Big Bad Wolfie

A knock at the door brought us back to reality.

Wolfie leaped off of me like I'm a pile of hot coals.

And, now we're back to this.

Happy opened the door, just as Wolfie made it to the opposite side of the room.

I held back an eye roll.

Happy looked to Wolfie and immediately seemed to jump into a silent conversation with him. Probably through their weird mind link thing.

Happy didn't look so true to his name during their little exchange, and Wolfie mirrored him.

Happy's vision darted to me for a split second, then back.

Wolfie gave a strained nod.

They seemed to get out of their little trance, training their eyes back on me.

Well, that was definitely about me.

But I don't have the energy to wonder what about me.

Wolfie cleared his throat, "The Alpha and Master brought the dagger here for testing. I'm assuming that means you have a lab somewhere," he finished with a blank face.

They don't know we have a lab? Does that mean they didn't take it?

"Yes Alpha, they do," Emily answered from right outside the door.

Well, guess not.

"It's a few miles east of here," She informed.

Wolfie nodded, "Well, let's head over." He turned to Happy, "Do we have the dagger?"

"Yes Alpha, I packed it up and it's in your office."

"Good."

"Yes, only one problem," I cut in flatly, "you have most of our forensics and chemistry teams locked up. I'm pretty sure if they thought yours could handle it they would have gone to your pack." Wolfie's jaw worked as he gritted out the words, "This is my pack, first of all. Second of all... You're right," he practically spat. "How many people do you think we'll need?"

Well, that was easy.

Now let's see how far I can get him.

"Depends, do they get to stay free?" I raised a brow.

"Of course not, there's trouble in the cells every day," he glared at me.

"Proof that it's not working," I argued. "And there hasn't been trouble outside the cells in weeks. You should let them rejoin their families."

"As a reward to the people in the cells for misbehaving?" It was his turn to raise a brow.

"As a way to prevent further problems. I'm telling you, everyone's getting restless, the people in the cells and under house arrest, and you don't want that," I told him. "My people may have done what you said to keep the peace, but don't mistake that as weakness. We're fighters. So you better start being reasonable or you're going to see that side of us sooner rather than later."

Wolfie growled.

"And we need to go scavenging again in a few days. Remember that? Or were you just planning on letting us starve?"

"Enough," He gritted.

Hehe, he's mad.

"We will sort people out for scavenging when we return."

I didn't even try holding back my grin.

"Now, you will come show me who we need to take to the lab. But keep in mind, if they're one of the trouble makers, I could always take one of my wolves," Wolfie looked down at me.

"My vampires are the only ones with the passwords to the computers and databases, first of all," And me too, obviously, but he's not getting them from me. "Second of all, we're familiar with the poisons already and having to brief your wolves would just be a waste of time."

"And I want this situation taken care of as soon as possible. We need to figure out if it's a real threat and act accordingly," I finished.

Wolfie begrudgingly nodded and trudged out, motioning for us to follow.

Ha, he doesn't like my tone, but he knows I'm right, so he can't say crap.

When Wolfie turned the corner, Happy gave me a thumbs up and a nod, and I couldn't help but giggle.

I love this guy.

When we got into the hallway, Wolfie was standing there impatiently with his arms crossed.

I wonder if he heard me and Happy laughing.

Once we caught up, he turned back around and kept towards the stairs. Though, it didn't take long for his hand to find its way to the back of my neck. Typical.

We made it outside and started heading to the cells in the dark. The sun had set a few minutes ago, but that's not stopping us.

Our ancestors were nocturnal, after all.

Plus, I'm running on a full tank after my rest and snack. Hopefully whoever comes with us is too.

We passed the guards and headed down the hallways.

The smell down here is getting stronger and grimier.

I shook my head.

It's moments like these I'm super down to totally demolish Wolfie.

If he wants to act like our moment, or whatever it was, in the room never happened, then it never happened.

Fine by me.

Give me more reasons to overthrow you, why don't you?

While simultaneously giving me more things to cry about at night, but you win some, you lose some.

"Who in here can help us decipher the poisons on this knife?" Wolfie got straight to the point, motioning for Happy to open the box it's in. They walked down the corridor of cells, showing it to everyone.

I eyed the people I knew could help and stopped in my tracks when none of them stepped forward.

They don't trust him.

Why would they step forward to help him? He's the one who put them here.

I looked around at all of them, "Alpha Cason found that dagger outside his territory," I told them. "Does anyone recognize it?"

There was a few slow nods a few seconds later.

"So everyone can agree that the people who used to wield it were insanely dangerous monsters and should be dealt with as quickly as possible if we really do have a resurfacing on our hands?" I glanced at all of them.

Some looked skeptical, and it drove a knife through my heart.

They don't trust me either.

But others nodded.

Some still have faith in me.

And I'm going to prove them right.

We eventually decided on Makena, Cyrus, and Stanly. They've all been dealing with these sorts of things for years and were some of the ones to determine the poisons the first time.

The two men, Cyrus and Stanly, still believe in me.

Which is amazing because, I haven't exactly been Mistress of the year.

Makena though, is a little more reluctant to come with us.

A couple of encouraging words from the men was all it took to get her semi-onboard, though. Or at least, willing to come.

We piled into a van, similar to the one that first took me - same dog stench- and were accompanied by Wolfie, Emily, Bruno, and Claire.

What a party group.

Three reluctant vampires, three seemingly always annoyed werewolves, and two reluctant and annoyed mates. I don't know what could be more fun.

We pulled up and Wolfie took the lead towards the large, glass, one story building. I stood back shaking my head as I watched him reach for the door. He pulled, but it was locked.

They obviously didn't care to note it automatically locks every time it's not opened for a few hours.

"Just pull a little harder," Makena threw his way.

Us four stifled our laughs.

It's really no surprise Makena was taken to the cells, and for this exact reason.

Wolfie did as she said and pulled harder.

And was immediately shocked as a part of the security system activated.

We all couldn't hold back anymore, laughing loudly as he looked at his hands in shock.

Haha, get it?

Even some of his own people were having to cover their mouths to prevent the laughter from escaping.

He glared at all of us and it eventually landed on me. "Open it."

I rolled my eyes, "Buzz kill," I mumbled.

I heard a deep growl from his end but walked passed him to the door.

I flipped up the semi-hidden thumb pad cover and placed my thumb onto it to be scanned for my finger print. A second later the door let out a quiet beep, and I pulled it open.

I held it open for Wolfie with a grin.

Of course, he just glared back.

I don't know why, but this brought me back to when he came to check on me trying on dresses, and smiled at me. Well, smirked at me, but same difference. I thought he was all serious and brooding, but he proved me wrong.

I just have to remember that.

Not everything is as it appears.

A couple of locked doors later, we made it to the part of the lab we'll be using tonight.

Makena, Cyrus, and Stanly jumped into action, and so did I.

I helped in anyway I could, which turned out to be a lot of ways because of the small number of people on hand. It felt good to be rushing around a place like a lab again, doing something important. Oddly enough, it took my mind off all the possible danger and just made me feel at home.

We were also able to skip a couple of long and time consuming tests thanks to my "controlled substance", a.k.a my cut up hand, back at the house.

We also tested the knife on a plant to see an effect that didn't show up on me, and, as expected, the leaves of the plant shriveled up and turned black. Despite all the tests going smoothly, after everything, we were less than excited about the results.

There are no signs of rust on the dagger and the harsh chemicals it's covered in make it deteriorate faster. Meaning, the knife is relatively newly made.

We also did a second scan for finger prints, and like Master Philip's test, it came up empty.

But when we took a blacklight to the blade, there was blood, somebody else's blood. We couldn't smell who's, or what species because of all the other crap that's on that thing and how long it probably laid in the dirt, but it did still smell like blood.

Which means it couldn't be more than a month old.

Which means this is my worst freaking nightmare coming to life.☐☐☐☐☐