Kyle

The run to the site was uneventful. I kept my senses on high alert as I ran with my beta. We could smell the blood before we found the red-stained grass where a rogue had lost its life. I shifted first and bent down to investigate the scene as James shifted.

"Did you find any trace of Crystal?" he asked, and I stilled.

I didn't want to be reminded of that while I was leaning over a pool of blood.

"There's nothing," I answered as I straightened up to face him. "It's like she just...disappeared into thin air."

James gave me a contemplative look.

"I thought back to when we were growing up and I can't think of any reason why she would be on the run," he said.

I had done the same and had come up empty.

"You think she's hiding something?" he asked with a slight crease in his forehead.

It would explain her strange behavior but what on earth could she be hiding?

"I don't know." I shrugged.

Anything was possible.

"How's Bay?" I asked, changing the subject.

James rubbed the back of his neck and let out a heavy sigh.

"She's Bay," he said before dropping his hand. "She's still trying to break every rule, to prove she doesn't care."

That sounded just like her. I had known her all her life. My earliest memories of her were as a small girl following us around wanting to be included. She had a problem with authority, which had grown worse over the years. Most werewolves integrated into the pack life well but not James' sister. She fought every aspect of her supernatural life.

I could see the underlying worry in his eyes. It was always there when he spoke about his younger sister.

"Maybe she'll calm down when she finds her mate," I said, trying to ease his fear.

"Good luck to that guy," James said, shaking his head. "He's going to need it."

She would be a handful no matter who her mate was. I had been told mates were chosen to suit each other. It would be interesting to see who ended up with her one day.

Bay hadn't always been this way. When she had been younger she had been a happy, carefree little girl. But growing up in a household where boys were put above girls had changed her. It didn't take a shrink to figure out why Bay was the way she was. The difficulty was figuring out how to fix it. James had tried his best to make up for the lack of recognition and praise but he couldn't fix a fundamental flaw in his family.

It wasn't something James really spoke about. We were best friends and that meant I saw what happened in his household. James had spent most of his teenage life covering for her and trying to keep her out of trouble but he could only do so much. Now she was an adult she would be held accountable for her actions. He couldn't cover up for her anymore.

Perhaps that was the problem. Maybe she needed to take responsibility for her actions to learn she couldn't keep doing what she was. I felt sorry for him. To humans it wouldn't be a big deal but for werewolves it was a serious matter. Her inability to fit into the life of a werewolf living in a pack could lead to her expulsion and a dangerous life as a rogue.

"I'm just scared that no matter how hard I try, she just isn't made for pack life." He had expressed his deepest fear.

"You have to trust there is a path for her."

He continued to stare at me.

"I really hope so," he said. "I want her to find a place where she belongs. Even if it isn't here with me."

It would be tough for him to let her go so she could live the life she was meant to. Loving someone meant you wanted to do your best to keep them safe. But sometimes it meant letting them go, even if it scared you.

"Don't worry, it will all work out," I said.

He looked down at the stain of red in the grass.

"How's Lillian?" I asked, trying to veer the subject away from his troubled sister.

The transformation in his features was instant. His face was more relaxed and his eyes softened slightly.

"She's good," he answered. The smile that tipped his lips made me a feel pang of jealously. Lillian had grown up with us and they had discovered they were mates just after she had turned sixteen. From the time they had touched and mated, they had been inseparable.

Their situation had been very different than mine. Why did mine have to be so hard? Why couldn't it have been as simple as touching Crystal to discover we were meant to live our lives together? Feeling frustrated, I ran my hand through my hair. I was still trying to find her and I had no idea where she was or why she was running.

Nothing like your mate making a run for it to make you question everything you had grown up thinking about mates and the destiny it entailed.

James reached out and put his hand on my shoulder.

"You will find her," he said with a confidence I couldn't feel. "And when you do, you'll find out the reason behind her actions."

I wanted to believe him, to believe there was a valid explanation for all of this, but it was difficult.

"So how is your sister doing?" he asked.

Scarlett. The thought of her brought a smile to light.

"She's fine." She was all mated up and happy. It was nice to see. Cade would look after her. I could see in the way he looked at her, she was the center of his world and he would do everything he could to keep her protected.

"I still can't believe you had a sister no one knew about," he murmured as he bent down to examine the blood still painted on the blades of grass.

I had known even though I had only met her for the first time a few weeks ago. My parents had run away to keep our pack safe. My mom had been pregnant at the time, and through the years my uncle and I had kept in touch with my parents and kept an eye on her from a distance. It was strange to think of her as my sister and I didn't even know what her favorite color was. But I was determined once I found Crystal, I would find the time to concentrate on getting to know my sister better.

"I know," I murmured as I bent down beside him to take a closer look.

There was nothing. We had been combing through the scene for the last hour and there were no new clues. I stood over the dark stain of blood in the grass that hadn't been washed away with rain yet. I felt the presence of James beside me.

"What do we do next?" he asked, looking around the scene, looking for anything we might have missed.

I was unable to pull my eyes from the place where the rogue werewolf had lost its life.

"I have no idea," I replied in a heavy voice.

I felt helpless and it wasn't a feeling I liked. Unfortunately by the time any of the murder scenes had been found only the scent of the dead werewolf had been left.

I had hoped by combing through the scene we would find something that could have been dropped by the person responsible. If we found a fresh murder scene we would have a chance to gather more clues to help us. Rubbing the back of my neck, I let out a heavy sigh.

"Do you think there's any point in trying to go through the other scenes?" James asked.

I dropped my shoulders in a dismissive shrug. I wanted to be able to do something instead of standing on the sidelines hoping we would figure out who it was, but wasting time going through every scene wasn't something I wanted to do either. Every moment I didn't know where Crystal was increased my fear for her safety.

The thought of possibly never finding her wasn't something I could think about. The heaviness in my chest made it nearly impossible to take a breath. I pushed the thought away, refusing even to consider it.

"No," I replied, taking a step backward.

My beta was watching me, his arms crossed.

"I don't know if there's much more we can do other than keeping our pack safe in the compound."

But Crystal wasn't at the compound. If I had known before that she would escape after the last battle with the rogues, I would have confronted her. But what if it wouldn't have been enough? nagged in the back of my mind.