Mason's point of view  

When I got to the spot, I couldn't help but be angrier than I thought I would be.  

Another girl was dead. I recognized Thomas instantly, but I didn't care that he was dead. I just regretted that I hadn't been the one to kill him.  

There was one girl left... One girl that we knew he had. There hadn't been any reports of missing women, so I didn't think he had time to take any more.  

They were in a neat pile. This wasn't like the other girls. These bodies were meant to be burned. 

Emerson had been interrupted by the dead pack member during his disposal. I was confused about the whole thing. This was sloppy. He's never burned a body before.  

The smell of lighter fluid blocked out the smell of anything else.

 The death of another girl wasn't going to make Lex very happy.

She has something to be happy about, the wolf said within me.

She did, but that wasn't enough. The pregnancy would be hard on her, hard on her wolf. She needed something to get away from that.

The pack surrounded their member who was down while I walked to the bodies. They were all probably in shock about what had happened. The reality that they weren't immortal beings was starting to hit home.

In other packs, these wolves probably wouldn't have made it long. The rules were very relaxed here. That's why Emerson and Thomas had gotten away with what they were doing for so long.

The lighter fluid burned my nose. There wouldn't be anything I could smell for the rest of the day.

"Who was his partner?" I asked as I kept my eyes on the bodies. I knew who the partner was; I just wanted to make sure no one was lying to me.  

"I was." Jamison's voice suggested that he was sad, maybe a bit regretful.  

This had been a hard time for Jamison. I still didn't agree with the alpha’s decision to let him out. He needed to be on lockdown with someone guarding him.  

The loss of a mate had sent a lot of wolves down a path of control loss that they never recovered from.  

"Where were you when your partner was killed?" 

"I was close." It had been the truth, but something was off. He was leaving something out.  

I turned a scrutinizing eye to him. There was something. "And you couldn't sense that something was wrong before he died?" 

It could have just been the guilt, or it could have been something more.  

"He was always calm. I didn't sense anything until it was too late." Jamison looked down at the body. "Maybe if we had been wolves we could have caught him." 

I shrugged and looked away from him. "Everyone made their choice, including the two of you." I would figure out what he was hiding.  

Once the bodies were loaded up, we took them back to the alpha’s house. Lex was asleep, probably from the excitement of the day, so I didn't bother her.  

I hopped into the shower and tried to clear out my sinuses. All I could smell was that lighter fluid. I didn't like being one sense down.  

It would take an hour or so for the doctor to go over the bodies, so I lay down on the bed and was immediately attacked by a sleeping Lex.

I didn't sleep. I couldn't because I knew I was going to have to tell Lex what happened when she woke up.

To lead with the good news or the bad first?

When her eyes fluttered open, she jolted back from me. She had been expecting to be alone when her nap was over. I smiled at her and received a tired, happy smile. She fell back into the spot she had been in and wrapped her arms around me tightly.

"I wasn't expecting you back so soon." The sleepiness was heavy in her voice.

I kissed her forehead before sighing.

"We found another girl."

She slowly lifted her head to look up at me. "Can't even wait until I'm fully awake yet?" She yawned and sat up with a long stretch. "Where was she found?"

"She was in a clearing off an old supply road."

She nodded with a sigh. "Did she get brought back here?"

"Yes."

She pivoted so she could look at me. "Is she bad?"

I shook my head. "No, it's just a snapped neck. It was very quick."

"Just a snapped neck," she mimicked then scoffed angrily. "Another girl died Mason."

Hormones, I remembered.

"What I mean is: her death was very quick. She didn't suffer like the other girls."

She let out another tired sigh before slouching against me again. "I know. I'm all over the place."

I chuckled and wrapped my arms around her. "I do have good news though." She looked up expectantly at me. "Thomas was there with her."

Her brows scrunched, adorably. "Why?"

I shrugged once. "No idea. They got into a fight and Thomas died."

The bond between us felt contented. She was pleased that Thomas was dead, and I couldn't blame her for that. I felt the same.

"Is the doc looking at them?"

I looked over at the clock on the wall. "He should be almost done. We've been back for almost two hours."

I got up off the bed, with her whining at me. "Go take a shower. I'm going to go check on some things."

She groaned and pushed herself off the bed. "Yes, boss."

I went back for a kiss before leaving the room.

---

It wasn't long before we were standing in front of the pack's doctors, looking over the body of the latest girl's death.

"The bodies have both decayed more than any of the other ones we've seen. I'd say these two were dead at least two days before they were dealt with," the doc said as he led us over to two covered bodies.

Lex's hand moved to hold mine. "Can that mean that he wasn't able to move them? Or was he just too lazy?"

"Probably the first," Dean said as he entered the room. "He's never kept bodies around before. He likes showing off his damage."

When she glanced up at me, I nodded. He was right. If the bodies hadn't been moved, that meant that Emerson hadn't been able to move them. He had probably been injured in the fight with Thomas. He had been an expert fighter.

"Her death was quick and easy," the doctor said in relief. "A quick snap of her neck and it was all done." 

"That's not something Emerson would do," Lex said beside me. "He liked killing these women the way he did. He wouldn't have just snapped her neck." 

Dean nodded in agreement. "Then maybe Thomas did it." 

"Thomas had to be unraveling," I thought aloud. All three sets of eyes landed on me. "Just think about it. He's a very old wolf, past the age where most don't survive. He's been attacked by the Madill's, leaving him with post-traumatic stress; and he knows his son if a fucking psycho. He probably wanted to bail out, so he killed one of Emerson's girls." 

"And then what? Emerson killed his own father?" 

I gave a shrug. "There comes an age where your parents aren't really your parents anymore. They could've been at that time." 

Dean folded his arms over his chest. "Alright, so Emerson kills Thomas for killing this girl. Now what?" 

I shook my head. "I don't really know." 

"Would he try to escape? It's just him and one girl now. Maybe he'll cut her loose and take off." 

"No. He wouldn't run. If he were going to, it would've been done already." 

I looked over at Lex. I knew what I would do if I couldn't take a wolf head on. I'd go for his weakness: his family.  

"He'll come after you." 

Her eyes met mine, panic came through the bond before she could get a handle on her reaction.  

Dean ran his hand over his face with a harsh sigh. "I'll double the security around the house. There will always be eyes on her." 

"Triple it. He won't try to take on a lot of wolves." I pulled Lex to me as I felt her worries escalate. "He's a coward more than anything else. That's why he won't come at us and why he's taken defenseless women. He's nothing but a coward and you are not a defenseless woman." 

Dean nodded and patted my shoulder. "She will be safe here." 

I had a moment where I felt I should send her home. All it would take is a firm order and pushing her unwilling ass on a plane.  

But if Dean upped the security, there wouldn't be anything to worry about. Lex would be safe and I could handle Emerson without having to worry about her.  I could take on Emerson with no problem. He was one wolf with only his father for training. I've had my ass handed to me by my father growing up, and by my brother for my whole life.

I gave Dean a short nod. "What did Jamison say about it? It was his partner who was killed." 

Dean glanced down at the ground momentarily. He didn't want to look on the other side of the room, where a member of his pack laid on a cold slab. Dealing with the tragic loss of a pack mate was always hard. Your pack is your family.  

"He said he just found him like that. He ran to him when he felt his death, but the truck Emerson was driving was too far away to get anything on it. All he said was that it was burnt red and had a cover on the bed. He feels responsible for his partner's death." 

The doctor walked to the dead pack member. "His neck was also snapped. There's no sign of defensive wounds." 

"Emerson could've gotten the drop on him," Lex offered.  

Dean shook his head. "He was one of our more quiet patrollers. Emerson wouldn't have heard him coming." 

I let go of Lex when I felt her pull away from me. "Emerson must've taken him by surprise. That's the only way he could've snapped this guy’s neck without making a single scratch." 

"Or maybe he was working with him." Dean's angry gaze landed on me. "Either Emerson got the drop, or someone your man trusted killed him." 

The doctor made his way to Thomas. "He went rounds before he died to this wound on his head. He has a cut on his neck that wasn't fatal, multiple contusions and fractures, and had deep puncture wounds to his arm and to his skull. Ultimately, his death was due to the huge hole in his head." 

"It's a shame that Emerson beat us to it," Dean grumbled spitefully. "I would've loved to rip his throat out." 

I smiled as Lex threw a chastising look in his direction. She still fought with the violent side of her wolf. She didn't like the talk of ripping out throats or getting into fights, even if her wolf thought it was a good idea. 

But I knew that if you put her in the position to have a shot at killing them, she would take it. She'd make herself feel terrible about it, but she'd do it.  

"We'll burn the bodies tomorrow." Dean's eyes were turning golden as he talked, so I tugged Lex back to me. "As much as that motherfucker doesn't deserve it, we still have to follow Finn's laws." 

"What about the girl? She has a family." 

Dean looked over at the girl. "It's just a broken neck. Nothing supernatural about that." 

Dean nodded curtly and started stomping away. "She'll be placed where she can be found by the police. Nothing will lead back to this house, only the killer." 

Lex shrunk back against me and nodded against my arm, even though Dean couldn't see it. Lex was going to be afraid for a long time, and all I could do was to help her deal.

Emerson's point of view

I wasn't nervous as I sat at the diner, waiting for the pack wolf to show up.  If his pack knew he killed his own pack mate, he would've been dead.  

The breaking news from the local broadcasting station had everyone's attention. The girl had been found at the bottom of a nasty hill. They were blaming her death on injuries consistent with the fall.

I hadn't expected the pack to let her go so quickly. With only bruises and a broken neck to account for her death, she wouldn't be considered a part of the investigation with the other girls.

I hadn't even had time to order when he sat down across from me.  

"I didn't know whether or not to expect you here." I glanced over the menu.  

"No one knows what happened." It sounded true enough to me.  

"If they did, you wouldn't have been able to make it here today."  

The waitress smiled as she came over and greeted Jamison, as she called him, as a good friend. She took our orders and left us.  

"So Jamison, what's made you decide that you don't want to see Meyers alive anymore?" I leaned forward on the table. "I get why you'd want his woman, but you must hate him to risk what you're doing." 

"Mason killed my wife. I am going to take his from him and make sure he's gone." The rage came from him in waves. I was surprised he didn't try to keep it better contained in this diner.  

It was a testament to his hatred towards his pack that he didn't care to hide himself from the humans.  

I was convinced that he could help me. When he was finished with his job, I would kill him and move on to taking over the pack.  

"Then we have a common enemy." We paused as the woman brought our food and drinks. I waited until she was far enough away. "Do you have a plan to get him away from the rest of the pack?" 

He nodded as he took a bite of his food. "His woman." His mouth was full as he spoke, food particles flew towards me.  

"What about his woman? He probably has her locked up tight." 

Jamison finished his mouthful of food. "Yeah, but he goes on patrol every day. When he's gone, I'll get her to follow me to the place I'll tell her you're staying at." 

"And this will be a fake place." He nodded, shoveling more food in his mouth. "Then we'll do this tomorrow and our common problem will be fixed by the weekend."

He nodded enthusiastically. "I want to see him suffer as soon as we can manage it."

The food on his plate was gone before I even started on mine. "Thanks for the food."

He stood up to leave, but I grabbed his wrist to stop him.

"You're forgetting the details." His brows furrowed. "Like where you want to have this little meeting…" I led.

"Oh," Jamison nodded and sat down again. I barely managed to keep my eyes from rolling. He was, by far, the stupidest werewolf I had ever met. "There's an old abandoned cottage next to the lake. You can hole up there for a while to get your scent set in there."

"And this place hasn't been scouted yet?"

He nodded. "It has, but it was last week. That's enough time for you to take it over. No one's supposed to go back there for a while."

I nodded once. "I know the one you're talking about."

"Tomorrow, at noon I'll be waiting for you to show up. Get the woman away from the pack and we'll take her from there."

Jamison nodded then finished the coffee from his mug. "Just be careful with her. I don't want her beat up like your other girls."

I narrowed my eyes at him, giving him the opportunity to correct himself.

"Well, at least not too bad. She's a fighter, so she's going to try to give you some problems."

I gave a short laugh. "The woman won't give me any problems. She's just a woman."

Then Jamison was gone, allowing me to enjoy my breakfast, and pay for his…