Somewhere

Chapter Eighteen

Déjà vu sunk into me as I shifted on the cold metal seat inside the police station. I fiddled with the water bottle someone handed to me. I couldn't remember who did, but it was in my hands. Bursting through the front doors, Moira Blackwood marched right into the Sargent Barnes' office. Every officer on the floor jumped out of their seats to full attention as she passed. Not that she noticed. She slammed the door behind her, joining Lucinda and Cooper.

I released a sigh.

Thank God, she didn't see me. After today, I wasn't in top fighting form.

Waiting for an update on Marybeth, I stared at my phone. I willed it to deliver a text from Bash and yet, still nothing. I sighed again, dropping my phone on the desk and continued to unscrew and close the plastic bottle.

My nerves festered inside me, like maggots squirming inside decayed wood. This didn't feel real. The Omega killer was caught. The blonde man confessed to everything, declaring he was from a rival pack. He wanted to cause enough of a stir to throw Cooper off his game and cause him to lose the tournament. He wanted to dethrone the Blackwood family.

He said he didn't know what the Claw was.

He refused to give his name or tell anyone what Pack he came from.

This wasn't a satisfying ending. He said that he chose Omegas to kill just because they were easy. Apparently, there was no pattern to the murderers. No ritual.

Nothing added up.

I had asked Cooper when we arrived at the station, "but what about the X? What about the claw? And the metal in the victims' wounds? There's more to this, I know it."

Cooper didn't say anything. He wasn't sure either, but he was pulled away into the office before we could talk about it more.

"He'll be pleased with me...."

I straightened.

The blonde man muttered under his breath and I glanced over my shoulder. No one seemed to notice him, but me. He muttered, "he will praise me."

"Who?" I said before I could think it through. I twisted around in my seat. The blonde man rocked on the bench, rubbing his hands together. There was a crazed look in his eyes that made my whole body went numb. The other officers and the clamor and the phone calls faded away as if the whole orchestra stop playing to stare at the drummer, still pounding in a quiet room. This was just between us. I gripped my seat and asked, "who's going to praise you?"

"Him. Capital Him," the blonde wolf grinned, his teeth still sharp like a wolf. Ever since they brought him in, he hadn't quite turned back into a human. In the wrong light, looking at his face at a certain angle, he still looked like a monster. "My Master."

"What do you mean by that?" I asked, already on my feet. Throwing myself at the bars, I narrowed my brow. "You're answering to someone, aren't you? There is more to this-"

The blonde wolf grinned wider, snatching my arm through the bar. A gasp ripped up my throat. He yanked my arm, slamming my side and face against the cool metal. Blood gushed out of my nostril, dribbling down my lips. My face pounded to the beat of my heart. His claw gripped around my scars, singeing my tender skin. His fingerprints branded me.

My struggles were fruitless as he easily brought my arm to his lips. He seethed, glaring at me, "you will answer to him soon, Samuel Rivera." I shuddered and from the Sargent's office, I could hear clattering and Cooper's voice. "He will need you, the one true mate-"

"Mate?" I questioned. The whole room clamored and dread raked down my bones. Officers stood, narrowing their guns at us and my chest clenched. "Let the kid go," one demanded and I refused to look away, only hearing their gun click.