"Ruby, wake up! They've found her." The rude awakening did nothing for Ruby's mood as she forced her eyes open in the dim morning light. The events the night before still played fresh in her mind, the echo of a whisper still in her ears as she rubbed the sleep from her eyes and shook herself awake completely.

Glancing at the clock, Ruby groaned when she realized she'd been asleep for less than two hours.

Sitting up in bed Ruby glared at Ben and watched as he quietly backed out of the room, Ruby knew she probably looked a mess but she didn't care. Getting two hours of broken sleep through the night had been hard to achieve, she'd been tossing and turning much of the night.

Every time Ruby closed her eyes she could see the woman's shadow floating in the room, she began noticing small details that she had initially missed. Like the scarring around her neck, like the woman had been strangled...the words she'd been trying to speak in silence. They had been different to what had been carried in the wind, the more she focused on the scene though the harder it was to read her lips.

"Ruby! Hurry up, we've got to go!" Ruby snapped out of her thoughts when Ben popped back into her room to hurry her along. Again she glared at him for interrupting, could he not take a hint and leave her be for two minutes?

Throwing on whatever she could find, Ruby made her way down to meet Benedict and Oliver. The two men were already dressed and looked oddly as Ruby walked passed them in her mismatched and baggy outfit, she flipped both men off and headed out to wait at Benedict's car.

As soon as both men climbed in Ruby made herself comfortable in the back as she headed out to the scene, Ruby assumed Topher had called. But when they pulled up to the area she was surprised to see that Topher and Hollis had just arrived, she'd hoped that they would come later but she couldn't avoid the conversation she knew was coming.

Climbing out of the SUV, Ruby went to where Jonah stood.

She should have known it would be for him to discover the woman, he was a warlock after all. Tracing spell origins was one of his specialties, it was second nature to him. As sniffing and using scent was second nature to Topher and his kind.

Ruby ignored the two shifters as she studied the remains of the woman. It was definitely human but the body was so mangled that the human police would have a difficult time identifying her. More than likely the body would be taken to Mirithia where it could be studied to understand just who was behind such a gruesome act.

"It's old magic, whoever did this knew what they were doing. The woman wouldn't have suffered." The thought that this human would have been completely unaware of the goings on was a comforting thought, it spoke of the humanity of whoever was involved. At least they hadn't let the woman suffer, Ruby knew that whoever was responsible likely could have drawn the woman's death out for years.

"And her spirit? Where is that?" Ruby asked, she glanced around the swamp and knew that her spirit was not lingering here.

Jonah frowned then shrugged.

"She's not here, that's all I know." This unsettled Ruby, clearly the woman had been a sacrifice but if her spirit was being kept against its will then she knew this very well was the beginning of the prophecy.

"What can we do to help?" Ruby heard Topher ask gently, she turned her attention to him finally. Beyond him stood Hollis, he wasn't engaging with anyone and looked like he would rather be anywhere but there.

"Go home Topher, Jonah will keep the site closed until someone from Mirithia comes to collect her remains. There's nothing we can do." Ruby walked back towards the car, Ben and Oliver were quietly speaking near the car. She supposed they were trying to whisper so Topher and Hollis couldn't hear but by the way Hollis was holding himself he could hear every single word.

Ruby gave a loud, shrill whistle that made Hollis wince and look away.

"It's rude to eavesdrop." She said, realizing the irony of what she said immediately.

Hollis only glared at her before turning and stalking off further away from the small gathering, Topher followed Ruby.

"How are you doing this morning? Better than last night? We didn't hear you leave," Ruby knew that was a lie the moment it left his mouth, shifters could hear most things...hell, she could have walked a mile down the road and they still would have heard her talking as if she weren't too far away.

"I figured as much, I shouldn't have stayed last night. I put everyone in danger by staying, it won't happen again." Topher seemed a little caught off guard by what she said, what had he been expecting her to say?

"But...it was wind blowing?" Ruby realized that Topher mustn't have seen or heard anything other than the wind. She thought about telling him but again realized that it wouldn't do him any good. To know that his home and pack territory had been breached last night, it would send many shifters into a protective overdrive and she couldn't let panic set in.

"It was a personal attack, from whom I don't know yet. But it was squarely aimed at me and no one else." Ben and Oliver were done with their conversation and were milling about near she and Topher, likely waiting for an invitation to join the conversation.

Hollis was standing off in the distance, likely guarding his alpha.

"They're here," Ben said as he indicated several figures standing over the body, Topher appeared shocked and Hollis was quickly walking back towards the group of people. It was then that Ruby realized that both he and Topher were naked.

Of course, they were naked, but with Topher and Hollis' conversation playing over in her head she found it hard to treat it with indifference.

"You don't need to protect Topher here, those men won't harm him. They're here for the body and nothing else." Ruby said as she stood in Hollis' path, he was on the warpath towards the warlocks. But Ruby knew that they'd ignore him completely.

Their job wasn't to sugar coat a situation. They were there simply to complete a task and return to Mirithia with the evidence.

The womans remains would be buried in Mirithia, she would be unidentified but would remain an unsolved case in the human world. It was less complicated that way, Ruby was only sad that her family would never truly know what had happened to her. But every so often innocent people were caught in the crossfire and their families paid the ultimate price.

Ruby didn't think Hollis' heard her, she thought he'd continue walking. But he stopped right in front of her, looked beyond her to where the warlocks worked and frowned one of those deeply concerned frowns but made no move to go beyond her.

She was surprised but said nothing as she turned to watch the warlocks.

After ten or so minutes three of the figures vanished, leaving only Jonah left who walked back towards the group.

He didn't seem at all troubled and offered Ruby a small smile as she stopped near her.

"They're finished, they've taken the woman and decontaminated the site. We'll be hearing from them in a few days, they also picked up that the magic used is very old. We can leave here now, the missing person's report has been altered." Ruby nodded, this event was now being dealt with by the appropriate people and her team could go back to scouting, preparing and ensuring the other magical folk were well taken care of.

"Thank you, Jonah, we'll debrief now. Topher I'll meet you back at your home so that we can continue with our planning." Ruby knew the two shifters would want to stay and listen but this didn't concern either of them and didn't want them getting comfortable with the inner workings of an immortal protector.

"Uh sure. I'll make sure everyone is there when you get in." She could see the disappointment in Topher's posture but to his credit, he didn't say much else as he turned and transformed. By the time he'd walked a few steps away, Topher was already in his wolf form.

Hollis, on the other hand, glanced from his alpha to Ruby and back again, he seemed to be having a hard time accepting that they were not to be involved in the briefing. For a few moments Ruby thought he might argue or insist they be part of the conversation, but after giving Ruby a withering look he too turned and transformed.

"I'll never understand shifters and their temperamental emotions," Oliver muttered as all four protectors watched them run off presumably towards Topher's home.

"Neither. No matter where you go they're all moody for one reason or another." Jonah added, Ruby didn't say anything as she turned her attention to the small group.

Something wasn't and didn't feel quite right to Ruby, she put it down to her encounter at Topher's home.

"I was going to request that Farf return early from her trip home but I won't as she won't be much use to us at the moment. But I finally have several profiles for the others, Yeva and Salix will be arriving in the next few days...Jonah, can you make sure this conversation is heard by only us?" Ruby interrupted herself, remembering that they were out in the open and anyone could hear what was happening.

Jonah nodded, began muttering a spell and performed the hand motions to put it in effect.

"Yeva and Salix are to be siblings as well, they're distant relations of Farf's. Their parents are money hungry so have sent their children to butter up supposedly as she is ill and in her last few years of life. Catrice is to be mine and Oliver's older sister, she is suffering a bad break up and has recently graduated law school. Spencer is to take over the local hardware store as the current owner has suddenly decided he would rather live in a warm, tropical climate. They'll be trickling into the community over the next few months, but the three warlocks that have been reassigned to our task will be arriving any day now. Jonah, I think they're going to be your gang brothers so will move around with you without many questions being raised." Ruby knew it would raise many questions with the local town folk, she just hoped they minded their own business and didn't call the police too often when they suspected activities of an illegal kind.

"Okay that sounds good, putting all these wards out is draining. The wards I've placed around town are being tripped and tested constantly," Ruby had to admit that Jonah was looking more tired than he had in the previous few days, she knew what sort of toll constant magic took on a warlock. The magic that made them protectors only did so much to bolster natural power and abilities so it spoke volumes that Jonah was finding himself more exhausted than usual.

"Once you get the other three up to speed I want you to take a rest. You can go home or you can crash with us for a few days. But you do need to rest up, you've been protecting all that you can and though we appreciate it you are starting to look like sh*t." Jonah laughed but nodded as he dropped the wards that had been keeping their business secret.

"They're in town now, I'll go and meet them. We need to ward Topher's home before you start your meeting again, we'll meet you over there." Ruby nodded, she was keenly aware that she wasn't dressed to meet anyone so Ruby, Oliver and Ben headed back to their place so she could wash and change.

Ben and Oliver would continue to run perimeters, liaise with elders and officials in Mirithia and generally keep up appearances.

An hour and a half later Ruby found herself dressed as Elsie-Rose, standing in Topher's home again talking to and addressing concerns from some of the pack warriors that had walked out the night before. There seemed to be more interest and several new faces too that hadn't been there before.

Ruby knew the moment Jonah had entered the property, they had magicked themselves to be invisible but several pack members, including Topher, were on edge. Hollis on the other hand still glared at her like everything was her fault.

When the clock hit twelve Ruby had to pull everyone and everything to a stop, she hadn't eaten since the night before and was now starving.

"Oh yeah, food. Come on, I think some of the pack members have brought food over. We should go and eat." Topher suggested, several of the warriors went to their homes to eat, Ruby went into the kitchen and felt her mouth water instantly when delicious smells wafted her way.

She didn't recognize many of the people milling about but there were three pack members she recognized immediately.

Rebecca, Jude and the girl they had been bullying.

"Would you like anything to eat or drink?" Ruby thought it a ruse of some kind when Rebecca came over and asked to serve her. But she kept her head bowed, a completely different image to the arrogant bully she had encountered only a few days earlier.

"No." Was Ruby's only response.

She only said it to see what Rebecca would do, the girl simply nodded and backed away.

It wasn't until Rebecca was out of sight that Ruby realized that activity in the room had come to a standstill and everyone had been watching.

Sensing that she didn't know what had just taken place, Topher approached Ruby with a sad smile.

"For their behaviour towards the lower ranked pack members, Jude and Rebecca have been de-ranked. It is one step away from being banished, it is the only punishment suitable for such things." Ruby was floored, Topher spoke as if seeing his sister in such a state meant nothing to him. Ruby was shocked, she knew there would be consequences but Rebecca had gone from an alpha princess to the literal pack slave.

The same with Jude too.

"The indignation those two must feel at having to do it though." Ruby knew she should accept it after all this was a shifter society. But it was the first time in all her pack visits around the world and through time that she'd seen such a punishment.

"Don't feel pity for them, it is of their own doing." This came from the girl that had been held against the wall the other day.

Looking at her now, Ruby wondered how she could have missed her, to begin with. It was almost like Ruby was standing before her sister, the only problem being that her sister had died over five hundred years ago.