Chapter 8

Mated

The party was finally over. We sat around drinking and talking for a couple more hours, but we could not delay anymore, and it was time to get some rest so we would be at our best in the morning. Belle Had placed Jed in one of the bedrooms and set it up so that it would magically give him food and drink and access to a bathroom when he needed one. I had to admit that magic could really come in handy. With a witch mate, I had a lot to learn. Lou and I were about to go up to her bed, where I would still be sleeping with her to protect her. I wasn"t sure if she would bring up the mating or not. It was still possible I might be turned into a toad.

Lou left me to shower, and after we both returned to the bedroom, I realized she had taken her shower in one of the other rooms. She was again wearing a granny nightgown covering her from neck to toe. Was it possible that she didn"t realize we had mated? There were clues that should"ve helped her know we had. We settled into bed, and she still said nothing to let me know she knew what was happening between us. I needed to call on my patience because she did not like being pushed into anything.

Sleep was calling, and since I had no idea what to do with my mate, I let it take me away. When I woke, I was holding her, and we were kissing. It was a deeply passionate kiss that, if not interrupted, would lead to more. She didn"t pull away, so I continued kissing and stroking her. Somehow, we both ended up naked, and she was on top. That didn"t bother me because she knew what to do. Soon, I was inside her, and we were moving up and down. Her breasts dangled in front of me, and I tried to suck one in, but she was too high above me. All I managed to do was lick them.

I was getting close to my orgasm, but she needed to go first. I wrapped her ass and squeezed it. She moaned and began to move faster. Goddess helped me. I couldn"t hold out much longer. Her pussy clamped down on me as she climaxed, and I followed her. There was no way she could ignore our mating now. I looked at her face and realized she looked half the age she was when she went to bed. She"d already been beautiful, but now she had a glow. It was too late to go back to sleep even though I wanted to. It was time to get up and prepare for another long day. I only hoped we accomplished something. I got up naked, grabbed my shorts, and went to the bathroom where I had left my bag the night before.

I took a quick shower even though I hated to remove her scent. There was no need to alert everyone to what we had done, and I knew it would embarrass her if anyone commented on it. I dressed quickly, left the room, and saw she was gone. As soon as I got to the stairs, the aroma of coffee and bacon hit my nose. My stomach rumbled, and I hurried downstairs to the kitchen. Only some of the team was there. Tyne and Moe, as well as Damon and Marissa, weren"t staying at Lou"s. They only came back in the mornings in time for breakfast. Today, they arrived early, and the four were fixing a generous breakfast. Harry was up, had fixed coffee, and sat sipping a cup. The little witch had improved at making coffee, but I knew her cooking skills weren"t the best.

Moe handed me a plate with bacon and pancakes, and Marissa added cheesy scrambled eggs. I thanked them, and then I sat down to eat. In the morning like this, it was a scramble to get everybody fed and ready for the day. It would be good for me to get my food eaten and get out of the way so I would not impede others. Lou had one of those cute little holders for the pancake syrup with four slots. This morning, I felt like blueberry syrup. Butter was also on the table. I always liked it with my pancakes. An electric feeling rushed over me. I looked up and saw my mate, Lou. I smiled at her, but she looked away. Soon, things would work out, and she would treat me as her mate.

Some of our fellow investigators watched furtively because they knew the situation and were curious. I wondered where Belle was. I had been warned against waking her in the morning for any reason. Apparently, it could be painful to try to wake her. It made me wonder if we would just leave without her if she was not ready to get up. Will and Nicky appeared quietly and grabbed their plates with thanks. Harry and I were done eating, and Lou showed up and grabbed her plate. Marissa and Moe sat down to eat. Damon and Tyne finished cooking and sat down, too.

Harry kept eyeing the extra plates and finally broke down and got up and took one. There were still two large plates left for Belle. We were all finished eating when she finally showed up. I shouldn"t have worried that it would slow us down because she practically inhaled the food on both plates and was ready to go. Most of us had decided to take coffee travel mugs. I noticed that Harry had a backpack where she had put her mug. I hope there was extra food in there in case she needed it.

"Any more food?" Belle asked, looking around.

"I"ll find some," Lou replied. She stuck her head in the refrigerator and started pulling things out.

I recognized a few things as leftovers from the last two days. Lou popped them in the microwave after she put them on a plate. When it pinged, she handed it to Belle.

Lou didn"t stop at one plate. By the time she was finished, Belle had eaten three more plates. Obviously, Belle could eat more than Harry. That shouldn"t be a surprise, considering she was several inches taller and built more solidly.

Lou looked at her, and she nodded. I took that to mean Belle was full and didn"t need any more food. That meant it was time for us to go. I pulled out the paper and looked at the first place on the list.

We all gathered in a circle. I showed the address to the witches in the group and Belle. In seconds, we flashed to a small town that looked like it had come out of the Middle Ages. There was even a Tavern. We headed there first. One of our witches was using her head. She was wearing the appropriate clothing to fit in with the inhabitants. It was best not to stick out.

The Tavern was across the street, and we headed there quickly. After sitting down, everyone ordered a drink, and we ordered a snack. That should keep us all energized.

The waitress came over. Damon asked me for the paper and asked her about the address.

"That house no longer exists. It burned down one night with everyone in it. It was so sad because we could hear them scream," she explained.

"Did you know any of them?" Damon asked.

"I was good friends with the daughter. I was glad she had left a few months before because she married. If I remember right, all the children had left before the fire. Only the grandparents and one of the parents remained." She admitted.

"That sounds pretty fishy," Will suggested.

"That or it was a hard family to live in." Nicky offered.

Either answer was possible. I knew families where the children escaped as soon as possible. It looked like this was a dead end. I passed the paper to the person next to me, and it was passed around so everyone knew where the number two spot was. We finished our drinks and our food and headed outside. We walked until we were out of sight of the village when we gathered around in a circle and flashed away. This time, we were near a farm with a huge barn. Huge barns made me nervous because they were often used in the slave rings. I could only hope that was not the case this time.

It was clear everyone else was eyeing the overly large barn with suspicion. The tiny house not far from us was not drawing nearly the attention of the barn. Our group divided up, and most of us headed to the barn while Lou and I headed to the house. I knocked on the door, and no one answered. I tried again, and suddenly, I felt the power from behind me blow into the door and knock it down. My mate used her witch's power to blow the door open. We went into the house to look around, but it was clearly abandoned. This had been cleared out completely, and nothing was left except trash that covered the floor. We headed to the barn, hoping no issues would be found there, but luck was not on our side.

Everyone in our group was running around, trying to assist the prisoners. There was no water. Lou and I ran back to the house and looked for a container. She conjured buckets, and we carried them back to the barn two at a time. It was sad to see so many starving and in need of water. Some were dressed in clothing that had hung on them like rags. A few looked as if they carried some kind of horrible disease, and I hoped that it wasn"t contagious. The witches, including my Lou, began to transport the people away. Meanwhile, the rest of us handed out water, hoping it would help them find some peace.

How could anyone do this to others? It was just wrong on so many levels. Others showed up with flashing skills, and even Nicky flashed those that weren"t going too far away. I"d never thought much about flashing, but now I wish I had the talent to ease the suffering of even a few of these people. Wishing would get me nowhere, so I continued to go to the house and carry water back until all those in need were finally gone. We thought the slavery ring was wiped out, but they simply moved outside of the areas where we patrolled. I was unfamiliar with this place. We needed to figure out where it was and how to return without flashing.

"Now that everyone has been sent somewhere where they can get help, does anyone have any idea where this is and how this is connected to our case?" I asked.

"This is just slightly on the other side of the veil. We need to report this to those in charge. They will not appreciate us investigating where they are in authority. It is connected to our investigation because the same people are doing it on both sides," Belle explained.

"Do you know who we should inform?" I asked.

"That would be me. I can"t believe something like this happened, but it is understandable. It was people from the other side doing it." The guy was very snobby, but I hoped he was a good investigator.

"You are?" Belle asked.

"I am Inspector David. Who are you?"

"My name is Belle." He seemed to think she didn"t have a last name, which didn"t worry him.

"And the rest of you?"

"I am Will, and this is my mate, Nicky. Our leader is Jagger, and his mate is Linda. His second is Logan, who is with his mate Lou. Along for the ride are Damon and Marissa and Tyne and Moe. We are a team working on a crime," she explained.

"You should have gotten permission before crossing into our territory," he commented.

"We got some addresses that we have been following. We did not realize we were crossing territories," Jagger explained. "Could you tell us what this territory is?"

"You are on the boundary between worlds. We are a neutral no-man"s area. A government is set up, and we have our own police," Inspector David informed.

"The barn was full of people that were taken to be sold as slaves. They were nearly dead, so I don"t regret crossing the line to save them. I am sure you will do a great job investigating this heinous crime," Damon interjected.

"That is dreadful, and we will begin an investigation and turn over all the rocks we can find. This property is in the middle of an inheritance battle. There are several children, and the parents did not designate an heir. Everything was cleared out by thieves, so there was nothing left. I"m sure you will be happy to turn over any information you have on the slavery ring. I can"t see that we will have much other evidence to follow." He explained.

"If you can give me your email address, we will send you the required information. I just want to warn you that these people are dangerous and kill without a thought. They have attacked us repeatedly, but we have magical protection that saved us," I mentioned.

"I and my team will be cautious. The best police officers I can find will be added to this team." Inspector David declared.

I hoped that he was honest and not just blowing smoke up her ass. The help would be appreciated, provided they really helped. I mentioned other places on our list, hoping he could tell us which side of the veil they were on.

"Your second address is on this side of the veil but not in my territory. The others are on your side," Inspector David observed.

"Thank you for the information. Do you wish to know anything about the slave ring that was using the barn?" I asked.

"I do, but it would be more efficient if you simply sent me the information." He gave Belle his phone number and email address.

"If you need anything, just contact us." I gave him my phone number. We made a circle and flashed away.

I would have preferred to investigate, but I realized that wasn"t my choice. We headed to the second location, where, again, I was sure we would not be allowed to run the investigation. This time, we landed at a house near the edge of town. It was a pleasant family dwelling with a large backyard with kids" toys. Since this didn"t look like a slave ring location, I decided we would go ahead and talk to the people who lived there. Since Tyne was a private investigator, I let him take the lead so that it would not be official business. It would get us around all the political difficulties. Tyne was more than happy to finally take the lead in something.

He walked up to the door and knocked. A pretty young woman answered the door and looked surprised to see everyone standing on her porch.

"Is there something I can help you with?" She asked.

"I am doing an investigation on a kidnapped person. She hired me to try to find out who was responsible. This was one of the addresses I was given by someone involved that the wardens captured," Tyne explained.

Looking around, I saw neighbors peeking through their windows, and some even had their doors open and were standing on their porches, trying to figure out what was happening.

"Maybe we should come in?" Tyne asked.

She looked at our large group suspiciously. At that point, I decided to divide up the other addresses. It would be easier on those we were questioning. We would also get done quicker and be able to run down any clues before they were no longer viable.

"Of course, why don"t you come in?" She invited.

"I"m sorry to trouble you, but it is essential to find out who these people are because they will try to take her back, and she doesn"t want to go. These people aren"t very nice. Can you think of why your address was given as a place of interest?" Tyne asked.

"We bought this house a year ago. They are still working on turning it into the place of our dreams. It was very run down, but my husband is a carpenter, and I do well with certain kinds of work, like tile. I can only imagine that it is the previous owner that you"re looking for." She got up and grabbed a box.

"Here is a bunch of mail they received that is still coming to us for some reason. I keep telling the mailman that this person no longer lives here, but they keep bringing the mail to us. Maybe this will help you. At the very least, it will give you some names to work with. I"m not sure that there is anything else that I can help you with." She concluded. She clearly wanted us to leave, but Tyne wanted just a little more information.

"Could you tell me if there was anything that you found in the house that might be of help? I realize you probably threw everything in here away, but if you could tell me anything you found suspicious or unusual, that might be a great help." He requested.

"We found bones that we turned in to our local sheriff. We never heard anything back on those. We found tools that were in poor shape. We pawned some odd pieces of jewelry to get money to work on our home. I also found a journal." She got up, ran to a drawer, and pulled out some ratty-looking paper.

"This is the journal, and I don"t know why, but I kept it. You can have it, but that is all I have and know," she admitted.

It was time for us to go before we drew enough attention that the local law would show up. We headed to the backyard, made a circle, and flashed away. I knew we would get nothing else out of her and had already gotten more than she intended. We had headed home, and we would take this time to eat lunch and go through the journal, hoping to find something to further our investigation.

"What are we going to have for lunch?" Belle asked.

Her appetite seemed worse than Harry"s. She was always the first to ask for food. It didn"t bother Harry. In fact, she seemed relieved that Belle had taken her spot.

"We could have fried chicken or fish," Lou suggested. "There"s also the usual things like pizza, tacos, subs, or burgers."

"We"ve not had burgers in a very long time," Belle observed.

We all decided on burgers, and Will took down the orders and called them in. Someone would have to pick them up, and Harry and Will volunteered. They were told the order would be ready in twenty minutes, so they flashed away early to go by the grocery store so Harry could pick up snacks and Will could pick up a dessert for everyone.

I had the notebook; I began to look through it, and I was surprised that there were names throughout. The problem was that it didn"t explain what the names happened to be. Were these names criminals, or were they the victims? If we investigated enough of the names, we could determine who and where they were. Beginning by looking through the names, hoping to find someone I might know, I made it through six pages before recognizing someone. It was not someone I was close to, but it was someone who had disappeared years ago. It had not been my case, but I had heard others talking about it in the office because there had been no clues. That made me think that these might be victims, which would not be as helpful as if they were criminals. I helped with the large notebook. There might be other clues somewhere.

"Find anything that might help?" Lou asked.

"Mostly, there are names in this book, but I looked through a bunch and finally found one I recognized. It was a missing person from years back. The case was not mine, but the complete lack of clues made it a point of discussion in the office and the break room." I admitted.

"Only victims, then?" She asked.

"I can"t be sure. I hope for other clues, but it is a large book and will take time to work through," I admitted.

"Maybe we should divide up the book?" She asked. Lou spoke a spell, and I held several.

"Are all these alike?" I asked.

"Exactly. It doesn"t matter if we read the same pages because we have different experiences and know different people." She explained.

"Will and Harry are back!" Someone declared loudly.

Everyone was ready for lunch after all we had gone through that day. It was even a little later than usual, so everyone"s appetite would be enormous. Some are larger than others.

As Will and Harry handed out the food, Lou and I handed out the books. "Some light reading," I explained.

There was no point in saying anything else since it was clear that these were copies of the notebook. Some attacked their food first, some looked at the notebook first, and some ate as they looked at the notebook. I was one of those because I had the notebook opened on the table and ate as I looked through the names and scanned to see if any other important information might be available. There was so much information, yet so little that was helpful. I could only hope that someone, especially Damon or Tyne, would recognize one of the names and be aware of the situation that they had gone through.

"Maybe we should all read through the notebook this afternoon and see if it might render a clue we could follow up on," I suggested.

Everyone looked relieved. Tyne, Moe, Damon, and Marissa disappeared immediately, which I guess showed their approval of the plan. Everyone else sat down and relaxed and began to go through the notebooks they had in their hands. Harry held up her hand.

"You don"t need to hold up your hand, Harry. If you have something to say, just say it," I observed.

"This guy right here is a well-known slaver. We"ve tried to catch him but had no luck," she admitted.

"That"s a good observation, Harry. It tells us that the notebook not only names victims but also the criminals behind this," I explained.

"Maybe so, but we must go through these names individually. That"s going to take forever," Harry explained.

"Maybe not. This is an old notebook, and if we pull out all the names and run them through the computer, I bet some of these people will be either in jail or deceased. That will cut a percentage off the list." Will point it out.

I had to agree that was a good idea. I hadn"t worked much with those things, only on a one-name-at-a-time basis. I hoped the deceased ones were the bad guys. Lou gave us each a section of the book, and we began to write down the names in our section. We would feed one section at a time through the computer on the website that Will be used. Her site would be better than the warden"s site. The council kept too much information from us, and we needed all the information we could get to narrow down this list.

Names began to ping. It told us who were criminals, who were missing, and occasionally someone who was deceased. Those who were criminals would help us the most because we could track them. Those who had been sold into slavery would be the hardest to track. After all the hard work was done, we compiled a list that divided those criminals with those who were victims and removed those who were deceased or in jail. The last two categories cut the list by a quarter. That would make things easier. Another thing that the site had done was give the last known address and known associations. Now we were in business, and since it was supper time, we would have a big meal and turn in for the night to get our rest, so we were prepared for tomorrow.

"What are we going to eat?" Belle asked.

"Why don"t we go to a buffet? That way, everyone can get all they want to eat." Lou suggested.

It was agreed that we would go to the local buffet so we could get all we wanted to eat. Jagger and Linda had also disappeared, although I wasn"t sure when, so a much smaller group headed to the buffet. I didn"t blame them since they had a new baby and a lot to celebrate. Everyone gathered round, and we were flashed to the local buffet. At first, the serving girls looked concerned, but then they realized that Will's usual guys weren"t with her. The buffet was good, and everyone filled up. Harry and Belle ate a lot but had good manners and weren"t messy.

We spoke quietly as we ate. Everyone had a different opinion on how to handle the names that we had managed to gather. The list of victims was longer than the list of criminals. To me, that was no surprise. Maybe it would make it easier to run down the criminals. All the information we were given from the website would help. We would divide up to run down all the criminals and maybe follow up on the rest of our previous list. I wanted to bust this slave ring wide open, and I was sure the others felt the same way.

Supper was wonderful, and we had a fantastic choice of food. Many buffets had shut down in the human world where I usually worked. Some had started to reopen, but many remained closed. It was because of an illness called Covid that ran rampant among humans. As far as humans were concerned, it looked like that illness was here to stay, replacing the regular flu. I was thankful that my kind could not get it. That was why I particularly appreciated the excellent food and the great company. It was not that I had anything against humans. Actually, I felt a great deal of sympathy for them.

They struggled through many illnesses that our kids just didn"t have. I admired their strength and willingness to continue despite their difficulties. Harry and Belle, we"re at least half human, if not more. Their magic made a difference and helped them avoid illnesses and many human struggles. My mate also seemed to have some human in her, but I could tell the wolf was beginning to show. She now looked about twenty and appeared to have the strength and abilities that went with that age. While I was thrilled that the change was going well, I worried about what was coming. The heat could be brutal, and it would interfere with our investigation.

I decided to relax, enjoy the evening, and not worry about the heat until it came. We finished our lovely meal, I paid with a council card, and we headed back to my mate"s house. Everyone seemed to be in good humor. Once we arrived at her house, everyone headed to their room to prepare for bed and the morning.