"Welcome. I am Kaddian Grayson, Alpha of this Sleuth" Kaddian said, shaking the hand of the equally massive Scottlin Reik.

"Alpha Kaddian, nice to meet you. I am Scottlin Reik" how Darrence Reik had managed to have a decent looking son escaped Kaddian. Darrence had sported frown lines, missing teeth, and a temper explosive enough to rival a volcano. However his son was almost... boyish in the face. He looked like every teenage girls dream. Scottlin had mentioned that he was four years Kaddian's senior but looking at the two of them, you would have never guessed it. Scottlin had the widest smile on his face as he introduced his members.

"This is my second in command and beta, Rory Daggart" a muscular blond stepped forward with a curt nod. He was older, perhaps mid to late thirties, but seemed none to bothered to be serving someone younger than himself.

"My greatest advisor and a man I consider my secondary father, Chance Gore" an older gentleman who had seen better days actually reached out and shook Kaddian's hand. Alpha Grayson felt the scars on his hand, and up close he saw the lines that crossed the man's face. They each nodded to each other briskly and Alpha Scottlin continued. "And finally, this is Sarai and Jacklynn. They are my greatest fighters". The first woman, Sarai, was so blond it was almost erie. She had a smile on her face, however that did not make Kaddian calmer, as the smiling blond he had in his own Sleuth was a pain to handle unlike any other. Jacklynn, on the other hand, had either eaten something very disgusting or hated being in the company of Kaddian and his Sleuth.

"This is Jarren, one of my warriors, and his father, Liam. Lizbet, Brie, and Porter are three members of my Sleuth who agreed to be here to welcome you and to allow your people to share their homes. My beta is, regrettably, not here at the moment. She went to collect the Sheriff, Lauren Hale, who you will be working with during your stay here".

"A female beta? That's a new one for me" Chance Gore, sporting a hefty Scottish accent.

Kaddian slid his gaze over him, expressing his dominance with a cold gaze in case the older man had forgotten, and said "yes, it is odd. But my father's beta died with him in the same battle and I had no one requesting to be beta. She was not the best option until a few years ago, but once she began to train seriously, she became a fearsome thing to behold" Kaddian explained, recalling the day she requested to be his beta. She knew she was not the best fighter nor the most experienced member of the pack, but she had a passion for the people she cared about that could not be rivaled.

"It sounds like you're quite taken with this woman" Scottlin said with a laugh.

"In the way that only a twin can love his sister" Kaddian said finally. Everyone in their group stared at each other.

"Twins. That is... very rare. Alpha Darrence never said that your father had two children" Rory Daggart admitted, explaining everyone's glances.

"No, I doubt he ever really knew" Kaddian said before turning and walking toward the house.

"If you'll come this way" BB said, gesturing to follow Kaddian, "I'm Brie Bart but everyone calls me BB. Alpha Reik, you and Mr. Daggart will be staying in Alpha Grayson's house. Sarai and Jacklynn you'll be staying with me".

"And Chance, you have been selected to stay with me" Porter said. Porter was a quiet man, twenty eight years old and mateless. He frequently kept to himself, however Alpha Kaddian never let him be alone for long. The Alpha enjoyed keeping the level headed adult around, and what few conversations they had always held monumentous meaning. Porter was a nice balance to the ridiculous youth in Kaddian's life.

The group made their way inside and discussed meeting times and places before dispersing to their respective living arrangements.

Kaddian settled Scottlin and Rory into the guest rooms then invited Scottlin into his study to talk.

Rory Daggart made his way into the kitchen with a beer and a book and prepared to wait for however long it would take for the Alpha's to finish discussing business.

He had only been alone for twenty or so minutes before a loud ruckus came from the front door and then the living area.

"I'm sure he's upstairs" a female voice said, followed by the body soon after. Tall and far from dainty, a woman walked in who was a near exact replica of Alpha Kaddian, with a feminine touch. She had beautiful features, but they were strong and prominent, not feeble and weak looking like some women. She took notice of him when she turned from whoever she was conversing with in the living room and looked into the kitchen.

"Hello" Kyrrian said, caught slightly off guard. "You must be from the Eastern Sleuth".

"I am" Rory said, unable to fight the slight smile that creeped onto his face.

"I am Kyrrian Grayson, beta to this Sleuth and sister to the Alpha" she said, offering her hand for a shake. Rory took it and was surprised to find her grip strong and sure.

"I am Rory Daggart. Also a beta, but of the Eastern Sleuth" Rory said. Kyrrian radiated confidence and power, something that only came from tried and true strength. Kyrrian wore a black razorback that showed her tattoos, bands that circled her upper arms and neck. Rory had heard of this strange custom of tattooing oneself after victories over Hunters in the Northwest, but did not think much of it until now. When Kyrrian turned to introduce the second individual, he saw a black line that traced the position of her spine. Where each vertebrae would be separated, a long line cut perpendicular to the spinal line, ending in a sharp point. The tattoo gave the impression that she not only had a backbone, but one as fierce as imaginable.

"-is Lauren Hale. She is the Sheriff of Prosperton. She will be giving us her findings and helping us investigate" Kyrrian explained. A small, bright eyed brunette came in wearing the standard tan uniform of law enforcement.

"Hello there" she said. Although were-bears did not have super human strength or grace, like other ridiculous movies about were-creatures, they were generally more fit and less prone to clumsy acts than the typical human. Individuals like this woman became painfully obvious because they were, in fact, even more clumsy than the normal human. If the world were a ballet, were-bears would be the lead dancers, average humans the back ups, and people like this woman would be in charge of stage lighting and coffee.

She stumbled slightly as she dumped all of her arms contents on to the table. Only then was she capable of shaking his hand. She had a bright smile and friendly gaze. Kind, but shamelessly uncoordinated.

"Hi" Rory offered nicely.

"Where is my brother?" Kyrrian asked as she put away groceries.

"Upstairs. Would you like some help?"

Kyrrian turned a gaze upon him that should have brought ice to his veins but instead brought an even larger smile to his face.

"I am perfectly capable" she said coldly.

"Well, this is interesting" Lauren Hale mumbled nervously.

"I didn't mean to insult you" Rory said, standing up and walking toward Kyrrian and her bags.

"And yet..." she said, stopping when he blocked her path.

He did not move and she tried to stare him down, but he did not relent.

"You're in my way" she growled.

"Gladly" he retorted.

"What's going on in here?" everyone's attention snapped to the doorway where Kaddian's deep growl demanded an answer.

"It's quite impressive, your ability to get that guttural vehemence in your tone" Scottlin said, coming up behind Kaddian. He stopped short in the doorway and assessed the situation, scanning first Kyrrian and then Rory. "What is going on here?" he repeated Kaddian's question.

"A little bit of beta v beta dominance display" Rory answered.

"One he was sorely about to lose" Kyrrian growled.

"Hi" Sheriff Hale waved suddenly, attempting to alleviate the tension in the room after nervously looking around at all of the individuals. Kaddian, as if just noticing her, blinked twice and ceased his grimacing.

"Hello Sheriff Hale" he said stiffly. Rory slowly resumed his seat while Kaddian walked passed him, giving him a side glare the whole way.

"Rory, stop causing problems, it's our first day here" Scottlin said. He stepped backwards when Kyrrian continued her way to fridge, making an effort to stay out of her way. He watched her put away her groceries while Kaddian said, "have you found anything new, sheriff?"

"No, not yet, but the other towns sent over their case files for me. It seems none of them want to help figure this out. They don't want to deal with the Feds if they step in, chickens" Hale muttered the last comment to herself, but Kaddian still caught the end.

"Do you think the FBI will get involved?" That's the last thing bears needed. If the federal government began looking into all the mysteries in this area they would inevitably come knocking on the Grayson front door.

"Well I sure hope not, they always come in and take over, kicking small town law enforcement out" Sheriff Hale said with a bit of frustration as she scanned over all of the files on the table. "So uh, do you just want me to debrief everyone here in the kitchen or..." Hale said, looking around at all of the over-sized people in the room.

"There is more room in here than in your office" Alpha Scottlin said, but obviously looked to Kaddian for the final word.

"Of course, in here is fine. Take a seat" Kaddian said, before taking the chair at the head of the table. Everyone who had been standing took a chair except for Sheriff Hale, who preferred to remain standing.

"Alright pretty lady, inform away" Scottlin said with a wide toothed grin. Sheriff Hale blushed visibly and grabbed the closest file. Her embarrassement only lasted for a few minutes before she sank into her work. It was a magnificent transformation, to see her go from awkward, nervous Lauren to confident, knowledgeable Sheriff Hale.

"Victim one was killed a year ago. The body was found in Hickshaw county. He was left as John Doe until he was recently identified as Gregg Randsen from Pennsylvania" Sheriff Hale handed the image to Alpha Scottlin, who took the photo and nodded, "Yes, Gregg. I knew him".

"Was he in your Sleuth?" Kyrrian asked.

"No, we do things differently on the east coast. You are permitted to join the Sleuth or not, if you choose not to, you are required to move outside of the Sleuth territory and are labeled a rogue. Don't misunderstand me, rogues aren't hostile like the name implies, they're just independent. The word has such a negative connotation now" Scottlin explained.

"Well when I started to put all of the cases together I figured that these individuals had to be... bears... it was the only reason I could think that would tie the information together. There are only two reasons someone would refrain from reporting a missing person, one because they know what happened to them or two, they have bigger secrets they're trying to keep hidden and don't want people snooping. And with this many cases, I knew it wasn't the first one" Sheriff Hale said.

"Not just a pretty face, but smart as well" Alpha Reik's vivacious smile made Lauren extremely embarrassed.

"Yes, Sheriff Hale is intelligent" Alpha Kaddian said, looking at Scottlin, "Please, continue Sheriff Hale".

"Right" she said with a nod, "Victim two..." and the night continued on as the group went through all eleven victims.