The Alpha's Shadow

Chapter 3: Unlikely Partners

Luna stumbled blearily into the precinct,coffee clutched like a lifeline. She hadn't left the station until nearly sunrise tracking down leads on last night's incidents. Sleep hadn't come easy after that, thoughts churning relentlessly. Only sheer exhaustion had finally dragged her under sometime past noon. The two hours of restless sleep left Luna drained, but she knew the day's chaos had just begun.

"Morning, partner." Marco's gruff voice greeted Luna as she slumped at her desk. How he managed to look so crisp and alert after their late night she'd never understand. "Captain wants to see us in his office, ASAP. Doesn't sound happy."

Luna suppressed a groan. She should have expected the higher-ups would demand a full briefing after the dramatic events that unfolded last night. And with the solstice moon ceremonies in less than two days, tensions in the city were boiling over faster than the overwhelmed APD could contain them.

"Did holding get anything useful out of our wolf-shifter friend?" Luna asked Marco hopefully.

He shook his head, mouth set in a hard line. "Lawyered up pretty quick once he came to. They transferred him to a Council facility for containment." Marco's expression darkened further. "Mark my words, he'll be back on their streets within a week. That's how they operate."

Luna pursed her lips, but chose not to argue. Marco wasn't wrong - the powerful werewolf Council seemed to play by its own rules when protecting their people. But she refused to accept they were all guilty by association either. Last night's events proved something or someone was deliberately stirring trouble between human and werewolf factions. If she could just get solid evidence, maybe the APD could compel the Council into helping defuse tensions instead of covering up the truth.

Wishful thinking, perhaps. But Luna had to believe progress was possible, even if just in small steps. The alternative, that Avaloria was doomed to indefinitely repeat the cycles of violence carved into its bones, felt unbearable.

Gulping the rest of her scalding coffee, Luna steeled herself as they headed for the Captain's office. Time to face the bureaucratic firing squad.

Captain Cortez was fielding a video call when they entered, but waved Luna and Marco over impatiently. "...yes, the mayor has been fully briefed. We're meeting with the Council representatives this afternoon to coordinate response." He glanced up, holding a finger to his lips. Luna didn't miss the worry lines etched deeper around his eyes and mouth. Getting squeezed from both ends, and they were barely holding on.

After reassuring them again that the APD had the situation under control, Cortez finally ended the call with a heavy sigh, rubbing his eyes wearily. Not for the first time, Luna felt a pang of sympathy for the man who had worked his way up through the ranks only to inherit a department fraught with complexity.

"Sorry to interrupt, Captain. We can come back—" Luna began gently.

"No. This matter requires your full attention." Cortez glance between them grimly. "I assume you've heard what went down last night?"

"Yes, sir," Marco answered. "We responded to the early incidents. A werewolf definitely killed that civilian in the alley ambush. No question."

Luna bit her lip. Marco wasn't wrong, but his biased conclusion bothered her. "The evidence does suggest a werewolf perp," she clarified carefully, "but we can't rule out other possibilities yet." Out of the corner of her eye she saw Marco frown.

Cortez held up a hand before her partner could argue. "Regardless of speculations, these incidents have already ignited a powder keg. Anti-werewolf sentiment is boiling over thanks to that public murder. The Council is under immense pressure to prove it wasn't one of their people behind this."