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Rey's POV

The train stopped at the station, and the passengers started their dance routine, taking synchronized turns getting in and out. My eyes were closed, but I was fully aware of every single movement around me. Two more stops and I'll be out of this stinky metal box. I hated city missions, and I always did my best to finish them as soon as possible, even if I had to skip sleeping.

My mind was drafting the report I was due to write once I reach the headquarters when suddenly, my heart started beating fast, and my hands became clammy. I felt a heavyweight press against my chest, making it hard to breathe. My eyes snapped open, roaming the car full of strangers, looking for the source of this intense pressure. When I didn't find it on the train, my eye looked outside my window, and I found it.

My eyes met those dark ones, staring at me from the platform. She frowned, taking a step closer to the glass. She hugged her books tighter and took another step. She looked as confused as I was. What was going on? This was the first time I ever felt this way. She held her hand up, trying to touch the window but halted when the train started moving. I pressed my forehead against the cold glass, eyes on her tense body until the train entered a tunnel.

"....... Enforcer Wilson?" The hight pitched voice brought me back from my reverie. The she-wolf standing in front of me batted her lashes, waiting for me to answer a question I didn't hear. I didn't say anything. I stood there still in a daze. Those daydreams were getting more frequent than ever.

"Excuse me?" She frowned in annoyance at my lack of concentration but masked it immediately with a seductive smile.

"I said that It could be a double date if you want to. My friend here is one of your secret admirers." The said friend grabbed my arm, squeezing it lightly, sending a non-pleasant shiver through my spine. I was about to yank her arm away when someone stood in front of us, garbing our attention.

"Your presence is requested in the headquarters, sir." Idriss' eyes flickered briefly toward the hand on my forearm. "It's urgent, sir." I nodded my head toward the ladies before walking away. We went through the endless corridors and hallways until we were finally in the open.

"I should ask for a raise. I mean, I know rescuing people is within my job description, but sir, rescuing you from the ladies is something else." Idriss said, mocking my recurrent predicament.

"More like rescuing the ladies for his icy rejection," Brad added, flanking my other side. "Funny how they all think that you could have any influence on the head enforcer. Like he'll date any she-wolf you'll recommend to him."

"Or get his number if they flirt with you..." I tuned out of their conversation, thinking about the rest of the day's schedule. These kinds of encounters started from the first day I took over the position of head enforcer. The workload itself was manageable. It is something I'm used to. But dealing with the king, the council, and the endless delusional females was what I hated the most.

But then again, I couldn't refuse Luca. He didn't even have to ask. Maya, his Human mate, was out of an almost six years coma. He needed to stay closer to her now. I witnessed how hard it was on him to leave her in my care for all those years. He had to. He had to feed the lie. All those who wanted to hurt him needed to believe that she was dead.

The man who took me in and practically raised me got a break. What kind of man would I be if I didn't offer my help. It's not that I had anything better to do. Now, my days were mainly filled with training, paperwork, and rarely field missions. But What I hated the most was the weekly visit to the royal court. I Had to go there every Monday to give the damn security reports.

Our king and queen were always trying to probe about any small information on Luca. The Lycan didn't even bother to tell them about his prorogued vacation. He left one weekend, and I showed up the next Monday to fill in for him. He would show up occasionally and check on our work progress. But sometimes, more like most of the times, he wouldn't even bother to go and greet them. THEM, as in our king and queen.

They're always asking about his whereabouts, his activities, and mostly when would he be back. No news from him was never good news. They knew something big was going on, but they couldn't figure out what exactly. And that, regrettably, put me under the spotlight. I was the closest person to him, and they knew that I knew something. They tried a LOT of methods to ask about it, but they knew better than to order me to make me spill the beans.

Their non-subtle interrogations were unfortunately not the worst part of my weekly misery. Females were under the assumption that they had a shot to be chosen by him now. Everyone heard of the kidnapping and murder of his human mate, making him the most eligible man on the continent. After all, he has no more excuses to give to the unmated she-wolves. And that put me under the spotlight, again.

I shook my head, refusing to dwell on these tiring thoughts any longer. We were already in the enforcers' headquarters, and I was beyond happy to busy myself with work. I dived straight into the mountains of reports and emails waiting for me. Work was the best cure to my overdriving mind.

"We just received a demand of reinforcement from the red team, sir!" One of the operation room men announced on the phone.

"What for? they're just on a scouting mission." I asked as I reached for the mission roster. They were supposed to do routine scouting around the unclaimed land by our southern borders. Rogues never come that close to the royal pack, but better be safe than sorry. We rotate to take these two-days scouting missions. Most of the time, we just run around, chasing any foreign scents and leaving ours as a warning.

"They said that they picked up a strange scent, and they followed it beyond the river."

"How far did they go?"

"They stopped by the mountain foot and asked for reinforcement. Their message didn't include any more details."

"Fine! Send two of the closest teams to them."

"Right away, sir."

"Wait!" I said before he ended the call. "I'll be joining them too. Tell them to wait for me." I hang up and rushed to grab a change of clothes and pick up my needed gear. It's been a while since the last time I run beyond the southern borders. I shifted and bolted away. Hopefully, this will be the much-needed outlet to shake off all the tension from this morning.

Twenty minutes later, I was already running across the frontiers. The run in my wolf form would take me less than three hours. Halfway through, I met the two teams. We reached the scouting team an hour after sunset. One of them met us a couple of miles before the mountain foot. He was waiting for us to update us. I shifted back, nodding his way so he could start reporting while we get dressed.

"Enforcer Wilson," He bowed slightly before nodding to the other men. "We were doing our routine run this morning when we picked a faint scent. We followed it up to its source. We found traces of tires and human footprints leading to the mountain foot."

"Human? Campers?" I asked him even though I knew it was a long shot. This area is rarely visited by humans.

"That's what we thought at first, too. But as we got closer, we ..." He looked at me as if he didn't know how to announce their discovery. "We found a hidden cave entrance where we caught a mixture of unusual scents. We didn't enter and asked for reinforcement." He kept his puzzled look, gazing nervously back at the mountain.

"What kind of unusual scents, enforcer Willis?"

"A mixt, sir. A mixt of humans, werewolves, and...... I think vampires, sir" We all tensed up at his announcement. His nervousness made sense now. Even though we are not sworn enemies or have any ongoing fuel with them, encounters with vampires always end with heavy casualties. We need to trade carefully and figure out if they are clan vampires or rogue ones. Even if they're not on our pack land, they are too close for comfort.

"Have you seen any one of them?"

"No, sir. there was no movement since the moment we got here." I nodded, laying down plans and counter plans in my mind. I contacted the operation room by satellite phone, giving them our exact location and briefing them on the threat.

"Blue team with me. Red and Indigo on stand-by."

"But, sir..." Willis tried to argue with me since his team was the one who found their trace.

"Enforcer Willis, we need to trade carefully. We are not going to engage in any fight. I just want to make a first and possibly a peaceful contact with the odd group." He nodded and stepped back to his team members.

We walked closer, making sure to stay well hidden. As we reached the said entrance, I caught the mixture of scents. It was indeed a strange mix. The smell of wolves merged with vampires and humans. No blood scent was tangled in this mess, which was a first good sign. I nodded at the men behind me and took a few steps inside.

"HELLO!! This is enforcer Wilson from the Royal pack. I am here with a few enforcers and would like to talk to you. We mean no harm. We are just curious to know what you're doing this close to the royal pack." We waited for an answer but received none.

"HELLO!! I repeat, we mean no harm but need answers. We'll give you a couple of minutes before entering the cave." Still, no one responded. It was strange since we could hear several hearts beats. We waited the announced time before we walked inside. As we walked deeper, a sense of dread took me over. This feeling was shared by the other enforcers.

The feeling intensified when we walked past a few large bushes of red Azalea. This unnatural color plant never grows by itself. It's usually planted around mass graves or battlefields to absorb the smell of death. Seeing a red Azalea is like pinpointing a carnage spot. Seeing a red Azalea is never a good thing. Our suspicious were soon confirmed.

The smell of decay was the first thing that hit us. Something or someone's corps was rotting inside. This could probably be the den of some rogue vampires. They usually don't clean after themselves. They would leave their kill around until it turns to bones. I looked back at the men behind me. They had blank faces and tense bodies. They were on fight mode, ready for whatever was waiting for us at the end of the long tunnel.

Wrong! I was wrong again. We were not ready for this sight. This was not a den. No this was some kind of a dungeon. Small cells were built within the cave walls with silver bares. The perfect prison for werewolves and vampires alike. And it's just a few hours run from the royal pack. Who would dare build it this close?

We spread around the dark space, checking for any threat, but there was none. Other than the ones held captive inside the cells, no one else was there. After making sure that there was no other way in or out from the cave, we turned on our flashlights to have a better view. We immediately heard the hisses of the cell occupants. The light must have hurt their accustomed to dark eyes. Who knows how long they have been in here.

"You! Go call the operation room and ask for medics, food, and........," I looked back at one of the cells where red glowing eyes were watching me. "And ask for blood too." The young enforcers nodded and ran outside. I turned to another enforcer. "Tell the Indigo team to secure the perimeter and the Red team to make a camp." He nodded too and left.

"Sir!" Van, the Blue team leader, said looking around. "I counted the captives, four werewolves, two humans, and two vampires. One of the humans is dead, and the other one is unconscious." So it was the smell of a human corpse we smelled. Well, that and the captives wastes. I got close to the cell with the vampire girl and realized that her hands were chained to the stone walls. I walked around the other cells, and it was the same for everyone.

"We need to free and feed them first, then we'll look for answers." I thought out loud. There was no need to fear them. They all looked in a very bad state. They could barely lift their heads. Just as I finished talking, the first enforcer I sent out came back with a set of keys.

"I found these keys hanging behind one of the Azalea bushes, sir. Should I try and open the cells."

"Yes, start with the ones holding our brothers and sister." Even though they all looked like victims, my duty was toward my kind first. The enforcers did as told and started with the she-wolf's cell followed by the three other wolves. Then went to the vampires.

I stood by, waiting for any kind of resistance from them or maybe a hiss. After all, I imagine that they weren't fond of us too. But there was none. That's how drained and starved they were. Thankfully, werewolves' blood was not part of their diet. But Human's was very much a delicacy for them. I have to keep an eye on the remaining Human. My thought was confirmed when the two vampires paused and glanced toward her cell.

"Van, make sure that the human's accommodation is as far as possible from the vampires. I'll come and check on her in a moment." I wanted to do it immediately, but I had other priorities. Besides, according to her heartbeat, she was in no critical condition. Surely she was as dehydrated and famished as the others, but it could be fixed with some water and food.

"Yes, sir" Van and one of his men worked on getting the decaying corpse out first. They put it in a plastic bag to lessen the stink. My eyes were already watering from the morbid smell. I can hardly imagine what the Human felt being next to it for who knows how long. Maybe it was the smell that made her lose consciousness. I watched Van free her hands then pick her limp body up.

A big part of me wanted to follow them, to make sure that she was indeed Ok. I didn't know why I was feeling this urge to push his hands away from her. Maybe the medic in me needed to check on her because she was Human and more delicate and fragile than us. Or maybe it was because I've spent so much time watching over Maya that I started to feel protective about Human females.

I shook my head, clearing it from all the unnecessary thoughts. Today was definitely not my day. I've been zooming out from the morning. I stayed behind for about half an hour, looking around the cave for a clue. Any hint as to who was behind all this, but I didn't find anything. I'll have to wait for the forensics.

I walked out, taking as much fresh air as I could. My head started throbbing from the horrid smell inside. I tilted my head back, taking deep and long breaths. I followed the smell of burning woods leading to the makeshift camp. We'll probably have to spend the night here until the reinforcement arrives.

The rescued werewolves have already shifted to heal and recuperate. They were laying down with empty food cans and water bottles around them. The vampires too had some food, sustaining themselves until they receive the blood supplies. As expected, their attention was fully on the Human girl who was now awake. I walked past them, giving them a meaningful look.

Something in me ticked when I realized that Van was helping her change in one of the men's clothes. I do understand that she needed to get out of her sulled clothes but the fact that she was being assisted by some other male infuriated me. I quicked my steps while my hands were on the hem of my shirt, ready to take it off and make her wear it.

the rational part in me knew that what I was about to do was irrational, but I couldn't stop myself. I wanted Van far away from her and my clothes on her. I was a few steps away from them when she whimpered. I halted, her pained sob was what I needed to sobber up. Van leaned closer and inspected her wrists. I almost ran to them, ready to push him away when she lifted her head.

I gasped, taking a step back. Those dark eyes I've been daydreaming about the whole day were staring straight at my soul.