"The humans?" Egon and Cai reacted in unison, their voices both pitched in disgust and horror.

Oscar sighed. "Yes, that's what I said," he said patiently. "These victims are humans. If we don't say anything, it could mean danger for our pack." He knelt beside the young male and studied the marks on his body. "I have no doubt they were killed by wolves, but we won't get any more information until we get their bodies to the hospital."

"That doesn't explain why we need to involve the humans," Cai snapped. "They died in our jurisdiction. This is our problem, not theirs."

"If they were werewolves, maybe, but they're humans. Our relationship with them is already tense. We don't need a murder accusation to send everything that we've worked for to shit."

"Do you think a human could have killed them?" Egon suggested shakily. "L-Like with a knife? O-Or a whip?"

"Possibly, but these marks are deep and muddy, like claws," Oscar said. "It's near impossible for a human to get into our pack without permission and an escort, too, so I doubt a human did this. Unless these two had an enemy." He released a low, fatigued exhale. "Shit, what a night this has turned out to be."

"You're telling me," Cai said. He glanced at Egon. "Go home, kid. Wash your hands and sleep. You've told us everything that you know, right?"

"Y-Yes, Beta..."

"And you were alone when this happened?"

"Y-Yes. I found them when they were already dead...I checked their pulses to make sure..." Egon said, trembling. He flapped his hands and breathed heavily. "W-What will happen now? A-Am I in trouble?"

"No, Egon." Oscar stood and dusted his hands. He put a comforting hand on Egon's slim shoulder, his expression grim but softening ever so slightly when he arrested the young man's attention. "You did nothing wrong. Go home. Bring this watch to Samiya or put it in her office. We'll take care of this mess and update your parents. I'm sure they're worried about you right now."

Egon nodded. "Yes, A-Alpha," he murmured, and with a quick bow, he rushed away from the field, scampering with all his leftover strength to the row of apartments pushed up against the North border. Oscar and Cai watched him run.

"Poor kid," Cai mentioned. "It's his first time doing patrol and he ends up in this situation."

"Indeed." Oscar bent again beside the bodies. "Cai, see if you can get Samiya and a few others out here. Get General Karsten too. We can't bring these bodies to the hospital, so they're going to have to do the inspection here."

"Yes, Alpha." Cai nodded and rushed into the main field, leaving Oscar alone with the dead couple. The whistle of the forest sent a shiver up his spine, but it was one of comfort and relief, lightening the weight of sadness that burdened his fragile heart. He couldn't bear to look at the young lovers and felt apologetic, but there was no one he could apologize to. He knew for sure that their parents - if they had any - would refuse to meet with him, and he couldn't blame them. He had a reputation amongst the human towns near him. He was the bastard child of the cruel Alpha Banastre. It didn't matter that they weren't related by blood. Oscar shared the intimidating physique and violent eyes of his stepfather and that was something he couldn't change no matter how hard he prayed to the Moon Goddess.

Cai saved him from his depressing thoughts by returning in moments, a trail of wolves behind him. Holding the young Beta's hand was his wife, Samiya, the head of the hospital in Oscar's pack. She was a short, curvy young woman, with fiery red hair tied in a bun atop her head and pink eyes so bright one would think she took them from the bulbs of a child's night light. She was slower than the rest of the wolves and struggled to her knees to inspect the bodies. Cai didn't let her get too far on the ground, though, and quickly sat beneath her to support her heavier body.

"Careful, love," he whispered, wrapping his arms around her swollen belly.

"Two kids, eh?" General Karsten was behind the Beta couple. A hardened, angry-looking man with lime green hair and matching eyes, Karsten was a man akin to Banastre in everything but personality. Alongside students from his newly-created infantry, he knelt beside Samiya to study the bodies. "Who was patrolling, Alpha?"

"Egon," Oscar replied, stepping away. He crossed his arms over his chest in an attempt to suppress his jealousy, something he struggled to contain in the presence of Cai and his wife. "I already vetted him. The poor boy's been traumatized, I think."

"Eh, well he'll have to learn sooner or later," Karsten said, his voice grating through the thick, tense air. "Egon found them, huh? Did he link for you after?"

"Yes," Oscar said. "We didn't find much on the bodies but a watch on the man. I sent it for an examination."

"Hm." Karsten gave an intrigued whistle and studied his group. "Scatter around, pups," he ordered. "Patrol the perimeter with the other wolves and see if you find more clues. Report to the Alpha and I in thirty."

"They're definitely humans." Samiya's soft voice piped up from the ground. "Both of them are in their early twenties; I'd say the girl is twenty on the dot." She opened a small briefcase and plucked samples from the bodies ranging from hair to blood. "There seems to have been a struggle between the girl and her assailant. The male didn't get himself involved."

"Really?" Oscar's eyebrows rose. "Why do you say that?"

"There are wire marks on his arms," Samiya explained. "Most likely he'd been tied up during the struggle. They weren't done well, though."

"Probably because he'd been tied around his elbows," Cai said. "It's easier to break free the higher you tie."

"The man had a watch on his wrist," Oscar mused. "I'm assuming that our killer decided to take the lazy route with him. I wonder if he escaped."

"We'll need to do a longer biopsy," Samiya said. She tapped Cai's knee and he lifted her to her feet. "I agree with your assumption, though. This is the work of a novice killer. I can't tell you much about them yet. Give me a day or so, though, and I'll be able to tell you much more."

"I'd like to know their time of death, specifically," Oscar said. "I want to compare it to the activities happening at the pack during that time and see if I can make any connections."

Samiya nodded. "Of course, Alpha." She hesitated. "But they are humans..."

"I know. I'll have to involve the human government," Oscar muttered, choosing to ignore the pointed eye-roll that Cai gave him. "Specifically, it'd have to be from the town they're from."

"That's easy." Cai positioned Samiya against a tree and strode over to the woman's body. He took a cloth from her body and handed it to Oscar. "There's a symbol on her shirt."

"A symbol?" Oscar ran his thumb over the blood-stained shirt. "Oh, it's a college shirt."

Cai nodded. "The college is stationed in the town underneath us. Most likely, they came from there."

"You can't be sure." Samiya snatched the cloth from Cai. "A lot of students come here as transfer students. Even a few of our wolves have disguised themselves as humans to go to college here. We'll need the biopsy to be sure."

"What will the biopsy tell us? Do those kids get venom injected in their blood to identify what school they're from?" Cai teased. "If we don't take this issue to the town that they're from, then we'd only be including more humans than necessary."

"Cai." Oscar interrupted his tense Beta with a low order. "Enough bickering, both of you. I can't think with all your arguing."

"We're just trying to help," Samiya murmured. Her gaze flickered over his face and when Oscar glanced at her, she backed away.

He sighed. So, she still sees him in me. "Apologies, Doctor," he said softly, turning his face so that half of it was hidden in the shadows. "I think we should take this issue to Bourdier, the human town beneath us. Whoever this murderer is may target humans from there next, regardless of where these two humans came from."

"Fine." Cai huffed. "I don't like involving those pests, though."

"It's better than having them accuse us," Oscar said. 

--()--()--()--

Hey everyone!

What did you think of part one? What are your thoughts on Samiya? What do you think of her character, and how does her relationship with Cai parallel to Oscar?