6

B E A U

✿

Joy, who was the last to join us, closed the heavy solid wood door behind her with a loud noise.

"She still hasn't woken up."

I turned halfway away from the window wall so that I still had a view of the training meadow outside and also of my pack members.

Joy joined Xenos and Arya at the long ebony table. Her brown ponytail was even tighter than usual and, in combination with the white blouse, gave her a dapper appearance, when otherwise she had always been easygoing and relaxed. Her intelligent gaze swept around. "But she's in stable condition, there's a 50/50 chance she'll make it."

The conference room was kept simple. A floor-to-ceiling window wall, a long wooden table and a large fireplace that gave the room a cozy touch. If I had been in wolf form my fur would have stood up and bristled in the opposite direction. He didn't like the damn cramped space, as did I.

" Thank Gaia ." Arya had folded her hands in a prayerful gesture. She was only a seat away from Xenos, whose hand possessively gripped her neck and thumbed over her pulse. The navy blue lines on the skin shimmered in the sunlight that fell on them. "Did our healer werewolves find out anything else about her?"

Zaira and the rest of the healer werewolves from our pack had worked all night to save the woman with the old healer. Not Georgie of course. She had already exhausted herself enough, her face was much paler than it should have been. I had only let it get this far because the islander could provide us with important information. And a dead islander would have complicated this whole process. Were it not for the urgency of her life, I would never have allowed Georgie to exert so much of her energy.

As soon as I saw her flinch, that stopped too. No fucking question that she had vociferously refused to return to camp to give herself the rest she needed. I wanted to growl at her - which I did. Why wasn't she fucking watching her safety?!

Xenos tugged at Arya's fine braids, but his face remained grim. 'Unfortunately not. We still don't know how this fatal abdominal injury was inflicted."

The old healer had fished a small bullet out of the islander's wound last night, but the question remained as to what extraordinary weapon could injure someone like that. If the healer werewolves hadn't felt that tiny bullet in the wound, the strange woman would already be stone dead.

“What we do know, however, is that far more violence was done to her than that last injury. The scars on their wrists indicate shackles,” I said, and my wolf bared his teeth wildly. He wanted to avenge those who had committed such violent atrocities against an innocent woman. Wanted to hunt them down and destroy them, and this time I saw no reason to deny him. A hot-blooded storm of emotion swirled through me and I felt my eyes change as something shifted in my perspective.

There she was. Her jet black hair flapped in the wind and my wolf immediately sat in wait. He waited silently, ready at any moment to awaken and pursue his prey. What would she do if a big brown wolf were chasing her?

Joy clasped her hands on the table and concluded, "So the woman was captured and somehow managed to escape."

I turned away from the window, refocusing on our meeting instead.

'But how can that be possible? I thought all of the remaining healer werewolves were captured by Hades,” said Arya. "So if the islander is of that species but not from the underworld, then - then there are more of them in the Fire Isles."

"It's a possibility, yes," Xenos confirmed Arya's suspicions, and the sea-blue eyes shot lightning. "And there's a good chance she was captured for that very reason."

I looked through the window at the smiling face and wished I could hear it. My hands clenched into fists. If anyone dared to start hunting healer werewolves, I would pursue them, rip their jaws out and dance in their blood. The healer werewolves were under my protection, no one would hurt their hair. My wolf growled dangerously.

"The perpetrator must have traveled by ship, because his scent ended on the coast."

After Arya escorted Georgie to camp yesterday, Xenos, Joy, and I began tracking the perpetrator. We had searched the coast for hours, had run along our entire packing area. Nothing and again nothing. There was not the slightest sign of the intruder, as if he had vanished into thin air. Or as if he had fled into the great, ignorant Vesharian Sea . I paused meaningfully and turned to the conference panel. "According to his scent, he's not a wolf, nor is he a gi."

Arya's eyes narrowed. "Then what is he? I thought werewolves lived on the Fire Isles, too."

"I was thinking the same thing. At the same time, I thought that islanders only fought with their traditional serrated daggers. Not with bullets …” Xenos growled.

Arya looked up at her mate and wordlessly understood what he was getting at. "Selva."

Xenos nodded and his hand wandered down to Arya's shoulder where he began to draw little circles. She smiled.

Selva , the great trading city, which was on the other side of the Veshari . It was famous for its large marketplaces, where well-travelled traders offered exotic spices, textiles and much more to the nobles. They had everything you could imagine.

"Nonetheless. Let's not rush things,” Xenos conceded. “We don't know for sure where it's coming from, nor what it's running from. If she was indeed captured by someone, be it Selvan or Islander, we must remember that they do not leave such valuable loot lying around."

"He must think he killed her," Joy said. Her bloodshot eyes stood out clearly from her pale face. Devon's death had affected us all, but her the most. For weeks Joy had been withdrawn and hadn't come out of her room until the pack intervened.

"No, I don't see it that way," I contradicted. “The bullet was aimed at her leg, with the intention that she couldn't run away from him. Her head was injured in the fall that followed. That was not planned. Why should he just shoot her? Valuable as she is, I'm sure he wanted her alive.” Yes, that's how it must have been. My wolf agreed with a snarl. "He must have guessed that wolves were ambushing him and ran away, that damn little shit."

"There's something else," said Arrow's amazingly raspy, bloody-miracle voice. He never actually spoke, except when it was of prime necessity. His black hair shone in the morning sun that filtered through the windows and his scar, which ran from his forehead over his eye to across his cheek, clearly stood out from his gloomy face. He was dressed all in black, wore a glove that always covered his left hand and a hood over his forehead, which he pulled lower and lower over his face as more people were present around him. He didn't sit at the table like Joy or Xenos, but leaned against a pillar from which he had a perfect view of the door, his arms crossed in front of his chest. Arrow was like a ghost, silent and unreadable, you could never guess what was going through his head. But he was part of the pack, loyal to the core. I would trust him with my life without a thought. “We are also bound to assume that she was intentionally injured and left on our property. It could all be a staging.”A trap.

Joy frowned. "But what motive would they have?"

"Every kingdom has enemies," Arya said, hissing slightly.

“Either way, we need to tighten security around the healer werewolves and their camp. As long as we don't know if there's danger, we can't take any chances.' Xenos determined.

My chest vibrated with my deep growl. "I feel the same way."

“I'll contact the other packs and ask them if they've seen any Insulian or Selvian ships on shore lately. Arya is questioning the Gis.” Xeno's head turned to the silent soldier. “Arrow, you're in charge of tightening border crossings on the coast. Joy,” his face softened a tad, “see to it that there is a barrier in the territory bordering the sea. The youngsters and the children should stay away from it.” Then he fixed me. "Since the Healer Werewolves' security is under your command anyway, I suggest you take care of tightening it and keeping an eye on things."

I nodded and my wolf clawed out, aware of which girl was behind that pane. No one would set foot in camp territory without my knowledge. Otherwise he was a dead man.

"Good." Xenos leaned back in his chair. "Now, let's come to the second meeting."

"Second meeting?" Joy asked in astonishment.

Arya crossed her legs and brushed her dark hair back from her face. " Aee , we need someone for the officer's vacancy."

'Now that we're missing not only Nick's post but Devon's as well, it's about time. Who do you suggest?' asked Xenos.

"Hawkings," Joy said. "He has proven his loyalty to the pack on numerous occasions, is one of the most dominant Gamma Soldiers, and is a formidable fighter."

Hawkings was one of our top soldiers. "I agree with Joy," I said. "But apart from Hawkings, there's Salia."

"Very good. Hawkings would be my choice as well. Just like Salia. But we have someone else.” Xenos cleared his throat. “What do you think of Rowtag? He is undoubtedly an excellent warrior and we could use a different perspective."

I gritted my teeth. I didn't mind Xenos suggesting a gi—her martial arts were fucking good. But Rowtag? My wolf shook at the thought. He cracks what he thinks are funny jokes at the worst times, and he's crude and childish to boot.

But before I could object, Joy spoke up, smiling. "Naturally."

Arrow said nothing, but his eyes spoke the words that didn't escape his lips. Agreed.

Arya grinned. “Oh you will see, Rowtag is a fantastic warrior. And an even better friend.”

I groaned in pain and wanted to smack my forehead on the table. Oh heavens, that could be something.

Xenos was already getting up when something came to mind. He rubbed the shadow of his beard thoughtfully. "Since Devon is no longer . . ." He swallowed, and his features tightened for a moment. “Since Devon can no longer co-teach the senior classes, Hawkings is taking over on her own at the moment. But things can't go on like this in the long run, the young people need support and guidelines. You mustn't feel that we're incomplete without Devon."

I leaned across the table and my wolf bared his teeth. Oh lick me! I knew exactly what he was getting at. "Trust me! Xenos, you're not fucking serious."

His eyes sparkled with amusement and the corner of his mouth twitched. "Oh yes, yes. Believe me, they're not quite as exhausting as you think."

"I'll be a devil!" I turned around. "Arrow, come on."

He looked at me listlessly. Then he silently raised an eyebrow. Not in a thousand years.

A loud growl escaped me. Ah, damn it! My fist pounded the tabletop. Then I pointed to my best friend. "Let me tell you, xenos, they live at their own risk!"

The mischievous gleam that had become more frequent since he had been with Arya gleamed in his blue eyes. "But of course."