NOVPUB
Chapter 46: _ Won’t fight it
Rhett
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Rhett followed the sergeant, around the maze of yellow tape and soldiers at work to reach the witness. When he saw him from across, Rhett saw that it was an old man, weathered and worn like the surrounding trees. He sat straddled on a log, recounting his discovery to a young, attentive wolf soldier who took notes of them.
The soldier saluted upon Rhett’s approach. "Sir!"
Rhett nodded, his gaze shifting to the man. "Thank you, soldier. Could you please excuse us?"
The soldier gave a curt nod and retreated a few steps away. Rhett knelt opposite the man, offering a warm smile. "Hello, sir. I’m Gamma Rhett. I apologize for disturbing you, but I’d appreciate hearing your account of how you found these – remains."
The man inclined his head. "Gamma Rhett, it’s an honor. Please, call me Daryl. Now, what can I tell you about this unfortunate discovery?"
"Everything you remember," Rhett said, his gaze sharp. "When did you find them?"
Daryl adjusted his spectacles. "Just this mornin’, while collecting mushrooms. Stumbled right upon them beneath a pile of leaves. Thought they were just sticks at first, but something didn’t look right."
Rhett’s eyebrows furrowed. "And how long have you been collecting mushrooms in this area?"
Collecting mushrooms turned into collecting bones. How interesting; Rhett thought to himself.
Silas chuckled. "Since before you were born, Gamma. This is my land, these woods my backyard."
"And in all that time," Rhett pressed, "have you ever seen anything unusual? Strange activity, perhaps?"
Silas paused, his gaze flickering across the clearing. "Not really, Gamma. Just the usual creatures - deer, foxes, the occasional wolf pack passing through."
There must be something; Rhett thought. Something that they could work on except for a missing family and a little boy. These killings, he hadn’t found anything that connected them. For now, he chose to believe that they were just random killings by a psychopath. He needed something to convince him otherwise because why would anyone in the pack for no reason start eating people?
Not now when they had a bigger problem like the vampires.
Rhett leaned closer to Daryl. "If you could just think, sir. Think harder – anything. Even the things you’d consider insignificant. The littlest things matter. Even if it was just a single moment of suspecting something unusual. Tell me. I want to hear it."
The man frowned, deep in thought. "Now that you mention it..." His voice trailed off, then rose in excitement. "I did see somethin’ strange! It was during that night..."
"What night?" Rhett couldn’t wait.
"The night of the attack. The one where the pack was injured." Daryl was nodding. "A sound, I thought, comin’ outta those woods right over there." He pointed toward the dense undergrowth bordering the clearing.
A spark of interest ignited in Rhett’s eyes. "A sound? Can you describe it? A cry? Scream? Plea? Laugh?"
The man shook his head, his brow furrowed. "Nah, couldn’t make out much. It was quick, like a blink and you miss it. But it definitely wasn’t a laugh. I think it was more of a cry - might be of pain. Might be not."
Rhett’s jaw clenched. It could be right when it happened. Could it be that the newest two killings happened right on the same night of the attack?
No wonder they couldn’t notice. They were all busy with the attack. The killer knew what they were doing. Knew what they ARE doing.
Rhett’s heart hammered in his chest. "Anything else?"
Daryl scratched his chin, his brow furrowed in thought. "Now I come to think of it — I could have sworn I saw a figure emerge from the woods that same night. Tall and slender... looked to me like a fey. Fairy or elve? I don’t know because fairies don’t wear black and I wasn’t sure I saw a white attire."
Rhett’s mind raced. Cora’s words about Reed being seen that night echoed in his ears. Had it been Reed, he would be in white since he was a fairy. Perhaps, he needed to ask Cora to think about it – if she’d seen anything strange with Reed apart from the little boy.
Perhaps, he needed to ask just to be sure if Reed was wearing white or not.
Could this be more than just a coincidence? Could the attack on the pack be connected to the missing fairy and the skeletal remains?
But how...
He’d know soon. He promised.
"What did this figure look like?" he commenced his questioning.
Daryl squinted, his memory struggling. "I couldn’t tell much, Gamma. It was dark, and the figure moved fast. But — it felt — different. Not like something you’d see around here often."
Rhett thanked Darly and left the man alone. He instructed the soldiers to secure the crime scene and gather any further evidence. Then, he headed back to the precinct.
The investigation had just taken a sharp turn. The attack on the pack, the missing fairy, and the skeletal remains were no longer isolated incidents. They were pieces of a larger puzzle, he could bet his life on it.
The wolves just didn’t want to see this. He knew they wouldn’t want to because no reasonable vampire would drink Werewolf blood, but then, unless this killer was working for the vampires, how did they know the right time to strike?
Even if the killer was a wolf or fey working for the vampires, it was still the same. The real enemy was the vampires.
He ran back to the precinct since he didn’t come with his car and the soldiers would need the truck to return back. He hoped to hell that Darius’s stupidity came in handy now.
He hoped Darius wouldn’t have been done with the fey and he could still meet Cora in the headquarters. 𝑛𝑜𝑣𝑝𝑢𝘣.𝘤𝑜𝘮
The woman was hiding something. So much for trustworthy fairies.
Rhett was prepared to get back to the headquarters, alright. It was already getting dark but that didn’t stop him from seeing Isleen, Kylo and the little boy whom he was sure was now Isleen’s adopted son.
She was a stubborn one. Something was off about that kid but she wanted to play ’Mom’.
He was about to ignore them and continue with his journey when his wolf cried out at the sight of his mate.
Oh, no. Rhett swallowed a lump down his throat. He felt his manhood hardened. Hell, she wasn’t even close and already had this effect on him.
He wouldn’t fight it.
