The Venatrix

Chapter Seven

The warriors escorted me to the alphas house. They told me that I could go inside. That the alpha was waiting for me in his office, but this isn't how this works. I can't go inside unless I have been invited by the owner of the house. Which of course is not the warriors who brought me here. I used some bull shit excuse about etiquette as to why I wouldn't let myself inside. They didn't seem to think much of it. I made myself comfortable on the icy ground and waited for Light to come get me.

"Miss Venatrix, if you will follow me into my office, we can go over the current situation." Light said, standing on the porch. His face has a tight smile on it, but it doesn't match his tone. While he wants my help, he thinks talking to me is an inconvenience. Which is fine if he doesn't want to give me the information I need, I'll leave them to their own demise. I stand up and carefully make my way onto the porch. When I knew that I wasn't going to be blown out of the doorway, I followed Light inside. 

True to Esmeray's word his office wall is covered with the faces of the missing. Every man, woman and child are named and tagged with their rank and date. There must be at least three hundred people on the wall. How long has this been going on?

"How many people have gone missing this year?" I ask, looking over the wall. 

"Seventy-five. First the number started out small. Teenagers between sixteen and eighteen." We chopped it up to them running away to be with their significant other or their mate. you know Basic teenage drama crap." He starts.

"But the numbers kept growing?" I ask. 

"Yes, after the numbers hit the mid-twenties, we feared they had been grabbed by hunters. So, we relocated, then once we settled here, we started being attacked by vampires." He says, crossing his arms across his chest.

"Well, looking at the variables. I think you can rule out them being used as a food source." I say.

"Anchorage and Eagle River are relatively large cities that are filled with crime. They would be great places to hunt down innocent victims in the open without drawing any attention to themselves. Then those who don't prefer to drink from a live food source and purchase blood from the blood bank. Why come all the way out here to snack on a bunch of werewolves? It just doesn't make sense" I explained. 

"Don't some vampires drink animal blood?" He asks, scrunching his nose in disgust. 

"Yeah, they do but there are tons of species to choose from. Fish, crab, seals, bears, moose, mountain lions and the list go on and on. So once again why target a pack of wolves?" I ask. 

"So why are my people going missing?" He asks but his tone says he is demanding some type of explanation. 

"Well, there are a few options. One, someone has a divine gift that a clan leader is after. They could be taking members as a message to the one person. Two, experimenting. Three someone made a deal with a master vampire." I explain holding up three fingers. 

"If someone was receiving messages for whatever reason I would know about it. If someone had made a deal with a master vampire, I would know about it. So, it has to be experimenting." He declares. 

"Does someone here have a divine gift?" I ask. His eyes darken and his jaw clinches. I can hear his teeth grinding together. Someone does and he doesn't want to say who.

"If you want my help you need to be honest with me." I say and erase all kindness out of my voice. 

"Not that I'm aware of."  He says. He is fucking lying through his teeth. 

"You're lying." I hissed. 

"I'm not." He swears. 

"Has someone made a deal with a master vampire?" I ask. He repeats the same pattern. The darkening of the eyes. The clenching of the jaw. Him grinding his teeth together. 

"No, if they did, I would know about it."  He swears but I know he is lying. Someone here has royally screwed up and he doesn't want anyone to know who. Even if it means saving the whole pack. 

"Stop lying to me." I say letting dominance wrap itself into my voice. 

"I swear to the moon goddess up above that I am not lying." His voice is carefree and border line arrogant. His attitude has done a complete three sixty from yesterday. He wants my help, but he doesn't want to put in any of the work. This isn't the man that I remember. This man is a selfish prick. 

"I've been doing this a long time, alpha." I say putting more tone into the alpha part. 

"I know when people are lying. Someone here in this pack has royally fucked up and you don't want to give them away. I understand that. Maybe it's your family, maybe it's your mate. I really don't care who. However, you are jeopardizing the rest of the pack with your selfishness. I am giving you one last chance to be honest with me. Who screwed up?" I demand. 

"And I told you I don't know what you are talking about." He says. 

"Great. You can put in a request to the Werewolf King for his assistance because I won't work with a liar." I hiss and leave his office without another word. 

The second that I set foot on the beach; I ripped the mask off my face. Anger threatens to consume me. I hate liars. I hate selfish arrogant people. There was absolutely no reason for that bull shit. 

"Your back really early, what happened?" My mate asked, appearing seemingly out of nowhere. When His scent washes over me I instantly relax. 

"He wouldn't be honest with me. I gave him multiple chances to come clean and he wouldn't. I told him to contact the Werewolf King for help because I wouldn't" I huff in annoyance. 

"Are you going to retire again?" He asked. Wrapping his arms around my waist. 

"If it means I can be with you, then yes." I say.

"I've waited a long time for you. I didn't plan on leaving Alaska without you." He says softly, smiling. 

"Can I at least have your name before we run off into the sun set?" I ask, chuckling. 

"I'm Malkai Christiansen." He says brushing his lips up against mine. 

"Nora Bleau." I whisper before I crush my lips against his. The kiss was everything that I thought it would be and better. His lips are soft. His tongue is velvety as it dances against mine. His fangs scrape and gently pull at my lower lip. 

"Whoa." I say taking a step back. 

"What's wrong? Did I do something wrong?" He asks. His voice is concerned and his eyes flash with hurt. 

"No, it's not that. I haven't had a real shower in over four years. " I shyly admit. 

"Wait? is that it? I thought you were fixing to drop a major bomb on me." He says chuckling. 

"If we are going to be messing around and what not. I want to be clean. I hope your place has a shower." I joke. 

"It has a shower and a lot more. Are you sure you want to leave them behind though?" He asks, gesturing towards werewolf territory. 

"Yeah, I'm sure. If they really wanted my help, they would have been honest. I didn't come out of retirement to help people that don't want to help themselves. Now that I have met you, I want to retire again." I admit. 

"Alright, let's go home." He says picking up my mask and handing it to me. 

"Thanks, but I don't need it anymore." I say throwing it down on the ground. He gives me a wicked grin before we take off running west. 

I have a future to look forward to that doesn't involve hunting vampires or dealing with my past. It's just me and Malkai for the remainder of time. I wouldn't have it any other way.