16. Chapter 16

Chapter 16

Isaac

" M erciful Goddess, can anything else go wrong?" I murmured as I slumped in my chair after yet another long, quarrelsome meeting that only served to confirm what we already knew—we were fucked. I could feel Allison and Eddie watching me from the other side of the table, their worry obvious even if they tried to hide it.

"Cheer up, at least nobody's dead," Allison said with a bitter smile.

I snorted while her mate gave her an unamused look. I got why she was trying to lighten the mood, even though humor was definitely not one of her many talents, but death was no laughing matter when all kinds of danger lurked so close.

She rolled her eyes just when the front of the tent flapped open and Peter walked in with a grave expression. Allison's smile withered.

"Please, tell me nobody's dead," she murmured, slowly pushing herself up.

Peter grimaced, but when he replied, he was staring at me.

"We found a body."

I closed my eyes, letting my head drop back just as Allison hissed, "Shit!"

Silence filled the tent while they waited for me to say something. I wanted to scream at the universe to fucking stop throwing me curveballs when I could barely handle the mess that I already had on my hands. It wasn't that much to ask, was it? Just a little respite, that's it. I didn't even want good luck. Just… not a bad one would be fine.

Taking a deep breath and bracing myself for the rest, I signed for Peter to keep going.

"Male, unmated, killed on the spot with minimal struggle. He is one of Daniel's."

"By the Goddess," Eddie muttered, the color draining from his face. He looked like he was about to vomit. "How did the witches get to him? Didn't Roman say his land had wards? And for nobody to hear—"

"It wasn't witches," Peter murmured. I frowned at his unusual vagueness, wondering what else could kill a werewolf in the middle of nowhere. Even a child could put up a fight against a bear or another predator, or at the very least, scream. Before I could ask, Peter stepped toward the slit of the tent. "It's better to see it with your own eyes."

Swallowing another curse, I followed him out. We kept our interactions short, smiles easy, and words confident. Our people had been through enough. They didn't need another crisis on their hands, not if I could help it. Allison caught up to us right before we exited the camp.

Roman owned more land than I imagined, and this place was as wild and untouched as any reserve I'd seen. There weren't many animals, which made my theory for the predator even less likely, but then… what could kill one of our own? I didn't like the suspense, but I got why he was being so tight-lipped. If he was trying to avoid panic, then speaking openly in the middle of the camp wasn't the smartest move.

I had to check with the other shifters after that and see if they had seen something. We had agreed on separate camps to avoid unnecessary confrontations, but they were still close enough in case anyone was attacked. And since nobody had come running, they probably hadn't noticed anything unusual.

It wasn't long before Peter slowed down, and we heard the whispers. Allison moved closer, her eyes faintly glowing as she scanned the surroundings with her usual vigilance. Everyone we met greeted us with somber expressions, making the tension in my stomach spread to the tip of my fingers. I had to clasp my hands into fists several times to calm down.

We'd barely walked half a mile when the forest came to life with movement and noises, werewolves striding about and watching the trees as if expecting an attack. James and a few of his people stood in a small clearing along with a few of mine and one of the bird shifters, who looked like he had been on patrol since he was currently naked. The moment the smell of death hit me, I tore my eyes away from them, searching for the source. A body lay sprawled on the ground not too far away from them, his head turned away, so I couldn't recognize his face. His position, however, allowed me to see exactly what Peter brought me here for.

Two tiny puncture wounds bled from his neck right over his artery, with the skin and flesh around them already turning blue. There was no hint of fear in the air and no traces of struggle over the surroundings, so I could only assume he had died quickly.

"A vampire?" I whispered without thinking, and when I looked up, everyone was staring at me. There was no surprise in their expressions, no questions. They already knew. "What happened?" I crouched beside the body and caught his chin, moving his head left and right. His neck wasn't broken, so he was definitely alive when it happened, but if that was the case, he should have felt the vampire approaching. Unless they were too fast or… he didn't consider them a threat until it was too late.

"He was on patrol, so when he didn't show up for shift change, we sent people to look for him," Peter explained as he stopped at the other side of the body. "We thought witches might have gotten him, but… this isn't their style of murder."

"It was them !" one of James' men snarled, pushing past his Beta until he was almost at the feet of the victim. His face was red with rage and he was shaking so much, his eyes kept switching between brown and gold. "The vampires did this!" He barked, spit flying from his mouth as he lowered his gaze to the bite mark. "We fucking trusted them, let them get close and the moment we showed them our backs, they killed one of our own! We need to—"

"We don't know for sure." I pushed to my feet, so I wasn't looking up at him. By the wild spark in his eyes, I could tell I was wasting my breath. A glance around confirmed he wasn't the only one entertaining the idea, and considering the circumstances, I couldn't blame them. But I had to believe there was another explanation for this; I had to trust that the Council we were building now, with a vampire representative on it other than Roman, would be enough to keep them in check.

"Are you crazy?" the man shouted, but when I raised an eyebrow at the challenge in his voice, he took a step back. "This was done by a vampire for sure! The wound, the kill, the smell…"

A loud rustle of leaves made us all turn just as the wind changed direction, carrying the stench of dead earth and undead creatures. Warning growls echoed through the forest around us as the other shifters drew closer, but the vampire that stepped through the trees didn't seem concerned at all. Two more flanked him, studying us with just as much hostility, but there was no flashing of fangs in response to the provocation.

"Coming back for the evidence?" the idiot beside me scowled, striding toward their leader like he had a death wish. Oscar barely spared him a glance before his eyes settled on me.

"This wasn't done by any of my people," he said calmly, slipping his hands into the pockets of his wrinkled slacks. "We are staying out of your territory, as agreed, and nobody has interacted with any of your people since we entered the caves. Except me, when I came for the Council meeting."

"Then how do you know what happened here?" James asked sharply, catching his man by the shoulder and pulling him back just when it seemed like he'd explode into his wolf form. The look he gave Oscar wasn't particularly friendly, though.

"Because this place reeks of blood and it's my job to keep the nest protected," the vampire replied, glancing at the body with cold curiosity. He made no move to approach it, but I could tell he was taking in every detail, every scent, every clue left behind. "Just as you protect your land from intruders, so do we. And we can hear and see just as well."

"Does that mean you know who did it?" I joined James' side, giving him a warning look. He clenched his jaw and stepped back, but the suspicion lingered on his face.

A shadow fell over Oscar's face, and for a split second, his eyes flashed red. I made sure to keep my body relaxed and my heartbeat slow, pretending like everything was normal. With the tension radiating from the shifters behind me, I had a feeling that was the only reason nobody had made a move.

"I'm afraid not." Oscar shook his head. "Whoever it was, they purposely avoided our territory and stuck to the rim of yours." The vampire withdrew his hand from his pocket and several people snarled, but he just motioned at the forest. "Their scent is too faint and mixed with too many others to distinguish."

"How convenient," someone muttered just loud enough for everyone to hear.

Oscar glared at them, but then his expression quickly smoothed over.

"I'm here as a gesture of goodwill. We don't want any trouble, so we are willing to help you find whoever did this." He looked at each of the shifters that had gathered until his attention finally stopped on me. "Last time I checked, we were still allies." He raised an eyebrow in question, and I nodded. "I know my word might not mean much to you, but I promised Master Roman that I won't spill human blood on his land unless in self-defense." His shoulders straightened, and he placed his hand over the left side of his chest. "As long as I'm the leader of this nest, this applies to anyone under my care." Oscar turned to the two vampires by his side, and even though they were still glaring daggers, they both nodded. "Whoever did this wanted us at each other's throats. And the way I see it…" His eyes swept over the other werewolves, still as calm and dark as before. "...they are succeeding."

"You're only saying that because you were caught!" the wolf from earlier snarled yet again. His Beta didn't admonish him for speaking out of turn and before I could order them both to drop the attitude, one of the vampires was snarling.

"Are you an idiot?" the woman at Oscar's left snapped, her brown hair whipping around as she shook her head. "If we attacked you, there wouldn't be a body! This guy was left here to be found!"

"Who are you calling an idiot, you disgusting bloodsucker?"

"You bitch! You reek of blood even now!"

"At least I don't reek of a wet dog that sleeps in the gutter!"

"You abomination…"

"Animal…"

I rubbed my forehead, fighting back the looming headache. The death was bad, but this was even worse. Everywhere I looked, all I could see were bared teeth and eyes demanding blood. More of the shifters had drawn closer, slowly circling the three vampires. Even Oscar flashed his fangs in warning, the rim of his irises turning red in agitation. My own body was getting caught up in the whirlpool of emotions saturating the clearing, the tremors of my fingers quickly spreading everywhere. I couldn't let this go on, or everything we had worked so hard for would have been for fucking nothing.

"Enough!" I bellowed. Everyone froze, looking at me with shock. "That's enough," I said again, trying to calm myself before I punched someone in the face. "There will be no blaming and bloodshed today. Everybody, go back to your camps. I'll take care of the body. "

Several people started to argue, but I let out a low warning growl and they immediately moved to leave. Only James and his two companions remained behind, along with Allison and Peter. Oscar watched the others go, his face returning to an unreadable, timeless mask. I waited until we were alone, meeting each of their eyes before stepping in front of the vampire.

"I trust you," I told him, even though the words were hard to speak. He cocked his head in surprise before nodding in acceptance. "But there is still someone killing our people, and it's a vampire. So we need to find them."

As one, we all looked at the body at our feet and the stark bite marks on his neck.

"We need Roman for this," I said after a long moment. "If word gets around and things escalate, we'll have a bigger problem than the witches."