"You tell me," he says, standing at my front door, "you were the one who went on a shooting spree in the morning."
"Oh, that, that was nothing. I told you! Nevertheless, come on," I say taking them to the nearby guest house. I suppose anyone after hearing gunshots would be concerned.
"So you came here because you were worried?" I say, trying my luck.
"No," he quickly says, "My grandfather told me it's my turn to visit here."
"Oh," I say. Then why did he bring his Beta and Delta as well? I help them settle into the guest house. Jackson says, "You're going to tell me or what? What happened in the morning?"
I tell him.
"First, crocs. Now, murder sprees. Fault Lake sure is something," Rick says.
"Yeah, we keep it fresh here. Anyway, we couldn't track it down," I say.
"We'll take a look at it tomorrow," Jackson says.
"Really? You sure you didn't come because you were worried about me?" I say.
"Or we could just leave now," Jackson says.
"Alright, no need to be all defensive right away. I can use the help. In fact, I'll tell everyone I asked you guys to come over to help us. Good excuse for your appearance out of nowhere in the middle of the night."
"You haven't told your parents Jackson is your mate?" Wren says.
"No. Jacky made me promise not to tell anyone."
"You told my grandfather," Jackson says.
"Which made you upset. That's why I'm not telling anyone else," I say.
"Or maybe it's just convenient for you to not tell your parents when you're not going to be able to keep your mate anyway," Jackson smugly says.
I give him a smile. "I'll leave you guys to rest now. And unlike Yarvey nobody has to get up deadass early here. Come by my parents' place for breakfast anytime of the day."
"Where do you live?" Wren says.
"With my parents," I proudly say and leave them.
And when I think the day is finally over, I see Ivan running over to me. I search my pants. I left my phone in the house. I look at Ivan scared. "Please tell me no one new got hurt," I say.
"Not people. Mrs. Treckkett's goats. We forgot to check the farm in the morning. She noticed it now only."
"Shit. How many?"
"All of them."
"What happened?" Jackson says appearing behind us. Ivan looks surprised. "I'll explain later," I say to Ivan and turn to Jackson. "We forgot to fully check near the lake. One of our residences has a farm there. The wolf must've ate all the goats. I'm gonna go see her now," I say.
"I'll come with you," Jackson says.
"You don't need to. I ca—"
"We are taking my car," Jackson says, already getting inside it. I look at Ivan and say, "Go back to your house and rest." I circle around his eyes. "You have dark circles."
"I'm sure they'll go well with the premature grey hairs," Ivan says, making me laugh. My beta has it rough. After I send him off, and fetch my phone, I get in Jackson's car. I give Jackson directions to the old woman's house.
Mrs. Treckett opens the door, looking fragile. It must be devastating for her. Unexpectedly, she hugs me. I hug her back. "Make sure to kill that monster," she says, sniffing.
"We will," Jackson replies. With wide eyes, I turn my neck to look at him. The woman lets go of me. "You are?" She says, looking at Jackson.
"Jackson Kauf, Alpha of Yarvey Creek."
In a moment, the old lady seems to have forgotten all her losses today. She lights up. "Yarvey's Alpha? Oh, it's an honor to meet you. Are you here to help us?"
"Yes. Your Alpha begged me to help her catch this monster."
I narrow my eyes at him. The woman looks even more happy. "That's wonderful," she says.
I clear my throat. "Mam, can we take a look at the farm?"
"Of course, anything for Alpha," she says, only that she was looking at him while saying that. You know what maybe I'm not all that empathetic for the woman who lost her dumb goats.
At the enclosure we see blood spatters everywhere, but there are hardly any carcass left. "It prefers goats to the crocs," I say.
"Usually, predators don't tend to eat other predators," Jackson says.
I hear some twigs snapping, and quickly draw out my gun and point at its direction. Squealing, the pig runs away. I sigh putting back my gun.
"You guys use guns here for everything?" Jackson says.
"You don't carry a firearm?" I say.
"Never," he says, "Sometimes we let our guards have them."
"What if someone shoots at you?"
"We take the hit. It heals pretty quick."
I forgot that trait about werewolves. Maybe because I had never sustained a serious injury before.
Now, however, my job's occupational hazard is that I might get mauled by a rabid wolf. Hopefully, if that happens, I'll heal super fast, although I have some serious doubts about that.
"You heal quick in your human form?" I ask.
He nods. "Even faster in my wolf form. Almost instantly."
"That's how the great Alphas are like," the woman says, appearing with a — only one — cup of tea and giving it to him. Jackson takes it with a smile and sips at it, looking at me.
Even though he has met this woman only today, even he can tell she's favoring him over me.
End of chapter
