24. Lila
24
LILA
F or the rest of the day yesterday, we did nothing. We hung out and watched movies. Weylin and I went over all the notes of the case and set up our next move for later in the week. We still hadn’t heard from Ophidian Pack or the council, even though Rainor had made a formal request for a meeting. I started thinking maybe I should talk to the pack myself.
The fact that everyone was coming at them so strongly might be throwing them off. I wasn’t part of the Cridhe pack and a bit of an outsider, so that might get them to relax a little. Their alpha was missing, and among all the news of the murdered alphas, they must be in a difficult situation right now. I could see why they didn't want other packs on their land at the moment.
I stored that away for later. Right now, I was too busy hiding my face in the laptop, so I didn’t look mopey while Rainor, Kage, and Weylin packed up their stuff.
I hadn’t gone through a wave since the night before. I had pretty much peaked and then just fizzled out. Still, Rainor and Weylin had squeezed into the bed on either side of me, telling me it was just in case. Kage had stayed out on the couch.
There was no reason for them to stay here any longer. Kage had said he was done putting off his clients and his meetings, which I understood. I felt bad he’d put his job on hold for me to begin with. He and Rainor had been talking all morning about what was on the schedule for today, and he sounded booked.
Weylin was going to convene with the teams in person. He had asked me to come with him, but I had to rip off the Band-Aid and go into the office to see Chief Nix. I had to catch up with everything at the precinct, if I still had a job. I mean, technically, I was actively working on a case. I wasn’t sure what Rodney’s problem was.
“Bye,” Rainor said. Kage was already out the door.
I raised my head and gave him a tight smile. “Bye. Thanks again for everything,” I said, as if I was thanking a friend who’d helped me move some boxes around.
Weylin stopped at the door and stared at me. “Move in with us.”
I sighed. “I can’t. I have my own house.” I looked down at the laptop once more, so he couldn’t see the hurt in my eyes. With the heat gone and my mind clearing, the reality of what had happened hit me. I didn’t regret a single moment of it. I had spent so many years on my own, I needed time to process.
My computer screen was pushed down, and I looked up into Weylin’s eyes. He crouched down, his lips meeting mine in a soft kiss before he pulled back. “Goodbye.”
I gave him a soft smile. My heart was pulling, tearing, as he walked away from me.
“And another thing!” Weylin spun around, shouting. “I don’t stand for tardiness. I expect a full write-up on this case in the next couple of days. I want projections, I want suspects, I need to fucking interrogate someone’s ass because people will start to think I’m slacking.”
I chuckled, shaking my head. “Bye, Weylin!” I called.
“Bye, babe!” he shouted back as he closed the door behind him.
Max got up from his bed, walking over to me and sitting directly in front. I reached over, scratching him behind the ear. “Just you and me again, Max.”
I got up and grabbed my pink robe from the back of the door, slipping it on before stepping into my slippers.
“Come on, let’s go for a run.” Max didn’t seem as excited as he normally was when I shifted. We ran for a bit, but he lagged behind a lot. I caught the scent of another wolf along my territory line, but it wasn’t cause for alarm. Weylin had mentioned he had some members of the pack running back and forth while we were busy.
We made it back to the house, and Max grabbed one of his tennis balls, pacing in the living room a bit before lying down in his bed. “I’ll throw it for you,” I said, picking the ball up and opening the back door again. He didn’t move, though, so I put the ball back in his bed with him.
I went about my normal routine, showering and dressing. Holstering my gun, I decided to take the silver bullets out but put them in my extra clip, so I would have them on me, but I wouldn’t be wasting them.
Max didn’t get up from his bed when I entered the kitchen, not even when I put his food down for him. I tossed a couple of frozen waffles into the toaster and got to work making myself another coffee.
I spun around and opened the fridge door to pull out the creamer, my eyes falling on the fresh berries. I smiled and shook my head. Once the waffles popped, I put them on a plate with some berries and actually sat down to eat them with my coffee.
There was a tug and a pull at my heart that had me looking around the living room. My house had never felt so empty as it did now. The silence was eerie. My wolf paced within me, seeming to be worried that the guys were no longer here.
I rubbed at my chest a little. After finishing my coffee and only half of my breakfast, I decided it was time to head over to the precinct and work out whatever issues the boss had.
I had decided I would be sticking to my story—I’d been sick for the last few days and couldn’t come in. It wasn’t even an excuse, since there was no way I would’ve been able to go into the office in the state I was in.
I scanned my way through the door of the precinct and stopped at Jenny’s desk. “Lila! We haven’t seen you in a while.”
I nodded. “I’ve been super busy on the Cartway case. I was just wondering if you could look up some names for me.”
“Sure.” She smiled.
I picked up a pen and a sticky note. “I don’t know if this is their name, but I’m looking for Markus Ophidian.” I wrote out the name. “He should be located west of Cartway Park, just on the other side of the conservation area. It might not be his last name, but if you have a hit on that last name, I will take that as well.”
I glanced up just in time to see her suspicious gaze, which she masked as soon as she noticed me watching her. Jenny gave me a smile. “Sounds good, I’ll get on that.”
“Thanks.” I gave her a tight smile, the hairs on the back of my neck standing up, though I wasn’t sure why. Jenny had always been nice to me.
I had just made it to my desk when Rodney stuck his head out of his office and called my name, as if he was calling me into the principal's office.
I let out a long breath, bypassing my desk and going into his office. The lecture that Rodney proceeded to give me was both confusing and out of character for him. He still stammered around in his happy-go-lucky way, but it was much more forced than usual, like he was laying it on too thick when communicating how “genuinely concerned” he was. Now he expected me to check in every so often when I wouldn’t be in the precinct, which, honestly, didn't make sense to me to begin with.
Rodney also went on to insist that he needed to see the files on the alpha case. Again, I declined. Instances like this always made me second-guess how he got into such a high position to begin with. Rodney lacked almost all knowledge on proper protocol. The case wasn’t his, and even though I was employed at this precinct, the case now belonged to Weylin’s team. It had been transferred over. I was just a detective working on their case. I didn’t have to disclose any information to him. After explaining this to him several times, I had given up and agreed I’d give him something. I wouldn’t give him everything, just a little bit to get him off my back.
When I returned to my desk, Jenny had placed a sticky note with a number on it and a name, Markus Ophidian. I took the sticky note and walked out of the precinct, nodding a thanks to Jenny as I went. I wanted somewhere private to have this conversation.
I went to my car and pulled out my phone, dialing the number. It wasn’t long before someone answered.
“Hello?” the female voice asked.
“Hi, my name is Detective Evans. I’m looking for Markus Ophidian, I think that is his last name.”
There was a long pause on the other end of the line, and I pulled my phone away to make sure I hadn’t accidentally hung up on her. “May I ask what this is about?” she finally asked.
“Well, I’m a detective working on a case, and we wanted to get his side of the story.”
Another pause. “One moment.”
It took almost another three minutes before a male voice filled the line. “Detective Evans, I presume.”
“Yes.” I smiled. “Is this Markus?”
“It is.”
“Markus, I am one of the lead detectives working on the alpha case—”
“I’ve already discussed, at length, that we will not allow any outsiders on our territory,” he said, his voice both calm and reasonable.
“I understand. I wanted to express my sincerest apologies. I know your alpha has been missing for quite some time. Markus, we aren’t accusing you of anything, we aren’t looking to get in there and arrest you. We simply want to know what happened so that we can locate your alpha.”
Markus sighed and I felt bad for him. I know this couldn’t be easy. I had watched videos of the other packs mourning their alphas. “Cridhe Pack is banned from our lands for good reason. The fact the council continues to hold them at such high esteem is troubling. It makes it difficult to know who to trust.”
“I get that, I do. I’m not with Cridhe Pack, though.”
“Oh?” he asked.
“No, I’m bordering their territory and yours. I have no ties with them, aside from this case. If it makes you feel better, I can be the one to come out,” I offered.
“That is an interesting proposal…” Silence filled the line once more, and I waited as he thought the offer through. “Okay, we will allow one pass for an outsider. But it is to only be you.”
I thought back to what the guys had said about Ophidian Pack. “I may need to bring someone with me.”
“No exceptions,” he said firmly.
“The thing is, I know I said I had no ties to Cridhe, however Weylin is my mate.” I figured claiming only one to be mine was safer, and Weylin seemed the least frightening.
“Weylin… which one is that? A gamma? No, I’m not liking this, Detective Evans. I have to keep my pack safe.”
He didn’t know Weylin. “Well, he’s a beta, but I get the hesitation. We aren’t claimed, though,” I said, hoping that would persuade him. “It doesn’t have to be him I bring. I just doubt he will let me come in alone.”
“My, my, an unclaimed mate.” He tsked. “I apologise, Ms. Evans, but I cannot be persuaded. Either you come alone, or we are at an impasse.”
I tapped my thumb against the steering wheel as I thought the situation over. Finally coming to a conclusion, I held the phone closer to me. “It’s just not going to work. The guys will never allow it. Would you be able to come to the precinct here? On neutral territory? This isn’t run by Cridhe, and you are welcome to bring whoever you want with you. However, it will just be you and me in the interrogation room.”
“No, forgive me for rejecting your generous offer. At the moment, I am a stand-in alpha. My pack will not let me off territory with an alpha killer on the loose. Should you change your mind, my offer still stands. You, and only you, will be welcome on this land.”
How odd. I didn’t think the pack had a choice whether Kage stayed or went; he seemed to be able to do whatever he wanted. “Thank you for taking my call. Could I leave my number with you, should anything change or if something new comes up?”
“That’s all right. I have all your information right here. Thanks for the call, Detective.”
“Thank you for taking it, Markus. I hope to be in touch with you again.” I hung up the call, completely drained. I needed some coffee if I was going to survive the rest of the day.