Chapter 1

(Siobhan’s P.O.V)

“Alright, everyone! Settle down! We need to get this meeting underway!” Supervisory Special Agent Nerina Drummond calls out.

           Our entire unit, Unit 3, of the FBI’s Behavioral Analysis Unit all take our seats around the amphitheater to get this meeting started. You knew it was going to be a bad case/day when your boss calls in the WHOLE unit instead of assigning the case to a specific team. Once everyone settles SSA Drummond powers up the projector to begin her presentation of the case.

“As every one of you knows, we have seen a huge increase in child abductions in the state of California. Particularly in the northern half of the state. This has been a steady increase until the last few months; thirteen children have gone missing in the last two months.”

           There’s a sudden outburst of whispers and gasps, this is something that isn’t normal even in our line of work, working in crimes against children.

SSA Drummond continues when the whispers stop, “I know this is shocking. This is unprecedented but we have no idea if these disappearances are connected or not. These children are taken at varying times of the day and they are being taken from parks, schools, even their own backyards.”

“And no one sees them being taken?” Special Agent Camilla Warrington, my partner, asks.

“No. According to their parents/caregivers, it was like they disappeared into thin air. There are no clues left behind. The children simply vanish. This increase in abductions is extremely concerning, I need a team of you to head to California to start our investigation as we have FINALLY gotten the invitation by the local authorities that were involved in the initial investigations.” She huffs, obviously annoyed that it’s gone on so long and we have only just been invited in.

           Camilla and I look at each other and nod, wanting to be a part of this investigative team.

“SSA Drummond, Agent Warrington, and I would like to be a part of the investigative team,” I say, raising my hand.

“Thank you, Agent Williams. Any other volunteers? Or do I need to start volun-telling you all?” She asks the room.

           Agents Artis Salazar, Anders Smith, and Preston Thompson all raise their hands to be a part of our team, which is fine by me, but it isn’t lost on me as to why they are joining Camilla and me. The rest of the agents in the room don’t know that we aren’t exactly human. Well not completely anyway. Camilla and I are both werewolves, we grew up in packs on opposite coasts here in the Human Realm; I am the daughter of my pack’s former Beta while Camilla’s parents were both warriors in her old pack in Massachusetts. We are soon dismissed from the amphitheater; however, our investigative team meets in our soundproofed conference room.

“Alright guys, how do we want to do this?” I ask as everyone takes their seats.

“Well, my sleuth is in California, so I know that I can request the help of our members who are in law enforcement.” Agent Salazar states.

           Artis Salazar is a bear shifter (werebear) and their packs are called sleuths, which we find ironic since she is an FBI agent. She’s 34 and beautiful, heartbreakingly so, with clear golden skin, beautiful long black hair shaping her angular face, with dark brown eyes. She’s a tall woman, standing about 5’10”, and has the build of a swimmer.

“My pack is there in Northern California where most of the abductions have occurred, so we can meet with the Alpha when we get there,” I comment, looking through the file.

“Well, one pattern I see is that there is an age range. Between the ages of 5 and 10. Looks like the sex of the children doesn't matter to the kidnappers, there's a mix of boys and girls.” Agent Smith murmurs, looking at his file.

           Anders Smith is our resident old man at 150 years old, but he doesn’t look a day over 40, and a vampire. There’s a common misconception that vampires can’t walk in the sun but that’s a bunch of crap. Here in the Human Realm and the Lunar Realm, vampires can withstand the sun just as well as humans, but they become uncomfortable, and their skin begins to flake if they spend extended periods of time in direct sunlight. Anders has a chiseled physique, with dark brown hair in the standard “high and tight” that you see on most agents. His eyes mimic the color of the ocean and stand out against his dark hair and pale skin.

“The kidnapper or kidnappers cross racial lines, so race doesn’t seem to matter to them, the age is what seems to be the most important,” Camilla says flicking through the photos of the missing children.

           Camilla and I have been partners since we started at the BAU, and we have created a ridiculously tight bond with one another. Her parents are warriors which explains her athletic physique and her ability to take my ass to the ground when we are training. I may be the Beta’s daughter, but I didn’t train in combat. Camilla is another tall drink of water like Artis, but with gorgeous tawny-light skin, and beautiful blonde curly hair. Her chocolate brown eyes seem to bore through people, and it gives you the feeling that she can see your thoughts.

“Do we have any more information on these kids? Like were they labeled as the good kids? The ones who helped people who needed it? Or were they labeled as troublemakers?” Preston asks.

           Preston Thompson is Fae, the colony that he is from was in the south, so he has a rich, thick southern accent that makes women swoon. His lopsided grin gets him out of any type of trouble he may get into with the opposite sex. He’s tall, broad-shouldered, and has muscles like the Greek sculptures in art galleries. He’s 35, is a Green magic-user—meaning he’s a healer—who was trained in the Lunar Realm to hone his magic. Most of his colony had Earth magic so they were crop growers, which is how they earned their income so there was no choice but for him to go back to “the mothership” as he calls the Lunar Realm to learn his magic. His grey eyes and short-cropped blonde hair complement his golden skin, he loves to go tanning for some reason.

"There's no real information from the parents or caregivers when it comes to the disposition of the children, so when we conduct our interviews we will need to ask about that." I say.

“How many packs do we have in the general area where the kidnappings took place? We may want to get in touch with their Alpha’s about the investigation and ask what they have seen.” Artis asks.

“There are about 10 packs within a 100-mile radius of the kidnapping sites, including my old pack, but if we are looking at a wider range than that, there’s about 20 or 25 within a 250-mile radius,” I answer.

“There’s not much to go on, witness statements are all the same—no one saw or heard anything. There’s never any evidence left on the scene.” Anders states.

           We continue going through the file to find that in the last six months, more than fifty children have gone missing within the state, but Northern California seems to be their main target. After finishing up our run-through of the case, we all head to our respective houses to pack for our flight the following morning. This will be the first time I’ll be going home in almost a decade.

Oh joy, a family reunion.

Don’t start Tala.

You can’t stand them any more than I can, that’s why we left and haven’t gone back.

I understand that, but this is more important than family grudges and uncomfortable family reunions.

           Tala shakes her head at me before curling up and falling back asleep while I finish packing. I look at my phone, deciding whether to call or text my family about coming home, finally making up my mind I type out the message and press send.

Moon Goddess, please make this a short visit. I think to myself.