Kyle

I struggled to catch up on my sleep. I was too worried about Crystal to be able to relax to get much rest. Before the sun was up I decided to get up. Rubbing my eyes I stood up and walked through to the bathroom. I flipped the switch and flooded the room with light.

Yesterday I had gone over our plans to tighten up security around the compound. I had also discussed plans with Uncle Nate and James.

My thoughts went to Claire. She had been brought safely back to the compound. I made a point of reminding myself to check on her at some point during the day to make sure she was settled in.

While I showered, my mind ran over possible reasons for the murders and who the culprit was but with each and every scenario there were doubts. It was like trying to complete a puzzle with two sets of puzzle pieces mixed together. There was more going on here than I knew about.

I got dressed and left my room, striding to the meeting room so I could look over the maps again. To keep everyone safe, including Crystal, I needed to figure out who was behind the killings.

It didn't surprise me when I descended the stairs and could see the light was on in the study. The familiar face of my Uncle Nate looked up from the map as I entered the study. He was sitting behind the desk with a cup of steaming coffee in his hand.

"And?" I asked, hoping he had figured out something, but he shook his head.

My eyes went to the map of our territory and the surrounding ones. I leaned my hands against the table, peering over the map. For each murdered werewolf there was a red pin in the exact location. I stared at the pins hoping to see a clearer picture but I saw nothing.

"I'm worried about her," I said, telling him my biggest fear out loud. I felt his eyes on me.

"We'll figure out who is behind this," he said, trying to reassure me.

I looked up at him and he held my stare. He knew me well.

He had raised me from the age of five when my parents had gone on the run to save the pack from the clutches of Victor, an evil alpha and Keri's father, who had only one goal on his mind and that had been to make my mother his mate at any cost.

In the end he had found them and he had murdered them without remorse. I had felt some sadness for what had happened to them but it hadn't been the grief of a child who had lost both of their parents but more of the loss of what could have been.

"Why don't you go and investigate the scene closest to us?" he suggested as he set his cup down on the desk and stood up.

"Do you think something could have been missed?" I asked, looking at him.

He shrugged. "There's a possibility."

At least I had something constructive to do. Staring at the map wasn't going to give me the answers I needed. I had to find the murderer. If Crystal was anywhere in the vicinity, she was in a lot of danger. As her mate, even though we had not yet sealed our connection, she was the most important person in my life.

Finding her was strengthened by the need to keep her safe. I didn't want to think about the last two weeks I had spent looking for her and I had come up with nothing. It was disheartening to think about. I had to stay positive. I would find her and when I did she would be alive. There was no other acceptable alternative.

"Take James with you," my uncle instructed.

James was my beta, and my best friend.

"You think I can't take care of myself?" I asked with a raised eyebrow.

He shook his head at me with a knowing smile.

I was an alpha, stronger than most werewolves. If I crossed paths with the murderer, I could hold my own. I wasn't scared.

"He might catch something you miss," he answered.

It made sense. Two sets of eyes were better than one.

"I'll take him with me." I pushed away from the desk and walked out of the study.

James? I called out via the mind-link while I headed through the house.

What's up? he asked.

You ready to go out? I asked. It was still dark outside when I exited the house and walked down to the compound where the majority of the pack lived. I had a similar setup to Cade with the main house in the front and apartment blocks in the back yard where the pack stayed.

Yeah, I'm up and ready to leave, he replied. I'll meet you at the gate in five.

There were a few people already up and getting ready for the day ahead. As I strode to the gate I glanced around and the figure of Claire caught my eye. I stopped. She was standing in the doorway of the room that had been assigned to her. She had a shawl she hugged around her body as she stood with her eyes fixed on the gates.

The sight of her pulled at fond memories of my childhood. She was the old lady who always had time when the kids of the pack stopped by. The smell of freshly baked cupcakes pulled at childhood memories at her cottage. Seeing her also reminded me of a younger Crystal with pigtails, who had always been happy and smiling. Different from the scared and nervous one I had last seen.

I had asked myself the question so many times and I was no closer to answering it. I had no idea what had changed. I was determined to make things right but first I needed to find her. The nervousness in her expression made me walk over to her. I had been meaning to check on her and now seemed as good as any to do just that.

"Claire," I said softly, pulling her gaze from the gate to me. She gave me a weak smile.

"Kyle," she greeted, smiling fondly at me.

"You settling in okay?" I asked. She nodded her head.

"Is it bad?" she asked out of the blue. "What's going on out there?"

Powerful male rogue werewolves are being murdered one by one without any clues to who is responsible, I told her through the mind-link. She swallowed hard and I frowned as I took in the action. Wanting to soothe her fears, I reached out and touched her arm.

"It'll be okay," I assured her. "Everyone has been brought to the compound. We'll catch whoever is responsible."

Her hand touched her forehead nervously as her eyes dropped to the ground. I studied her, finding her reaction a little strange but I brushed it aside.

"We're going out now to investigate one of the murder scenes," I told her. I wanted her to know  catching the person responsible was one of my top priorities. The most important was still reserved for finding my mate.

Her eyes met mine. My words had done nothing to ease her fears.

"I'll let you know if we find anything," I assured her, hoping that would make her less scared.

She gave me another weak smile before I left her. The sooner I investigated the scene, hopefully the sooner I would have some more information to give her and to get one step closer to figuring who was behind it.

Just as I stopped in front of the gates, James appeared by my side.

He was slightly taller than me and bigger built. His coloring was similar to mine except he had brown eyes and his hair was longer than mine. Just his size was intimidating to most but to me it didn't mean a lot. As an alpha, I was stronger despite our difference in size.

"So where are we going?" he asked as we stood facing the gate.

Open them, I commanded. The guards began to open the metal gates.

"We're going to investigate the murder closest to us," I explained.

"You think they missed something?" he questioned as he gave me a side glance.

"I don't know," I replied.

At the moment we didn't have a lot to go on and I hoped by going over the scene I would discover something that hadn't been picked up.

He gave me a nod just before we both transformed into our wolves. His dark brown wolf followed my midnight black one into the forest.