Peyton

It had been two weeks since I sent that bitch Layla packing. I had thought that there was a slight possibility that Luke would give me a hard time about it, but that never happened. If anything, I thought that he had gotten more excited. Some of the behaviour that he had shown just after my transformation was showing itself again. There were times I was certain he was seeking my approval and good opinion. There was also an unmistakable shift when he fucked me. While he used to be angry and suppressing earlier, he was now more slow and tender. Though I had no problem acting like I liked the change in him, if he really thought that that could change my opinion of him, then he was an idiot.

Jay and I had continued with my training with more emphasis now on my physical strength. This involved taking a few laps around a mountain trail that was 20 miles long. I was doing half my running in wolf form which felt much easier. Just as I was starting to get somewhat comfortable with running such a ridiculous distance everyday, Jay had informed me that from tomorrow onwards, I’d be running with a log tied around my waist. I knew that Jay was a good guy who was on my side, but it was so hard to remember when he said such things with obvious pleasure.

When we got back to the auto shop, Sam was waiting for us. Sam was pretty much running the shop by himself and a couple of mundanes these days as Rob still hadn’t gotten back from his trip and Jay was busy with training me. Luke had never been around much to begin with. I think that Sam really missed his psychopathic best friend Rob.

“What’s up Sam?” Jay asked as it was pretty obvious that Sam had been waiting to talk to us. I noticed yet again how Jay’s voice lost its warmth whenever he was speaking to any pack member except me.

“There’s been an investigation request from the department. Luke accepted,” Sam said.

“Who’s going?” Jay asked.

“You and Peyton will. The details are in the office” he said, before walking off.

‘Wow, seems like he’s in a worse mood than usual’ I thought. Jay had a serious expression on his face as he seemed to chew over Sam’s words.

“Do you know what an investigation request is, Peyton?” Jay asked me as we were walking towards the office.

“It’s a request given by the department of homeland affairs to an alpha when something that is suspected of supernatural origin has happened on or near an alpha’s territory right?” I asked.

“Yeah, that’s pretty much the gist of it. It’s one of the only useful things that we do for normal humans. Technically, any report of supernatural activity out in the open can trigger an investigation request. But, in practice, we usually investigate only when bodies start dropping or people start to disappear.” Jay said in a grim voice.

“So that means…”

“Yeah, there’s probably already multiple victims” Jay said in a grim tone.

We walked in silence as I processed this information. To be responsible to bring justice or at least some sort of closure to grieving family members seemed like a daunting task.

“Have you done a lot of these investigations?” I asked.

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“I’ve been on a few, but in most cases, the culprits turn out to be mundanes. Other times, whatever caused it is long gone by the time we get there. There was only one instance where I was actually able to do something.” Jay said.

“What happened?” I asked.

“A minotaur running wild. Killed 10 people before we put it down. They’re extremely strong physically, but their aura is weak. Still, it took three of us to bring it down safely in the end” Jay said.

“I thought you said that physical strength couldn’t advance too much without improving your aura”.

“That’s true for werewolves, but most magical creatures are not as balanced as us. Or as civilised for that matter. There are still creatures out there that have to depend on taking human lives to keep up their strength. We’ve nearly hunted them to extinction, but they’re still out there.” Jay said as we stepped into the office.

There were 2 identical files lying on the desk, which contained information regarding the case. We didn’t talk to each other for a few minutes as we were going through the file. The investigation request had been raised by a Sheriff Lawton and that was who we’d be liaising with. The case involved 4 girls who had gone missing in the town of Bison's creek in a span of five months. It was with a slight jolt that I realised that one of the girls who had gone missing, Mary Lawton, was the daughter of the sheriff.

All the girls who had gone missing were around my age, none of them older than 25. I couldn’t even imagine the horror that their parents must be feeling. I wondered what would have happened to my mother if I had disappeared while she was alive. I honestly thought thatI t would’ve killed her. There wasn’t much to be thankful about regarding my situation. But, the fact that my mother hadn’t been around to feel the fallout was definitely one of them.

Jay had finished reading the file and put it down before I did.

“What do you think?” he asked once I’d finished as well.

I arranged my thoughts for a bit before answering “It’s horrible that this has happened, but I’m doubting the presence of anything supernatural so far. This could easily be the work of a sexual predator. All the girls who were taken belong to the same race and age group and are rather good looking. We could be dealing with someone who has a twisted fantasy targeting girls.”

“So you’re thinking this is the work of a serial killer?” Jay asked.

“It could be, but the total lack of evidence bugs me. And the last two girls were taken together. I think it suggests one or more accomplices if it is just regular humans”. I said.

Jay didn’t say anything for a while as he considered my words.

“What do you think?” I asked Jay.

“I think that I don’t know anything until I examine the place and the evidence firsthand. This file is pretty thin. I don’t think that there’s enough in it to make any theories” Jay said with a smile.

“Then why the hell did you just ask me to share my theory?” I asked, feeling tricked.

“Aha, I didn’t ask you to share a theory, Peyton. I just asked you what you thought. You came up with the theory all by yourself which leads us to the first lesson of criminal investigation my young padawan. Don’t assume anything unless you have verifiable evidence backing it up, supernatural or mundane” Jay said with a smug face.

I flipped him off while he laughed before glancing through the file once again. One more look at the faces of all the women was enough to remove all the levity in my mood.

“When do we leave?” I asked.

“When do you want to leave? There’s no fixed schedule or deadline for this” Jay said.

“Can we leave tonight?” I asked.

“Sure. Go pack. I’ll meet you here in an hour” Jay said before grabbing his keys and leaving.

I still wasn’t sure that I’d be able to do anything to help these girls or their families, but I sure as hell was going to give it all I got. I just hoped that it’d be enough.