📎A/N. Hello my lovelies. Thank you for all your well wishes. I was overwhelmed at how many of you took the time to leave a message.

I am on the mend and hopefully will be back to normal by the weekend.

In the meantime, here is the second part of the last chapter.

Take care,

❤ ℳ

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Daniel felt the warmth of Parker's skin as he lightly squeezed their entwined hands. As they headed towards the infirmary, she remained silent, her presence alone gave him a measure of comfort. Naturally in tune with him, Parker always seemed to know when he needed to be left with his own thoughts. It was moments like this, he thanked fate for bringing her into his life.

The phone call with the council weighed heavily on his mind. As expected, the news of the Ethiopian pack's annihilation didn't sit well with the others. Many of them hadn't yet recovered from the Wildfire epidemic. They were in no position to hold off an enemy attack—especially one as powerful as whatever they were up against.

From Alpha Giovanni's initial reports, the entire pack was taken out by three assailants. What had worried them was that the attack occurred without warning, and so fast they hadn't had time to get the children away.

Daniel clenched his jaw. What savage kills innocent children?

He wanted to rip whoever did this limb from limb. A long, drawn-out, painful death was waiting for them. The council was convinced Elise was behind this. However, he wasn't so sure.

The pack was pure. War and famine in their homeland had dwindled their numbers to the point they were already on borrowed time. However, they should have still had hundreds of years to walk the earth, not the limited few they were dealt.

Daniel had only met Berihun, the pack's alpha once. While set in his ways Berihun was a good alpha who only wanted the best for his people, and had sacrificed much to get them to safety.

As much as he would like to blame Elise, something didn't feel right. What did she gain from killing a small pack of pure Werewolves? The alpha was psychotic, but he could rely on one thing: her single purpose in life was to rid their race of what she considered mixed breeds. She would not go out of her way to kill nine pure Weres just for the thrill of it.

What had most shocked him during the council meeting was the undercurrent of voices demanding they needed to consider other methods of defending themselves. Never before had they taken up arms. There were at the top of the food chain, their speed and strength alone had been enough.

Isolated rogues carried weapons. Packs had no need; they worked together as one. Guns would only slow them down. However, for once in their long history there was something out there that might be stronger and faster. Murphy had gone up against the unknown and barely come out of it alive. This had scared some of the council. He came from a long line of Alpha's; Daniel would be hard pressed to find many betas or enforcers that could best him in a fight, and he was sure that the staunch Werewolf could also walk all over one or two Alpha's he knew.

If he couldn't defeat whatever had attacked him. What chance did regular pack members have?

"Has he said anything yet?" Daniel asked, finally breaking the silence.

Parker shook her head. "No, but he was adamant he needed to speak to you." She chuckled. "And I thought you were pig-headed."

Daniel narrowed his eyes and glared at her.

"Don't look at me like that," she said, "you know what I'm talking about."

Parker lifted his hand which was still linked with hers. She brought it up to her lips and lightly kissed the back of it. "You're just lucky I tolerate pig-headed people," she said with a mischievous glint in her eye.

"You do, do you?" Daniel said as he bent down and hooked her legs under his arm.

Parker squealed as he lifted her and threw her arms around his neck to steady her balance. Before she had time to protest, he lowered his head and fused his lips with hers.

***

"So you're not dead then?" Daniel said as he walked into the infirmary a short while later.

The hospital bed had been raised so that Murphy was now in a half upright position. While he looked like death warmed up, it was a far sight better than the last time Daniel had seen him.

Murphy, who had been focused on Alice and his F.B.I partner, moved his gaze to Daniel. "Nope."

"Do you think you're up for a debriefing?" Daniel asked.

"Yep."

Daniel chuckled. "I see that your experience hasn't loosened your tongue."

A piercing stare was all Daniel received in response. However, from the tense set of Murphy's jaw, whatever little sense of humour he did have was cut off by the pain he was holding at bay; which meant he needed to have the conversation sooner, rather than later, otherwise who knew how long it would be before they got answers.

Daniel turned to Murphy's F.B.I partner. Both she and Alice were eyeing up a tray of pastries. "Agent Quinn, do you mind if we have the room for a few minutes?"

"She's not going anywhere," Murphy said with a low growl.

From the challenge in his undertone, Murphy was serious. Deadly serious.

On instinct, Daniel pulled Parker closer to him. While Murphy was in no condition, and Daniel knew him well enough that he would never outright go up against him, there was something primal in the warning. "Suit yourself." He wasn't going to question Murphy's odd behaviour—yet.

"Whatever you went up against has understandably gotten the council a little concerned."

Murphy rolled his eyes. "What's new? There's never anything they're not worried about."

"So what happened?" Daniel asked.

Murphy gave them a recount of what had happened at the abandoned paint factory.

"I don't know what stopped him from finishing me off," Murphy said once he'd finished. "He had the advantage, but something stopped him. He seemed to get more agitated the heavier the storm got."

"Do you think the rain affected him?" Alice asked.

Murphy shrugged. "Don't see how, it's just water. My initial thought was the lightening. It was pretty charged and striking very close to us."

Alice drummed her fingers against her lips as she thought through his answer. She was about to throw him another question when they were interrupted by a knock on the door.

"That'll be for me," Alice said. "The Marbar twins fell off the roof."

"Again?" said Parker.

Alice ambled out the door. "You know what kids are like."

Once she had closed the door behind her, Daniel turned back to Murphy. "What did this thing look like?"

"It was like nothing I had seen before. The thing stood around seven foot, coarse hair covered it from head to toe. It's hard to describe, it was almost like it got stuck transforming between two different forms. Its head was disproportionately smaller than its body."

"How intelligent do you think it is?" Daniel asked.

"That's the odd bit. While it had human eyes, there wasn't a human brain behind it. The creature ran on instinct alone. There were no vocal patterns; when he attacked I couldn't detect strategy or premeditation."

"What about that telepathic mumbo jumbo? Do you think that it might communicate that way?" Kaitlyn asked.

"It's possible, but there's no way to tell. He was on his own. What I can tell you is that if its nails break the skin, you're in trouble."

Daniel glanced towards Murphy's bandaged arm. "How deep did it cut?"

Murphy's lips set into a grim line. "That's the problem. He only scratched me. I get a feeling that if it had been any deeper, we wouldn't be having this conversation."

A flood of fear washed through the room and Daniel glanced towards Kaitlyn just in time to see a flash of terror before it disappeared and was replaced by the professional persona that she had worn since turning up the previous day. He had to give her credit, her shielding, while not perfect was exceptional; especially for a human.

Joshua!

In the commotion, it had slipped his mind. Kaitlyn had Werewolf blood. Her grandfather was sure to be behind her training. Joshua had been called in once the F.B.I Agent learnt of their existence, and no doubt taught her a few tricks. There was clearly more than met the eye with this particular woman.

"How did he get close? I thought you said he was slow?" Daniel asked, turning his attention to Murphy.

"Legs yes, arms definitely do not suffer the same condition. Its reach is also deceptive. We cannot go hand to hand combat with it; not to mention a single Werewolf won't stand a chance, it's too strong."

Kaitlyn stuffed her hands into her pocket and asked, "Do you think in wolf form things might have been different?"

Murphy thought about the question. "We aren't sure."

"What I don't get," said Kaitlyn, "Is if you couldn't detect any intelligence, how did a group of them carry out an organised attack on that pack in Wisconson?"

Daniel had the same question.

"That was my reaction as well," said Murphy. "Elise has been screwing around with nature again, perhaps the one I ran into was a defect?"

Daniel's grip on Parker instinctively tightened. Elise had nearly taken her from him, and he wasn't about to let her get the chance again. "There's no way of knowing what she's up to. As much as I'd like to think I can second-guess her, she will always surprise me with a new level of monstrosity."

Kaitlyn's level gaze regarded him. "But you don't think she's behind this." Her words, while quiet, came out as a statement.

Daniel was caught off guard at the F.B.I agent's accurate assessment. He shook his head. "No Agent Quinn, I'm not as confident as the others it's her."

"Kaitlyn."

Daniel stared blankly at the woman who seemed to have no fear in making direct eye contact with him. The woman was turning out to be an enigma. "Pardon?"

"Call me Kaitlyn. I'm not here in an official capacity."

Parker twisted in his arms to look up at him. "What do you mean, you're not sure Elise is behind this?" she asked.

Daniel explained his reservations about everyone's assumptions. "It just doesn't fit."

"Are we sure that it was the same creatures that attacked Murphy?" Parker asked.

"We sent the images from the abandoned factory to Giovani's team. They confirmed it's the same footprints found at the site in Wisconson. We were lucky there were enough smaller paw prints around their homes that the authorities ignored anything else."

"How sure are we that the authorities are treating the deaths as an animal attack?" Kaitlyn asked.

Daniel frowned. He wasn't sure where she was heading with this line of questioning. "That's the official word from the Forestry Service and the Sheriffs Department."

"Do you know if they were poisoned?"

Daniel had to stop and think. It wasn't something he'd considered. "No, but if they were killed before it had gotten to their bloodstream there would be no indication of poison."

"But there will have been some degree of wounding," said Murphy. "The moment its claw touched me, it ripped through me like fire. There was no way they were all killed without some level of poison entering their system, there would have been some contamination at a minimum."

Daniel groaned. They just did not need this. If it turned out the authorities were suspicious of any cuts or wounds, they would investigate.

"What are your contacts like in the area?" Kaitlyn asked.

Daniel sifted through the people he did have on the ground in the Chicago area. "Not as good as I'd like."

She turned to Murphy. "What about you?"

"A couple, but they're in the counter-terrorism unit, so not much help to us."

Kaitlyn pushed her hands further into her jean pockets. "I might know someone that owes me a few favours, I'll see what I can find."

"And I'll see if I can find any chatter on the reports coming out of the area," Parker volunteered. "It doesn't hurt to cover all bases."

Daniel considered the description Murphy had provided. "There's something familiar about this creature. Do you think you're up to a call with Alpha Abraham and let him know what you saw? Perhaps it might jog his memory," he said to Murphy.

"Don't see why not."

"Why don't you just send him a picture?" Kaitlyn asked. "Wouldn't that be easier?"

Picture? What picture?

Up until that moment, he could see why Murphy worked well with the F.B.I agent. She was astute, and her tactical abilities weren't bad. However, with the one sentence, that all flew out the window. "While I realise the whole world's gone selfie mad, I hardly think Murphy was up to taking a photo while in the middle of a fight."

Kaitlyn's brows scrunched together. "I'm talking about a facial composite sketch. What's a selfie got to do with it?"

Okay, so maybe she wasn't that bad.

"You have a small town living in this valley, you can't tell me there's not one decent artist among them, someone who's not half bad with portraits?" Kaitlyn glanced between Parker and Daniel. "I've worked with enough bureau sketch artists over the years to know what questions to ask, all they need to do, is draw the thing being described to them."

Daniel's forehead puckered as he mentally sifted through the families, and then it hit him. "Nora Sanders," he said. "She works as a photographer but did a fine arts degree a while back. She was forever drawing in that book of hers."

Parker wiggled out of his arms. "It still might be early enough to catch her before she heads out." She turned to Kaitlyn. "You'd better come with me so you can tell her what you need."

Kaitlyn nodded and said, "Lead the way." She glanced towards Murphy as Parker headed towards the door. "Don't go anywhere, and don't frighten anyone while I'm away."

Murphy narrowed his eyes and let out a low growl as his gaze followed her out the door.

Daniel let out a cynical laugh and his eyes flashed with mirth. "I see she's got you pegged right."

The room fell quiet. Unable to hold back his curiosity any longer Daniel crossed his arms over his chest. "Out with it."

"With what?" Murphy asked, sinking back into the bed.

"Who is she to you?"

There was a hesitation before Murphy spoke. "What are you talking about?"

Daniel's suspicions were now confirmed. He cocked his head. "She might know how to keep her blood pressure and heart rate under control, so we can't accurately read her; but you my friend, couldn't go one minute without making sure she was still in the room."

Murphy's lips narrowed into a grim line. "You're mistaken."

"So, I'll ask you once again, who is she to you?"

This time, the silence was long and drawn out as they neither wanted to concede the staring competition that had two champions testing their mettle.

Murphy eventually broke. Whether it was because he recognised Daniel was superior or whether it was from the pain, Daniel didn't know. However, Daniel preferred the former.

"Kaitlyn's my mate," admitted Murphy.

Daniel raised an eyebrow. He had guessed as much. "I know it may have escaped your notice, but normally that kind of information is something we don't tend to hold back on. Especially with the gift of a second chance mate."

"It's no one's business but my own."

"So why the secrecy?"

There was another hesitation before Daniel got his answer. "I didn't want my parents or Kaitlyn's grandfather from hearing about it on the jungle drums. They should learn about it from me, not from overhearing a conversation on the street."

"But you haven't spoken to—" Daniel halted and took a long hard look at the other Werewolf. "Damn it, Murphy, you need to stop with the cloak and dagger shit! I went to bat against Parker to not bring them here."

Daniel pinched the bridge of his nose and closed his eyes briefly. "I think we may need to work on your communication skills. You were so dead set against fixing that bridge."

"I was."

"So what happened to change things?"

Murphy's black eyes flickered towards the window, and Daniel let out a chuckle. "Kaitlyn happened did she?" he said, with a shake of his head. "Well, that at least explains your miracle recovery once she turned up."

"You've been working with her for weeks. How did you not know she was your mate?" asked Daniel as he ran a hand through his thick hair.

Murphy shifted in his bed. "I don't know, it's hard to describe. With June, I knew the instant we met, didn't question it and didn't want to, she was everything to me." He let out a deep sigh. "With Kaitlyn, it was messed up... I was messed up. She was embedded in my soul well before I realised she'd belonged there from the start. I know it's going to sound weird, but I loved her before I knew she was my mate."

Daniel rubbed his jaw and smiled. "If it's any consolation, I know exactly what you mean."

Murphy let out a laugh and grimaced at the sudden movement. "Well, at least it only took me weeks and not months to work it out."

"I'll let that slide," said Daniel. "After all, you did just get your butt handed to you on a platter by a hairy ghost."

Daniel wandered over to the small pile of pastries and chose one at random. "If she's sticking around, you'd better tell me a little about her."

Murphy shuffled uncomfortably in his bed. This would be like pulling teeth, the Werewolf was as paranoid and never divulged personal information unless he absolutely had to.

"Kaitlyn's as tough as they come," Murphy began. "She went up against a small army of Werewolves and not once backed down."

Daniel hid a smile at the pride he detected in Murphy's tone. Based on the limited exposure to her and the information he had managed to glean, there was no doubt she was a woman of action. Now that he'd met her, had she been born as Werewolf, she would have very quickly risen to a Beta status.

"I suggest that you let your respective families know as soon as possible. While I can make up an excuse to the council on why a human is helping us out on this, I think some of the pack will start catching on. And once Simon knows. Everyone will know."

"What does the council have to say about all this?" Murphy asked, once again deflecting the topic off of him.

Once Daniel had briefed him, Murphy let out a sound that indicated he wasn't surprised. "It was only a matter of time before they headed in that direction."

"I'm just not sure that we are ready to go there just yet."

"I agree, the big packs don't need it. But Daniel, you need to remember there are a lot of small packs out there that won't stand a chance. They are the ones in danger."

Daniel let out a deep sigh. "Where the hell are we going to get enough weapons to arm everyone?"

Murphy swung his legs out of bed and grimaced in pain. "Leave that to me, I just may know someone who can help us out."

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📎A/N. Well, Daniel doesn't think Elise is behind this... what do you think?

And things must be getting bad if they are considering arming themselves!

And it looks like Murphy's secret is out... at least we know why he was keeping it under wraps!!

Things are going to start to heat up, so make sure you bring a life jacket for the next chapter.

Don't forget to vote.

Take care.

❤ ℳ