*LUCIANO’S POV*I walk out of Becky’s with a nagging feeling. Whoever did this can’t be stupid enough to keep heavy scented potions on them. They would need to stash it somewhere and wash off the scent from their bodies. Even with a good scrub it'll take at least a day before they could blend in with the rest of the compound undetected. “What am I missing?” I start walking towards my house with this in mind. I needed to think. I was about a minute away from my front door when it hit me. I immediately turned around and took off towards the back fence in a sprint. How did I miss it? “Fuck!”I reach the back fence and leap over it without stopping. Now outside the compound, I stop and look around. I put my nose up in the air and try to catch a scent. I can smell them a lot out here so I try to focus. I pick up a faint smell of monkshood and I follow it quietly. I’m walking for a few minutes before I realize that the smell is leading towards
LUCIANO’S POVI looked up at Arianna to find she had been staring this whole time. “Take that bowl and get to Becky’s as fast as you can. Tell Dave to meet us at the fence” She looks between me and my new prisoner like she wants to object but thinks better of it, then takes off. I grab my stalker by his neck and push bim forward. “Walk!” He is bent over with his hand holding onto his side. He better not bleed out before we get to the fence. I take my shirt off and throw it at him. He seems shocked and confused having my t-shirt thrown at him so I point to his wounds and he gets the message. We resume our walk. Arianna was no longer in our line of sight but I could hear her far ahead. She could take some lessons from a stalker here on how to be less noisy on her feet. We are a few minutes from the fence when I hear a faint thud. Dave had just leapt over the fence. I knew that gait anywhere. I decide this is close enough for us to wait for him. No point walking to the fence and back.
ARIANNA’S POVI needed to hurry. Becky said the mixture in the bowl was a cloaking spell. We couldn’t be sure how many of them were in the woods. I leap over the fence and take a quick look around. What direction do I go towards? I raise my nose in the air and catch Dave’s scent. “Thank Luna” I whisper to myself. I start running in Dave’s direction. Curse my slow Omega legs. I was faster than most humans, just slower than other wolves. As I ran down the path, I let my mind wander. I always felt blocked whenever I tried to run or fight. It was like there was power somewhere and someone had cut off my access to it. Why would the goddess do that? What did Omegas ever do to her? I scoffed at the thought of any puny wolf being able to harm Luna. Maybe it was an ego thing, who knew. I could hear screams and curses now. The sounds did not worry me because the voice did not belong to Dave or Lucianno so it was probably Jace screaming. I wonder what Luciano was doing to him? For once tho
ARIANNA’S POV Dave’s house was so far away from the rest of the compound. You could see two fences from his rooftop where we sat. I could see the back fence that and I could see the fence to the left of the compound. Before today I had only seen the gate and the big fence in front of the compound leading to the gate. The compound was so big that no one else lived this far out. We were sat on his rooftop waiting for Luciano to finish up his dinner with the guests and come meet us here. Jace was tied up in one of the rooms and had a good amount of monkshood around him so he wouldn’t be going anywhere. “He is not so bad you know” Dave was sitting beside me but his voice sounded far away. I was lost in my thought and the view of the moon from here. It was beautiful.“Who isn’t so bad?” I asked absentmindedly. After what feels like forever I drag my attention from the moon and look at Dave. He had not given me an answer so I was hoping his expression would give me one. “Who isn’t that
ARIANNA’S POV I was having a shitty morning. Luciano had to officially see his guests off this morning. Which meant I had to be up super early too. Why exactly did I agree to stay on as his assistant? The first two parks were leaving at 6am. Which means I was rudely woken up at five by Luciano asking me to get ready for the day. Having to knock on my door had to be weird for him. It definitely was weird to me. He usually let himself in. The thought made me shiver a little. Standing here while Luciano exchanged pleasantries with the two Alphas had me even more upset. I was not needed here. Why did I have to lose sleep. Everyone else seemed well rested. Especially Luciano. He did not just look good, he smelled good too. Screw him.We both stood and watched all three cars pull out of the compound. “Who leaves next and what time?” He asked as we made our way back to his office. “The Appalachian park leaves at eight…at least that's what their beta said”.“What does that mean Arianna?
LUCIANO’S POV“You are sure they said 8am today?” I was asking Andrew because his half gotten report was making no sense. “And what do you mean Arianna ran off when you told her?” Dave seemed to think this question was important right now. Andrew did not seem to have fitting answers for either of us. So I sat back down and tried to think. After about a minute of silence a thought started to form in my head. Maybe Arianna was on to something.“Dave, Arianna said something about some of Collins' wolves being confused about their departure time”.“Yes, a couple of them thought they were leaving much later, but their beta was sure. They leave at eight. In about twenty minutes”.“So we have a half heared report of something going down on our route at eight and we have a visiting park leaving by eight. Coincidence?” I ask the two men standing in my office.“I didn’t think so either” I got off my seat and headed out of the office. I needed to find Collin. “Dave go find Arianna, Andrew ge
LUCIANO’S POV“It looks like a ball of junk” Arianna was saying as we crouched down beside the object the witches were working on. “It smells like a ball of monkshood though. We need to get it off the road before Collin and his wolves get here” I take off my shirt and wrap it around my hand. I needed to get this shit off the road. “Wait, it’s not just monkshood. Those witches did something to it. I can feel it” I smile at that “You can feel it? Are you a spell whisperer now? Collin is barely two minutes away.” “They are in a car. They can drive right over it with zero contact.” She had a point. I needed to think fast. I could hear the wolf and the witches waking. I looked back to see the wolf dragging his two accomplices along. They were heading for the woods. I couldn’t deal with this right now. They were not getting far.“They put it on the road knowing a car would drive over it. I need it off the road.” I reached down for it with my wrapped hand and got thrown ten feet aw
LUCIANO’S POVI had finally seen the last park off. Thank Luna for that. I finally had the space to face this problem head on. Fenrir, in his way of looking out for me, had reminded me of my duty to check on my neighbors and make sure they were fine. Damn the mystic moon I did not have the time to babysit anyone right now. Carter needed to get his house in order.The search party had been out for more than three hours and couldn’t find anything. Whoever was out there would be long gone by now. “Dave, call everyone back in. Make sure everybody is accounted for.” “Sure thing.” He said as he walked out of the office. I look up at Arianna who had been standing silently at the door. “Anything from Becky?” “Yes, they figured out some of the herbs in the mix but the major issue is what the witches did to it.” “What did they do to it?” I needed quick answers, not dramatic pauses. “They were trying to turn it into a bomb. We stopped them before they could finish the spell so it was no