His Big Secret

Chapter 11

Taking a quick detour to drop Clary off at the Institute, Alec and Luke arrive at the Jade Wolf. Luke pushed the front door open, tables and chairs were smashed to pieces, and bits of wood and warped metal littered the floor, some with drops of blood on them. Alec's eyes immediately went to the disfigured and mutilated creature on the floor.

"Is that what attacked you?" Luke asked one of his wolves, Alaric. Alec wasn't sure; he hadn't spent that much time around the New York pack when Theo was in charge.

"Yes, we've never seen anything like this before," Alaric said. Alec bent down, his eyes running over the creature's body.

"Look at this," Alec said, shifting the fabric revealing a ruin. Alec looked up at Luke, "It's runed, and I'd guess it's human too. A forsaken."

"How did it act? Was it mindless, attacking all at once? Did anyone appear to be controlling it?" Alec asked the werewolves.

"No," another one spoke up, a woman. Alec nodded his head, motioning for her to continue. "It seemed focused, determined maybe. It attacked us like it had a plan. It took five wolves to take it down. I don't think I've seen anything like it."

"That's not typical for a forsaken; they are normally weak and easy to kill," Luke said; Alec nodded. Forsakens were crazed beings with mindless and insane rage; they were weak with no intelligence, which made them easy to overpower and take down.

"I can take that body back to the Institute, do a full autopsy, and find out what is so special about this forsaken," Alec said, standing up and looking up at the werewolf pack. "Everyone here during the attack, whether you were part of the fight or just an observer, can you write everything that happened before the forsaken showed up to you, killing it? Try to write as much detail as you can. Don't speak with anyone until you've all written about what happened. Keep it to what you saw, no one else."

"You think it's wise taking this back to the Institute?" Luke asked. Alec sighed. He didn't want to explain why he was at the Jade Wolf and why Luke would contact Alec first and not the Institute with this new Clave envoy; it would put Alec into the spotlight more than he needed right now.

"Unless the Downworld has an expert forensic pathologist, I don't think we have much choice," Alec said; the accompanying silence told Alec enough.

"Okay. Just let me know what you find," Luke said. Alec nodded.

"You think Valentine was behind this?" Alec asked. Luke nodded; there was something about this attack which bugged Alec. Valentine hates Downworlders, but why would he send only one forsaken to attack the wolves when he knew they needed a small army to take down at least one wolf?

"No question. It's definitely his work," Luke said, "It feels personal, attacking my pack. I think he sent he forsaken after me. They just didn't check to see whether I was here before letting it lose, but then again, attacking the pack is like attacking me, even if I'm not here. Valentine and I have a complicated past. But, of course, he could be going after the old crew. I'm sure Valentine has a grudge against anybody who turned against him."

Returning with the forsaken had kicked up a lot of fuss. Lydia wasn't impressed he'd been in contact with Luke and demanded why he hadn't contacted the Institute when Luke called him. Alec didn't say that they were already together when Luke got the call about the attack or how he'd recovered the Mortal Cup. He no longer trusts the Clave to keep it safe from Valentine, but that wasn't the kicker. When Alec told them Luke's idea of Valentine going after ex-circle members who turned against him, Lydia let slip that his fucking parents were ex-circle members. Alec knew his parents were something; they always showed their hatred for the downworld. They spoke about Shadowhunters' superiority, but Alec never suspected they'd been a part of the Circle and attacked innocent Downworlders because some madman believed they should be eradicated. It made his blood boil.