was a series of murders with the same M.O. as the one the unsub..."

"Unsub?" I repeated and he recited:

"A person of unknown identity who is the subject of a criminal investigation. That's police slang; I learned it from Kelly. So, the current unsub is using the same M.O. as the people who committed the murders back then." The boy made a pause to drink some more. "Since those people were from a community like ours, we consult on what their motives might be given our way of life... Which is kind of silly, because not all communities follow the same rules. We are often considered too liberal. For example, one of the nearest such community would never, ever pick a woman for a leader; they are not even allowed to participate in their society's version of the Evaluations."

"So there are different versions of that process?" I sipped the liquid more slowly this time and managed to avoid choking.

"Yep. The process depends on each community's values; some only pay attention to strength, speed and leadership skills. I have no idea why had they decided a woman cannot possess those; Keri is doing more than just fine and mom was one of the best in her time... You know," he grinned, his eyes sparkling almost supernaturally, "many thought that mom would hold the same post as Rhys now does. They also thought that she would marry Zachary as they were close as children, were both smart and excelled in physical challenges - mom was the fastest amongst her peers, just like I am - so the community thought they'd be a good match and from a genetic point of view, they would've been; they would've produced strong heirs. But when they were teens mom fell in love with dad and Zachary with Hannah. When the time for the Evaluations came, Zachary was chosen as leader and Olivia as second in command even though mom got pretty close to that position. Olivia's advantage was her connection with Zachary; she was not only his sister, she was his twin sister. You know what they say about twins - they have a special connection." His face fell and he gulped down the rest of his cocoa, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand when he was done.

"She took Zachary's death badly - it was really hard on her; she kept crying, she lost her appetite and couldn't sleep - and that was why she stepped down. You see, when a new leader is chosen, a new second in command might be chosen if the old one cannot keep to their duties and/or if they don't get well with the new leader. Olivia's connection to her niece is strong - probably because she doesn't have children of her own; her ma... man died and she never fell in love again - but Zachary's demise was too heavy a blow for her so after Keri took charge, Rhys was took the duties of second in command."