*Mention of Suicide*
It wasn't uncommon for Kairo to receive silent calls, actually, they were a lot more common than people who simply just stated the name of the person they wished to be investigated. The sudden realisation that hit most people once they heard his voice was more than enough to weed out the brave from the weak, because the brave normally remembered their mission and stated who they wished to be investigated, whereas, the weak either hung up and stayed silent.
Either way, Kairo didn't care. As long as he received at least one name every month, he was happy.
"It's my turn today, isn't it?" Hayes yipped, he jumped up and down in excitement as Kairo walked out of the building and towards the uninviting woods.
The scent of the forest calmed him down as he walked deeper and deeper into the woods. Soon enough trees, and only trees, surrounded him. Leaves coated the floor beneath his feet and a chilly breeze flowed around.
Shutting his eyes, he imagined Hayes and their link becoming stronger and much more connected before he eventually submitted his power and control over to him. A surge of strength flowed through his body, his cells felt regenerated and his body felt lighter. Kairo opened his eyes and glanced down at his large, black paws. Strips of his clothes laid on the ground, he had been too lazy to take them off before shifting.
Hayes shot him a wolfy grin before he sprinted into the forest. The feeling of the air flowing through his thick coat of fur felt exhilarating and freeing, the feeling of his paws leaving the ground just to land back on it made him feel like he was floating. Since he was a pup at heart, Hayes stuck his tongue out as he increased his speed.
This continued on for hours, Hayes even caught a deer and ate it in the process. Once the sun began setting, the wolf returned back to the pack house and he shifted back into his human form.
Before getting inside the house, Kairo glanced behind him to see the ombré sky filled with many different colours. His hand slipped down from the doorknob before he sat down on the porch and just stared at the sky. Drinking in the beauty before him.
Christopher used to sit on the porch and stare at the sky all day and all night. Kairo never understood why, maybe it was because he was always too busy preparing to be the next Beta or maybe it was because back then his soul didn't yearn for peace as much as it did now, but he definitely understood now.
The sky made him feel minuscule, it made him feel as if he didn't matter. It made him feel insignificant and made the burden he had to carry every second of the day, a tiny bit lighter.
"I miss Christopher." Hayes whined, that was the first time he'd said his name in 5 years.
When Christopher died, it hit Hayes so hard that he disappeared for months. He didn't talk, didn't ask to shift and didn't even show himself in Kairo's mind, he ceased to exist just like the rest of the pack. Hayes suddenly spoke for the first time when Kairo was standing on the edge of a cliff and planning to jump, which would've killed both of them instantly. The pain, loneliness and grief had gotten so much for his human counterpart that he had decided to resort to suicide and Hayes' absence did not help.
"I miss him too." Kairo admitted, he put his head on his hands as he imagined his perfect mate.
Christopher wasn't an angel but that made Kairo love him even more. The two were incredibly similar, they were both annoyingly stubborn, both talkative and they loved each other to the moon and back. Christopher reached up to Kairo's shoulders in height but he made up for the missing inches with his attitude.
There was never a dull day with the two. They had been inseparable since birth and they believed that they would die together too. Alas, things didn't always go to plan.
Christopher's death affected Kairo so much. It pushed him over the edge and turned him into his worst fear.
It turned him into a murderer with no remorse.
[...]
"Did the police find anything?" Marcellus asked, his attention was on the letters written from packs all over the country.
All the letters had one thing in common. They all reeked of fear. Unlike all of K.O's past victims, Alpha Keats was a muscular, well-trained and rugged man with a lot of influence and strength since his pack was the third largest and strongest pack in the country. His death shook the werewolf community so much because he could've defended himself and easily killed his attacker but he failed. If K.O could infiltrate his heavily guarded pack so easily, then all the other packs would be a slice of cake. Even Alphas from other countries were writing to him. All asking the same questions that he unfortunately couldn't answer.
"As usual, they haven't found anything. No scent, no DNA and nothing to show that anyone was even there." Theo slumped down into the sofa that sat in Marcellus' office.
Theo was his Beta and his best fighter, after himself of course. The two had grown up together and were best buddies, even though Theo was the complete opposite of the King, they got along well and understood each other.
"Any luck with finding an Immortal to replace Tom?" He continued asking, his head still deep in the letters.
The Immortals were a special unit of soldiers who's only duty was to protect the King. Immortals consisted of a hundred men from all different ethnicities, skill sets and mindsets who's single thing in common was to ensure that nothing happened to the King or Queen. If one Immortal died, they would quickly have to be replaced, however, it was becoming rather difficult to recruit men because most decided to keep their best soldiers in their packs incase K.O tried to attack it.
To become an Immortal, you had to meet certain requirements. It didn't matter if your birthright was Alpha, Beta, Delta or Omega, the only thing you had to be able to do was hide in plain sight and be able to fight for long periods of time. Although it was a lot more complicated than that, that was the basics and in such a tense period of time, Theo was finding it impossible to find recruits.
"No luck whatsoever." Theo groaned, "All the men that meet the standard are choosing to stay and defend their pack."
"Can't say I blame them." The Beta added. His comment caught the attention of his friend, making him look up from the letters for a split second before looking back down. This action was unnoticed by his lazy friend.
Getting off the sofa, Theo reluctantly said his goodbyes and left the King's office. Leaving Marcellus alone with his thoughts.
Last night's dream had stuck to his mind like glue. Normally he forgot his dreams but this time, it was not the case. He could remember every single detail about what had happened but what he didn't know was what it had to do with him.
"Call him." Kristian unexpectedly spoke, his voice was deep and gruff.
"Why?" Marcellus questioned him, this wasn't like him at all. "Yesterday you were telling me how horrific he is and now you want me to call him?"
His wolf appeared out of the darkness, his golden eyes glowing brightly. The overbearing and demanding wolf sat down and its long tongue ran over its face, revealing its sharp and threatening canines. Kristian rarely came out of the shadows, normally he was just a voice but to visibly show up in Marcellus's mind meant that he was either angry or insanely curious.
Clearly becoming annoyed, Kristian replied, "Well now I'm agreeing with you so do it."
Marcellus set his lips in a hard line as he stood up from his seat and grabbed his phone. He wasn't appreciating his wolf counterpart's sudden mood swings but was unsure about actually going through with it. This was a ludicrous idea and was completely out of character for Kristian. But Kristian's curiosity fed into his, causing him to hurriedly type in the number and place the phone at his ear once again.
"State the name."
It was the exact same voice but this time he sounded lethargic or lifeless. Nonetheless, Marcellus decided that since he had gotten this far he might as well finish it off.
"Marcellus." Kristian answered, he had forcefully taken control. "I want you to kill King Alpha Marcellus."
"Investigation will begin."
*Click*
That had been his plan all along. He wanted Marcellus to call K.O so that he could take over and say what he wanted to say. Which was that he wanted to be investigated.
"Explain." Marcellus' jaw clenched as he glanced out the window and stared at the grey sky.
Kristian had always been difficult to understand, despite being an animal and having animalistic tendencies, one might've dared to say that he was more complicated than the average human. He was complex and perplexing which Marcellus thought he could handle until now.
"That demon of a wolf is terrorising our people whilst you sit here and idly wait for him to kill yet another Alpha." Kristian snarled, his tone was a lot harsher than usual, "He will investigate us and eventually decide to kill us but when he does dare to stand in the presence of a King, I will kill him."
Marcellus couldn't help but laugh. His deep, throaty laughter filled the whole room as he processed what his wolf had just said. Nothing that Kristian had just said was funny but it was all so ridiculous that the only way he could react was with laughter.
After a few minutes, the King composed himself.
"I guess I wanted to meet him." Marcellus mumbled to himself, "I just never would've thought it would be in such a way."
"Be careful what you wish for, it just might come true." Kristian growled, he was wagging his tail as his form slowly became engulfed by the darkness.
Meanwhile, K.O began his investigation on the Beloved King: Marcellus XI.