-6- James

"I am no kid, and there is no way I am talking to a loser like you," the teen spat, and a couple of the other teens cheered him on.

"Then you will be walking home, kid," James shot back, and the boy became furious. "Don't think for a minute that you and all your little friends will be able to move me from this spot. I'm James Lacrosse, and not even this whole town could take me out!"

The group of teens before him gasped and whispered amongst themselves. The ring leader lost the color in his face and took a step back. "You're James Lacrosse?" he asked, his voice raising an octave. "I doubt it," he sneered once he regained his confidence.

James took his jacket off and proceeded to show him the partial shift. The boy had the same reaction that Jake had that morning. He paled to a pasty white and looked at James in horror. He would've run, but it was evident his pride was bigger than his fear. "W-what do you want with me?"

"Actually, it's all of you I want to talk to. The two kids that died last week were your friends?" He asked, and everyone nodded. "Do you know if they took something, like a drug or whatever?"

They looked at each other nervously. "I heard them bragging about something. I don't know exactly what it was, but I heard Tommy say it was going to make him strong. Stronger than Cole over here," A dark haired girl stated then nodded towards the ring leader.

The ringleader, Cole, crossed his arms and frowned. "There is no way Tommy or Eric could have been stronger than me! They were just a pair of Omegas at best," he said, eyeing the girl with anger.

"I heard the same," another boy called out.

"Did you happen to hear where they got it from or from whom?"

The girl walked up to him, linked her arms in his. She gave him what he supposed was to be a seductive look. "No sorry, I only heard them speak of it that one time. The next thing I heard they were both found in the woods," she said. She ran her lacquered fingernails over his arm without a trace of sympathy in her voice.

Cole glared at her icily; it was clear this girl was his girl. James felt almost sorry for him as he detached her from his arm. The girl couldn't be more than sixteen, and she was already power hungry. Cole and a few others snickered as she pouted at James' rejection. "Anyone else?" he asked, and they shook their heads. "Well if you remember anything or hear anything I am staying at the hotel off twenty-four."

He walked back to his bike and drove straight back to the alpha's house. It wasn't much, but he needed to know about a possible traitor.

"Are you sure about this?" The Alpha asked him as they sat in the cozy kitchen. James nodded solemnly, taking a drink from his beer.

"Yes, I picked up their scent in the forest, definitely a werewolf. None of your trackers could pick it up due to the time and the weather," James explained. The Beta, Xavier shook his head in obvious disgust. "I also have reasons to believe it was an important member of the pack by Jake Adams reaction." James drank from his beer as the older werewolves stared at him with almost identical frowns.

"How can this be? Who would want to do such a thing?" The Alpha asked no one in particular.

"Lily is here," Sandy called out from somewhere in the house. The human woman walked in the room shortly. James just glanced in her direction then did a double take; she looked a lot different from yesterday. She wore a blouse and skirt today with a pair of heels that drew James attention to all the shapes and curves of her body. At that moment, he'd love nothing more to run his hands over all those curves.

Andrew got up and gave her a hug, breaking James trance. James felt a little embarrassed realizing he was staring and hoped no one noticed.

"How are you, Lily?" The Alpha asked, and she gave him a small smile.

"I am good, just busy. Every time we make a dent in the workload more arrives leaving us back where we started. I did manage to analyze the pills," she sat down at the table with a huff. She gave James and the doctor a quick nod in greeting. "It's not like anything I have seen before. I'm going to have to do a deeper analysis to determine its properties exactly. It may take me a few days, but I will get to it."

"Don't let anyone else know what you are doing," Andrew told her. "I am afraid it looks like someone in the pack may be involved."

"Like when I make small talk with werewolves," she blurted with a scoff. "But yeah, I got it. Discretion is my middle name. Actually, the lab has a strict discretion policy already to avoid compromising the cases. I hate to chat and run but classes start in two hours, and I need to head home to get changed. It was nice seeing you again Doctor Thompson. It's been a while," she said before getting up.

"You too Lily, take care of yourself. Your father has been telling me you have been working too hard lately," Thompson replied.

The human rolled her eyes. "Yes, yes I know. I will cut back when I can," she said with a slight tone of boredom.

James felt his curiosity grow watching the interaction. When she left, he leaned over and asked, "How did you come to adopt a human girl if you don't mind me asking?"

The alpha smiled. "Just one of those things that happened but as far as details I don't feel it is my place to tell the story. It's not exactly a pleasant one. I am not sure how Lily would feel if I were to discuss it without her permission," he explained.

James nodded, but he was a little frustrated. Despite his dislike of humans, he couldn't help being curious about her. "Which knowing her, will not be anytime soon," the beta joked then looked at James. "Lily is alright as far as humans go but if you ask about her past. Well, let's just say she can get a little hostile."

Hostile? How hostile could one human female get? "I see," he said, despite he didn't understand it at all. "Well I'm going to be going, I'll update you when I can."

"Alright James, be careful and trust no one. Until we find out who this traitor is none but who is in this room can be free of suspicion," Andrew told him.

James returned to the little hotel room and sat in the small chair thinking about what they had learned so far. From his memories and the scent he smelled in the woods, he was sure none of the she-wolves were suspects. He'd have to focus his search on the men, especially the men forty and up. James couldn't remember the man who had made the humans kidnap him. He did remember it was a wolf, but that was it.

He sat in the uncomfortable hotel for several hours thinking of possible suspects. In the end, James had nothing to show for his efforts but a headache. He sighed as he got up from the chair and rubbed his forehead. No matter how hard he tried, he just couldn't see why someone would do this to the pack. He decided to take a shower to help ease his headache, relax his tension, and clear his mind.

As the warm water ran down him, James pushed all thoughts of the traitor out of his mind to force himself to take a break. The human woman, Lily, and her tempting curves immediately jumped into his mind. James growled, shaking his head. No, not going to happen. She was human and the alpha's adopted daughter. He dried off and got into bed, but no matter how hard he tried, James' thoughts kept returning to her. He couldn't deny it, she was definitely his type. Maybe this once he should consider breaking his no humans rule.