4. Down By The River

RAVEN

Her question took me by surprise, but I simply shrugged.

"I haven’t been around for ages, Aunty."

She smirked.

"You girls do know, you and Kia." She stated. "But if you don’t want to tell me right now… That's fine, but nothing stays hidden. Besides, I have my assumptions."

Trust Aunty Red to say that. She wasn’t dumb, I had to give her that. I really didn't want to ask her what she assumed because I might give something away…

"Aww well, I hope you do get to figure it out. Aunty if you ever need this little gummy bear babysat, I will do it willingly. She is so adorable!"

I smiled at Azura who was playing with my hair, and I won’t deny I liked it. She was so cute.

"Oh, I’ll definitely hold you to that." Aunty said smiling.

"Good," I replied, thinking this place felt so much better to spend time at.

-

Night had fallen and I was in my room, my stuff hadn’t really been touched since I had gone and I was doing a clear out. I will bin what I don’t want, and what I do, I’ll pack it up. I needed to tell Mom and Dad about me moving too… But the moody look on Dad’s face had put me off, I didn’t want more drama.

I put on some Disney classic songs, singling along to ‘Colours Of The Wind’ as I began on my wardrobe. Some of this stuff was way too childish. My phone rang and I hurried over to it, smiling when I saw Kia’s name pop up on the incoming video call.

"Kiki!" I said, answering it "Ahh and my babies!"

Kiara laughed as she sat there feeding one of them. Goddess those two were gorgeous, they were about three months now and were like two little dolls.

"I thought I’d video call whilst I'm feeding. How are you?" She asked.

I plopped onto my bed and smiled.

"I'm great, I am going to start training from tomorrow. I saw Liam and Damon, both are doing great, and I asked your mom about moving to the packhouse." I ended with a whisper.

She smiled gently, but from the knowing look in her eyes, I knew she saw past my façade. Over the years, Kiara had become so much more observant. She didn’t fall for my fake smiles.

"You are brave." She said softly. "You got this."

"Thanks, hun." I whispered.

"I'm going to try to visit in a few weeks time." She said.

"Really? I can’t wait to meet these two munchkins."

I had only seen them when I visited her pack with Aunt Angela.

"I'm sure they want to see their aunty too." Kiara replied with a small laugh.

We sat there, chatting and talking like we did often enough. Although Kiara had an entire pack to run, and as queen it was more than just a pack, we still found time to talk to each other and it felt good.

After a good half hour, we said goodbye and I returned to clearing out my wardrobe. I had just finished when a panicked voice came through the link.

‘Someone’s been killed down by the west side of the river!’ The man sounded fearful, and my own heart was thudding at his words.

An influx of voices came through the link as I rushed to my window. Opening it I jumped out, not even realising I was barefoot until the stones beneath my window poked into my feet, but I was too worried to care as I rushed down towards the river.

‘It’s covered, no one panic and stay in your homes.’ Liam’s cold voice came through the link sending a rush of warmth through me.

I missed it… missed the mind link with them…

I ignored his command as I approached the spot, slowing down to see several men standing around looking at something on the ground. My heart thumped as I stepped closer, Damon was there and when I approached, he looked up, not missing the way he looked me over. It was then I realised I was only in my leggings and a crop top. My heart thudded but I tried not to focus on him as I stepped closer.

"Don’t come closer, Raven." His deep seductive voice made me stop. "It’s not pleasant."

"I can handle a lot more than you think." I said, quietly stepping forward.

But maybe not. The face of the body had been cut from ear to ear and the eyes had been removed. My stomach churned and I clamped a hand over my mouth feeling sick.

"The teeth have all been taken too." The Delta, Zack said quietly.

I knew him as he was only slightly younger than I was.

"What the fuck happened?" Liam’s voice came from behind us, I turned to see him shirtless and clearly, he had been in the middle of a shower.

He glanced at me, his frown deepening when he looked at Damon before he brushed past us both. Sparks flew through me at his touch and my breath hitched.

Fuck…

"Scour the area. Did anyone witness anything? Who found the body?" He asked, his Alpha aura whirling around him.

"Ralf… his brother." Zack said, motioning to the side with a jerk of his head.

I turned to see a boy around twelve or thirteen sitting under a tree, shaking, and rocking himself. An omega child.

Shit, why the hell was no one comforting him?!

I hurried over to him and sat down next to him, wrapping my arms around him.

"Hey, it’s ok, I got you." I whispered, seeing his hands tangled tightly into his hair.

"It’s not true. It’s not true." He muttered repeatedly.

Liam approached, looking down at him.

"When did you find him?" He asked.

The boy continued to mutter, not even hearing Liam, who frowned.

"Can’t you see it has affected him greatly and you’re asking questions?" I asked icily.

His gaze snapped to me, and his eyes flashed.

"And didn’t I say to everyone to stay inside." He growled.

"You did."

But that doesn’t mean I would listen!

I looked away from him, feeling two pairs of eyes on me, but they could look and get as mad as they wanted, because right now I was more concerned about this kid who had seen his brother in that horrifying state. I knew his face would haunt my dreams too.

"Scour the area, track any scent that lingers here, and I want anyone whose scent is here to be brought in for questioning. Maybe they saw something... This doesn’t look like a normal killing."

"What was the cause of death?"

"No fucking idea…"

"Maybe poison. Request an autopsy." Liam muttered.

"There’s no strange scent from him…"

"Wait, what is that?" Damon said suddenly making me look up sharply as he bent down and took a piece of paper from the man's hand.

The group of men fell silent, and I looked at them curiously.

"What does it say?" I asked.

No one spoke, and I frowned.

"Tell me."

Damon turned, his eyes meeting mine, and he frowned, holding it up.

"Who’s next?"