Kyrrian woke up at five a.m. like she always did and got dressed. She put on her running clothes, put her hair up, and took off out the front door at six on the dot. She ran down the path that led from the first step of the house and across the vast front yard. The trim grass quickly turned into rough foliage and tall pines. Kyrrian continued on the path as it wound through the forest. As per usual, small animals like rabbits and mice scurried to their holes for safety at the sound of her feet pounding down the path she had slowly worn throughout the years. Because everything was just as it always was, Kyrrian almost didn't notice the silhouette of the person standing at the edge of the bluffs overlooking the crisp, cold North Pacific. She halted suddenly and dropped down to her haunches, watching the person through the shrubbery. The silhouette stood, hands on hips, posture strict and straight, staring intently at the roaring ocean before them. Kyrrian sat in her hidden position until the wind blew the scent of the man towards her and she realized she recognized him. Stepping out of the hedges, Kyrrian made her way to the Alpha's side.

"Alpha Reik?" she said. He turned, completely calm, and smiled softly.

"Kyrrian Grayson" his tone was very proper as he turned back to the ocean view.

"You must have been up early to beat me out here" Kyrrian said. She despised being beat, by anyone, and the idea that he had left close to the same time as her and beaten her to this spot irked the competitive streak she had been grooming for years.

"I don't sleep well Kyrrian Grayson" he said, a shadow of deeper emotion behind his eyes. Suddenly, he turned to her with his signature large smile. "And why are you up this early?"

"I like to get up and get my workout done before anyone can talk to me, helps me get myself together" she said, then furrowed her brow, not understanding why she was telling him so much information about her personal feelings.

"You should avoid grimacing like that. Your brother is a handsome man, but you're too beautiful to always carry his signature frown" Scottlin said with a soft smile.

"He and I are twins, we're supposed to look alike. And I don't like being hit on" Kyrrian said, immediately taking a step back.

With a sigh, Scottlin turned to Kyrrian, "do you know why you put up such a strong, hostile front?"

"It's not a front, I am strong and I am hostile" she said, crossing her arms and taking another step back from him.

"No, it's because you want someone to try to see how hurt you are" Scottlin retorted.

"I'm not-"

"You are. You are hurt, and weak, and fragile and you have tricked yourself into saying that this tough exterior you've created is because you're smarter and wiser than before whatever it was that hurt you, but in all honesty, you are more shattered and broken than ever. You want someone to break past your shield and see the truth, to help you fix yourself correctly, but everyone has done exactly what they think you want, which is left you alone and let you be tough all on your own" Scottlin Reik finished his speech with somber face. But he quickly plastered on a smile and waved goodbye before taking a sprinting leap off the cliff side into the water below. Kyrrian ran to the edge of the cliff with a gasp and watched his body plummet into the ocean. After a few seconds, he resurfaced and began swimming toward the shore of the beach a few miles from where Kyrrian stood.

Kyrrian stepped back from the edge of the cliff and stared at the ocean before slowly sinking to the ground and pulling her knees to her chest. One tear slipped down her cheek, but that was one tear more than she had allowed herself in the five years since the incident.

____________________________________________________________________________________

Later that day

"What do you think?" Porter Alment asked Alpha Kaddian as they stood at the crime scene of the most recent body site. It had taken them two hours to get to this county, and they were grateful for the opportunity to stretch their long legs.

"I can't smell anything, the body dump occured too long ago for a scent to remain" Kaddian said, looking around the woods.

"This cut was made by a claw" Scottlin's Sleuthmember Sarai said as she observed the large 'X' that was once red. Kaddian had come to realize that the blond woman was absolutely nothing like BB, and was in fact very calm and intelligent. She was, however, quirky in her own way. Apparently she was a new addition to Scottlin's Sleuth, and had moved from North. Far north. She was a polar bear, hence her bright blond hair color. She stood now in high top hiking boots, bleached high rise shorts, and black cut off shirt. Tied around her waste was a plaid longsleeve and she wore a hat despite the lack of sun and had it backwards. The look was alternative and odd but seemed to fit her personality well.

"It is. Either a bear is doing this or Hunters are trying to throw us off the trail by using a bear claw" Porter agreed.

"I'm going to go with the latter" Jacklynn added. Thus far, Kaddian had determined that Jacklynn was in a constant state of displeasure. His sister had called it "resting bitch face", meaning she always looked like she was in a bad mood even when she wasn't. Of course, then Jarren had pointed out the perhaps Kaddian had a severe case as well.

"Let's meet Sheriff Hale at the second site" Kaddian said, walking back to his SUV. He strolled in front of the group, alone at first, until Sarai made an effort catch up with him.

"Can I ask you a question?" she asked. Kaddian inwardly cringed, nervous of what she intended to ask. For whatever reason, women had a tendency to take an interest in him that he was not inclined to return. He had always figured that his brooding nature and quiet demeanor would steer women clear of him however the opposite seemed to be true and he drew ungodly amounts of feminine attention.

"I suppose" he said hesitantly.

"Is Jarren an idiot?" Sarai cocked her head to the side as she looked intently at him, waiting for his response.

"That is the question of the century" Kaddian said, fighting a smile, "what makes you ask that?"

"I'm twenty-six years old, and I have not found my mate... until now. But it's as if he doesn't know. I have been here for a week and Jarren has not even really acknowledged my existence" Sarai explained. Her eyebrows, thick and darker than her bright hair, drew together in vexation as she spoke.

"That is odd" Kaddian said slowly. Jarren had always made comments about not knowing for sure who his mate was, but perhaps the young bear really had no clue. "I will talk to him. Why have you not approached him about it sooner?"

"Because I thought maybe he was the type that doesn't want his mate, and I don't handle public rejection well. I have a bit of a temper". If that was true, Kaddian would have never guessed it, Sarai was fairly even tempered so far as he had seen, but then again, she must have something going for her if she was Scottlin's greatest fighter.

"I will see" Alpha Kaddian said, unlocking his vehicle. Everyone clammored in, Porter in the front, which Kaddian was thankful for. It seemed Porter didn't enjoy female attention anymore than himself.

When the four of them arrived at the second crime scene, they found Sheriff Hale sitting on the hood of her car, her gun resting beside her along with a half eaten sandwhich and open case folders. She was holding up photos of the crime scene and comparing them to the current visage in front of her.

"Sheriff" Kaddian said as he approached her position, but she did not answer him. "Sheriff Hale" he repeated again, this time touching her shoulder. She jumped, startled by his presence, and reached up to rip out the earphone tucked discreetly under her hair.

"Lord, you scared me. Goodness" she said. She quickly shimmied off the car and dusted herself off.

"I apologize" Kaddian said.

"Oh, it's alright. I'm jumpy by nature. Not necessarily a good thing when you're a cop though. Anyways, I was just looking at the crime scene photos and I noticed something odd" Lauren said, walking toward the tree. Kaddian followed closely behind her, positive she was, at any moment, going to trip and kill herself on a leaf. The rest veered from the trail and went to explore the surrounding area.

"So, I was looking at the photos and I noticed that the 'X' on the tree is always placed a consistent distance from the ground. However, there are two heights that appear. Now" she continued, with a slight grunt, "I am by no means short, I'm about average, close enough to make this 'X'" she said, outlining the letter that was a littler over her head. "But only someone your size could make this 'X'"she said, holding up an image of an 'X' at a different dump site. This 'X' was considerably higher up than the other. "And they would have to reach a bit as well" she said, completely immersed in her explanation. She reached behind her and grabbed Kaddian's arm, pulling it above her head and then pushing it from the elbow so his long span was stretched to a little above eye level. Kaddian looked down at the top of her brunette head as she continued to ramble to herself. She released his arm and dropped down from the tips of her toes and tried to back up but ran directly into his immobile form.

"Sorry" she said, brow furrowed and stepped around him. He lowered his arm and stepped away from the tree, watching her as she speculated.

"Don't you see? There is no height that is comfortably between the two of us. The unsub would have either had to jump up or stand on something to make the high 'X' and would have had to hunch over to make the low one. Unless... there are two unsubs" she said, finally looking Kaddian in the face.

____________________________________________________________________________________

"I've been keeping them in the cooler, with Lauren's official letter of request that is" Lizbet Penner said as she slid five bodies from the horizontal coolers.

"How long have you been the medical examiner here?" Scottlin Reik asked, looking around the basement area hesitantly.

"I'm not the official examiner, just an assistant while I finish my schooling, but the Head is a ninety year old man with cataracts. He basically is still employed for logistical purposes... and pity" Lizbet said. Scottlin wondered what it was about the people in this Sleuth with being emotionally neutral all the time. He had to admit that Lizbet was attractive, in a simple sort of way, and she did smile more often than some of her Sleuthmates, however if she was not conversing with someone, her face expressed about as much emotion as the corpses she worked with.

"You enjoy this?" Rory asked.

"I wanted to be a doctor, then I realized I don't like people. So this is the perfect answer. I get to handle medical procedures without having to deal with the whining and crying of injured people. Plus, these people are already dead... that's one less worry for me in the long run" Lizbet explained.

"You are very interesting" Rory said with a disbelieving chuckle.

"Thank you" Lizbet flashed a glaring smile that made her, in that instant, beautiful, but it quickly fell away again, leaving Rory and Scottlin with the plain jane that tended to be a bit erie.

"What did you find during their autopsies?" Scottlin asked, looking over the faces of the people he recognized.

"Well, the first thing I tested was the blood used on each red 'X'. I only have the blood samples from the last five murders of the case, as they happened in our county, but I do have the records from the other stations testings. Each time, the blood used on the 'X' above the person is not their blood, but the DNA match of the body discovered directly before them. It was like the unsub was watching, waiting for the body to be discovered, before they deposited another. These two" Lizbet said, gesturing to a man and woman named Robert and Ellen, "were murdered at roughly the same time based on rigor, but were dumped weeks apart from each other. Three days after his body was dumped, hers was unloaded on the opposite end of the forest" Lizbet finished.

"So if the blood on the tree is always the person from before, then whose blood was on the first tree?" Rory asked, looking up from her examination report.

"I don't know. The police station tested the sample and came up with no matches" Lizbet explained.

"Could it be the unsubs?" Scottlin asked.

"That's what I have been wondering" Lizbet said as she began sliding the bodies back into their coolers.