Star Blessed

A Warning

RAFF

Raff could hear the pounding on the bedroom door, but he clenched his eyes shut trying to return to the pleasant dream he'd been having. One that involved Meribella in all sorts of compromising positions and various food items. He'd never been one to enjoy that sort of thing but any excuse to put his mouth on her skin, to taste her, was acceptable.

"Raff, wake up!"

"Damn it, Lincoln," he shouted, tossing the covers back and standing with a wince. Perhaps it wasn't a bad thing that his dream had been interrupted. He had plans to see Meribella today, which meant he would spend most of his day sexually frustrated as he resisted the urge to haul her off like a caveman. He didn't need to start the day frustrated.

The sound of his voice was all his Beta needed to enter the room, pushing the door open so hard it swung open and struck with the wall with a bang. Making no attempt to hide his examination of Raff's bed, he said, "About time."

"I spent the night alone. You can stop looking for her under the covers."

"I just don't understand what you see in her. She's foul."

Raff didn't contain his snarl. "I've warned you about that."

"What, you can't handle criticism of your woman? Sounds like you might need to reconsider whether or not this relationship is healthy for your psychological well being."

"Lincoln... Please tell me you have a good reason for showing up here so early. Did Tracey not keep you busy last night?"

"Dude, I don't do repeats. Too messy. Hint, hint."

"There's nothing to repeat. Yet." Ignoring his friend's groan, he asked, "Again, why are you here so early?"

"First of all, it's almost noon. Secondly, they found two bodies on the beach this morning. They've made a positive id on the man, but not the woman. I managed to get a glimpse before heading over here." All of the teasing had left his voice, the somber tone making Raff's hackles rise.

"And?"

"The guy is Dave Robertson. The pervert you asked me to keep tabs on. The woman... she looks a hell of a lot like your girl." Blue eyes flashing, Raff charged towards the exit, wearing nothing but his boxers. Lincoln snatched him by the arm. "She looks a lot like her, but it isn't her. She's too small, but her features are too similar for it to be a coincidence."

"Fuck," Raff shouted, pulling both hands through his hair. If they'd just found the girl, he'd tell Lincoln he was jumping to conclusions, but murdering the girl with that asshat from the liquor store was a clear warning.

"What the hell is going on?"

He glared at his Beta, trying to decide if he should tell the man everything. Ultimately, he couldn't keep him in the dark. "Meribella didn't come back because she wanted to. Mac sent her here with a mission."

The string of curses that exploded from Lincoln's mouth caused Raff's eyebrows to raise. He'd heard colorful language in his sixty years, hell he'd used his fair share, but he had to give the man props for creativity. And it was only going to get worse when he told him exactly what the mission was.

"I knew I didn't trust that woman."

"The only reason I know any of this is because she told me herself." That shut Lincoln up. "He asked her to kill me in exchange for the return of her selkie skin. She can't shift without it."

Pity replaced Lincoln's anger, and Raff knew his Beta was trying to figure out what lengths he'd be willing to go to be able to shift again if the ability was stolen from him. Telling him the full story had been the right move.

"Damn. I might be willing to kill you too, but if she told you why she's here, then she's already given away the game."

"Not just that, but I offered myself up on a silver platter--" He was right: the curses could get more creative. "She wouldn't do it. Not even to save her own skin, literally. Later that day she was threatened in a liquor store, and Dave was a witness. I'm guessing someone considered him a liability and did away with him. They murdered an innocent woman to make a bigger statement."

He pulled on pants and a shirt while Lincoln paced the room. "We need to call Calum. Shit is worse than we thought if Mac is making a move. He wouldn't send an assassin after you, especially one he couldn't trust, without having a backup plan. My guess is that he actually means for Meribella to fail, which actually makes her just as dangerous as I thought."

"What do you mean?" He grabbed his keys and phone, disappointment flaring in his stomach when he saw no missed calls or texts from the woman in question.

They stepped outside and headed towards the beach. Even from this distance, they could pick up on the sounds of medical responders and law enforcement. Most of them were members of the supernatural community and wouldn't question the presence of the Orion leaders.

"Think about it. If Mac doesn't really think Meribella is going to kill you, why send her back? Hell, what if this shit goes back even further than we think. What if her ending up in Cutler was by design in the first place?"

Raff halted. "Do you even know what you're suggesting? Someone was putting a lot of trust in me meeting her in the first place."

"Or they were setting you both up. Think about it. That was the first night a Starless wolf sneaked onto our property, and he just happened to run towards the beach? The beach Meribella was at?"

They'd reached the rocky shore. Had it really been just yesterday when he'd sat there with Meribella? His mind had still refused to believe she was really there, certain he was dreaming. But that dream had been replaced with a nightmare.

The bodies were still on the ground. The humans wouldn't notice the stench that was already brewing, but his nose burned as decaying flesh filled his nose. People milled about taking photos and writing notes, clinical in their approach. He wished he could look at the motionless forms with the same sense of disconnect, but as his eyes were drawn to the jagged gash in the woman's throat, her dark hair plastered over her face, he could only imagine Meribella in her place.

He turned away and faced his friend. He wanted to tell Lincoln he was drawing conclusions without evidence, but the more he considered what his Beta said, the more he thought the man might be right. And the implications of this scenario were sickening. Almost as sickening as the sight he'd couldn't remove from his mind. "There's a lot of players involved if what you're saying is true."

Lincoln nodded. "At least one of those players would have to be in our pack."

He'd said the one thing Raff had been trying to avoid, but the statement rang true. "We have a traitor in our midst."