Sacrifice (#1 Twin's Service series) UNEDITED

Chapter 14

(Jared POV) 

Cane was the first to shift into his wolf's form and his pack followed behind him. They took off running into the forest behind his house ahead of their Alpha. He turned his head to look in my direction which probably meant 'are you going to shift or what'. Clothes were strewn across the grass in piles but I wouldn't need to undress to become my wolf like they did.

In a matter of seconds my human form shifted into my wolf which stood taller than Cane's. Regardless of how tall my wolf was though, both his and mine were equally matched in strength. You'd think with size would come more advantages but he was quicker and had more flexibility in his range. A bigger body meant it took a bit more time to shift my head in time for an attack taken from behind or from numerous assailants.

Since I wasn't a part of his pack he couldn't communicate with me mind to mind. He yipped in my general direction before taking off into the woods behind his people. I followed behind, letting pine needles and dirt kick up underneath my large paws. Claws sank into the rich foamy substance as the rush of the hunt swept over me.

Wildlife surrounded us, intoxicating in it's aroma. We caught up to his pack in no time and I could see some of the younger members rolling around nipping at one another. A few members braved my wrath had I been a werewolf and lightly bit at my tail to get me to roll around with them. Cane watched it all with his wolf eyes that showed humor.

After running for close to an hour, a stream came into our sights and some of the wolves stopped to lap at it to dry their parched mouths from the run. Others laid down next to one another to rest up after running for so long. Cane stood at attention with his ears flickering back and forth to catch any slight sound that might prove hazardous if anyone entered his land uninvited.

While they took their break I decided to run some more since I wasn't tired. I indicated with my head to Cane what I planned on doing and he simply shook his body which I was taking as 'I don't care'. Winter had a specific smell to it. Much like crisp snow lingering on the ground. It was almost like there was no smell but that in itself was a type of distinct smell. Refreshing in it's simplicity. Beautiful.

A burrow of rabbits scampered back into it's home as I passed them by and a group of elk took off further into the forest to avoid the predator. I kept running, allowing the wind to brush my fur as I sped along. Something smelt wrong though.

I stopped so suddenly that I had to dig my sharp claws into the debris laden ground. It was a putrid smell and once it hit my nose I sneezed to dislodge it. The smell was uncharacteristic with the peacefulness surrounding me. If only I could talk to Cane and ask if he knew what it was. Since I couldn't that only left me with having to investigate.

Soon I was approaching where the smell was originating from. A large ditch, big enough to be mistaken for a small cliff, was immersed in foilage as I happened upon it. There was nothing that could be seen but the smell had grown stronger the closer I got.

When I was close enough to the edge that I may have been scared of falling, I got down onto my belly to crawl a bit closer to look over. Had I not been a Supernatural creature my eyesight may not have been good enough to see. Unfortunately or fortunately, I was able to clearly see a small hill of bodies strewn across the bedding of the ditch. Not freshly dead bodies though. No. They were all mummified. As if their essence, blood, organs, and any semblance of life was completely sucked out of them.

It wouldn't do me any good to try to investigate this alone though. Instead of doing something stupid like climb down myself I threw back my head and howled. This was the only way to get the attention of Cane.

While I was waiting, I changed back and glanced around using my magic to check the area. When I did that I could finally see something that was rather interesting. These bodies had been dumped on the line seperating pack lands and neutral territory. Almost exactly on the border to be exact.

Cane must've tracked me by scent. He began his change back and stood naked as the day he was born behind me.

"What's wrong?"

I pointed into the ditch that he hadn't investigated yet, "I know you can smell what I did. But to be honest I'm still trying to process what exactly I'm seeing to give you an accurate answer. I'm pretty sure I just found the Fire Coven."

Cane took quick steps towards the overhang and glanced down. His jaw clenched in fury and a flash of bafflement crossed his face.

"I've never seen anything like this before. We should probably contact the elders as well as your sister."

A sigh slipped through my lips. One of the things I didn't want was to have to contact those old as dirt fools. So stuck in their old ways that they discriminate against anything new. Knowing this was a huge deal though, I was left with no other choice.

"I'll give them a call. Is there anyway to leave a marker here? I don't have any on me and since this is your land you have full control."

He nodded his head before bringing his hands up to carress the surroundings. His hand scooped something unseen to the untrained eye and shoved it into the ground. A bright red beacon shone up from the floor, bursting through the foilage of the trees above our heads, leaving a mist of red to hover in the sky. Since this was his land he could gather the magic on it to use as he saw fit.

"Let's head back. I need to get my pack back to their houses and settled in for the night. I'd rather not have them running out here when the killer could be hiding on my lands."

I nodded back in silent agreement before following him back to his house.

(Sloane POV)

Cece hopped out of my car when we pulled up to Jared and I's house. She had her own key for the front door so I wouldn't need to turn the car off to let her in.

"You sure you'll be okay going to visit Dimitri without me?"

I'm positive she saw my eyes roll at that. "Of course I'm sure, Cece. I'm a big dangerous hybrid and can handle many boogeymen perfectly fine by myself."

"Yeah but this is... Di.mi.tri. You know? The sex on sticks hottie master vampire? He practically oozes 'let's fuck like rabbits'. I'm just saying that maybe there's a reason for the saying 'strength in numbers', two is better than just one."

She may have had a good idea with the whole numbers thing except for the fact that Cece was 100 percent human. Meaning that instead of a strength she'd be more of a burden. I wouldn't tell her that though unless I want a new hair cut. Or head cut as it is.

"Cece, I'll be fine. Stay here and wait for Jared. He hasn't gotten ahold of me yet but I'm kind of worried about his lack of communication. He must be a bit to far for communicating via telepathically because I'm only getting bits of emotion from him."

When I had finished talking, I could see how very uncomfortable Cece was by this development. Sigh. Love can really make or break someone. It royally pisses me off that Jared hasn't just screwed Cece's brains out yet. Of course the whole notion is disturbing to imagine but I wanted my best friend happy.

"Okay," she responded with a bit too much exhuberance, "I'll text you when he calls. Unless he just reaches you by cellphone."

Usually at night when work was let out Jared called the house phone. Something about how it's a waste to have a home phone unless it's going to be used.

As she shut the passenger door and bent over to see into the window, I blew her a kiss. Cece chuckled before returning it and heading towards the front door. I waited until she was completely inside and heard the lock click, before backing out of the drive and heading towards one of Dimitri's business. 

A/N: This chapter may be a bit shorter than others but that's to be expected until I get back around to adding more information and detail to it after I complete the book. Sorry in advance for any misspelled words. If you have any ideas you'd like to suggest, feel free to leave it in the comment section. :)