Mated To My Boyfriend's Dad

Chapter 39: _ Not a wolf

"Stay out of this, Kylo." Rhett firmly reprimanded his son. "Are you here to proceed with adopting the boy?" He wouldn’t tear his gaze away from Isleen.

She, however, wouldn’t look at him either. Her eyes darted to Kylo who seemed upset now. "He needs a family and I want him, Gamma Rhett." She finally whispered, head hung low.

Kylo took a step forward but halted and threw his hands frustratingly in the air. "I didn’t even tell you we would be coming over. How did you know? Are you spying on us now? Did you — did you go to Isleen, Dad?"

Rhett didn’t answer.

His silence only riled Kylo up the more. He turned to Isleen. "And you. Why didn’t you tell me about it?"

She didn’t answer either.

Of course, why would she? How could she have told her boyfriend that his Dad was by her door and they had kissed?

Rhett trailed his eyes to the little boy. What he found ignited his suspicion even more. He was a soldier who had dealt with lots of criminals, and so, he always knew when someone had a trait of criminality in them. This little boy had a glint of something that hinted at him enjoying the drama unfolding.

How could Isleen have not seen this? How could Kylo – his own son not see this? If only his son didn’t take so much after his mother.

The boy either needed medical attention or was beyond it. Perhaps, he was beyond being mentally unstable and was just stark crazy.

"Ms. Isleen?" Called the little boy in the most innocent tone Rhett had ever heard. "Who is this bad man?"

Bad?!

Did that little devil just call him a ’bad man’?! _{𝓷ℴ𝓿𝓅𝓊𝒷.𝓬𝓸𝓂}

As though he wasn’t the one who seemed like he was enjoying the show right now!

Isleen rubbed his head. "That’s Kylo’s Dad, Liam. Say hello."

Liam. That was his name. Liam – Rhett wouldn’t forget.

"Hello, sir! Kylo’s so fun. It’s so good to know you." Waved the boy, exposing his dentition.

He didn’t seem like he was too young a boy. From Rhett’s guess, the boy was probably eleven or twelve but it seemed as though he was making forced efforts to appear dumber than his age.

Rhett grimaced, stared at him for a while, and walked out on all of them. "If trouble booms, take him to the hospital first, and then, come here." He called at them as he left.

"Thanks and, no, Dad. No troubles here!" Kylo fired back.

Rhett merely shook his head. That ignorant boy. He needed to do something one of these days. Something to unspoil his spoilt son.

His conclusion was that the little boy was mentally unstable. There seemed to be hints of something else buried beneath his innocent outlet. Or maybe he was just being paranoid. Rhett rubbed his temples, sighing.

"Drive." He ordered the soldier by the wheel as he climbed into the car and soon, they were out and heading for the woods.

.

Rhett stepped out of the car, the brittle air of the woods carrying a tang he didn’t like. The scene was already cordoned off, yellow tape fluttering under the watchful gaze of armed soldiers.

The air held a different tension now. The apprehension of Liam’s presence was replaced by the significance of this crime scene. Soldiers in fatigues milled around the perimeter. Their faces were carved with a mixture of curiosity and unease.

As he approached, a sharp salute snapped him back to the present. "Sergeant Larson, reporting, sir," a young woman with a determined jaw informed him. "We found this," she gestured towards a tarp covering a mound of disturbed earth.

Rhett nodded, his gaze drawn to the outline beneath the tarp. Something about it tugged at him. He knelt and carefully peeled back the tarp, the scent of damp earth and decay filling his nostrils.

He wriggled his nose at that.

Beneath the leaves lay a skeletal frame, the bones bleached white by time and exposure. They were larger than humans, slender and graceful, with hints of magic rather than muscle.

"Not a wolf," he muttered, running a calloused finger along the smooth surface of a skull.

The sergeant leaned closer, her brow furrowed. "Fey, maybe? Looks too slender for a human."

Rhett nodded. "How was this discovered?" He asked.

"Old man stumbled upon it while collecting mushrooms this morning."

Rhett’s stomach clenched. A fey, buried here, in these remote woods just like the bones of that female wolf and then the little wolf’s. One thing was for sure; these were done by one culprit. The patterns were quite too similar. Was this person – whoever they were trying to send them a message?

Were these threats of some sort?

Who was next?

And they said it was one of them doing this?

His mind leaped to the only possibility of who this victim could be: Reed. Fits the situation. A fairy – probably twenty-nine, missing, and then bones were found.

But then, Cora said he held a little boy. Who was this little boy?

A little boy would never have the power to pull this kind of thing off. Argh. So many questions that were unanswered and yet, more kept popping up.

But confirmation was crucial. He couldn’t debate on guesses. It was just as Farkas had said; investigations shouldn’t be based on guesses and that was all he had right now. Guesses.

"Send these to Forensics, Sergeant. Expedite the analysis. And get me the results of the last one as well."

"Roger that, sir!" The sergeant saluted and scurried away, leaving Rhett alone with the bones.

He crouched beside them, a million questions swirling in his mind. Had they found Reed, or was this another twist of fate? His gaze lingered on the skull, a pang of grief stabbing at his heart. This used to be somebody but now, they were just this...

...Bones.

Under his damn watch. People were dying under his watch. He needed to prevent another incident. Whoever was leaving these bones for them to find, they needed to find and apprehend them quickly

"Take me to the old man who found them," he instructed the nearest soldier.

He needed answers, and the old man might just know something. For all he knew, no one was to be trusted.