4: MATED

The night air was humid and thick with fume and fog. The smell of petrol, burnt rubber, and blood lingered and played with Dominic's senses as he pulled up to the crime scene. It was past midnight, and he was in the middle of a pack meeting when he was interrupted by a phone call, telling him there was another murder. He had to cut the meeting short and move to the scene. His pack members were getting restless lately, they felt like he was putting his job as a Sheriff before his duties as the Alpha. 

As soon as he exited his car, he knew what his sight would behold: another gruesome killing. Some kind of shifter was killing supernatural creatures; wolves and rogues alike. Even vampires and witches weren't safe. But his scent couldn't figure out what type of creature it was. It smelt of tar and sulfur, a combination that even the elders in his pack couldn't detect which creature it belonged to. 

"Hell of a night, Sheriff Black,” said Eric Fagan, one cop from the precinct. Dominic looked over to his right to see Tom Creeley, a rookie and also Eric's partner. Tom was heaving his guts out and by the repugnant smell of it, Onyx could tell Tom had something with lots of onions and maybe a pint or two of beer.

Dominic shook his head. “That bad, huh?”

“See for yourself,” Eric said as he handed Dominic a pair of gloves.

The forensic team was already there gathering any amount of evidence they could find, but it didn't matter the types of gadgets they had. Nothing beats Dominic's werewolf senses. 

The first thing he noticed was that it was exactly like the other two killings. The baby blue pickup truck was torn into, and the victim was dragged outside and ripped to shreds. There were pieces of him everywhere. By the look of the wound, Dominic could tell the creature had really long and sharp talons. He zoned in on the chest and, just like the other two victims, his heart was missing. He checked the victim's jacket for any form of ID. He pulled out his driver's license, and it read; Barry Thornbell, age 52.

He was a high school PE teacher and married with three kids. What the hell was he doing on this side of town so late at night? Dominic wondered. 

“Wait, look over there,” Onyx stated, staring his attention over to the decapitated arm a few meters away. 

Dominic stooped over the hand and noticed some kind of marking. Upon closer inspection, he saw it was a tally with three strokes etched into his skin, just like the other two victims. The first victim was a 45-year-old nurse who worked at an elderly care facility over Norwood Street, and the second was 58-year-old Mr. Garvey. But what did these victims have in common? He pondered. 

“There's no doubt in my mind these people were witches and wizards,” Onyx said. 

“But, how comes I can't smell them.”

“It's because they are half-breeds. They carry the power but not the blood, so they use markings to pinpoint which coven they're from.”

So, someone was killing half-breeds. 

“This is the same killer as the victims we had two weeks ago,” Dominic told Eric as he saw him walking over. 

“So it's safe to say we have a serial killer on our hands, right?”

“I'm afraid so,” Dominic replied as he observed the outside of the car. Blood on the outside of the rear passenger window. 

“Maybe we can get a print from this smeared blood on the window.” 

Dominic moved to the rear of the car and began following the tread marks. “Look at the tire marks,” he said, pointing to the evidence. “Notice anything?”

“Yeah, it's skidded. So, that means they deliberately ran the driver off the road.” 

“Yes they did, Eric, but notice there are two tread marks. Hopefully, we can run them into the database and find out who the second car belongs to.” He still had to act like a Sheriff. This was the fun part. 

“You got it, boss. I'll get right on it.”

“Good. I can tell tomorrow is gonna be a long day,” Dominic sighed, “Where's Donnelly?” He asked. Robert Donnelly was his partner before he became the Sheriff, and he also considered him a friend.

“Off-duty obviously, just like I should be. But duty calls, and here I am.” Eric yawned. 

“So why didn't you call him in.”

“It's his anniversary,” he half-smiled and Dominic felt guilty for forgetting his anniversary, but something strange had been happening to him. He had been having weird episodes like memories of him being chased or something, but he was an Alpha werewolf and things like this shouldn't affect him, so he didn't mention this to anyone but his Beta and best friend Lucas. 

“Shit, I'm such an asshole. I totally forgot," he stated honestly. “I'm such a bad friend.”

“You don't have a bad bone in your body, boss, and that's a good thing,” Eric assured him. 

“That's why I chose this job. Helping people and bringing criminals to justice is what I live for.”

“And we appreciate it,” Eric said.

“Good to know. I'll see you back at the office, Eric,” Dominic let out as the forensic team began wrapping up.

************

It was minutes after 1 am when Dominic got to the precinct. He passed a few of his colleagues on his way to his office, nodding at them as he strode past. It was far too early for office chit-chat and idle talks. As he was about to push his office door open, he heard his name.

“Hey Black, hold up.” 

He sighed as he realized it was his boss, well, technically Dominic was the new Sheriff, but after his grandfather's death, the old deputy Sheriff, who was also best buds with his grandfather, stayed behind to show Dominic the ropes, so he could easily transition into his role as the new Sheriff, but the old wolf was more trouble than the murder cases. 

“Mr. Benson, what can I do for you?” Dominic said as he approached. The smell of cigarettes and cheap cologne invaded his space. Mr. Benson flashed him a grin, and the stench of whiskey and shame added to the mixture. How can one guy be so carefree? Dominic admitted he lost his wife three years ago, and he may still be grieving. But then again, that was three years ago. He should be over that shit by now, or maybe not. 

His mind took him back to seven years ago when he lost the one girl he'd ever loved, well, she didn't die. She just disappeared off the face of the earth with not even as much as a phone call. But who could blame her after what he and Onyx did to her? He spent the first year after she left trying to track her down and nothing. 

“Dommy my boy, seems we have an active killer on the loose. I need you on this one, you're running points on this.” Mr. Benson said. Dominic rolled his eyes. The man had only been on desk duties. Even though he was still strong in his wolf form, his human form was getting run down. So Dominic kept most of his findings to himself. 

“Thanks, I'll get right to it.” 

“I need it under control before the press gets a hold of it and starts a frenzy with the public.”

“Right. I have some evidence to look over. I'll get to it,” Dominic said, hoping he would leave him be. 

“Wait a minute, boy.” 

Fuck “What is it?” Dominic asked, getting impatient. Hoping he didn't hear that an unknown shifter was roaming about. 

“How did your date go?” Oh right, Dominic almost forgot that he set him up with Jessica Brat, his god-daughter, and daughter of Alpha Raymond, But Dominic truly forgot, plus he wanted no other but Celeste. He didn't reply. “I take it things didn't go so well.”

“Honestly, I forgot,” Dominic said truthfully. 

“Maybe next time, boy.”

“Yeah perhaps. I'll get to work now. Maybe you should go home and get some rest.” 

“Yeah, maybe," he laughed as he walked away and hugged his jacket pocket. Dominic promised that one day he would help Benson rid himself of the flask bottle. But whatever it was Richard Benson saw that night when Dominic's grandfather got killed, changed him and he started drinking to numb the pain, so he could forget what he saw. 

A couple of minutes later, Dominic sat at his desk and studied the case. He started getting an uneasy feeling in the pit of his stomach. He felt like he was having a panic attack, then he started to have more wild flashes. He was running from something, and he saw it. Gold eyes followed him. He knew these eyes, they were his wolf's. But why was Onyx chasing him? He clutched his chest, as his body dropped over at his desk. He was unable to breathe, so he squeezed his eyes shut as images flashed in his head. He fell near a body of water in this vision of his, and that's when he saw his reflection. His face was that of a woman's. Fair skin, with big, bright eyes, and the most beautiful brown hair. Then her scent of Cashmere and honey infiltrated his nose. It was Celeste, she looked more mature but much more beautiful. Then just like that, the flashes stopped. 

“What the fuck just happened?” Dominic raved. “Was that a vision?”

“No, not really," Onyx explained. He had an idea of what happened. “When a wolf is mated, he sometimes can see what his mate is seeing or dreaming about," Onyx explained. 

“But we're not mated," Dominic shouted at his wolf. 

“At least not fully,” Onyx stated, Dominic, got mad. 

“Onyx explain.” He commanded. 

“Well, that night, seven years ago, when we bit Celeste, we kinda marked her.”

“What do you mean, kinda?”

“OK, we marked her. I knew it from the moment we removed our canines from her neck.”

“Shit and you didn't say anything to me," Dominic boomed. “So you are saying that our venom has been in her system this whole time, and she isn't dead.”

“Yes, our mate is special, I think.”

“You think? Onyx, this is serious. What if we had killed her.”

“But we didn't. She is alive and, for some unknown reason, the mate bond has been activated. That's why we are sensing her now."

“We must find her. I will get a sketch artist here to draw the things I remember about my vision. Meanwhile, Onyx try to reach her through the mind link."

“Why don't you try to reach her?” He asked Dominic. 

“She'll recognize my voice, but she won't recognize yours.” Dominic knew Celeste may still be afraid of him after what happened on Prom night. 

Onyx closed his eyes. He focused on his mate's scent and her smile. The way she danced and laughed until his mind connected to her wave link. 

Thoughts of getting crayons and kid's pull-ups came to his mind. Maybe Celeste was a kindergarten teacher, Onyx thought. Then he reached out to her. “Celeste," his voice flowed like thunder as it filled her mind. “Can you hear me?” Onyx waited while Dominic bit his lips, listening in on his wolf desperately trying to reach their mate. Even though she heard him, fear forbade her to answer.