What's with the moons?

Teague POV.

I sent the call to the warriors and came straight to the pack house. Vicky had her pub to run, but I knew she would be here as soon as her shift ended. The situation was perilous, and we’ve never encountered such an intricate puzzle to handle. Yes, we have been in battles before, mainly in the past, when we were building the pack, settling our territory, and pushing rogues out of our way, but kidnappings were new to us, and it worried me a lot, because we didn’t have a clue with what we were dealing with.

Underneath that cold demeanor, Vicky was crushed over Sarah’s disappearance. Sadly, she’d die, before letting anyone know what’s boiling inside her. They had some sort of sisterly bond they built over time. If Ben, her father, hadn’t been a stubborn son of a bitch, she would have never left her brother behind, and that took a toll on her. When we decided to break apart from the Kielder pack, it was a hard blow that took time and patience for her to recover, but it changed her. The carefree, loving girl gave place to a cold, inflexible short-tempered woman everybody knew who on the inside had all the emotions jumbled up and ready to explode at any given time.

As soon as she stepped in the house her warm amber and vanilla scent, mixed with earthy tones filled my nostrils, it was an intoxicating perfume and her mate would be a very lucky bastard one day. I understood her quite perfectly, sometimes I also wished my mate never appeared, not that I’m being mean, no. It’s just we’ve been together for quite few years now, and we were so comfortable in each other’s presence, that kind of comfort when you know what the other is thinking and finish each other’s sentences. I loved her so much, and she loved me back, it was a relationship built on trust, hardship, and lots of understanding, nothing wild, but warm and solid. Once one of us found our fated mates, we knew it would be the end, and yes, call me a coward, but I was frightened to suddenly lose all this companionship and love we had. 

She came towards me, her piercing blue eyes full of concern, and besides her alluring scent, I didn’t like a bit to smell fear and insecurity on her, that wasn’t the strong pack leader I knew she was, nevertheless, I couldn’t blame her, as we never faced such situation before. She was petite, maybe 5”4’, and she fitted perfectly in my arms. 

“Do you have news about Reid?” her voice was muffled in my chest.

“No, puppy. Not yet. I was waiting for you.” I brought her closer to me in a warm embrace and kissed the top of her head. “I know the situation is complicated, but you need to calm down, if I can smell your concerns, the others will too. Don’t worry, you have me, and everything will be fine.”

“Ok then, as soon we address all of this, the soon it will end, right? I only hope Sarah and the other girls are fine, and they can hold on for a little longer.” she grabbed my hand, lacing her fingers on mine too tight for my liking, pulling me into the big room.

My men were all scattered around, my two commanders, Niall and Drew, leaning against the back wall chatting, and once we entered, everybody quieted down. The place was big and could fit about a hundred people for meetings, or whatever purpose we wanted. Vicky got in there, heads up, going straight to the middle of them, their size would swallow her up, and the girls were the first ones to approach her. 

“We’re all ears, boss! We’ll do what you say.”

“I know, Layka. Thanks, I appreciate the support.” 

Layka was one of our best warriors, she was fated to one of the males, Taylor. And they commanded a contingent together, she was a loyal friend and as lethal as a chainsaw against our enemies. She was an asset we held dearly.

“Listen up, Galloway wolves! I know I could talk to you and give all the information through the link, but I think this is something we need to address in person, that’s the reason I called all of you here.”

“At least do we know with whom or what are we dealing with?” Zale’s strong voice filled the room.

“No, unfortunately we don’t know, but Teague came to me earlier, and there’s a lot going on, it’s not as simple as it appears, so you need to be prepared for the worst case scenario. I’ll let him explain his findings, then I’ll let you know about the arrangements. Teague?”

 “Reid got pretty mauled! Whatever attacked him, it doesn’t appear wolf, much less human…”

“I can’t disagree with you, Zale,” the tension between the wolves increased after mentioning Reid, so I slipped my poker face on, and focused on my words. “We’re trying to cover up for now at the police station, when the first two women disappeared we didn’t know for sure, they just vanished, things got creepy when the human and Sarah was taken. Analyzing, we came to a conclusion, there is a pattern going on. First, the attacks happened between one and three in the morning, they occurred in intervals falling on waning crescents or waxing gibbous, and second, if you pay attention to the women,” I reached my pocket and took out some pictures passing at them. “The four of them look alike, even the human girl. They have around the same height, bright green eyes, and darker hair. Whoever it is, it is looking for something or someone, we still need to figure out why. I’m sure Reid must have seen something, but we didn’t have the chance to talk to him yet, he’s still in some sort of coma, so until then...”

“Until then, we came up with some precautions,” and Vicky was once again back to her own self. “As of today and closer to these two moons, women with those characteristics do not go out unaccompanied, we will increase surveillance, especially after midnight, and I leave it to you, commanders, of how you want this to happen. Everyone will be asked to reinforce their homes and businesses' security systems, until we have more information about the case,” she made eye contact with each and every one in that room, and I couldn’t feel prouder of her, she was my girl, fated or not.

“We are trying, for now, to cover up as a serial case that has gotten into town, but we don’t know for how much time we can hold it. Reid was the first to get hurt, as I believe he tried to stop the attack. He is one of the town’s councilors, and people will start asking questions,” I breathed deeply and kept going. “Until we talk to Reid, there’s not much we can do. Niall and Drew are on this case with me, and whatever information you need, please come to me or them. Taylor, Zale and Knox, you’re in charge of gathering some of the men, and sweep the whole region for clues, in and out of Dumfries, every corner, place and hole you can get into, got it?”

“Yes beta!” they shout in unison.

“Great! You are all dismissed, we have to check on Reid, and talk to the doctors. Anything you find, come to Victoria or me. Thank you. Now go.”

Suddenly, Victoria and I were alone in the big room, and we felt exhausted, the tension was too much, we had a lot of work ahead of us, if we wanted to get to the bottom of this. She came to me and embraced me by the waist. 

“I love when you’re all bossy like that!” she told me, her eyes glinting and full of mischief. I knew, given the circumstances, she was trying to lighten up the mood, and she managed it. 

“Yeah, I know you do, puppy.” I growled softly on her ear, and she giggled lightly. It was good to hear her laugh, that wasn’t an easy feat to her. “Come on, let’s check on Reid. Doc awaits us,” and together we headed to the infirmary, but I forgot to prepare her to what expect when we got there. When I looked at her, it was too late, the horror was already stamped on her beautiful face.