5. Chapter 5
“These are for the truck and the maintenance locker at the array,” Isla said as she tossed me a set of keys.
She was actually dressed appropriately for once, but looked miserable as she picked across the icy gravel in her knee high shearling boots, jeans and down parka.
Her long auburn hair was pulled back into a complex braid and tucked neatly into a knit hat that matched her gloves.
No one who saw her would think she was here to do satellite maintenance, but she wasn't someone most people would question.
“Let’s go to the array, then we can look around where the body was discovered to see if there’s any evidence that the coroner missed.
” I opened the passenger door of the ancient truck for her and she threw her bag onto the floor, then hopped in effortlessly.
I looked across the windy, snowy landscape, squinting into the distance.
The sun was enveloped by clouds and I lifted my nose instinctively, sniffing the air for a specific scent that was etched permanently into my memory.
It wasn't there and I climbed into the vehicle, turning it on and cranking up the heat.
Isla grimaced from the cold as I shifted into drive.
The truck was easily a decade older than me and definitely on its last legs, but it had a full tank of gas and was preferable to walking.
We eased through the small town that consisted of a post office that doubled as the fire station, police station and mayor’s office, a couple of dusty looking outfitters and a church that didn’t look like it got much use.
“Where do they find these things?” she grumbled, gripping the armrest on the door as we pulled onto the main road and started driving west. There were only a few vehicles out and not much else, the majority of the island empty except for the small town.
“You’ve been light on information so far. Can you give me some details so I know what I'm looking for?”
“Yeah, hold on a sec,” she said, pulling out a tablet from her bag and turning it on. It took a few minutes to log in and another few to find what she was looking for, but we had plenty of time — the island was big and the roads adversarial and every time we hit a pothole, she swore.
“We're here because a woman's body was found on the beach near the array.” Isla scrolled through the documents and photos and I kept my eyes straight ahead.
“I was originally told that she had been missing for almost seven months. Her corpse was discovered on the western shoreline near the array by a local fisherman.”
“I’m assuming there’s more.”
“Correct,” she said, biting her lip and staring at an image. “From what we can tell, the body was freshly deceased, so she’d been alive until a day or two before she was found. She also appeared to be lycan, but her DNA told a different story.”
“And what story was that?” This was out of my scope.
If the only reason the Peerage were getting me involved was because I was lycan, it was a waste of resources.
I was normally contacted when tracking or identification was needed, basically a scent hound with consciousness. I cringed slightly at that realization.
“She was human.”
“That doesn't make any sense. You said she was lycan; she can't be both.”
I pulled over, flipping on the hazard lights and she handed me the tablet.
“She looked like this when she died.” I stared at the photo on the screen, trying to make sense of what I was looking at.
It was technically a woman, maybe early twenties, but her body was disfigured and thick clumps of silky silver hair coated parts of her arms and legs.
One of her hands resembled a paw and her feet were noticeably deformed.
“Shit,” I muttered, the familiarity of the pose and disfigurements increasingly disturbing as my gaze drifted over the body. “It looks like she was mid-shift when this happened. You're sure she wasn't lycan, or maybe some shifter variant?”
“No,” Isla said as I handed the tablet back to her.
“We’ve looked into the family and they’re all human as far back as we can trace.
She was from…” Isla started, then scrolled through the documents.
“Outside Frankfurt. Her family is middle class, owns some kind of hardware store, completely human. The father was interviewed after her disappearance and said that she’d been chatting with someone online for a few months.
She wanted to meet him, but the family discouraged it.
She went anyway and that was the last they saw of her. ”
“Christ.”
“She was pregnant and the DNA of the fetus was lycan.”
“How is that possible?”
“That’s what we’re trying to figure out.
Something happened between the time she met this mystery person and the discovery of her body that caused this transformation to happen.
” I immediately thought about the woman I saw last night.
Something had been off about her, but I hadn’t been able to put my finger on it.
“That’s why I was so interested when I saw that necklace.
Something similar was found on the woman’s body. ”
Isla handed me the tablet again. This time it was a photo of the necklace. I shivered and not from the cold.
“I found the necklace last night.” I reached into my pocket and pulled it out, handing it over to Isla, who placed it on the screen next to the photo.
It was identical. “I couldn’t fall asleep.
” Isla stared at me, her head cocked to the side as she listened.
“It happens sometimes at night, I get restless. I tracked the woman, the one I saw last night.” Her eyes widened slightly as I said that.
“Her scent,” I remembered it, the raw sex oozing from her, and licked my lips. “She was in heat, but something wasn't right.” Isla would want more details, she hated when I was vague. “I can’t explain it, but I found a pile of clothes, and the necklace, when I went after her.”
“And you’re just telling me about this now? Saints, Max, you can’t keep hiding things from me. We’re supposed to be working together. This is the kind of information I need to know.”
“I get it, but I didn’t know that the case was related to lycans.
If you’d told me about that, I would’ve put this information together.
” We kept having the same conversation with no real resolution.
“I promise I won’t hide anything else, but don’t get frustrated with me when you’re not giving me the whole truth. ”
“Sorry, you’re right. We should’ve discussed this last night instead of…you know, but I thought we’d have time. Did you locate her?”
“I shifted and followed the scent, but it ended when I hit a stream, she just disappeared.”
“Okay,” Isla said, chewing on her lip and thinking, then typing a few notes into the tablet. “Was there anything else you remember? Anything that I could use to pin down what’s happening.”
“I could see her face, you know about my problem.”
“Yes, it’s not uncommon in lycans, but I wasn’t aware that there were exceptions.”
“Me neither.” She pulled up a blank document and typed in a few more things, then handed the necklace back to me. “Let’s get going, I want to be at the array before noon. The body was found nearby, so we shouldn’t draw too much attention by poking around.”
The road somehow got worse the further we went and by the time we reached the group of satellites it was well after Isla’s noon deadline.
We still hadn’t talked about what had happened between us last night, which was fine with me, but I was getting tired of the fuck and run bullshit.
Isla had told me multiple times that she had no intention of settling down with anyone from Earth and I got it, she could live another thousand years, but I genuinely cared about her and it was frustrating that she didn’t feel the same way.
“God, we’re finally here,” she groaned dramatically as she looked at her watch. “I’m supposed to leave in a few hours, but I don’t know if I’ll be back in time for the flight.”
“It’s a private jet, I’m pretty sure they’ll wait for you,” I said as I hopped out, surveying the landscape.
It was wind swept, with a few rocks strewn among the grassy, snowy fields.
The coastline was dramatic, cliffs rimming the edge of the island and a fifty foot drop off below.
If anyone fell off the edge, there was no way they would survive.
“Did they determine the cause of death?” I asked, glancing over the edge as Isla joined me, then gasped when she looked below.
“No, but if she fell, I don’t think she’d make it.
” Isla turned on the tablet as I stared into the distance, wondering how anyone could end up out here.
“There was no water in her lungs, so she was either killed, then brought here or died from the fall. One of her legs was broken, but the injury wasn’t consistent with impact from this height. ”
I stared at the dead grass covering the open field, my eyes locking on to movement in the distance.
We were being watched and the hair on my back stood upright as a familiar scent drifted on the breeze.
I glanced at Isla as the mood shifted dramatically.
I didn’t know what was out there, but I was certain we weren’t alone.
“Get in the truck.” I scanned the horizon, searching for the pair of eyes I felt observing our movements.
Isla actually did as she was told for once, and I heard the truck door slam behind me.
I hopped into the bed, then climbed onto the cab, hoping to get a better view of the surrounding area.
There was a faint hint of her scent, but it dissipated as soon as I caught it.
Nothing, but there wasn’t nothing. Something was out there and it was very interested in us. I needed to shift, to follow the scent, but the familiar embarrassment returned and I walked away from the truck, then looked to make sure Isla wasn’t watching before I quickly stripped and shifted.
I took a few steps, the sudden explosion of scents like an avalanche in my brain.
My visual acuity wasn't as dominant when I was in wolf form, but the scents around me were like a secret story.
One was so strong that I paused, absolutely certain that it was her.
I needed to find her, to claim her, to make her mine.
I raced through the dead grass, following the trail.
Remnants of her drifted around me but the wind was blowing and she had a clear advantage in the chase.
I shook my head, forcing the human inside to surface.
As much as I wanted to give in, I couldn’t.
I was here to determine what happened to that dead woman, not to mate.
The wolf calmed slightly, but I picked up the scent again.
My pace started out slow as I wove through the swaying grasses and spots of packed snow, then, as the odor intensified, my speed increased.
I ran, darting around the rocks and scrubby trees and towards the source.
Did she have a mate? The thought passed enticingly through my mind. Focus. Don’t get distracted.
Her scent shifted north, then east. She was attempting to evade me. The chase stirred something wild inside of me and as I darted forward, my four legs carrying me further faster than two ever could, my heart pounded in my chest. I was getting closer, maybe this time I’d catch her.
That drove me forward as I kept my nose to the ground. Time became irrelevant as the chase continued and when my paws hit gravel, I looked up. Ahead of me was a decrepit squat stone structure. I followed the scent to the door, then lowered my nose to the crack at the bottom. She was inside.
I scratched at the door, whining, but there was no response.
I glanced back towards the array, then made a mental note of where I was, circling the house a few times, confirming her scent, then heading back.
We were here to search the beach, but I’d return later.
This woman was important and I couldn't let her slip away again.