Page 59 of His to Claim

The room was quiet once again, the ramifications startling.

“So, it’s entirely possible the two murders had nothing to do with the Wolfen but some kind of military operation?” Kyle asked hopefully.

“From what I’ve been able to decipher, and I would need to do a hell of a lot more testing, the compound wasn’t highly concentrated, which means that the chance of human survival is greater. To answer your question, I doubt it.” Jonas looked from Max back in my direction.

“In other words, if you were an assassin determined to kill a human, there are far more destructive bullets, but perhaps they were used to make a point.” Max exhaled, groaning softly. “We have a Wolfen killer on our hands; likely his hope is to bring hysteria amongst our pack. Now, the question is what can be done?”

Jonas appeared sheepish, the color draining from his face. “I honestly don’t know. While the steroids helped in healing Stone’s wounds, I can only assume that’s because the bullets went clean through. Stone and I have performed several tests with various drugs from human to Wolfen on the blood you provided from the victims, and at this point, nothing has stopped the mutation.”

“Fuck,” Max hissed.

“What now?” the younger councilman asked, his eyes open wide.

“We continue to search for a cure,” I stated with authority. “In the meantime, we try and make certain our people are warned to be vigilant with their surroundings.”

Max exhaled, closing his eyes briefly. “I’ll prepare an email. However, I don’t want to cause more alarm than is necessary.”

“I think the time for that is over,” I said quietly.

I could feel the heat of Max’s gaze, but he knew I was right.

Kyle moved into a standing position. “What I don’t understand is, why not just shoot the victims between the eyes. That’s an effective kill for Wolfen.”

“A good question, Kyle, and one we’ve contemplated. My only guess is to make a point. As I said, to create fear in the Wolfen.” Max glanced around the table.

“That doesn’t make any sense. A lot of bullshit to go through to eliminate an enemy,” Gregor snorted.

While I agreed with him, I had the distinct feeling that whatever Markel wasn’t telling us came into play.

“We need to establish a hunting party,” Kyle suggested.

“At this point, that’s like looking for a needle in a haystack. The killer could be anywhere.” I knew my vote wasn’t going to bode well with all the councilmembers.

“Stone is right. We’re not going to go off halfcocked and leave ourselves wide open. We will have Mr. Montenegro watched. Before you ask, the single connection to Mr. Montenegro at this point is through Trevor Holland’s case. That is a Denver PD case.” Max shifted back from the table. As the grumbling in the room increased, he held up his hand. “However, we do have an insider in the department. While Kathleen wasn’t assigned to the case, she’s certainly going to keep us informed.”

“You know he’s responsible,” Gregor huffed.

“We don’t know anything for certain.” Max glanced at me. “But we must find out.”

As my thoughts drifted to Vanessa, I reached out for her in my mind as I rubbed my forehead. I could feel her energy, could almost grasp onto her thoughts. She must be getting close to Roselake.

“We’re finished here for the night,” Max stated, reaching for his phone the second it rang.

Now I was ready for a cold brew and a shot of whiskey, and not necessarily in that order. I headed out the door, stopped just outside by Gregor.

“I don’t want any shit tonight,” I snarled.

“I’m not giving you any shit, Stone, but I will be eager to hear what Vanessa has to say. Maybe she can shed some light as to what the fuck is really going on.” Gregor walked past me, laughing softly.

There were more questions after leaving the meeting than answers and one thing Gregor was correct about.

Vanessa was smack in the middle of what was going on.

I reached the bottom of the stairs when the door was flung open. Immediately a wave of fear and anger rushed into my system. “Vanessa…”

“Yes,” Max hissed. “I’m sorry, Stone, she’s gone, her car as well. Even her place was tossed.”

I felt Gregor’s presence behind me, heard the slight growl he’d allowed to escape from his mouth.

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