Chapter 1: The Case

"You do know that he could be dead, right?” I told him as I pulled out my tranquiliser and put it on the table. I took the seat that he had offered me. Hemsworth was walking back and forth in the room. His eyes were a burning shade of green. Was he going to shift into his wolf form? It was not rare for werewolves to shift into their wolf forms when angry or agitated but Gregory Hemsworth was an experienced Alpha rank wolf and I would have to bring his rank into question if he did lose his cool.

"You’re going to lose it, aren’t you?"I asked him with an annoyed look on my face just to anger him more. His eyes snapped to me as if I had just insulted him.

And then he growled.

"Okay.. you're losing it." I nodded.

"You're. Making. It. Worse." He bit out each word at me. I shrugged casually as I settled back in my seat. I was not afraid of him even though I knew he could cause me more harm than I could him. So I just waited until he calmed down. 

"I just said it's possible for him to be dead, not that he's dead." I clarified, he looked at me, his eyes snapping back into their normal hazel colour. 

"I am already regretting offering you the job." He muttered under his breath. I stiffened. 

"Well, then. I can't say it was nice meeting you, stiff neck." I tossed at him as I stood up, reaching for my tranq, he had the nerve to call me in after a long night and then throw tantrums. Stupid high-handed male alpha-

"Wait." He said. I stopped. 

His hands clenched on the table as if he were fighting for control, a tremor running down his face. 

"It's really important that you.. find him." He said in a choked whisper. Clearly Devon knight meant more to him than he was letting on. 

"You have to be honest with me then." I said as I saw the way he was staring at me. His hard stare remained on my face for a long time until he finally gave a curt nod and motioned for me to sit. I obeyed and looked at him curiously. Whatever he was going to say was probably not something he told many people, judging by his looks. 

"What I am going to tell you is the sort of information that could get you killed." He warned softly, subtly asking me if I was going to give up. I just grinned at him. 

He swore softly but ended up cracking a smile at me. "You're truly a piece of work, Agent Rivera." He said, his tone admiring. 

"Yeah, I get that alot. Can you start?" I asked, impatiently but the compliment made me warm up to the werewolf sitting before me. Yes, I was easy like that.

"So listen carefully, agent. Three months ago, Devon was investigating a case, which was about a few Vampires gone missing when they were visiting Etherea for business purposes. Devon didn't think it odd for some of the creatures to go missing at first but then such cases kept surfacing more and more, Devon was unable to trace them or find any sort of pattern that could give him some clue.." Hemsworth paused as he dragged his fingers through his dark hair. 

"He was restless and frustrated about the case.. that was until he met her. Ayrin Moors was working on a case similar to his, she was also an agent but from another branch of FRIO. She admitted to him that she suspected there was a werewolf pack involved with the missing vampires and that was a very dangerous thing to know. She also told him that she knew what was happening to the vampires, They were being sold to some research organisation in the human realm." He stopped and looked at me for some sort of reaction but all I did was give him a blank stare. 

"She was found dead at her home a month after they started working together. Devon went wild when he found out about her death, he wanted justice for Ayrin. He marched to my office and got me to sign a contract that would allow him to enter the human realm. He set out to find the truth about the human organisation which was supposedly situated in Brazil and that was the last report I got from him." 

I squirmed in the seat, something was making me uneasy. 

"We don't know which werewolf pack it is?" I asked softly. 

Hemsworth shook his head and looked down as he opened a drawer at his table. 

"Read this. It's Devon's, I found it at his home." He said and slid the heavy looking bound diary towards me. 

I hesitated as I saw the gold letter carvings on the leather case. "It's.. a diary." I whispered at Hemsworth with a slight frown. To sum it up, I was not comfortable with reading someone's private diary. 

"Read it, agent. Devon must have mentioned something about the case in it." He drawled and stood up, signaling that the meeting was over. 

I picked up my tranq and jammed it in my waistband. "One more thing. You leave for the human world after three days, agent." Hemsworth said just as I grabbed the doorknob. I raised one of my dark brows at him. 

"You would need some disguise to cover up your scent and the.." He paused as his eyes bore into mine. He was talking about my eyes. Obviously having 'strange' lilac coloured eyes in the human world was bound to bring more attention towards me.

"Fine. Anything else?" I asked him sarcastically. 

He sighed and waved me out. 

***

I parked the pickup in the garage and pocketed the keys. 

Rounding up to the front steps I unlocked the front door and slipped inside. It was dark and cold. I cursed as the chill traveled up my spine. I rushed to switch on the heater and hurried off into the bathroom. 

I stood under the hot spray of water and sighed. Werewolves needed to remain heated up all the time or else it got our muscles locked up. Locked muscles were very painful if you had to change forms suddenly. 

I soaked under the water for a long time and peeked at the rising sun through the tinted window of my bathroom. I lived in the middle of nowhere, surrounded by trees so I had no qualms about having a window in my bathroom. I dried off my skin with my fluffy towel and wrapped myself in it. 

By the time I got into my room, it was nice and toasty with the bed calling me to crawl under the covers and slip into oblivion. The heater had done its job. I sighed and pulled the extra long full sleeved sweatshirt on, pulling my half dried brown hair into a high ponytail. The ticking clock on my bedside table said that it was close to 8 in the morning which was my usual time to sleep, the job always kept me up until dawn.

I picked up my dirty uniform, holding it with two fingers as I dumped it into the laundry bag but something fell off from it and thumped on the floor, I froze as I eyed the leather bound diary. My heart skipped a beat and I gulped before picking it up almost gently as I carried it with me to the bed. 

I settled deeper into the pillows and placed the diary on my lap. Rubbing a hand down the rough leather, my fingers traced the deep claw marks on its surface. My body shuddered as I tried to imagine the marks those claws would leave when used over someone's skin. The diary looked old and well used, which would surely carry someone's life in it. All their secrets, all their thoughts. Was I really going to read it? 

I groaned. I had to read it. Hemsworth had sounded certain that it must carry some important information. It left me with no choice. 

I had the weirdest feeling as if someone was watching me as I slowly untied the leather cord which was binding the book close. My hands shook as I turned the cover and looked at the first page.

30/11/2007 

Today I killed for the first time, it was exhilarating. The excitement of the hunt, father's growled praises still echo in my ears even as I now sit in my room surrounded by complete silence. I can still smell the outdoors, the dirt, the grass, even the mist of Etherea. Milly still thinks she's faster than me, the chit doesn't get it that it's me who's going to take over papa's place after him. She's just going to leave one day with her mate. I don't want her to go, I would miss her. She was faster than me once, but after her illness, she just keeps hiding in the house. Father says she shouldn't go out, it's not good for her. I hope she gets better.

-Devon Magnus Knight.

I let out a soft sigh as I read the date again. It was 11 years ago. Considering that he's now 24 that would make him just 13 when he wrote the first entry and he had a sister. 

I sighed and turned the page. 

5/4/2008 

Milly is ill. She's getting worse every week. Papa says she would get better because she is a knight but something doesn't feel right. She's too pale, her eyes don't shine anymore. She's so quiet. I miss her laugh, I haven't heard the sound since before she caught the illness. I am scared. I don't want to lose her.

-D.M.K 

18/9/2010 

I feel alone. Papa is gone just like Milly and Mama was never there to begin with. I feel like everyone I care for is snatched away from me. Are you punishing me? I ask the luna every night just before the beast takes over. I don't know how long I can handle this. I don't think I am strong enough. I am always angry, uncle Gregory said I have gone mad. I think he is right. It's always there, breathing down my neck.. the dark traces of my personality wrapping its arms around me, telling me to let go. I can see the beast everytime I look into a mirror. Its silver eyes, my eyes, flash back at me as if to remind me who's in control. I can't control the beast anymore.

"No." I whispered as I let out a breath I didn't know I was holding in. This was not what I had expected when Gregory Hemsworth had told me about the high ranking agent Devon Knight. I was expecting him to be an unfeeling, all concerned about his job kind of werewolf but now I had an image of him. A 16 year old boy, trying to keep himself composed as everyone he loved was snatched away from him.

I gritted my teeth and slowly turned the page. 

23/2/2013 

It's getting harder as I try to control myself every time I am reminded that I am all alone in this world. I don't want to be this way. I want my sister back, I want my Papa and Mama back.

4/7/2013

Uncle Gregory wants me to join his organisation. I don't think he's getting how dangerous I am. I doubt he knows how loose my hold on the beast is. My father would be so ashamed of me. 

12/8/2016 

I got promoted today for returning some fae Lords back to their realms safely. Everyone says I should be happy and they are all treating me as if I have jumped down from heaven. I feel ridiculous as I don't want any of it. I just want to do my job. It's the only thing I like about my life right now. I can still feel the beast sometimes but it's quieter now. It's only when I am angry that he flashes through my eyes. I feel like I can finally settle in my life but I know I would never be happy. 

-Agent K.  

5/1/2018 

Where were the creatures disappearing? It was as if they just popped into thin air. I have been searching till the ends of Etherea and they are nowhere, nor did they leave any trace. I just want to have the case solved and find the vampires. I met a young werewolf yesterday, he said he had scented the vampires near the portal that leads to the human world. But why would the creatures enter the human world? Unless they were planning to kill, that can't be true.. because the treaty strictly forbids harming creatures of other realms which means the vampires did not venture into the human realm on their own, someone had taken them unwillingly. 

-Agent K. 

14/1/2018

I saw her today. She was sitting at the table across from me in the coffee house and kept staring at me. Her golden hair braided down her back and her soft blue eyes had flashed as they had landed on me. I wanted to go over and ask her name. It would have been awkward but I just wanted to hear her voice. I wanted to know if her voice was as sweet as her honey and lemon scent. She was so beautiful. She keeps haunting my dreams ever since I left the coffee house. I hope I see her again..

-Agent K. 

19/1/2018

I know her name. Ayrin Moors. She's an agent who works for the same organisation as me. I met her at the office today. She approached me this time and I would have laughed at myself because I didn't know how to react as she introduced herself. All I could think about was how sweet and beautiful she looked. Her sea blue eyes were all I could focus on. She had turned me into a teenager with just a soft quirk of her lips. I still don't know what's happening to me. She also told me about how she remembered seeing me in the coffee house and that she's working on the same case as mine. What's worse is that she believes there is a werewolf pack involved with the disappearances and that they are sending the vampires to a research organisation in Brazil which happens to be in the human realm. I hope we solve this case together.

-Agent K.

20/2/2018

I kissed her. I don't remember how it happened, one moment she was smiling at me in that way of hers and the next thing I knew my lips were pressed on hers. It was like merging myself with her and what still surprises me is that she had responded. Her lips had moved against mine shyly while her hands slid around my neck. She's the only one who understands me. I told her about my family and my fears and she didn't even flinch as I told her about the beast. I think I am in love. 

-Devon Knight

There was an ache in my chest as I read the last line again and again. He had been in love with her, he had made himself vulnerable to her and given her his heart and she too was taken away from him. I felt like my heart was breaking along with his.

Something wet slid down my cheek and I cursed softly. Life has been so unfair to you, Devon Knight. You deserve so much more.  

I turned the page only to gasp as I saw the blank pages which were gouged with deep claw marks as if he had tried to destroy the book. There were no entries after that.